I have recently seen a dietician. She was good actually. She knew about PCOS, and had even been to a seminar about it. She gave me an article by a lady who completed her PhD on nutritional treatment of PCOS. Basically, it does sound like a low GI diet is definately the way to go. I made some modifications to my diet (I was already on the right path, so it wasn’t very hard). Since, I have noticed clothes that didn’t quite fit right now fit again. Interesting really. For 6months I had been seeing a personal trainer twice a week, and no changes with regard to my weight. Then, a few weeks and some minor changes… maybe there is some help…
I’ve been to visit a naturopath AND a dietician - all in one week!
The dietician looked at my diet. It’s healthy… But I need to make some changes. I have been so busy avoiding carbs that I have been omitting some other areas of my diet. I know PCOS is an insulin resistant condition, so I have been trying to keep my insulin levels stable and happy.
My dietician asked my why I try not to eat carbs (a difficult thing for a long time vegetarian, I might add!) I answered simply ‘becuase they’re evil’. That might sound like a silly thing to say, but I find it hard to look at food as something other than a nuisance. My fiance even once commented that I look at some foods like they’re evil. I have found I question everything I eat so intently, it is often easier to stick to the things I believe (maybe wrongly) are not going to harm my weight. I really don’t have a love for food. Probably the opposite. I avoid alot of it. Not a very healthy, balanced view I know. But I also know, I am not the only one that thinks this way.
My dietician and I and a long talk about low GI. She explained how some great nourishing food, like watermelon, can have a high GI. She also explained that if I eat a high GI food together with a low GI food, these moderate the GI and don’t spike my insulin levels.
She explained that ‘carbs aren’t evil’ at all.
I train with a personal trainer twice a week for an hour at a time, and have done so for over five month. She also explained that my body needs carbs to train more effectively. She also explained that studies are now showing, even if training, that a high protein, low carb diet, has been proven to waste muscle. And wasted muscle, of course, means a lower metabolism. Not great when you are trying to lose weight!
Well, as I have said, I have been training with a personal trainer for a while now. I am feeling fitter, but I have not lost any weight or size. What have I got to lose?
Oh, and my naturopath has started me on a concoction and some chaste tree supplements. The herbal concotion just has to work (it tastes to bad to not be good for me!) and I know chaste tree (also know as vitex) is great for PCOS…
I will let you know how I progress.
Have you tried to lose weight with PCOS?
You might know how I’m feeling.
About 5 months ago I decided enough was enough. I am always really careful with my diet, so I figured exercise was the way to go. So, I started. After three months seeing the personal trainer twice a week, I managed to PUT ON 2kg! How deflating. If I had lost huge centimetres I wouldn’t mind so much, but my average loss was 1/2cm off this and that. I been going twice a week for almost 5 months now and am nearly due for my next weigh in. I’m nervous!
Has anyone experienced the same??
One thing I have struggled with during my life is feeling feminine.
From my experience, this is not uncommon in women with PCOS.
It can be easy to focus on the things we don’t like about ourselves. And that thing is such a focus, you think that everybody else must notice this thing.
At times, I have felt that my excess hair was a focus. You can imagine my horror when I started classes at uni involving surface anatomy. Our surface anatomy… MY surface anatomy! What that meant was getting down to our underwear and examining muscles, tendons, bones… I found it hard to concentrate on my class when I was worried about the hair on my stomach. As I furthered my studies, I would wax, pluck, hide if I could. But, the more bodies I saw, the more I realised that other girls had hair in strange places, and sometimes their hair was thick too. I was not so unusual. I shared a house with a beauty therapist. She started waxing me. I took control, and as I did the focus started to dwindle. I still see a beauty therapist. I still have a pair of tweezers. But I don’t let it control me. I no longer hide.
I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was in year 12. Not good timing actually. I had my final exams coming up.
Why was I diagnosed? We were visiting family by the beach. Instead of playing in the waves, I was up at the house crying. I could not find a comfortable position. I would stand, then lay, then curl up… The pain was the worst pain I had ever experienced (and to this day it would still rank up there). When we got home I went to see our family doctor. He thought I had appendicitis, so I was sent up to casualty. After a lot of hours there, and no help, I was sent home. It was inferred that nothing was wrong. I went back to our family doctor, who referred me to a gynocologist. I had an ultrasound done. That is when I found out my ovaries were covered in cyst. Apparently one ruptured, and that had caused my intense pain… So…
The gyno wanted to perform a laparoscope. I asked why, and I was told ’so we can have a look around’. Luckily my parents have always been supportive of my independence and rationale. I asked then why they would want to put me through the trauma and risk associated with a general anaesthetic and operation when they could tell me what was wrong by an ultrasound? I never really did get any better answers from the medical profession regarding my condition, and there started a quest to greater information and education! In the initial stages, of course, I wanted to find answers to help myself.
I started studying and almost a decade later I had completed three degrees… A bachelor of applied science (human biology), a bachelor of applied science (clinical science) and a bachelor of chiropractic science. I have also done further study in paediatrics. I also studied nutrition and PCOS in my spare time. Next year I will continue my formal education. Studies in Naturopathy and Clinical Nutrition.
The more I learn, the more I realise the way to conquer this condition is nutrition, supplementation, and knowledge to make the correct decisions!
After being in clinic for more than five years, and seeing how common but how poorly treated PCOS is, my goal has now changed from wanting to help myself, to wanting to help all those girls and women out there who are struggling and not getting the answers they need.
If you know anyone who has PCOS, has a loved one with PCOS, or deals in clinic with patients with PCOS, please let them know about this blog. I will continue to add vital information to this site to help Conquer PCOS!
I came across this great PCOS post. It’s so important to realise the link between PCOS and insulin resistance, and the effects it can have on your body not only now, but in the future.
Check it out:
http://therotundaramblings.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/insulin-resistance-a-root-cause-of-pcos/
Check out this post. There are many women out there going through the same thing… and there is hope!http://conversations-in-my-head.blogspot.com/2008/10/pcos-and-me.html
I have started my journey…
I actually started many years ago. I was diagnosed with PCOS in 1992. Back then, no-one had really heard of PCOS. Most GP’s, when running through my history, would look at me blankly when I told them.
I went to see an endocrinologist not too many years later. I was looking for answers and thought a hormone specialist might do the trick. He charged me a fortune for a 5minute consult. He told me that to lose weight, I just needed to eat less energy than what I expended, and basically implied that I was all my fault I was struggling in this area. (Funny thing is a few years later I saw a dietician who encouraged me to eat more, and I did experience so weight loss. I had been eatting like a sparrow for many years trying to just lose a bit of weight!)
This was a bit distressing to a young lady, who participated in sport, and had a healthy vegetarian diet.
I have never really had any luck with the medical profession when it came to PCOS. That is still the case.
I have read alot, been to seminars, and studied… My goal is to have a clinic based on helping PCOS suffers. Helping with the various forms of symptoms that come from this insulin resistant condition. I want to raise the awareness of this condition. One to four in ten women suffer with PCOS… And the effects on our bodies can be severe and potentially life threstening. There needs to be more knowledge and support out there! One to four in ten!!!
I want to share my story. I wish to help fellow PCOS sufferers to realise there is hope. And to know where to turn to and what steps to take to beat this condition!
I am 33years old. I do not get a period. I weight 84kg. My skin is usually good (except for a current breakout). I have excess hair growth.
Here is all really starts…
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