Trying to lose weight and it sucks!
I've been struggling with weightloss for months now. A healthy weight for me with my bone structure and muscle mass is anywhere from 140lbs to 165lbs, and I'm currently in the 190s.
I've tried all sorts of things, and I've been exercising for a half an hour at least 4 days a week, and I've been losing 1lb a week when I've been lucky. My diet is fine--usually 1200-1500 calories per day, and I eat lots of veggies and fruits with lean meats and rice on the side.
I ride a bicycle all around campus to make 2-mile trips faster than I can make them on foot, and I have a fitness bike in my apartment that I use when it's too cold or wet outside.
Sometimes I feel like giving up, but I really want to lose a total of 55 pounds by my birthday next year, and I'd like to lose at least 30 by April if I can.
I've tried Acai and fiber supplements and they've done next to nothing for me. I have Greek yogurt for breakfast and snack on apples and celery with peanut butter--but no matter how diligent I am about my intake and output, I just can't shake much at all. Another friend of mine has lost something like 8 pounds in 2 weeks on a diet she's on, and I wish I could get results like that but I can't.
I think part of it is my Mirena since I gained 25 pounds in 3 months after getting it put in, but I don't know how badly I want to get it taken out. It's helping with my PCOS and I don't have any cramps anymore.
I guess I just kind of need advice and support. I'm at my wit's end! I'm tired of being this overweight. =/
I have $100 left over from my birthday money and I'm considering trying some sort of fat loss supplement like raspberry ketones or green coffee extract.
I kind of have no one else to talk to--my mom's judgmental and my fiance's heard it all before.
PinkWeeds
I'll tell you right now that your Minera isn't helping with your PCOS. Birth control and PCOS are a bad mixture. I realize that it might assist with the pain that you are going through as a result of PCOS but it's not going to help you in the long run. Women who are on birth control with PCOS are actually decreasing their chance to have children later in life. My sister was diagnosed with PCOS and she spent over 5 years and thousands of dollars to try to get pregnant and because she was on birth control for so long her chances of getting pregnant were less than 2%.
Ok sorry, I had to share the risks of being on birth control with PCOS because it's something that so closely affects me and I wouldn't want to see anyone go through the pain and heartbreak of trying to have a child when the odds are already against you and you come to realize you stacked them even higher against yourself.
As for your weight loss dilehma, you are clearly maintaining a healthy lifestyle and you should be seeing some changes in your body. It might take longer however for you to burn off the excess caleries than you think. My best suggestion for you is to not go the route of weight loss suppliments or fad diets because they don't work. You're going about losing weight a very healthy way, by changing your lifestyle and obviously it's going to take longer to lose weight that way than through a fad diet, but you will be able to maintain your weight loss because of it.
My niece works in a gym and she also sells a health drink called Body by Vi. It's not a weight loss drink, its a vitamin shake but apparently it does help with weight loss. You might want to check them out.
Best of luck to you Monika, I know you can do it!
Mousey
Don't try weight loss supplements - they don't help.. I've tried so many.
I know how you feel - my birth control beefs up my weight by 20 lbs that I definitely don't need/want.
I also have terrible diet discipline and a judgmental father in regards to my weight.
the BEST thing in my life right now - and it's REALLY helping.
Download the insanity program by Shaun T & Beachbody.
I'm serious.
about 1hr or so a day (with a day off a week) of his crazy workouts & you will drop weight.
You might hate the whole world while you're doing the workout - but it's just an hour a day in the privacy of your own space and I am losing weight after just a couple weeks of the program, I'm wearing jeans I haven't worn in months (snug...but they're on bahahaha)
I still struggle with my own laziness like it's easier to just stay in bed for me than get up to workout - but when I stay on top of the schedule I see results :]
I hope it helps! feel free to msg me if you want to talk more 
I think we're pretty much in the same boat
Thanks, girls. I think I am going to have my Mirena taken out, I have been thinking about it for a while now anyway. I don't know if I am going to be able to have kids anyway... I have a retroverted bicornuated uterus, so not only does it tilt backwards but there's a septum in the middle that could make a natural delivery impossible.
I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so hopefully I can get a little help. Maybe anti-androgen pills will help me lose weight from my waist.
Sorry to hear that I hope it all goes well! I'm wishing you good luck & sending you good vibes ~~ Keep us posted :3
I will! I even asked for a female doctor, I feel like male doctors just aren't as receptive to how hormone and menstrual issues can really affect women. I also printed out a file from womenshealth.gov and highlighted all the PCOS issues I'm having so I can remember to mention everything.
To be honest though, I'm a little worried that I'm not going to hear anything that I want to hear, but I guess we'll see!
I have a tilted uterus. My nurse practitioner said that def. makes it more difficult to get pregnant. That combined with my eating disorder and my family history of PCOS and ovarian cysts really made me believe I couldn't have children. My boyfriend and I had been together for 7.5 years before I got pregnant and we never used any form of birth control so it came as a real surprise to me when I realized I was in fact pregnant. But if you want to have children in the future than don't give up hope and don't do anything to take away or lessen your chances of having children. Like I said, my sister has a less than 2% chance of getting pregnant on her own and she's managed now has 2 girls she had on her own and is pregnant with a 3rd! And she's 37 so that should shut doctors up. Those of us who are told we can't have kids (and I was told I couldn't when I was 11), shouldn't take that as the final answer.
Best of luck on your weight loss ventures. I am sure that things will work out for you.
I got my Mirena taken out by my physician today. She also has me set up for ultrasounds to monitor my cysts. I should have the results from the one they did today within the next week. I am hoping that staying away from all birth control for a while will help my weight issues level out. We'll see, though. My annual is in December so I have time to see if I make any better progress on weightloss without bc.
KraftiiKatie
Totally not trying to but in, but this thread really struck a chord with me. I have PCOS as well, and it is a pain in the butt! I am right there with you in the weight dept. - I'm in the 190's now, and "should" be about 155 or so. It really is discouraging when you try EVERYTHING and nothing really works... I couldn't tell you how many times I've has people tell me "Oh, well you just have to eat less and exercise more!" With PCOS, it's not that easy... I do wish you the best of luck in finding something that works for you though - if you find the PCOS weight loss secret - PLEASE, let me know! lol
So far, for losing one pound a week (I did some research--ladies with PCOS can only expect to lose between half a pound and one and a third pound per week with strict diet and exercise) I have been bicycling 20-30 minutes a few days a week, and walking for as long on other days. My diet's been 1500 or fewer calories, with 300-400 calorie meals and 100-150 calorie snacks here and there.
Having no birth control is hard to adjust to (I've been sore from having my IUD out, and a bit bloated, probably from having no extra hormones and I just need to adjust) but overall I feel better already.
There's a lot of good advice on womenshealth.gov and livestrong.com. Livestrong ALWAYS has helpful information, so I would definitely go there first! They even have body fat calculators and can help you figure out what you should be eating.
Generally with PCOS, you want to stay away from processed foods. Eat only whole grains, lean meats, and lots of vegetables and fruits. Make breakfast your heaviest meal, with lunch being a little lighter, and have a very light dinner. Staying away from as much food with added wheat gluten is a good idea, too. Since I stopped eating wheat gluten, I've lost 3 and a half inches off my waist even though at this point I have only lost 3 pounds!
Womenshealth.gov recommends talking to your doctor about different birth controls, but I am staying away from extra hormones for a while. There's also a medicine meant to treat diabetes that can help women with PCOS get rid of excess insulin that's produced which is responsible for weight problems... BUT it's extraordinarily difficult to get when you don't have diabetes.
Wow, thank you for all those resources - I will definitely do some digging tomorrow when I'm a little more awake... I was diagnosed not too long ago, so I guess I'm still trying to get used to things. That diabetes medicine, is it called metformin (or something similar)? For some reason I feel like I've heard that part before.
Yes, it's called Metformin. It's supposed to help lower body mass in people with PCOS because it gets rid of all that extra insulin.
If you can't get a prescription for it, it might be a good idea to include a small amount of sugary food in your diet. Every once in a while, my body tells me that IT NEEDS SUGAR RIGHT NOW, so I go get a little bit of candy--usually one Snicker's bar or a small bag of jelly beans or licorice. Don't go overboard with it though, try to limit the candy to 200-300 calories on one day out of every week or so.
If I haven't had too much more luck by the time my annual rolls around in December, I am going to ask about Metformin to see if it's something my gyno would be able to write a Rx for. Something worthy of noting is that a lot of people with PCOS are overweight and the increased insulin levels put them at risk for diabetes.
aranumenwen
Have you looked into using an IUC, like and IUD but instead of hormones it uses copper to prevent pregnancy. I don't do well with hormones at all they make me evil, and gain weight like no ones business. I had mine for about 5 years but it's a ten year thing. Just make sure you have it checked often because I didn't and it had ended up being out of place. A pregnancy and a miscarriage later and now its lodged somewhere in my body that the doctor doesn't know. But hey, that's my post miscarriage doctor's fault and really has nothing to do with the IUC itself. I did love that thing to death, you're period won't necessarily stop but it may get lighter and shorter, but if it's not effecting anything else...who cares.
As far as the weight loss goes - I admire your perseverance. I used to have an eating disorder people who can seriously diet (truthfully) are just awesome. There is a diet supplement that I've seen around that you take while your dieting and exercise that will help to boost your weight loss rather than make you lose weight.
Other than that I really like the P90x workouts, the guy who does them are pretty funny. The workouts are different day to day and there are usually alternatives for people who are trying to loose weight rather than get buff.
Good luck though. How much you weigh is just a number in relation to gravity, Its all about how you feel.
I'm highly allergic to copper externally so I'm afraid it might be worse internally.
I've been able to keep up with losing one pound a week, though I'm hoping that weight loss will start to go faster once I've lost 10-20 pounds.
Juliet J.
Try hooping! It might not seem a "hard" workout, but it burns up to 500 kcal per hour, plus it's fun and help your cardio system. It's a fitness philosophy
Here's some links that can be useful:
http://www.hooping.org/
http://www.hoopnotica.com/success-stories.html
ps: although hoopnotica is a commercial site I'm not trying to sell anything, because I'm not involved in hoopnotica business and (sadly) I do not own one of their hoops because I'm not able to pay for the shipping you can make it yourself (i did it) :http://www.jasonunbound.com/hoops.html
Just spreading the hoop love!
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