11 PCOS Weight Loss Tips Every Cyster Should Know

Have a look at this amazing article about PCOS and Weight Loss

Reaching and maintaining your healthiest weight is very important for everyone, but particularly for women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

But PCOS can lead to years of struggle with weight issues. Often short-term success is followed by weight gain, and a cycle of yo-yo dieting that can adversely affect your thyroid and your metabolism, making it even more difficult to lose weight again.

What do I want for you? Long term, holistic strategies to help you reach your ideal weight – and stay there! The advice in this special PCOS weight loss report WORKS. It is based on cutting edge research. And below, I wanted to share with you my personal transformation so you truly know this is possible for you!

What foods have been proven to help with PCOS weight loss?

Food can be just like a double-edged sword (and sometimes we will all fall on our blade!) On one hand, poor food habits can cause or exacerbate your PCOS. On the other hand, correct food choices can heal your body, mind, soul… and your PCOS. Food is absolutely among the best medicine.

Modifying your eating habits helps to empower your thyroid, normalize your gut, detoxify your liver, and balance your mood and energy levels. Each of these is critical for you to lose weight, and keep it off! The right food choices set the foundations for success in optimal health, not just in PCOS weight loss.

Strengthening your body is THE best way to help yourself. Far more powerful than the toxic hormonal treatments traditionally given to women with PCOS, which not only treat one symptom and may leave behind a legion of side effects, but also increase insulin resistance and inflammation – the drivers of PCOS.

The ‘RIGHT’ food for your PCOS

Low Glycaemic Load (GL)

You need to look to food to overcome the metabolic mess that is PCOS. Diets may make tall claims about their miraculous successes, however, few will optimize your health or fix your PCOS. Do not consider yourself to be on ‘a diet’. All the word diet really means is ‘the usual food and drink a person consumes’. Think of your new food habits as your life giving, optimal, healing, food-plan.

What food plan will help you lose weight?

Look to nature!

Nature provides the right mix of nutrients. It also provides low Glycaemic Load (GL). The food plan proven to deal with PCOS and obesity is the ‘Low Glycaemic Load (Low GL) food plan’.

Why Low GL?

Low Glycaemic load is the best way to combat insulin resistance and obesity; two formidable opponents in PCOS. Low glycaemic index (GI) foods are now quite well known. However, as helpful as this tool is, it does not take into account the amount of carbohydrates eaten. Fantastic foods such as watermelon are high GI, but low GL and perfectly healthy. If we just look to GI, we would avoid this great food. GL gives you a better measure of the affect a food or drink will have on your insulin levels.

Tip: Do not be misled into believing low carb food plans in the guise of meat, egg and cheese diets are healthy for PCOS weight loss. You need nutrients to successfully and healthily lose weight, and keep it off.

A food plan that includes foods consisting of complex carbohydrates is important. Complex carbohydrates are those that break down slowly during digestion and release a steady supply of sugar in our body rather than causing sudden spikes. Due to the insulin resistance of PCOS, it is important for you to control your blood sugar levels. Including foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, gluten free grains nuts, seeds, beans and legumes, are very helpful.

Tip: Do not starve yourself to lose weight. This is not sustainable, and not healthy. Very low carbohydrate food plans are successful in PCOS weight loss, but very low calorie means stress on your arteries.

A word of caution:

Choose your low GL foods very carefully. As close to nature is best. Many of the low carb foods on the supermarket shelf are loaded with harmful fats, artificial sweeteners and additives. Trying to avoid one harmful item may just land you with another. Make sure your low GL foods are high in healthy proteins or fibre, while free from additives and man altered
fats.”

Tip: Although we do not yet know why, milk has been shown to spike your insulin levels as much as wholemeal bread. This really is best avoided.

Protein Power

Good lean proteins are a must when you are trying to lose weight. Proteins have a low GL. They maintain the balance of your blood sugar levels, and lend a helping hand with lowering insulin fluctuations at mealtime. Research studies have proven that including good lean proteins along with low GL foods boosts your body’s metabolism, helping in PCOS weight loss and insulin resistance in women with PCOS. Proteins provide your body with a steady supply of amino acids that help in building and repairing all our body tissues. Also, they are one of the important ingredients in the manufacturing our hormones and enzymes. Protein helps maintain your muscle mass, which is
important for your metabolism. Plus, they keep you full longer.

How to meet your daily protein goal?

There are many different ways of including healthy proteins in your daily food intake. Starting with breakfast, try an omelette with organic free-range eggs, mix in some broccoli and cauliflower. Snack on delicious (unsalted) nuts and seeds as you zigzag through your daily routine. Check out some healthy dips like hummus – a savoury middle-eastern dip. Steamed fish seasoned with fresh herbs, lemon with a dash of extra virgin olive oil is packed with lean protein for dinner. Toss in some cooked black beans, sprouts, grilled organic chicken or turkey breast or chopped hard-boiled eggs in your salad, and voila, you have met your daily protein goal.

Friendly Fats

I cannot overstate how important it is for you to include good fats in your food plan – daily. This is pivotal in PCOS weight loss. The right type and right amounts of fats like the Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are a must. Good fats help improve insulin sensitivity. You cannot healthily lose weight without eating enough good fats.

Where can you get the ‘good’ fats

Oily fish like salmon, mahi mahi, tuna, mackerel and sardines are rich in healthy fats. Organic free-range eggs are very beneficial. You can also choose a variety of vegan sources for your healthy fats like olives, avocados, nuts like almonds, pistachios, chestnut, cashews, pecans, and seeds like sesame seeds, flaw seeds, sunflowers etc. However, stay away from unhealthy fats like those that have been heated, exposed to oxygen or damaged in processing.

Going nuts

Nuts like almonds and walnuts are great sources of protein, omega 3 fatty acids, B vitamins, Vitamin E and minerals like copper, manganese, magnesium and potassium. The abundance of antioxidants in the nuts puts them in the category of ‘super-foods’.

Veggie Indulgence

Indulge in plenty of yellow, red, orange, green, blue and purple fruits and vegetables. Bringing variety to your food-plan by including various organic fruits and veggies from different colour spectrums also increases many other nutrients.

Organic is the word

Conventional farming may tarnish your food with insecticides, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and more. Persistent Organic
Pesticides (POPs) were shown to increase the risk of Diabetes – an insulin resistant dis-ease, like PCOS. Insulin resistance increases weight gain, especially around the dangerous tummy area. Choose nutritious and safe organic fruits, vegetables, eggs, and poultry and meat products wherever possible.

What not to eat

Refined flour, white rice, sugar, processed foods, and fruit juices containing simple carbohydrates are best avoided. As simple sugars get stored as fat and cause a spike in insulin levels, these simple carbohydrates are a poor health choice, particularly for women with PCOS looking to lose weight.

What supplements can help you lose weight? *

 

 Fish Oil, Chromium and Magnesium

4 Tips To Lose Weight With PCOS – Without Dieting

If you’re anything like I was, going to the doctors for help with weight loss while suffering from PCOS was a pointless exercise. ‘Just eat less and move more’ was the normal response. I had tried this, and it didn’t really work. In fact, I was so desperate at one stage that I tried a PCOS weight loss prescription medication. The only thing I almost lost was my husband! The mood swings and sadness it caused was unbearable. I stopped taking it within 3 weeks. I was still fat, but at least I didn’t feel unbalanced any more.

So, other than altering your food plan – which is an important aspect to PCOS weight loss – what else do you need to do? What other secrets lurk out there? And what other benefits do these tips have?

Increase Your Physical Activity

I know that dirty word exercise can be scary, but it is very important. Physical activity burns calories, but it does much more than that. Cardio helps your heart and your fitness, but also helps you lose weight. Resistance training – i.e. weight training – builds your muscle, which improves your metabolic rate, and so improves your ability to burn off calories. Interval training helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and burn off fat. A walk has been shown to decrease your cravings. You feel better about yourself and within yourself with those endorphins running around your body. This is great for motivation, self-confidence and decreasing stress levels.

Learn To Relax

Stress and the hormonal commotion that comes with it, have strong ties with PCOS. In simple words, we can say that these two have a ‘hormonal bonding’. The hormonal changes that our body undergoes while adapting to prolonged stress and the ones that are found in women suffering from PCOS are strikingly similar.

Stress can affect your ability to effectively lose weight. It may interfere with adopting the right food choices and exercise routines vital for losing weight. It also causes Insulin Resistance, decreased energy levels, and can interfere with your sleep. Choosing the right ways for you to manage stress is an important step toward in losing weight when suffering from PCOS. Unless you deal with your stress, your attempts at reaching your optimal weight may be unsuccessful.

Have Your Thyroid Correctly Checked

If your thyroid is sluggish, so are you. Your metabolism will slow down, and this can lead to weight gain and an inability to lose weight. You may also have other signs and symptoms such as depression, losing scalp hair and the hair from the outside portion of you eyebrows, slowed reflexes, cold hands and feet, a foggy brain, the feeling of a ‘lump’ in your throat, constipation, a puffy face and/or fatigue. If you have had your thyroid tested, and have been told that you are ‘normal’, do not take this as gospel. Most often you will have only been tested for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). The true healthy range for TSH is between 1 – 2/2.5iU/ml. It is also invaluable to have your T4, T3, reverse T3, and thyroid autoantibody levels checked.

Women with PCOS are more likely to suffer from hypothyroidism and thyroid autoimmune dis-ease.

Get Enough Sleep

That’s right! People who sleep less are more likely to weigh more. Getting eight hours per night sleep may help you lose
weight.

Do You Have A Thyroid Problem Aggravating Your PCOS?

I’m often asked questions about thyroid function. It’s not surprising really, given that hypothyroidism and thyroid autoimmune dis-ease are more commonly found in women with PCOS.

And according to Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis − co-author of Insulin Resistance and PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome: Pathogenesis, Evaluation, and Treatment, p325, “decreased SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globule) and increased free testosterone levels and altered estradiol (an estrogen) metabolism have been described in hypothyroid patients, whereas PCO (Polycystic Ovaries) has been detected in 36.5% of hypothyroid patients”.

The authors of this study believe that when you have poor thyroid function, this changes how your genes are expressed. That the genes that get expressed bring about the changes seen in a woman with PCOS.

How Do You Know If You Have A Thyroid Problem?

Some Signs & Symptoms of Hypothyroidism (an under-active thyroid) include:

• Fatigue, lethargy
• Muscle weakness, pain & cramps
• Cold intolerance, cold hands/feet
• Goiter (swelling over the thyroid)
• Weight gain
• Frequent infections
• Depression
• Puffiness around the eyes
• Menstrual irregularities and infertility
• High cholesterol
• ‘Brain fog’ and indecisiveness
• Dry skin and hair
• Hair loss from scalp and eyebrows
• Slowed heartbeat / pulse
• Hoarse voice
• Dizziness or vertigo
• Poor memory, poor concentration
• Chronic constipation
• Irritability
• Throat pain, or a tender feeling
• Slow reflexes
• Fluid retention

What Can You Do To Help Your Thyroid Function Better?

The leading cause of hypothyroidism worldwide is insufficient iodine intake. How can you increase your intake of this important nutrient? Iodine: sushi, oysters, scallops, kelp, fish paste, and if you’re feeling adventurous sea vegetables, along with foods such as radishes, onions, cocoa powder and watercress.

You also need sufficient levels of other nutrients like Zinc, Selenium, and Omega 3 fatty acids.

Natural PCOS treatments, and natural thyroid treatments are very effective.

You Can Do It!

I know, regardless of your current weight and your current health challenges, you can make positive progress toward reaching your ideal weight. It is possible, and it is worth it!

Source: Fertility Chef

*

Food sources of magnesium include:

• Beans and nuts.
• Whole grains such as brown rice and whole wheat bread.
• Green leafy vegetables

Food sources of Chromium include:

• Whole grains and Brown rice
• Broccoli
• Green beans
• Chicken breast, Chicken legs
• Eggs, 
• Fish, Sea food
• Fresh vegetables

Food sources of Fish Oil include:

• cold-water and oily fish, such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, and sardines. 

PCOS and Dieting: Learn the Healthy Tips

Losing weight is hard as hell compared to gaining weight especially if you are a PCOS sufferer. PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome is the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age affecting approximately 5-10%. It is an imbalance in several sex hormones that is why women having the disorder experience the following symptoms like irregular or absent menstrual periods, infertility, obesity or being overweight, excess facial and body hair or hirsutism, loss of hair on the top of the head and acne.

PCOS is a condition which affects a person both physically and mentally. And due to the fact that it can cause infertility, women tend to be become depressed anxious. Women having PCOS are said to be at risk for acquiring diabetes, heart attack and hypertension.

Because of these, women always question the relationship between PCOS and dieting and what it can do to improve their condition.

Lifestyle changes

What is the relationship between PCOS and dieting? Women who suffer from this condition are mostly obese that is why they tend to ask what the proper diet should be for them. Although some women with PCOS are thin, the majority have a weight problem and they seem to gain weight no matter what they do. Due to this, women would tend to follow some diet plans which have promising results. Many of these do not provide enough data to back up their claims and others are also very difficult to maintain. Usually most women would go back to their old ways of eating after they have lost some weight. This is particularly true to women with PCOS. Since PCOS and dieting is very difficult to solve especially the weight loss that you need to do, many women try different diet plans.

The top four lifestyle changes that you need to practice when you have the disorder are eating a healthy, balanced diet, exercising regularly, trying to lose weight and reducing opportunities for stress and anxiety.

Most women who have PCOS also suffer from insulin resistance. Due to insulin resistance, the body acts by resisting the effects of insulin thus it produces more to compensate. The continuously high levels of insulin is responsible to keep blood sugar levels low which results to cravings for sugary carbohydrates leading to weight gain. Insulin resistance also increases the insulin levels in the body which affects the ovulation process. According to a study, women who have insulin resistance are prone to have a miscarriage due to the imbalanced insulin levels which is responsible for the embryo to attach properly to the uterus. Dieting for PCOS is a crucial step to improve your condition and to start the proper diet today is very important.

In order for your goal to be successful, here are some guidelines and tips for PCOS and dieting the healthy way. Junk food is not good for you, so you better get rid of them. It is also necessary that you improve the quality and type of carbohydrates you consume and change the dietary fats you take in. Eating a lot vegetables and controlling your meal portions are also important. Follow the steps to healthy dieting and improve PCOS in no time.

• Balance your daily intake of protein and carbohydrates. Balancing your intake of these food groups will prevent insulin imbalances, thus increasing your fertility. Choosing the type of carbohydrates that you eat is very important. It is necessary that you choose whole grain, or sprouted grain products since these contain more protein and fiber.
• Choose to eat low glycemic index foods. These are carbohydrates which break down slowly in the body. Foods that you should avoid include sugary and starchy foods like pancakes, syrups, sugar, white potatoes, jams, scones, white bread products and pasta.
• Practice eating a high fiber diet. PCOS and dieting with fiber helps in two ways. First, it helps by slowing down the digestion of sugars in the body. Next, it helps by removing excess estrogens from the body which can normalize your hormonal levels.
• Do not go on a diet. It is highly recommended that you eat five meals a day. Eating more often will prevent fasting since fasting causes the metabolism to be become imbalanced.
• Include essential fatty acids in your intake daily. Eating foods containing these fatty acids helps lose weight, produce balanced hormones and create a healthy environment for conception.
• Have a regular exercise. It is recommended that you exercise for 30 minutes five times a week since this improves your insulin sensitivity, thus increases your metabolism and helps shed off excess weight.
• Stop drinking coffee. Coffee is rich in caffeine which increases estrogen levels. It is necessary that you start quitting coffee since this can aggravate your condition.

PCOS disorder weight loss treatment is all about eating the right kind of foods together with proper exercise is essential in keeping your mind and body healthy.

Article Source: Ezine Articles

What is The Best PCOS Diet?

A PCOS diet is crucial role in the management of PCOS, not only for weight loss and maintenance, but also to regulate insulin levels. Many women with PCOS are resistant to insulin, resulting in the pancreas producing more insulin in order to be effective.

Insulin and PCOS

Insulin is an important hormone as it transports sugar from the blood into the muscles of the body, allowing the body to effectively make use of the energy from glucose. High insulin levels wreak havoc on the body, leading to a lot of the symptoms of PCOS like, increased hair growth, weight gain, skin tags, fatty liver and high cholesterol, polycystic ovaries and an irregular menstrual cycle, not to mention increased hunger levels and cravings. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Most of us have many, if not all, of those symptoms.
So, management of blood insulin levels is crucial in the management of PCOS. Refined carbohydrates cause a spike in insulin levels and should therefore be avoided. Also, foods that are high in fat will lead to weight gain and high cholesterol.
Many doctors will recommend a low GI diet of wholegrain, unprocessed foods in the management of PCOS. Metformin is also a drug commonly prescribed for women with PCOS, in an attempt to tackle insulin resistance.

BUT, insulin is not the only hormone impacted by PCOS. If it were, we’d all have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, which we have not. So, our diets need to incorporate low GI foods to manage insulin levels, in addition to tackling other aspects of the Polycystic Ovarian SYNDROME.
Finding the right diet to tackle your PCOS is a highly individual and complex process as the underlying cause of PCOS and different hormone levels will vary from woman to woman.
Here are some of the general PCOS diet guidelines:

Foods to AVOID

High GI (Glycaemic Index) Foods:

Foods that have a high GI result in a quick rise in blood sugar levels. Insulin levels follow suit to deal with the glucose in the blood stream. Generally, high GI foods have been processed to remove fibre and other nutrients so they may be tasty but they are high in calories while lacking in nutrients.

Some examples of high GI foods to avoid: white rice, mashed potatoes, rice cakes, muffins and cakes.

Dairy:

We’ll get into more detail in a separate blog post, as it’s an important and often overlooked issue. Milk leads to a rise in testosterone levels. It contains a protein that limits normal testosterone processing in the body. With testosterone not being managed, testosterone levels just keep rising. As our testosterone levels are already prone to being high, dairy just makes the problem worse.

Soy Products:

When I cut out dairy, I immediately turned to soy. Imagine my dismay when I found that soy has been implicated in delayed ovulation. Not enough studies have been done on the impact of soy on woman with PCOS and soy in small quantities may have little effect. However, I would not recommend soy products to women with PCOS, especially those that are trying to conceive.

Bad Fats:

Saturated, hydrogenated and transfats are all fats that should be avoided. Saturated fats, found in red meat and dairy products, cause an increase in oestrogen production, hinder the absorption of some nutrients and can cause weight gain.
The trans and hydrogenated fats, from cooked oil, margarine and processed foods, increase your risk of heart disease and diabetes, both of which we are already at risk of as a result of our PCOS.

So, cut down on red meat and get rid of the dairy, for all of the reasons also mentioned under the dairy section. Also, avoid those processed, fatty foods.

Foods to INCLUDE:

Green Leafy Vegetables:

Green, leafy vegetables have the most nutrients per calorie than any other food. They are rich in iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium, as well as vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins.
Vitamin B in particular plays a vital role in managing PCOS symptoms. This is also worth a further discussion so I will write a separate post for it. Here are just some of the things that Vitamin B is responsible for: sugar and fat metabolism, thyroid function and hormone balance, amongst others. It plays a vital role in the management of PCOS.

Fruit:

Fruit is a rich source of fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients and should be enjoyed as part of a PCOS diet. Many women with PCOS are reluctant to eat fruit or avoid fruit as it can cause a spike in blood sugar levels and therefore insulin.
However, fruit still plays an important role in providing the nutrients we need to combat PCOS. So, try to eat fruit that has a lower GI and have a handful of seeds or nuts with your fruit as protein helps to regulate the sugar spike resulting from fruit.

Fruit with a low GI value include: cherries, plums, grapfruit, apples, pears, apples, dried apricots, grapes, coconut, coconut milk, kiwi fruit, orange juice, prunes

Coloured and White Vegetables

Brightly coloured vegetables are a rich source of anti-oxidants and should be included in a PCOS diet. Women with PCOS have been found to have a higher rate of oxidative stress. That is, physiological stress is placed on the body when dealing with high numbers of free-radicals. We need antioxidants to combat this oxidative stress.

Organic, pasture-fed meat

This may be expensive but it is important that you eat good quality, lean meat if you do eat meat. Grass-fed meat tends to be leaner and contain less hormones than standard meat. Grass-fed is also important because livestock is often fed grain and feed that has been genetically modified or contains pesticides which are unhelpful for hormone balance and PCOS.

Healthy Fats:

Not all fat is bad and healthy fats are essential for your PCOS diet.

 Essential fatty acids are really important for maintaining the cell wall, which allows nutrients in, and toxins out. They are also vital for hormone balance, weight management and fertility.
These healthy fats are found in nuts and seeds, oily fish, avocado and olive oil so be sure to incorporate those into your diet.

Supplements:

Following the diet described above will give you a good chance to get all of the vitamins and minerals you need but many women with PCOS are still lacking in some nutrients.
So, make sure that you take a good multivitamin and mineral supplement. It should contain the following Vitamins and minerals: Vitamin A, D, E, C, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, magnesium, iron, zinc, chromium, selenium and manganese.
This should provide you with a good supplemental basis. Many women with PCOS also take a Vitamin B complex, chromium and Essential Fatty Acids.

Managing Insulin Resistance

• Eat wholegrain foods instead of processed, refined foods. Also, whole fruit instead of fruit juice will maintain insulin and blood sugar levels.

• Eat foods that are high in fibre as they will also cause a slower, more controlled rise in blood sugar and insulin levels.
• Incorporate legumes and vegetables in your diet as they’re high in fibre and nutrients and will manage your sugar levels.
• Combine protein and carbohydrates as protein helps to regulate the blood sugar spike caused by the carbs.
• Eat small, healthy meals more frequently to manage cravings and hunger pangs and NEVER miss breakfast!

Is it even possible?

I know that looking at that diet can be a bit mind boggling and you may be wondering if it’s even possible to stick to a diet like that, especially for us carb lovers.
I have personally found it easier to make a clean break and take the leap into a new diet. The longer I ate the carbs, the more I craved them. Within a week a giving up junk food, my cravings reduced significantly.

Lifestyle changes:

Whilst diet is hugely important aspect to tackling PCOS, we must not forget other lifestyle changes that will help to overcome PCOS and it’s symptoms.

• Exercise regularly
• Manage stress levels
• Share the burden and get good support from your family and friends.
• Look after yourself and pamper yourself. We need to reclaim our womanhood and femininity so a little bit of TLC is definitely in order.

There is NO Cure

It’s important that we understand that there is no cure for PCOS and there is no magical formula that’s going to make us all better. But, by making these diet and lifestyle changes now, we can manage our symptoms, hopefully have happy families and lead fulfilled lives where we are happy with our bodies and the way we look.
It’s not an easy road that we face but it helps to know that there are thousands out there who can share our journey, encouraging us to stick to the path and kick PCOS in the butt.


Source: PCOS Diet Support

Fool Proof Ways to Lose Weight With PCOS

Picture courtesy of http://www.overcomepcos.com

One of the most frustrating things about PCOS is the tendency to be… well, fat. Let's just get real! When you have polycystic ovarian syndrome, your body fights against you and it seems almost impossible to have any lasting weight loss. Even worse, the hormone imbalances cause you to pack on the excess pounds and soon you have a spare tire hanging over your jeans and you would rather walk over hot coals than climb on the scale. It sucks, doesn't it?

The good news is that you can lose weight with PCOS, but you will have to make some really intentional changes. It takes more than half hearted attempts at exercise and nutrition to make it work, but with total commitment, you can drop the pounds… I did!

If you are struggling to drop some weight and you need some practical advice to make the whole journey easier, I want to help. After dropping 85 pounds with raging PCOS, here are my favorite tips to push your PCOS body to lose weight.

1. Cut Out the "Fat Five"
My PCOS diet turning point was when a doctor told me to eliminate five foods completely. These nutritional enemies soon earned the nickname "Fat Five" in my house! By simply getting rid of these five foods, you will have the framework for a low carb PCOS friendly diet. Without further ado, meet the "Fat Five" and then promptly kiss them good-bye: Potatoes, Pasta, Bread, Rice, and Corn. They all have to go! Even wheat bread, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta are your enemies if you are trying to lose weight with PCOS. Your body is so sensitive to carbs and prone to insulin resistance that you can't afford to take a half hearted approach. It's going to be difficult, but you can do it! Kick the "Fat Five" to the curb.

2. Get Off the Couch and Move!
Even if you are tired (and PCOS will make you tired!), you have to get up and move. Take a 10 minute walk in the morning and another walk after dinner. Squeeze in 30 minutes to ride your bike after work or go up and down the stairs a few extra times. Try to gradually increase your activity level each week and you will undoubtedly have more energy. Plus, you will notice a change in your body with less joint pain and fatigue to keep your down.

3. Get a Handle on Medications and Supplements
There are a lot of medical interventions that can help with PCOS symptoms. Metformin, Spironolactone, birth control pills… the list goes on and on. Before you take any medication, research it. Find out how it will impact your body and your ability to reach your weight loss goals. Explore supplements and natural remedies! I talk about this topic in more depth in the Overcome PCOS Guidebook, so make sure you check it out and then build up a regimen of medication and supplements that will work for you!

These tips might sound simple, but they will offer you a frame work for successful weight loss. Trust me… if I can ditch my size 20/22 fat pants and drop 85 pounds, you can do it too! I'm cheering you on.

Source: Overcome PCOS

PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) Weight Loss Diet

Common symptoms of PCOS include male-pattern hair growth over the entire body, balding of the scalp, irregular menstruation, and fertility problems. Can a PCOS diet be used to minimize the symptoms of PCOS and the same time, cut unwanted body fat? The answer is yes, the PCOS diet can be used as an effective weight loss diet, and here's are the reasons why:

1. Fruits and vegetables rule. The PCOS diet eliminates processed foods and other unhealthy food items from a person's daily meals. Cheat meals are generally not encouraged and, instead, PCOS patients are advised to find healthier alternatives to satisfy their cravings. Fruits and vegetables are important for PCOS patients because these natural, whole foods help restore hormonal balance in the body. Balancing the hormones is a tough task, but with the right diet and continuous treatment, PCOS patients experience great improvements in their symptoms in a matter of weeks.

2. Cutting out the sugar culprit. Refined sugars are also not allowed in a PCOS diet. PCOS patients tend to develop insulin resistance and this condition may lead to full blown type 2 diabetes or adult onset diabetes. As you can see, PCOS affects a person's metabolism and, if it is not treated correctly, it can also affect a person's cardiovascular health.

3. Sensible eating is coupled with regular exercise. A PCOS diet will not be as effective if the patient does not exert effort in getting a sufficient amount of physical activity every day. In order to stay healthy, a PCOS patient is also advised to play sports or go to the gym. The minimum required time for rigorous physical activity is twenty to thirty minutes a day. A person engaged cycling will get the same heart-healthy benefits as someone who is engaged in wall climbing. It doesn't matter what type of physical activity you choose, as long as you do it regularly, and you are consistent with your efforts.

4. Carbohydrates are reduced. Too many carbohydrates in a person's diet can lead to the increased deposition of fat in the body. More body fat means your weight will be in danger of increasing an uncontrollable manner. What's interesting is that, when the body begins recovering from being overweight, the effort of losing weight becomes much easier, and will feel more natural as time goes by. This is the body's way of rewarding a person's efforts to be healthier and fitter.

5. Going organic. As much as possible, PCOS patients are also advised to reach for certified organic produce whenever possible. This is done to reduce the patient's exposure to preservatives and other unnatural ingredients that are commonly present in food products that are not organically produced. Food preservatives can negatively impact a person's natural hormonal balance, so PCOS patients have to invest in better food if they want to manage their condition well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8484777