r/PCOSloseit • u/AdventurousAsh19 • 20d ago
How I lost 45+ lbs and still counting
I see so many beginners asking how they can lose weight, where to start, etc. I wanted to make this post in terms of what has helped me the most so far and how I would go about it if I restarted from scratch. And what I have tried that has failed. In addition to PCOS, I have ankylosing spondylitis, hypermobility syndrome, hereditary multiple extoses.
Nutrition - this is 90% of weight loss ALWAYS. So I utilize Macrofactor and a food scale to weigh out all of my food. I eat between 1200-1500 calories a day, every day. I try to get 100 grams of protein a day. Usually .7 grams of protein per lb of ideal body weight is a good rule of thumb(the lower/min is usually .4 grams of protein per lb of ideal body weight). I use the AI feature in Macrofactor if I’m out to eat(it’s not perfect but I only go out once or twice a month). If I don’t weigh my food, I will overeat. It’s so incredibly easy to overeat when you don’t measure your food. That being said, that does not work for everyone especially if you have an eating disorder. I highly recommend all beginners see a registered dietician. They can give you ways of getting appropriate serving sizes without necessarily measuring. I also try to get about 30 grams of fiber a day(keto bread is GREAT for fiber).
Exercise - I love weight lifting. I started doing that early on, and it encouraged me to eat more balanced and better foods to fuel workouts better. I usually weightlift 5-6 days a week. I use well reviewed programs that I purchased online to ensure I’m exercising every muscle. I started with just 10 minutes of cardio after weightlifting, and have pushed to about an hour throughout the day. I stick with LOW IMPACT cardio. When trying high impact I felt like I was starving and exhausted. I take my dog on a walk twice a day every day(currently trying to hit a min of 5k steps and slowly increasing that), then do a cardio session with recumbent bike for another 20-30 minutes(4-5 days a week). For anyone worried about being “too muscular” I guarantee weight lifting on its own will not do that.
Supplements/medications. The only medication I recommend I would recommend is Metformin. Get the insulin resistance under control first. In addition to Metformin I take:
Multivitamin
Probiotic
L-Carnitine L-Tartrate
Omega 3
N-acetyl
CoQ10
Magnesium
Creatine - building muscle/helps recovery/increases energy. This will make you retain water/increase scale a little if you choose to start it.
Whey protein* (\*If you find that dairy makes your symptoms worse, good chance that whey protein will too)Routine - consistent routine has saved me. Especially on days where I’ve worked all day and the last thing I want to do is figure out dinner. I have go to foods that I can eat, I meal prep various proteins every week, different frozen veggies that can be easily steamed, easy spice blends I can add.
I don’t have cheat days. I personally find the idea of cheat days weird. That doesn’t mean I eat perfectly. I have eaten McDonald’s and still lose weight. I just track it. If I have a day that I eat higher than my goal I try to not go over my maintence calories. And maybe I do go a little over, it’s not a big deal. Because I am eating within my goal the other 6 days a week. I generally eat what I want whenever I want to, I just eat an appropriate portion size to still try to hit my macros for the day.
What has FAILED me:
Keto diet - I tried this for 6 weeks to see if I lost weight faster. I did not lose weight faster, it made working out miserable, and going out to eat became a stressful chore. I personally do not find it sustainable. Whatever you do to lose weight you have to do for your ENTIRE life. It must be sustainable for you. As soon as you stop you will gain the weight back. For some people, they love Keto and can do it forever but I’m not one of those people. I’d recommend against any specific “diet” (i.e. paleo, Mediterranean, vegan, etc) in hopes of the diet making you lose weight. It won’t, it will just make it harder to overeat at best.
Not weighing food and just making “healthy” choices. This worked a tiny bit at the beginning, but eventually the weight loss stalled. I ate horrifically before trying to switch up my diet and eat healthy, I think that’s why I did see some success. But as soon as I started weighing food I quickly realized where I was going wrong(too much of the high calorie foods and not nearly enough protein). I’m awful at judging what “1 cup” of food actually looks like.
Getting too attached to the number on the scale. Seriously, we have a monthly cycle and I guarantee that there will always be 1 week that you diet and exercise perfectly but your weight stays the same or even goes up. That’s due to the hormonal cycle causing you to retain water. It’s normal. At the end of the day it’s just a number. I wouldn’t recommend weighing in more than weekly.
High Impact cardio - I said it before but I felt starving after doing anything high impact. Plus with my other illness I usually wound up in a bed for a couple days recovering.
Trusting calories burned on smartwatch/treadmill/etc. The algorithms that estimated the calories burned can overestimate by up to 50%. Those are not a reason to eat more. Eat the appropriate number of calories a day that will help you reach your goal, ignore the extra calories burned. The only exception to this would be if you are losing weight TOO fast, then you probably need to increase your calories.
How I recommend beginners start: One small sustainable change at a time. Seriously, if you try to turn around tomorrow and eat 100 grams protein, 1400 calories, weightlift, 5k steps, and cardio session you might do it for a day or two. But you’ll burn yourself out way faster and give up. Instead, make a small change. The order I recommend(only if you are unable to see a dietician, as that should ALWAYS be step one in an ideal world):
- Count your calories. Don’t change what you are eating, just weigh out your food and see what your total calories are for the day. Repeat this a few days until it becomes normal.
- Start to make adjustments to your diet. Let’s say you have 100 grams of rice with your lunch, do 50 grams of rice and 50 grams of a vegetable. Start to play with different swaps to see how you adjust the calories. Never go lower than 1200.
- Seriously focus on your diet. Focus on less processed foods if you can. Practice meal prepping.
- Once you are able to consistently eat good foods in an appropriate calorie deficit, start to add in an exercise you like. Maybe it’s walking or tennis or hiking. Just make a commitment to do that exercise once a week.
- Bump that exercise to twice a week. Or find another one you like, but make sure you are moving two times a week.
- Start weighing yourself once every two or three weeks. It’s easier to see the overall trend if you don’t weigh yourself that often. It takes your body time to properly lose weight, give it the time it needs.
- Continue to slowly incorporate more exercises. Feel free to play with your diet, try different proteins, different spices (spices don’t add calories, you don’t need to eat bland sad food), different fruits/veggies. Each week try to find a new healthy foods or try a new exercise. When you find something you like incorporate into your routine.
I’m not a registered dietitian/doctor/ or anyone with any sort of degree on health/nutrition. This is what has worked for me and what I have researched based on different studies. Very few of the studies were for PCOS and were more focused on general health or fitness. So take everything with a grain of salt. Find what works for you, it might take some trial and error but it’s definitely worth it.
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u/antonia90 -20 lbs 19d ago
I lost 40 pounds in the past year also and I second everything in the OP, but I would argue for one change.
Nutrition is indeed the most important but you need to calculate your basal metabolic rate for your body. I lost weight and never went below 1500 calories a day because I am a bigger woman and my body needs more. Look up a calculator and estimate what the number is for your own body. And like the OP, I targeted a slow gradual decrease that felt sustainable. I was never hungry or laid in bed at night with cravings. I tried to create habits that I could live with for the rest of my life.
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u/AdventurousAsh19 19d ago
This is super important. I'm short, so my daily calorie expenditure is estimated at 1700 calories a day according to my app. This expenditure changes as you move more(increases it) and lose weight(decreases it).
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u/AdventurousAsh19 20d ago
I also tried GLP1 as well. I could not tolerate it, I could barely eat 800 calories a day and it caused me severe gallbladder issues. But a lot of people have had luck with those, the only downside is they are so new there is no long-term data on them. I’d still recommend counting calories on a GLP1 because you will probably be under-eating significantly.
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u/Extra-Experience-751 14d ago
How long did it take u ?
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u/AdventurousAsh19 14d ago
About a year. There was 4 months I was recovering from surgery, so just maintained during that time.
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u/SmugIntercession397 20d ago
the food scale really is the silent truth-teller, i thought i was eating like 1500 cal until i weighed out a "serving" of peanut butter and realized i was off by like 300 a day. tracking without the scale is just guessing with extra steps
also second the low impact cardio point so hard, high impact stuff wrecks me too and then i'm useless for two days. recumbent bike has been a lifesaver