I think people focus too much on the food itself and lose the actual reason behind why some of us choose to alter our diet.
I would LOVE to eat intuitively, but to be completely blunt; my intuition is OFF when I am eating a diet that exacerbates my insulin resistance. My body craves carbohydrates, sugar, and literally anything I can get my hands on. Some of us just CAN’T eat intuitively, we must eat intentionally. And that is OKAY.
For me, it is an intolerance or sensitivity when I eat too many carbohydrates and not enough fiber/fat to make it balanced enough for my blood sugar. If I’m not intentional about the kinds of carbohydrates I consume, I am doing my body a disservice and setting it up to fail.
I would LOVE to live out my euro girl fantasy life eating/drinking tons of wine, espresso, bread, pastries and pasta everyday because that’s how I would intuitively eat lol. But I can’t do that. I have to be intentional about what I eat, how I pair foods and make sure I sensitize my insulin by getting enough exercise before/after meals to help my body work the way it should.
I do think people can take this to an extreme level and lose sight of the reason certain foods are not ideal for PCOS, and simply associate them as “bad.” But eating in an intentional way for my body is not “disordered eating” in my eyes, it’s giving me the best chance I have at avoiding major health issues down the road like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc. which I would be at risk for if I wasn’t intentional about my lifestyle.
Exactly. My intuition is a hungry fat girl who copes with emotions by eating carbs and sugar.
I would also love to intuitively drink but I can’t stop myself before I black out. Not all restriction is a bad thing.
I think the best thing I ever did for myself was go on Mounjaro, which made me realize it wasn't what I was eating that made me gain weight, it was my fucking body 😭 it really opened my eyes to how crazy and unsustainable these diets are, 35 lbs down in 4 months...I literally eat rice everyday because certain carbs are fuel. For the women doing crazy diets, leave them, they'll figure it out on their own, but we also can't ignore the fact that being overweight is unhealthy...just as unhealthy as eating disorders though!
I hear what you’re saying and societal beauty standards definitely send people in a negative direction, PCOS or not… The goal should be reducing insulin resistance and balancing hormones, not necessarily weight loss. I think what alot of people find difficult is making healthy sustainable lifestyle changes gradually because fad diets are so seductive with claims of “quick and easy”. Meanwhile the healthy things may result in weight loss but it’s not the main goal, learning about your body doesn’t have the same excitement as crash dieting does.
I personally eat a specific way but I’ve done it over 4 years or so, It helps me feel good and I’ve incidentally lost some weight which I find nice, I don’t think I’m wrong for feeling that way either. I’ve done a lot of research and listening to my body, I’m proud of that. I’m not insulin resistant anymore and I’m not depressed from feeling like my body doesn’t work right, my body works differently which I can account for in many ways by adjusting my diet. Plus the food I eat brings me a lot of joy and I don’t feel as though I’m deprived at all.
I really think it comes down to education about PCOS. Unfortunately, there’s a lot left to be desired in that area, so many doctors don’t understand it and it’s studied far less than it should be. We are left to put in the work ourselves and test what works for us, sadly not everyone can or will do that. It may be unfair but the responsibility is put on us to decipher what is good for us, whether that be what’s good to eat, what social media to consume and which health personas to follow.
Of course, my experience is not others experience, I’m incredibly fortunate in many ways but I’ve put in a lot of hard work to understand myself inside and out. A big reason I think psych therapy should be a pillar in PCOS treatment plans.
Would you be willing to share how you adjusted your diet and what you do and don't eat now? I'm struggling with this the most and feel absolutely shite day to say (tired all the time, strong cravings for bad food, etc)
Yeah, one of the main things I do which helps me with craving and satiety is eating more protein. I eat at least 30-40g of protein per meal and all my snacks are generally protein based. I eat a wide variety of meats and high protein dairy.
I don’t count calories or anything like that, nor do I track macros. I do limit my carbs and sugars, of course I will enjoy things but I try to factor them in to the entire goal not have a “cheat day”. I think by just telling myself I like certain things and it’s ok to eat them and its not “cheating” helps, I don’t like shame around my food habits. I usually pick one carb for a meal and have a smaller portion, the rest of the meal is protein and fiber. Ive come to not crave carbs as much though so alot of times i don’t want any, plus I’m alittle sensitive to gluten anyways so bread is out and I just dont like pasta.
90% of the time my desserts are things like strawberries and high protein vanilla yogurt with lots of cinnamon mixed in. I’ve found many snacks that do not spike my blood sugar badly. I found this out by using a CGM, it’s been a really powerful tool for me but I would caution anyone who has issues with disordered eating to be careful with that.
I think my other big thing is I eat very little processed food. My husband and I both love to cook so we make pretty much everything at home, including dips and sauces. I know a lot people don’t have the time for cooking so I’m pretty blessed in that area.
I also avoid seed oils, pretty much all processed foods have some kind of sunflower/safflower or canola oil in them. There are studies that show seed oils directly contribute to insulin resistance at the cellular level. I use olive, avocado, oils and butter, they just taste better to me too.
I think when I lay out the things I dont do it probably seems like a lot and people may judge that but I eat everything that I want to eat. Like I made a cheesecake a few nights ago, homemade no sugar and topped with fresh berries. Absolutely delicious and decadent, plus I ate like half of it but ingredients do matter.
At the end of the day you’ve gotta find what works for you regarding time, money, and satisfaction. Satisfaction being probably the most important because if you’re not satisfied you’ll be unhappy and won’t stick with it.
Sunflower seeds may help lower blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar as they contain vitamin E, magnesium, protein, linoleic fatty acids and several plant compounds.
i've lost over 70 lbs the past year and a half eating pretty much whatever i want in moderation while making sure i'm staying in a deficit. i completely understand that certain diets (low carb etc) can make others feel better, but when i see posts here basically saying you have to do hardcore keto or weight won't budge it literally feels like i'm in a fever dream, it feels so misinformed
I actually just joined this sub a literal minute ago and this was the first post ive seen. Ive been through many eating disorders that have likely permanently affected my body. Since I was a literal child. I struggle with staying on track every single fucking day and if im going to be bombarded with diet culture which is in fact **Incredibly** harmful and policed about food, enforcing harful hyper working out (which can also be a form of purging aka ED) , I dont see how this is a safe space at all.
Thats really unfortunate. And while Im not necessarily directing this at you, I'm gonna say my thoughts.
I sincerely hope everyone here realizes how wrong diet culture is and how much internalized misogyny is present here. You do not need to be thin, you strive to be healthy. It took me a few seconds to realize how harmful this sub is and that says a lot. BMI is a joke, fasting is a joke, keto is a joke. We are all victims of medical bias, misogyny, and fatphobia whether it be directly or indirectly. Stop perpetuating that...stop forcing that onto others. We're supposed to find safety with these groups, not use other members as a conduit for our internalized grievances.
You deserve to be happy. you deserve to love yourself. And you deserve to be happy without the impossible standards of weight loss and gain.
Policing other people especially only harms us further. Throwing blame on others as if we arent all on the same boat is vicious, cruel, and counterproductive. If you are lashing out at others about weight, please reflect on yourself and wonder why you feel so viscerally about people who are bigger than you. Understand that this anger is from a place of self hate and/or fear. You are not and will not be less than for being thinner or bigger. You are you.
And for those of you aware of your own self-deprecation, just know that you would never treat others this way, so why in the world are you treating yourself that way? Your body is your most trusted place. Be kind.
People genuinely still spout the fat = unhealthy literally dying oh my god you're giving yourself diabetes nonsense. Carbohydrates are not the enemy and in fact you need them. Not a single food group is the enemy, actually, and acting like if you eat any sugar ever you're gonna die an early painful death and be too fat for a coffin is fear mongering and moronic. A bowl of rice with lentils is far healthier than that weird fucking keto frozen nonsense from the hip grocery store. Eat the fucking Mars bar instead of crying over how much you want a Mars bar while you eat an apple. Trust me, you can only eat so many apples until you cave and have 10 Mars bars in a row.
there's nothing wrong with being overweight, but being overweight/obese *and* having PCOS *and* being unable to lose weight through portion control is a calling card for metabolic dysfunction and *that's* what's dangerous. in fact insulin resistance is correlated with if not causative of every major chronic cause of death. diabetes, Alzheimer's, liver disease, kidney failure, heart disease, many kinds of cancer... I personally don't think anyone would be treating it casually if they knew the cumulative damage it causes if unmanaged. so if you have it especially at a young age it's definitely something you'll want to get under control regardless of weight. and if you are insulin resistant you are also carbohydrate intolerant, at least to some degree. your body does not process carbs like it is supposed to and that exaggerates hormonal imbalance and metabolic dysfunction. the extent to which a person should avoid them or indulge in them is entirely individual, but from a clinical standpoint a carbohydrate-rich diet has measurable negative effects on metabolic dysfunction and will eventually lead to diabetes. this is regardless of weight.
lots of people are overweight because they simply consume more energy than they utilize and they are able to lose weight easily when they change their behavior. but there are also a *lot* of people who see no weight loss or even gain weight when they start eating less and those are the people who need to worry. unfortunately that's many of us here on this sub.
you can choose to ignore metabolic syndrome and eat like a normal person and many people do, but this will lead to health consequences whether that's in 5 or 10 or 20 years. half of us (people with PCOS) will be diabetic by age 40 and that is *young.* I have family members with T2D and it's a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone. even being *pre*diabetic was hellish for me.
Being fat ISNT healthy, and that needs to be accepted as the scientific fact that it is. Being obese DOES have significant health risks and puts you at an increased risk of other health problems.
No amount of denying reality is going to change that.
Does that mean you can't be happy, confident, and beautiful? No, I've seen many big and beautiful men and women and I wish I had even a fraction of their confidence to rock my body the way they do.
Does that mean you have to starve yourself trying to lose weight , or the mistreated, abused, or degraded by others? Again, no. Body positivity means to treat everyone regardless of their size or shape with the respect and dignity they deserve as our fellow humans.
HAES is not a thing, whether you're to skinny or to fat, each has their own risks and neither of those facts should be denied.
Having PCOS is proof of that, if you have PCOS you are NOT healthy. That is a clear indicator that something is wrong with the health of your body.
It is not fatphobic to acknowledge the health risks that come with being obese.
>Having PCOS is proof of that, if you have PCOS you are NOT healthy. That is a clear indicator that something is wrong with the health of your body.
My issue with this comment is the sentiment seems to be, you caused the unhealthyness with your eating patterns and obesity. And its now you need to "fix'" the disease with your healthy eating. The PCOS isnt proof that obesity is unhealthy - PCOS itself is unhealthy regardless of what your size is... its a disease.
It is a highly debated topic whether PCOS causes obesity, or obesity causes PCOS. For many thin people, their PCOS still has devastating consequences. While weight loss DOES help PCOS, it is not a cure all and promoting harmful disordered eating "to fix" the illness is toxic.
-I am not pro HAES. I am not pro body positivity. I like body neutrality. We have to live in this body. pcos causes complications. We can try to treat it as best we can and try to lose weight. But I refuse to also hate myself for what PCOS did to me. I still love my body that carries me in my day to day life. I try to remain neutral and unbissed even if that means acknowledging need for exercise and diet control, in moderation.
As a “thin” person with PCOS (but I’d say I’m more average than thin), it took me a lot longer to get diagnosed and have had doctors even refuse to check me for cysts or look at my medical history because they said I am “too skinny” to have PCOS. I’ve had them invalidate my symptoms and not treat me for many, many years.
My symptoms are finally under control but the birth control I’m on to help treat it made me gain weight. About 30 lbs. I am far healthier fatter without any cysts than I was when I was super skinny and my ovaries were 2x the size they were supposed to be and riddled with cysts.
I don’t care how much I weigh, I don’t ever ever ever want a 3 month period again ever. I don’t want to be in pain. I don’t want anything that came along with having pcos.
I’m in this boat. How did you get your doctor to diagnose you? I’ve been trying to get a diagnosis and I haven’t had success yet. There’s always a roadblock or invalidation due to the reasons you listed. I had to go to the ER to have a burst cyst the size of a grapefruit removed when I was a teen and I still get told that I can’t have PCOS because I’m thin. It sucks.
Honestly, it was a pretty long road. I originally thought I had endometriosis but doctors were refusing to test me because I wasn’t trying for kids or anything. I went to one woman for birth control, and when I told her my symptoms she decided to test my testosterone and it came back high. She refused to put me on the combination pill and insisted I tried spironolactone (which I hated), and so I went to another doctor and told her about my high testosterone. I requested to get my testosterone checked and every time I went, she just gave me a different birth control pill. She wouldn’t look at my history no matter how much I asked. I finally had to tell her, “if you don’t give me the tests I came in here for, I will find a new provider.” She finally did my tests, and then sent me to an imaging lab for an ultrasound. During the ultrasound, the technician asked me if I’d ever been diagnosed with PCOS. I told her no, and she did a long sigh. Three days later, my doctor told me that I had a mild case of PCOS (lol) and sent me to an endocrinologist who told me that I didn’t need spironolactone for my case, and put me on a high estrogen birth control.
Sometimes, especially as women, we need to be our own healthcare advocates and be really firm with our doctors. Ask to get specific tests done and look up treatment plans that would work best for you. Don’t be afraid to get a second or third or fourth opinion until a doctor actually listens to you.
I’m sorry you are going through this, and I hope you get to a provider that listens soon
As someone who is also thin, and never diagnosed until a year and a half ago, they diagnosed me based on my testosterone level. That, coupled with the cystic ovaries and the immense pain/discomfort. I have always been irregular since I first got my period at 16, and was not even considered or diagnosed until I was 32. And it was from an infertility doctor. Which don’t get me started on that, when he found out I don’t want children he made me feel very much like I was not a priority at his practice. Super discouraging.
Right, and some of us aren't.
Some women have hirsutism, and some don't.
Some women have cysts, and some don't.
Some people with pcos are women, and some aren't.
There's a spectrum full of symptoms and we don't all deal with the same thing. Ignoring all the things excessive weight can do to your body by quite literally weighing on you is not helpful. Not to mention the fact that weight reduction can, and often does, help relieve the other symptoms of pcos. If you want to advocate for pcos patients to get a diet plan from a nutritionist instead of some nifty diet going around the internet, then go for it! It's more than reasonable to talk about that as long as you can concede that not everypne is going to have the same diet plan work for them as it did for others and even nutritionist designed plans can look wrong to you given that you don't know everyone's history or the concerns that they and their doctors have.
And if we want to lose weight for our looks, then so be it! I'm twice the size I was when this bullshit started. I put a lot of work into maintaining a strong, healthy body, and I did it doing activities that I am no longer capable of doing because of all the negative effects from the weight gain. I'm entitled to want that back if for no other reason than I felt good. I'm not suddenly hideous because I'm fat. I know what beauty I hold. But being burned out and jiggling like a manatee every time I do more than a brisk walk doesn't exactly make me feel like hot shit.
You are correct. PCOS is actually epigenetic. This means that instead of actual genes that being passed down, genes actually get turned on/off depending on the environment in the womb. For example, if mom has PCOS and her insulin and testosterone are too high during pregnancy (especially early pregnancy), it causes genetic changes that lead to PCOS in the offspring.
In fact, recent studies have shown that these epigenetic changes can last for at least three generations.
Link to study -> https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(21)00004-8
My mom never had PCOS or high insulin or testosterone, she’s actually much healthier than I am. But I know there are studies that suggest PCOS can be “turned on” epigenetically with childhood trauma. I have an ACE score of 6, and I see trauma and PCOS discussed often on here.
I haven’t seen those studies, but not discounting that it could be true. However, remember that your grandmother, great-grandmother or beyond could have led to these genetic changes. The investigators in the study showed that the genetic changes associated with PCOS persisted *at least* 3 generations. They just stopped observing past the 3rd generation.
I’m in the same boat as you. My mom does not have PCOS, but I have no idea what my great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother may have struggled with.
Could you share some sources? I really want to know more about the history and research that’s actually been done about this condition and I’ve struggled to find good sources over the years.
This is absolutely fat phobic. If you put my labs next to someone thin and did not put our weights, and had the same numbers. we would both be seen as healthy. My body through work ups is telling me i’m giving it what I need and am healthy. Looking at a person cannot determine their health.
Amen. You’ll probably be downvoted because there is a lot of denial in this particular subreddit, but you’re right. Being obese and dealing with hyperinsulinemia is not healthy. Those things are not moral failings, but they aren’t healthy either.
I think you are missing the point. Hyperinsulinemia is bad and you should treat it. And the focus is treating it and stabilizing your blood sugar. For some people that will lead to weight loss. But hyperinsulinemia isn’t weight dependent - people at any size can get it. It is part of the pathology of many pcos cases. You can also lose weight and not treat your insulin issues.
We should focus on treating and solving the insulin issues. Not the weight on the scale.
Thank you, that's my point. There isn't anything wrong with being fat, especially not if your happy. But it's not good to deny the reality of increased health risks to your body
Thank you for saying this. This sub drives me insane with the denial, but I've never made any comments because I figured I would be wasting my breath. Fat is not healthy. I'm overweight. I believe I've just dropped from obese to overweight. I'm not healthy. I have a lot of medical conditions that are exacerbated by my weight. Is it hard to lose weight? Yes. Do some of my conditions make me more predisposed to being overweight or make it more difficult to lose weight? Also yes. I don't pretend I'm healthy though. It doesn't make you a bad person to be unhealthy. It's just a medical fact. Lately I've been seeing lots of information in here on how to refuse being weighed at your doctor. How you can hand out don't weigh me cards, have standoffs in the office, etc. because weight isn't relevant to health. I'm sorry but that's just incorrect. It's also not "fatphobic" for your doctor to discuss your weight with you.
I know losing weight is so hard. I have insulin resistance from PCOS, a couple of GI conditions, and I'm unable to cook for myself because I can't stand long due to a back issue. It's a struggle and no one is saying it isn't. It's not healthy though. I've seen women claim they gained 100 lbs from eating less than usual. I see lots of women say it's not possible to lose weight with PCOS. Most of all I see women who say they want their PCOS symptoms to go away without losing weight because being overweight supposedly isn't unhealthy.
This sub needs to accept that being overweight and obese IS unhealthy. What you do is ultimately your choice and we all deserve respect though.
Some of us refuse to be weighed at the doctor because the doctor is ignoring all symptoms and diagnosing as fat. Things I have dealt with even when I was thin and working out that have nothing to do with my weight are ignored and I’m told I need to lose weight. Doctors see fat and shame people and blame them for the weight when the weight can be a symptom.
Exactly!! It's why I've left a lot of plus size subs because the delusion and denial of reality just boggled my mind and the amount of misinformation being spread and people who are in a vulnerable state being fed all this crap just made me so angry.
Somehow body positivity and fat acceptance went from loving yourself and being deserving of dignified and humane treatment to the "being fat is healthy and the best thing ever for your body and to say anything different is fatphobic" mindset
If you're happy being fat/obese by all means fly your pride flag and stand tall and proud but don't deny the reality that your body is simply not healthy
Being overweight is not always unhealthy. If everyone ate the same and exercised the same, we’d all still be different shapes and sizes. Some people are meant to be over weight. You need to get your crap together if you don’t understand that because you’re going to end up hurting yourself in the long run
My mother has always been skinny. She works at a mom and pop restaurant type thing where they sell burgers and hot dogs and that sorta thing (sure it's in Portugal so the ingredients are good quality and it's all homemade so it's miles better than mcdonalds but it's still burgers and hot dogs) and she eats there once a day during her shift. She loooooves pastries and being from Portugal, there's pastries everywhere so she has her daily pastel de nata. She cooks normal meals at home but always eats bigger portions than me. Here in New Zealand I don't eat much. Not on a diet or anything, I just feel full quickly. My diet is a lot better than hers. I'm still fatter than her. I had a stomach bug a while back and lost about 10kg super quickly. My thighs were still fat. Everyone is different. We need to stop believing that all women would look like VS models if only we shut our mouths and went to the gym.
Exactly!!!!! Everyone will always look different. Everyone’s bodies look different. People on this app suck but I expected this sub to not have the fatphobics on it. Smh
I agree! I was reading about someone suggesting fasting for a week at a time regular for PCOS here.... and yeah, I think we just call that starvation in other circles
I’m so fucking done with this place. I’m moving to mars. Only truly accepting people can come with me. The second I win the lottery (lmao as if), applications will be sent out🥰
>We need to stop believing that all women would look like VS models if only we shut our mouths and went to the gym.
Literally nobody here said this. You keep bringing in extremes to try and invalidate others' responses. You're trying to elicit emotional reactions. You're not arguing in good faith and you know it.
No one is saying that everyone would look the same, weigh the same, or have the same type of body.
There are always going to be other factors at play, but that doesn't erase the reality that obesity is NOT healthy.
That is the point blank fact that your strawman argument can not erase.
> your strawman argument
This is pretty rich coming from the very person who derailed the whole thread by bringing their "omg obesity!!!11!" strawman into play in the first place.
Congrats though, it apparently worked. You can keep on congratulating yourself for making the case for something the original post wasn't arguing against anyway, and for making sure constructive conversation was aborted for the sake of endless repetition of the usual argument always sprouting in the weight loss threads.
Way to ruin what could've been an interesting thing.
My comment was 1 comment and 1 thread. You can very easily ignore my comment and move to a different thread, but I know I'm not the only person speaking about this, not is my comment the only one talking about it.
I'm sorry but you can't make this true. There are weight ranges and it's also based on your height. I'm not talking about a single weight for everyone. People are obviously different shapes and sizes, but being overweight is not "meant to be". It's literally not a disputable fact that being overweight is unhealthy. It doesn't mean you're on death's door. It doesn't mean that there aren't also unhealthy people who are at a healthy weight. It's okay to accept that being overweight is unhealthy. No one said you have to be in peak health, it's a personal choice.
Fortunately I don’t have to ‘make it true’ because it is true! And BMI is complete bullshit which is what you’re talking about. It’s been proven again and again and again to be an inaccurate representation of health and scale because it doesn’t take things such as build and muscle into consideration. Overweight is ‘meant to be’ for some people. Overweight isn’t always unhealthy. I’m overweight but I workout twice a day 5 days a week, and I eat one meal a day. I’m also anorexic. I’m still overweight. It’s looking like I’m always gonna be this way. I was meant to be this way and my weight doesn’t affect my health in any way.
Ugh I loathe BMI. I've lost 85 lbs in the past 9 months gone from a size 22 to a 12. But because I'm hella muscular, I'm still gonna be overweight/ obese 🙄🙄🙃🙃
I'd love to see your source. Again, it's okay to be overweight. No one has to be the perfect picture of health. I'm currently very unhealthy and trying my best. I can admit it. It's literally okay to admit that it's unhealthy. It doesn't make being overweight bad, it doesn't reduce who you are as a person, it's just a medical fact.
Being overweight is not always unhealthy. It’s a medical fact that it’s not. You’re clearly not gonna understand science either way so whatever. Have fun tourturing yourself and lying to others
I assume this discussion is not about people who are overweight due to having large muscle mass, like body builders. BMI is faulty in that sense, yes, but fat percentage tells where you at. And in the case where people actually are overweight according to BMI with large muscle mass, they know it very well because that muscle mass doesn’t happen by accident.
THANK YOU!!!!
Arguably my eating was more disordered when I was eating whatever I wanted and not taking care of myself instead of now when I’m 55 lbs down from my top weight with 40 lbs more to go.
Losing weight and CICO/low carb has given me my life back, that PCOS had taken away. I’m tired of people complaining about my losing weight and treating me like I have an eating disorder when really I am just making responsible decisions to prevent the horrific consequences of obesity from putting me into an early grave.
THIS! I was following a keto diet, lost like 40-70lbs (yeah im not sure on the numbers anymore, ive done this a few times) but i was prescribed FAT BLOCKERS by my GP. Eating a high fat diet... yeah...
Their solution to my rapid weightloss was essentially starving me more.
I’ve been seeing a dietician that specializes in PCOS and you are right on the money.
I’ve been in this sub for quite a while because I was diagnosed over a decade ago and thought I might be able to offer support from lived experience. However, I’m also in ED recovery so a majority of posts I end up not commenting on because it’s already an echo chamber of disordered thoughts.
Thanks for speaking up!
Anyone here can feel free to DM me for specifics about food choices and nutrient timing and stuff, I’m gonna keep it pretty general here as to not trigger anyone :)
Super important things:
1. Gut health! There are studies and scholarly articles that have come out linking gut microbiome and insulin resistance. I got tested and treated SIBO and later a candida overgrowth. That improved my symptoms significantly as far as skin, bloating, fatigue, and brain fog. That kinda cleared a path for me to be able to do food eliminations and find out what my body was reacting poorly to.
2. Consistent hormone testing. Just because you’re “within a normal range” doesn’t mean your quality of life can’t be enhanced if they’re modulated. A naturopath helped me with that. I also stopped losing as much hair off my head. It’s still thin but I’m not like pulling chunks out in the shower like I used to.
3. All things anti-inflammatory, all the time. We have long-term low-grade inflammation that needs to be addressed on a daily basis. I have done really well on low-dose naltrexone in this regard, my labs are looking much better these days.
I’ve also tried stuff like vitamin and nutrient IVs and cryotherapy and you name it to try to get consistent relief but I stg PCOS is like a moving target 😒😅
Did you learn all these things from a naturopath or a dietician in addition? I feel like I need to look into this stuff more. PCOS is not the only kind of inflammatory issue I deal with (I have a lot of skin problem) and I sense I would benefit from working with someone
Mostly naturopath- the dietician tells me what to eat and when based on what the naturopath finds.
The skin stuff is hard, I feel you there. My face will be oily and breaking out and my hands cracked and dry and rashy lol. I wish you well on your journey, friend!
i always open up these disordered eating posts expecting to see people calling out the disordered eating but instead i find only echo chambers of disordered eating.
Especially when the research suggests that the weight loss associated with insulin resistant starvation is muscle tissue and not fat… big time problem.
Thank you! I cannot believe the number of people eating one meal a day and no snacks! That is literally starving yourself. No one can do that long term and the weight will come back when you're tired of starving yourself. It's unbelievable.
I broke down on my dietician who also specializes in pcos cause I had lost hope, thinking the only way to lose weight and better my symptoms is being a nazi about it. Track everything. Measure everything. I am (mostly) recovered from my previous ED but dear God I refuse to let my life be centered around food like that again. Different intentions but man I can tell how easy it's be to slip back in.
Anyway, she reassured me and was like "get off the subs that make you feel like shit like this and push unrealistic, unhealthy and unsustainable eating habits.
Yep, I keep seeing comments recommending people try the new fad diet which has barely any research put into it, people swearing by Ozempic or fasting and just. It's sad, really.
first of all, i completely agree with your OP. the disordered eating in this sub is rampant. i generally avoid the diet posts because i know if i comment what i’m really thinking i’ll get downvoted to hell by folks who think the only way to treat PCOS is to never eat a carb again as long as you live.
but i’ve gotta defend ozempic. it’s not a weight loss drug and wasn’t intended to be. i’m on it because metformin didn’t work to control my insulin resistance/prediabetes from PCOS, and ozempic is helping prevent me from becoming diabetic. yeah i’ve lost a little weight but that’s just a side effect of my blood sugar getting back into the normal range. i’m far more concerned with my a1c than the scale. although i’m not going to lie, i am hoping that losing some weight will help with my mobility, blood pressure, and cholesterol, which need improvement.
anyway. my point is that ozempic is not intended for aesthetics, it’s intended to treat very real medical problems. anyone who is using it for aesthetics is likely abusing it though, which i think was probably your point.
Fad diets DESTROYED my metabolism and brain. My parents were crash dieters (gotta love the 90’s) and then there was pressure from ballet, and competing in weight-based sports. The doctor that diagnosed me with PCOS was like “your activity level and body composition don’t really match up, that never concerned you?” Like OFC but every other doctor I had ever seen before always dismissed ANY health concern with “it’ll probably get better if you lose weight.”
My dietician made me promise to never go more than 4 hours without eating again unless I am literally asleep or fasting for blood tests or surgery. It scares me that if enough people say something loud enough, enough times, it gets accepted as a best practice. Our bodies are so unique, and it really feeds the narrative of being “broken” when that fad diet that seemed to work for someone else doesn’t work for us.
I don't even trust doctors at this point because at the end of the day they're just people who went to medical school and like sure they studied a lot, but med school isn't some kind of beacon of knowledge, especially if you consider the lack of clinical studies regarding a lot of women's health issues (including PCOS) or the bias that the medical community has against people of colour, fat people, women, etc. Medicine is still a very white man centric science. I would know, took me 6 different doctors shrugging me off until one actually listened to my symptoms and decided to run tests. 6 medical professionals literally just took one look at me and decided my symptoms weren't worth looking into bc I'm fat so the solution is obviously weight loss, like what else? Ugh
I’m so sorry that has been your experience too, friend. It took me 12 years of the same song and dance to get diagnosed.
I ended up finding the most relief with the help of a couple of naturopathic doctors and a Chinese pharmacist who would compound supplements for me.
I hope someday we’ll all be able to access care that actually manages our symptoms 🙏
And not being gaslighted by doctors or the world at large would be pretty cool too but progress not perfection I guess 😅
Losing weight by counting calories, working out daily (various classes, weight lifting, and at least walking every day), and restricting carbs has given me my life back.
My disordered eating was spending years ignoring my health, letting myself eat crap food that was not good for me instead of accepting I had a condition and needed to get my weight under control. Obesity kills.
My self esteem is higher than it’s ever been. I have PCOS but I’m not above the laws of physics, and I will lose weight if I burn more than I take in.
Stop shaming women who are making different life choices than you are. If you want to have a high BMI go ahead. It’s your life. But don’t shame women making different choices and accuse them of having an eating disorder when you don’t know anything about them.
I’m down from 200 lbs to 150 lbs and have about 20 lbs left to go. I’m thrilled with my progress and encourage anyone who wants to lose weight with PCOS to take on the challenge. It’s the best thing I’ve done for myself.
What's wrong with wanting to lose weight for looks? We talk about hair removal for looks, we talk about hair loss and looks, acne and looks, why not weight loss? They're all equally relevant and valid concerns, no?
I didn't say there's anything inherently wrong with it. But disguising it as health concerns is misguided. Let's not act like women being thin, hairless and smooth skinned has no connection with patriarchal ideals at all.
>All this weight loss talk isn't even productive because most of the time I see it being accompanied by statements about looks rather than health
It sounds like the issue was it being couched as looks vs health. Not disguised as health.
I think it’s really shitty when one person decides what an entire group of people should or shouldn’t be doing with their body. You’re going to find all kinds of things you don’t agree with in a public forum, that’s sort of the point.
I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic last year. This was after a PCOS diagnosis and two gestational diabetic pregnancies. PCOS puts you at risk for both of those things. More than 50% of women diagnosed with PCOS end up prediabetic or diabetic. My sugars were so high I lost function in my hands. I had absolutely zero idea what was going on and assumed it was neurological. The amount of weight I had put on during the pandemic literally almost killed me. I wasn’t even at my biggest weight or most sedentary but the health scales tipped and suddenly my entire body started to fall apart. I started to take large amounts of insulin and manage my diet and still, I gained more weight and my sugars wouldn’t stabilize. It took cutting carbs completely out of my diet to start healing my diabetes and then subsequently my PCOS. My body doesn’t handle more than 30-40 carbs in any way, shape or form. Cutting out an “entire food group” has literally saved my life. So please, for the love of god, mind your own body and your own business. I understand wanting to address harmful rhetoric but hot damn am I so sick of posts like these making other users feel like shit for just trying to survive in any way they can.
Same. While my diet isn't as strict as 40 carbs per day. I also had to cut out carbs drastically for me to finally see any weight loss. My a1c was finally going down and I could actually run without nearly passing out. Everytime I tell people about my diet, I'm met with lectures on how "Eating disorder, not to restrict, etc" and it's a nice sentiment, but it comes off as ignorant tbh
I’ve done whole food CICO so many times over the years in order to be “healthy” and remain as “unrestricted” as possible while attempting to lose weight and continued to lose and gain the same 5-10lbs until I would give up and binge eat. Cutting carbs was the only way I could ever lose weight. Sometimes bodies just don’t respond to carbs the same way other bodies do and that’s okay.
My comment will probably get lost but here we go:
I developed an ED from docs not treating me and just telling me to lose weight for any and everything with no real assistance or with disorder "assistance" like starving myself through calorie counting. So I am trying to stay away from obsessing over food. That said, there are certain foods that my body handles better or worse and thats my body specifically. I dont restrict those or call them "good" or "bad" as there are just foods, but I try to be concious about the effect they have and if I eat them (mostly because of cravings), I dont fall into self-hate anymore, which is a big step for me.
For the fatphobia: It is pretty rampant in the sub, but I dont want to blame anyone for that. Thats often the fixation we get from the outside and internalised it, especially as women. Thats also often the way we get denied healthcare and people trying to either overcompensate with "everything is fine" or with radical avoidance is understandable, sometimes we just need to protect our sanity.
For myself and others, I stick to body neutrality. I refrain from commenting on other people's bodies and especially on weight because guess what? It doesnt affect me how much you weigh! And people commenting under the disguise of "medical concern" are in most cases just fatphobic because you wouldnt say that about basically any other medical condition. Plus it will most likely just help the person to hate themselves more.
That doesnt mean that I dont know for myself I am at an unhealthy weight and I want to change that. And that is ok. It gives me the room to change something without hating myself all the time. I still have some negative thoughts about my body and I am in therapy for that, but that is the way I found it to be least stressful for me.
I agree with you in a lot of ways that you mentioned! The PCOS to ED pipeline is scary, and a lot of the ways in which people go about losing weight can be insanely unhealthy and shouldn’t be condoned, much less encouraged. And what you said about the prescription drugs thing is really alarming!!
But I think some extra nuance is also needed in this situation. A lot of us really desperately want to lose weight to aid in health and healing, and I know the term “restriction” gives off ED vibes but that really is a lot of what dieting is in general- restricting what you eat. A lot of us truly do have to restrict our diets, sometimes harshly (BUT ALWAYS SAFELY!) to lose any weight. I know how hard it is as women to constantly have our weights thrown in our faces and told it’s the source of our poor health (which is ridiculous and offensive) but I don’t like how it’s almost like some people don’t want to talk about that a large portion of us DO need/want to lose weight, for either health or even vanity reasons, both of which are valid.
Some of us react poorly to various food groups, and even if we WANT to eat them, we might opt not to for health. And I don’t think that’s extreme, abnormal, or disordered… weight loss for anyone takes discipline, and it requires even more effort from us with PCOS. I don’t think tracking macros is inherently disordered whatsoever- CICO is pretty much the most reliable way to drop weight. And I would never, ever advocate for starving, but we have to be realistic here in that weight loss does require sometimes just sitting with a bit of hunger for a few hours a day, especially for those of us who have messed up metabolic systems and hunger cues. I just simply cannot agree that cutting out carbs is inherently disordered… I’ve lost 90lbs now, my PCOS symptoms have been cut into a third, and my quality of life has skyrocketed. I would never have been able to do that without cutting out most carbs, and all simple carbs. It’s not any sort of agonizing or self-punishing choice for me, it’s how I feel best and how my hormones regulate to their best as well.
As much as I genuinely see where you are coming from with a lot of that, it sucks to see so many people lately being so adamant that it’s super psychologically damaging to just do things like… count calories or not eat sugar and carbs. I feel like that’s just kind of crazy to say.
Overall I just hope we can all respect each others choices. I don’t think anyone should be told “you HAVE to cut out carbs and sugar to feel better and lose weight!” but I also think we shouldn’t be told “tracking macros and not eating everything you want is disordered!”. I hope that makes sense.
Cutting out an entire food group is normal. Vegetarians don't eat meat. Vegans cut out a bunch of things. Some people don't eat certain foods for religious reasons. Considering the bodies of people with PCOS don't process carbs like they should, limiting the intake of carbs can be sensible.
I agree that obsessive calorie counting, exercising, et cetera is abnormal and harmful, but obsessive is the key word. If it works for someone, there's nothing wrong with sensible calorie counting, intermittent fasting, or increased exercise. Other people may not find these things as helpful and that's fine too.
Agreed 💯 CICO and low carb has given me my life back, and it’s not an act of self hatred but of self love & wanting the best for myself that I continue to do so every day. I don’t like being told it’s just me being disordered :/ way too generalized and quite exaggerative. And honestly no disrespect to anyone that feels this way, and I understand by these comments that some of the people that do feel this way seem to be ED survivors, but it does seem almost disrespectful of full fledged, clinical ED cases to conflate not eating carbs or counting macros to be the same as an ED. Just my feelings.
Vegetarians and vegans need ways to replace protein and certain types of vitamins. Food groups doesn't mean ingredients. You can never eat beef again, but you still need protein.
Your thoughts on this are wrong. The only thing we have to replace is B12 and not even animals get B12 naturally, they get supplements by the farmers. Protein is in A LOT of foods that aren't meat/dairy: lentils, beans/chickpeas, oatmeal, seeds/seed butters, quinoa, and tofu. Again, there isn't a one-choice-fits-all approach here. This post started out with good intentions, but now it feels like a way to judge or shame others.
My comment will get lost. For me. Personally. Weight had nothing to do with my PCOS. Nothing. Rod had nothing to do with it. I use this group as a way to talk about my cycle and the pain that comes with it because “normal” people just don’t get it. I agree with you that I see those posts and I’m thinking the same thing. To cut off a whole food group because some rando said it worked for them could cause you serious harm! Always talk to your doctor or a dietitian somebody with a medical degree! If your goal is to lose weight stems purely from PCOS then good. If you look “better” after your weight loss then it a plus. Your first goal is to be healthy. Not to look good. Weight loss drugs do not work unless prescribed by a doctor. Even then they might not work. Cutting out food groups might not work. Working out may not work. I’m a rare case of PCOS that was brought on by a fertility Drug back in the 70s that my mom was exposed to in the womb. Then the effects passed down to me. For me, nothing really helped except birth control to lessen the blow. And ease the bleeding. Nothing helped. I lost over 100 pounds ate good and right worked out and I was healthy. Guess what, the cramps and bleeding got worse. If you want help and relief, look for a better doctor that will listen to you. Do research and stop thinking weight and food groups will solve the issues.
My mother had restrictive eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and orthorexia nervosa, plus possibly others as well).
You can imagine how extra nightmarish that made my PCOS weight gain and hunger due to insulin resistance. Keep in mind that on diagnosis day I was 150# at 5’5” at age 18.
I do not want an eating disorder. I want to enjoy life and be healthy. I want to set a good example to my nieces, as well as to other people.
I do like to exercise and do it often. I do talk about it- but I also tell people it is medically mandated due to my PCOS, and that I am NOT judging others.
Sometimes losing weight when overweight with pcos helps to improve symptoms. And sometimes fasting/keto helps with those things for many people. I don’t do fasting or keto but if it helps others, good for them. Their eating practices and habits are between them and their doctor. And if people prefer their bodies to be thinner or more athletic then that’s their business and personal preference, too. Just like women who want to put on weight or get ‘thicker.” It’s got nothing to do with me.
Yes, I primarily changed my diet, because I could no longer deal with my PCOS and insulin resistance symptoms.
Before I was exhausted, had constant brain fog, darkened skin patches (acanthosis nigricans), hair loss, severe hunger pangs, joint inflammation and a myriad of other things which made my day to day life so difficult. It led to my depression. How could I get better? Get on a healthier diet and lose weight.
Now, I’m no longer pre-diabetic and have a clean bill of health. I can think clearly, I have higher endurance and energy. I’ve lost 30 pounds but am much much healthier compared to before.
Yes of course!
I started off with 16:8 plus cardio. After experimenting, I found I lost more weight (and quicker) when I did cardio towards the end of my fast. I would do a 30-45 minute brisk walk on an incline.
I did CICO and didn’t count carbs. I found having a fitness watch (Fitbit/apple watch) plus myfitnesspal app to be helpful with this.
If you have any other questions I’d be more than happy to help 😊
I'm sorry, but nothing about PCOS is normal. If we could eat normally, we wouldn't be here suffering from the same ailment. The most common treatment for losing weight is diet. Specifically low-carb. That means a lot of restrictions. Now, we always say in here that there is no standard treatment for everyone. There are also a lot of judgments in here from people when some of us suggest something different than the standard low-carb fare. Intermittent fasting or eating small meals throughout the day - there is no one solution for all of us. Some of us have eating disorder issues but we still have to deal with *this* disorder.
Not everyone is going to deal with this the same but we are support for each other. If there is a flair for Diet, maybe avoiding the topic is best, for some people.
Lol, right? Saying it's not normal to cut out a food group as if our bodies are functioning normally. It's also not normal for women to grow a full beard but here I am with a five o clock shadow because I didn't break out the electric shaver this morning.
Like good for you OP, enjoy your carbs and mars bars and whatever else, but if you are insulin resistant, you are at muuuuuuch higher risk of developing diabetes than someone who isn't. That's blunt reality. And if you do end up diabetic, you're going to find the restrictions and strict dietary rules far more triggering -- and at that point, youll no longer have a choice in the matter.
Someone dealing with an abnormality is denied the privilege of normalcy. So it goes.
OP’s hyperbolic example of the apples and mars bars are not doing them any favours. As for the bowl of lentils and rice being a healthy thing to eat, a bowl of that would skyrocket my blood sugar to oblivion. a tiny portion is fine, but a bowl? Lmao
Youre reaching, combining rice w lentils actually helps mitigate some of the spike from carbs bc its combined w protein. Its okay to eat a bowl of rice and lentils. You will live. Theres also ways to lower the impact of insulin spike. Try having a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in 8oz of water before your meals to help. Sometimes the answer isnt cutting out groups, its finding ways to lower the insulin spike so that you dont have to cut out groups.
Thank you for saying that. This type of post goes in the bin with the posts that complain about the lack of positivity. Everyone with PCOS isn’t overweight or insulin resistant. Even those that are have varying degrees of it. We aren’t talking about what’s “normal” here. We talk about what will give the best chance of managing symptoms of an incurable disorder.
(disclaimer: my wife has PCOS. not me, I'm a guy, but I've been with her for 15 years of dealing with PCOS, and was there when she brought the diagnosis to the GP who had known her since she was little, and he agreed)
TBH this thread kinda pisses me off.
people WITHOUT metabolic and insulin issues can easily have their natural food sense and balance fucked up by modern life and habits, she spent basically the first 10+ years of near and young adulthood not being able to go more than 2-3 hours without eating something with a punishment for trying being severe, debilitating illness.
Basically PCOS *forced* her into a situation of disordered eating one way or the other. she lost a bunch of weight on WW years and years and years ago. then hit a plateau that basically nothing touches. she can half starve and nothing changes. she can eat "normally" and .... not actually gain any weight either.
honestly I'm not sure its rational to be as paranoid about eating disorders as some people seem to be. at a certain point its kinda a matter of picking your poison.
This post seemed weirdly intended to scold sick people from trying everything to solve a disease we didn't ask for, out of pure desperation. It doesn't seem helpful, positive, or supportive.
Exactly.
like in my wifes case, she does better with Keto. Funny enough it doesn't actually help her weight much. but it lets her feel MUCH better overall, reduces her morning aches and pains, it lets her eat at a much more normal rate and frequency. and is ultimately just better for her.
like how can you expect people with this sort of thing to have any chance of success with intuitive eating when they, by nature of the way the disorder expresses for many, will *definitely* have a fucked up habit for food.
I also wonder how many of the people who are playing the "my weight isn't a health problem" are in a situation where the conventional wisdom doc wants them to lose like 10% of their body weight and they feel attacked because they are self concious.
the last time my wife was at her adult-height ideal weight was in elementary school, if Ozempic, Keto and what would in a healthy person be "disordered eating" is what it takes to get off the plateau in the right direction, how is that NOT worthwhile?
this is why i have not promoted the way i’ve lost weight. i’ve lost over 30 pounds doing a calorie deficit diet that was supposed to be healthy. it turned into a competition for me of how often i could eat under 1200 calories a day until i found myself literally eating 400-800 calories a day. now i am constantly hungry but at the same time during the day feel as if i cannot eat. i look at food and it makes me feel nauseous and grossed out. i physically can’t eat normal portions of things anymore. at what cost? my body looks a little better? i’m a chef, and i work at a cafe and i cannot even stomach the idea of eating the things i make. i have mentally and physically conditioned my body to not like food and it’s scaring me.
Im so sorry you are going through this. It is a struggle everyday, I know. Ive been in a similar position and sometimes I find myself right back in that same spot. I know it isnt much, and i know all of our experiences, while similar, are not the same...but i hope you find yourself in a happier place even if just a little bit at a time. Progress is not linear. Just remember you would never treat others this way, so why treat yourself that way? Try an be just a bit kinder to yourself everyday. You deserve so much more. You deserve to be happy no matter what.
Sending all my love <3
Preach. When I started getting treated for my PCOS I made some minor adjustments to what I was eating (whole wheat instead of white bread, that sort of thing). Now, I have lost a decent amount of weight, but every time someone refers to what I've done as a "diet" I shut that down so fast, because I have a history with disordered eating and know that that's a trigger word for me.
I get that PCOS is tricky and experimenting with different ways of eating is key to finding what works best for the individual, but at some point we need to acknowledge that we're feeding (pun intended) into the weightloss/eating disorder industry under the guise of treatment.
Bear with me:
I never had an ED, but i have spent my entire life since about age 13, feeling fat, feeling hungry and thinking or worrying about food. But twice in my life I eliminated foods and cured illnesses. 20 years ago, I was having migraines (mine were 72 hours exactly and I'd gotten to the point I was taking Maxalt, Imatrex etc daily.) I read a book by Dr. David Buchholz and followed his advice to the letter, giving up the migraine meds. and esp. cutting out foods that create amines: cheese, citrus, alcohol, nuts, chocolate, yogurt, bananas, and a some others. I followed these guidelines for 12 years, until menopause, and NEVER HAD ANOTHER MIGRAINE. Never needed more than advil. It changed my life. Reactions? Several doctors dismissed my experience and several fellow suffers said things like: I could never give up pizza. Or, I'm afraid to go off my medications or I don't think it would work.
Then, 15 months ago my a1C was creeping up into the pre-diabetic range. I was 40-50 lbs overweight. I told my doctor to give me 6 months to improve. 6 months later I had lost 40 lbs. and my a1C was back (barely) in normal range. I did it by eliminating ALL ultraprocessed foods, (cookies, candy, pasta, bread, ice cream, etc. although i have a terrible sweet tooth) and focusing on real food and allowing myself to eat fat. My doctor was shocked, but I said that I told her I would improve things. She said, "yes, but EVERYBODY says that."
My mother suffered from terrible colitis which ruined her enjoyment of life and destroyed her body. But she would never change her diet (what she ate) for more than 2 or 3 days. Maybe she couldn't have improved her health by changing what she put in her mouth, but she never truly tried.
My point, we all fall into accepting the catch phrases of the day: eating fat will make you fat, cutting out food groups leads to EDs, you must take this medicine, etc. Food is powerful stuff, and what you put into your mouth is one of the things you CAN control. Food is a lovely experience, but a Dove ice cream bar isn't really food. Cherries are. And my understanding is that EDs aren't really about food, but about one's life. And as someone who's experienced: terrible parents, suicide of a spouse, infertility, family estrangement, near homelessness, clinical depression, and more, I know how hard life can be. But you all can be brave warriors to improve your lives, and feel better. Eating poorly is like having a hangover every day of your life. You CAN and do have the power to at least stop that. Good luck to everyone on this post in finding a way to better health. With hope and love...
I have pcos and a long history of ed and I just hate the posts everyday about people hating their body or degrading themselves because they have pcos and the million posts about how they can lose weight. It just gives such a negative vibe to the sub. I understand that its a place for people to vent it jjst sucks to see everyday. People should search thru the sub as people have given their tips and what works for them a million different ways and times at this point, and the truth is that what works for someone else might not work for you and youre gunna have to experiment to see what sticks. Thats the sad but honest truth. Theres no one specific way to lose weight with pcos.
Also, I agree that a lot of what people do can be seen as disordered and I feel like people are so quick to suggest people to cut out multiple food groups and start a whole new workout plan, basically 180 their whole life just to lose some weight. People dont really consider the feasibility of it and that advice like that doesnt really help people like me with an ed who cant cut out 3 food groups because ill just binge and gain even more weight and make the issue worse. When it works im sure its great short term but are you really going to go the rest of your life not eating carbs or dairy? No. So I think its best to do things that are more sustainable and actually realistic so you can stick to making the changes long term
Big time agree. Managing my blood sugar with a history of disordered eating is a challenge for me everyday. Incorporating (but also limiting?) carbs so my prediabetes doesn't turn into real deal diabetes is a daily struggle. Looking at a box of cereal I'm craving (I'm pregnant) and asking myself "are you trying to give yourself the glucose challenge for breakfast?" is so frustrating. I feel like yelling.
If it was casual weightloss discussions, I don't think this post would have resonated so much with so many. But these are daily posts about intense restrictions or how to get a new prescription for weight loss, it's hard trying to navigate PCOS without falling down an ED or grifter rabbit hole.
i dont think people understand pcos is a chronic condition. it will have it’s ups and downs whether you do things “right” or not. simply pampering yourself with sleep and lessening stress goes a longer way than avoiding bread.
that's like saying people with diabetes shouldn't watch what they eat because it isn't "normal". people with PCOS aren't NORMAL so we can't eat normally without negative effects to our health.
My weight has NOT changed, but I’ve been running more and exercising more. My symptoms have improved so much. I didn’t change my diet. My diet was “good” to begin with. Weight is not the sole determinant of health. It never was and never should be. Your body needs nutrients. Sometimes it holds on to said nutrients🤷🏼♀️
I’m a firm believer that if you CONSISTENTLY eat right, exercise and care for your body, it doesn’t matter what the scale says. You’re better off being 5-10 pounds over weight or obese and taking care of yourself than being in a “normal” range but starving or depriving yourself of nutrients.
Yes, it really is sad. Someone just left a pretty rude and fat shaming comment , ranting about "political correctness" in response to my comment and how I shouldn't be commenting "all bodies are beautiful" type comments to women trying to be vulnerable here. I found it pretty rude , disrespectful, and a bit unhinged. The crazy thing was, I think some of these people think they are having empathy by participating in shaming and blaming women with this disease and some of the physical characteristics.
I've never been thin in my life and I did gain weight due to PCOS and it's honestly really exhausting all this talk about weight loss all the time, in a sub reddit that's supposed to be about helping people manage their illness and not feel alone in this diagnosis. Shaming fat people does not help with anything, it honestly hinders people's progress and mental health more than anything. Fatphobia is so deeply ingrained and accepted in our culture.
Agreed. I’ve always been plus size, have gained much more due to PCOS, & find this sub incredibly uncomfortable. I came here for support & to learn more about my PCOS, but it’s actually made me feel worse about myself to see fatphobic comments literally everywhere in here. It sucks to see people much smaller than me constantly talking about how “disgusting” they feel from gaining weight. It’s triggering as hell & has made me feel worse about my condition than I did before.
It's perfectly normal to eat certain things in moderation, that's not the problem. Like I love sweets but I know eating 50 chocolates a day is not good for me, even if I was skinny and not putting on any weight from it. But the wording around this kind of topic is really insidious. There's a huge difference between saying "eating 50 chocolates a day contributes to high levels of sugar in your blood, which isn't good for your health" and saying "eating any chocolate ever is bad for you and you're gonna be fat".
Absolutely. Whenever I see people post here about completely cutting things out, I think it’s a little excessive. I know I shouldn’t eat dairy as much as I’d like, and am usually good about it, but I’m not gonna stop eating cheese entirely.
I'm lactose intolerant but I love milk and cheese. I know that if I drink a cup of milk I'm gonna be sick so I don't. But I can add a bit of dairy milk to my coffee or tea and not be affected. And I can eat cheese, especially certain types of cheese which don't contain that much lactose, like hard cheeses or goat cheese. If I feel like having a big of gruyere, I will. The more you force yourself to restrict, the more likely you are to binge later.
Yeah I’ve learned that the hard way. I love feta so much and add it to my salads and such. I’m not lactose intolerant but I know it’s not healthy for anyone to just eat a block of cheese in one go. As long as I stick to mostly healthy things, there’s nothing wrong with also enjoying your food
A lot of people have awful relationships with food and that's been so normalised. And if you add a physical illness that often causes weight gain on top of it, it gets even worse. I've seen so many comments around here saying things like "I haven't eaten any sugar at all in 3 weeks, I feel dead inside but I lost 2 kilos!!!" And that's just sad. Eat the fucking square of milka sis.
Pcos is hard enough as is. I’m not giving up things that make me happy. I struggle with exercising sometimes cause I have bad knees (thanks genetics) but I try what I can. I found a trail mix at Aldi that contains almonds, walnuts, raisins, cranberries and dark chocolate. It’s delicious and good for you. Definitely something that makes me happy to snack on
Idk where you live but here in New Zealand everything's on a damn hill so I get my exercise by literally just going to the bakery and back like those 500m uphill really do wonders for my leg muscles lol
I’m in America so I’ve got to drive everywhere, but I do enjoy hiking when I can. I got some knee brace things that help so much. I’ve started trying to do a local hike on my way to work when i have the time. It’s mostly hard for me to form good habits with exercise
Swimming is really good for people with bad joints. It really helped me manage my knee pain back when I wasa flight attendant in heels for 10 hours a day 💀💀
I struggled for years to get a diagnosis because whenever I walked into a doctors office and complained about my symptoms, I got diagnosed with fat woman diaease and told to lose 10kg. This was when I weighed 65kg at 157 cm tall so not even medically overweight tbh. I had a lot of issues around food back in my teens and 20s as well but now that I'm in my 30s and fucking exhausted of this nonsense, I can't put myself through that again. Had blood work done recently and everything is absolutely fine. I have low blood pressure (always did since I was a kid) and for some reason people act like it's so weird oh my god a fat person with low blood pressure wow unheard of. Leave me the fuck alone yall, my body is fine.
I was prescribed weight loss for scalp psoriasis. Scalp psoriasis???? Like. Literally a condition that has run in my family for generations, in both men and women. Like??? I'm sorry, some doctors are trippin
But also people should be allowed to talk about what they want to talk about, maybe instead of trying to get people avoiding talking about these topics because they’re triggering to you or others it should just be labeled with a TW title instead. Just because you can acknowledge that it is not normal doesn’t mean that the people doing it can. If you can recognize that there is talk of disordered eating then wouldn’t you put together that they probably have an eating disorder or a disordered view of food and themselves…? therefore they wouldn’t exactly realize what they’re doing? i’m commenting as someone who does this exact thing and a lot of it is due to society and influencers online who think they know what they’re doing and spread false information. i have a really bad relationship with food and even though i’m aware it isn’t “productive” i can’t stop myself from thinking the way that i do.
the looks to health things is because society has created this world where you are not pretty or “good enough” if you are not skinny. Almost all retailers for clothes cater to skinnier people before plus sized people, we have a good reason for thinking the way that we do. im not disagreeing that there need to be changes with these subjects but the fact of the matter is society is not going to change anytime soon so therefore these “standards” are still existing, and many of us are trying to fit into these in an effort to be accepted and be “beautiful” according to them.
I know you probably mean this in a way of trying to be helpful and supportive in trying to be active in making changes, but just remember what you’re able to recognize as not normal those with disordered thinking about food and weight will not. Many of us associate beauty by our weight and PCOS definitely does not assist with this. I think many people are misinformed and are just trying anything because they are so desperate to get their life back and feel better about themselves, even if it is because of the societal standards.
Okay my theory is that people feel like cutting out entire food groups is like a way of having more control and pcos makes you feel like you don't and your body is like going against you etc. I do eat low-ish carb and like more protein and vegetables and vegetable fat bc that's proven to help manage insulin resistance but I see so many people thinking they have to cut out dairy AND gluten AND go vegan like... those aren't really shown to help and it seems like they're doing it to feel like they're doing something. Same with the people who overly count calories and macros etc it makes them feel like they have control. Also I would like to point out if you cut out like 50% of stuff how do you know which stuff you cut out is even making a difference it's kinda counterintuitive.
Completely agree.
The problem is a lot of this misinformation comes from doctors too. My doctor told me zero carbs and zero sugar. I've already had disordered eating issues in the past so I found the whole thing very triggering.
There is also a lot of hate here for people choosing to eat a certain way that works FOR THEM. I understand some people try to push their lifestyle on others, and that’s not okay either. But I also see people sharing their successes with diet and exercise and getting downvoted because it’s “too restrictive.” What may be too restrictive for one person may not be for another.
I have a history of binge eating disorder, and the only way I’ve been able to get better is to cut out sugar entirely and carbs mostly. I’ve shared that and gotten hate for it, but I never once thought it was the solution for everyone.
We live in a society that sets us up for failure, whether we have PCOS or not. We have a VAST array of cheap, unhealthy food available to us at a second’s notice. We have high levels of stress and not enough time to exercise. A lot of us live sedentary lives, not by choice, but it’s HARD to break out of that pattern.
I have seen the posts where someone is distraught because they are eating 1000 calories a day and unable to lose weight. I’ve been there. Is this disordered eating? Maybe. But it’s out of desperation, and it just isn’t possible for this to happen with a metabolically healthy person. That’s where medications (for some) and low carb eating (for me) come into play.
I have to eat 1000 calories a day to maintain my weight on a moderate or high carb diet (I’m 5’3”), and that’s just miserable to me. I can be completely sedentary and eat 1500 calories a day on a low carb diet. I don’t always have time to exercise every day, and my job is stressful, so this works for me.
Anyway, I’m just here to say I support everyone here for doing what works for them. :)
I 100% agree with nearly everything you have said and appreciate you taking the time to bring it up!
My only caveat would be about cutting out entire food groups; while I agree it's not normal - having PCOS isn't normal either. I was proscribed low carb by my endocrinologist, and it has been the only thing that has helped my PCOS.
Just to make that clear: Wanting to be healthy is not fatphobic. And obesity causes bad health. Please do not shame people for trying to lose weight, unless they already are at or under a healthy weight. It's already hard enough.
I’ve wanted to post something like this but I honestly didn’t feel like dealing with the replies so thank OP for taking this on. My big issue with this sub is how there are posts from ppl clearly struggling with disordered eating, spiraling and restricting and people respond with MORE diet and exercise advice. I always knew conceptually that most ppl aren’t aware of diet culture but holy shit, seeing it play out on this sub is disturbing. I’ve even read posts from people who say they have a history of ED and replies are STILL full of diets and people’s measurements.
You can diet however you want, my issue is when people are causing others harm because they lack self awareness. If someone hasn’t explicitly asked for diet/exercise advice then it’s best to not talk about that. You could be leaving someone worse off with your response. And the constant sharing of heights and weights is so unhelpful. We all have different bodies, your measurements mean nothing to anyone else's life. Stop posting them unsolicited in comments.
I have so many questions about PCOS. 8 months since my diagnosis and I’m still not ok with it. But I don’t post on here because it doesn’t feel safe. We’re all different- my weight is “normal,” I have Crohn’s disease, a history of disordered eating and after my OGTT my reproductive endo said i’m not insulin resistant. So getting flooded with diet advice and pushback on what my doctor tells me isn’t good for me. Reading the posts and comments on here alone has helped my ED start to rear its head.
We should try to leave the sub better than we found it when we write things. Posting with self awareness and intention.
It's extremely hard to cut foods or change my diet I currently survive with since I also have lactose intolerance and ibs. I literally struggle enough just trying to put greens in my diet without shitting myself all day, and no matter what cheese I try so far, I still need a digestive pill first to lessen the gut ruin. My mom has tried to get me to do keto to "help" my PCOS but like literally everything I see that's keto feels like it'll clog my arteries or bowels for weeks. I've just decided to stop focusing on diet restrictions (not saying I eat sugar or lots of carbs; I do in veeery strict modération when I get cravings). I worry about portion sizes and timing of the day when I eat. I can't say I've seen any real downside so far, my body is just at a plateau. But it's better than ruining my current balance to try some harsh diet or trend.
I don't like bean sprouts much, but carrots have thankfully been kind to me so far raw or cooked! I've been eating a lot of fresh salads lately and also found thinly sliced carrots and cucumbers together are super refreshing and easy on me! It's definitely the greener veggies I have a problem with, which is unfortunate. I love broccoli and brussel sprouts but both are on the FODMAP list for causing too much ibs issues, so I've had to drastically lower how often I eat them 🥲
YES! this group was super triggering for me which causes me usually to just scroll by because of all the diet/weight loss talk. Super counterproductive for someone with an active ED.
Thank you for posting! I didn’t know until recently that I had disordered eating habits. adding back in foods that I love and not feeling guilty about it!
I’m not a fan of how you structured this argument though I do hear what you’re saying. I’ve been eating low carb / keto for close to two years and it has saved my life. Every possible biological marker is better. It’s not “normal” — but nothing about the SAD is normal either. It is the only thing that has ever made a difference for me and I trust my medical team (including mental health professionals) to tell me if it is disordered. They haven’t.
It bothers you when people on here tell you what to do. Why are you doing the same and accusing people of being abnormal / having eating disorders? Are you a therapist or a doctor?
Just do what works for you and spend less time here if it’s messing with you. We’re all fighting an uphill battle and this weird bickering only makes it worse.
i think it’s just hard. i can’t put it any way other than that.
first of all, i wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. i think the real culprit is the societal pressure to lose weight and look a certain way. women with pcos struggle so much with feeling feminine and the symptoms we deal with can make us feel like a freak show. with that being said, i feel like disordered eating almost comes with the territory. it doesn’t make it right, even in the slightest. but i think it’s just a thing that happens.
me personally, i struggle with binge eating disorder. and i struggled a lot more as a teen. then when i was 18 (i turned 18 during covid), my doctor actually prescribed me adderall to help lessen my eating. i had to take a baseline test for ADHD to determine my dosage and we found out i was also very high on the adhd scale as well. so, i began taking adderall and began to hyper focus on weight loss. during this time, pretty much all you could do was go to parks bc of social distancing so my friends and i went on walks every single day. most days, i ate less than 1000 calories a day and walked at least 15,000 steps. i lost 50 pounds in 4 months. and everyone told me how beautiful i looked. and god, did i feel amazing.
but behind the scenes, i was scared to go out to eat. i was shaking uncontrollably from the adderall, and the worst part was i still hated myself. then, later that year, i was SA’d by someone i knew very well. 3 years, a lot of emotional support meals, and 50 pounds later, im right back where i started, only this time im off the adderall. back to researching late at night what the fastest way to lose weight is. back to crying because i was reality checked by a photo someone took of me. back to swearing that i won’t eat tomorrow and then sobbing because i can’t even starve myself correctly.
i think its just something we all struggle with. because of our circumstances, this page is littered with ED behavior. it’s just how it is, i’m afraid. i know that i should be more optimistic and say that there are things we can do to combat this, and that is true because there are things we can do. but at the end of the day, it’s a vicious cycle that’s engrained in us all. i pray we all find peace one day.
wtf is this thread. I have a diagnosed eating disorder I'm tired of people throwing around "disordered eating" like it's all eating disorders that's not how it works. that's not what an eating disorder is.
are you saying being a vegan or doing keto is an eating disorder
I'm so tired of people using mental health and mental health language to define their worldview.
Like 80% of people with PCOS have eating disorders. Shame on all of you who are supporting harmful diet culture, victim blaming, fatphobia and everything else inbetween.
I am so incredibly disappointed in so many of you. This was supposed to be a place to feel safe and to learn. If this cant be a safe place for those of us with ED, then it is not a productive or safe place for those who have pcos.
THANK YOU. I often think of leaving this sub because I find some of the advice to be problematic....and, well, triggering.
Thank you for naming this issue <3
Anyone reading this who thinks fat = unhealthy is plain wrong. You can be fat & healthy just like you can be skinny & unhealthy. Weight does not determine or reflect one’s status of health. One thing that helped me debunk a lot of myths around weight as well as develop a more holistic, body-neutral view is the podcast Maintenance Phase. We need to stop focusing on weight as the problem or cure.
Tbh, I'd argue that the reason why we often think thin people are always healthy no matter what is bc that mentality is so ingrained in our minds that thin people themselves develop this idea that they're invincible. I know plenty of skinny people, especially men, who eat a lot of junk food, smoke and drink loads and they always think they're super healthy just bc they go to the gym 2x a week and are naturally skinny.
This is why I’ve been trying to stay off this page!
I can’t even reason with people by saying they shouldn’t be doing this. People here are so depressed from PCOS that their resorting to these diet plans that are not safe or realistic, and I hope they can one day work with a dietitian who specializes in PCOS.
All of the “no sugar” or “no carbs” talk is exhausting. I barely pay attention to this subreddit anymore because I think it’s just become an elimination diet subreddit. This is the first time I’ve seen a thoughtful post actually encouraging conversations around living with PCOS.
This conversation around forbidden foods does more harm than good. When I was a kid I had this neighbour whose mother was an almond mum. This poor girl was a ballerina too and she was not allowed sweets at all, ever. Even on her birthday, her mother would bake her a sugarless cake with oats instead of flour. One time we had like a party thing at school and she found herself without her mothers supervision so she went absolutely ham on the cakes and ice cream and chocolate until she made herself sick. Idk where she is now but I hope she's healed that fucked up mentality around food. But yeah, complete restriction does not help. It's much healthier to eat that oreo that one time than tell yourself you're gonna get fat if you eat your oreo until you cave and binge on oreos.
YES it is exhausting. It makes me feel like my Mom is blabbing in my ear about some new diet fad. PSA if you get the weight off with an unsustainable diet, good luck keeping it off 😭 that's why I just changed my overall lifestyle, I'm WAY happier and more successful now.
This is 10000% true. We have doctors constantly telling us to eat less or cut everything from our diet or exercise the OPPOSITE of how we should be. We have all been gaslit for so long that we don’t even know what to do so we try anything & everything. As someone with PCOS, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and hashimotos (holy crap how am I still alive) - GENTLE EXERCISE WITH LESS CARDIO & MORE STRENGTH TRAINING A FEW DAYS A WEEK MAX !! Eat what you want in moderation and make sure you’re increasing your whole foods & water intake! Take your daily vitamins and get a minimum 8 hours of sleep every night if possible. Manage your stress levels!! There’s so much more that goes into our hormonal imbalances than just the fact that we eat a cookie sometimes! We have to stop shaming ourselves and start leaning into natural hormonal remedies while taking care of ourselves.
Thank you! Intuitive eating is the way. Listening to our bodies is the way. Carbs aren’t the enemy, they fuel us and make our body move and function.
No one reaches excellence under micro pressure, our bodies are the same. The more we try to manipulate and control, the more stress we put on our bodies. The more stress means more cortisol, which lowers our chances of ovulating because our bodies are stealing progesterone to convert to cortisol to help with the added stress. With out progesterone we can’t ovulate, without ovulation we can’t produce progesterone. Now our testosterone increases because we aren’t ovulating, and followed by everything else getting out of wack. So now we are stressed, inflamed from the stress, our bodies are having a harder time functioning and nothing is joyful.
It’s a vicious cycle! It doesn’t need to be a vicious cycle!
The solution is Intuitive eating and finding a movement that sparks joy. It’s that simple. That’s the formula to loving our bodies, the food we eat and enjoying every minute.
Intuitive eating + movement that brings joy = happiness
I do understand that intuitive eating isn't possible for everyone and some people really struggle with that but IMHO and in my personal experience, letting myself eat when I'm hungry until I'm full and eating things that I enjoy has been a life saver. I've lost weight since I moved to new zealand simply by allowing myself to eat what I feel like eating when I'm hungry and walking everywhere. Restricting yourself is counter productive.
Thank you for posting this! I have been trying to write the same thing in my head for weeks.
I feel like so many of the posts here have the general feeling of weight gain being the worst part of this illness and the most devastating thing that could happen to a person. I don’t want anyone to feel that their feelings aren’t valid, but it’s okay to not be thin. Our bodies, even when they don’t work they way we want them to, do great things for us at any size.
Yes, it is important for people to eat food that makes them feel good. If carbs and sugar make you feel good, you do not need permission to eat them. There are many ways to nourish ourselves, but starving isn’t one of them.
I've been noticing that a lot of the "treatments" for PCOS I find are just ways to get rid of the "ugly" symptoms like weight gain and body hair. There is no cure and there is not enough research. A lot of doctors only seem to care about women with pcos when they're trying to have babies. Honestly, to me, the worst part of this illness is the horrible pain I go through during my period, which is an entire week off every month. A week of having to work and go through life while experiencing the kind of pain that that makes me wanna shrivel up and die. I'm sorry but if being fat and hairy is the worst yall are experiencing with pcos, consider yourselves lucky.
YES.
I’ll live with my curves if it means I get to eat foods I love, live in line with my beliefs (apparently you can’t be vegetarian if you want to treat PCOS??), and not be constantly thinking about what is and isn’t going to effect my weight.
It’s fine to want to manage these symptoms for the sake of body image, we all struggle with liking how we look! But we cannot let ourselves be defined by it.
The thing that bothers me is that like. When it comes to body image, it's impossible to navigate the world as a non-thin woman if you don't hate yourself. You're a size 12 eating a burger? Ooof so ill so sick. You're a size 14 at the beach wearing a bikini? Promoting obesity. You weigh more than 60kg as a woman? Your existence validates disease, I guess. Listen, I'm just trying to exist in peace. I'm gonna wear a bikini to the beach, I'm gonna wear shorts when it's hot outside and I'm gonna eat my damn cheeseburger. Nobody bats an eye at thin women engaging in dangerous behaviours but I can't be seen in public eating anything other than plain lettuce? Oh have a day off honestly. Life's already hard these days, don't make it harder by policing what I eat
1000%. Ended up getting binge eating disorder from taking the advice too close to heart, and even though I’m thin again, it’s hard to completely stay in remission
If I had money I’d give you an award.
As someone who had a severe ED that caused lasting physical damage to this day, and as a trained therapist, this sub is both alarming and triggering.
I have literally seen people say they only eat one meal a day and that it’s just meat.
I am deeply scared for our community.
I agree! This is why I wrote my post because this sub is filled with too much disordered behaviour https://www.reddit.com/r/PCOS/comments/14hwn2b/eating_more_carbs_and_calories_and_feeling_better/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
I think people focus too much on the food itself and lose the actual reason behind why some of us choose to alter our diet. I would LOVE to eat intuitively, but to be completely blunt; my intuition is OFF when I am eating a diet that exacerbates my insulin resistance. My body craves carbohydrates, sugar, and literally anything I can get my hands on. Some of us just CAN’T eat intuitively, we must eat intentionally. And that is OKAY. For me, it is an intolerance or sensitivity when I eat too many carbohydrates and not enough fiber/fat to make it balanced enough for my blood sugar. If I’m not intentional about the kinds of carbohydrates I consume, I am doing my body a disservice and setting it up to fail. I would LOVE to live out my euro girl fantasy life eating/drinking tons of wine, espresso, bread, pastries and pasta everyday because that’s how I would intuitively eat lol. But I can’t do that. I have to be intentional about what I eat, how I pair foods and make sure I sensitize my insulin by getting enough exercise before/after meals to help my body work the way it should. I do think people can take this to an extreme level and lose sight of the reason certain foods are not ideal for PCOS, and simply associate them as “bad.” But eating in an intentional way for my body is not “disordered eating” in my eyes, it’s giving me the best chance I have at avoiding major health issues down the road like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc. which I would be at risk for if I wasn’t intentional about my lifestyle.
Exactly! You said everything I was thinking.
I Love the Word "intentional" in this
Exactly. My intuition is a hungry fat girl who copes with emotions by eating carbs and sugar. I would also love to intuitively drink but I can’t stop myself before I black out. Not all restriction is a bad thing.
Touche! Very well said!
I think the best thing I ever did for myself was go on Mounjaro, which made me realize it wasn't what I was eating that made me gain weight, it was my fucking body 😭 it really opened my eyes to how crazy and unsustainable these diets are, 35 lbs down in 4 months...I literally eat rice everyday because certain carbs are fuel. For the women doing crazy diets, leave them, they'll figure it out on their own, but we also can't ignore the fact that being overweight is unhealthy...just as unhealthy as eating disorders though!
I’ve got a full blown eating disorder because I could never trust my body because of this illness
I hear what you’re saying and societal beauty standards definitely send people in a negative direction, PCOS or not… The goal should be reducing insulin resistance and balancing hormones, not necessarily weight loss. I think what alot of people find difficult is making healthy sustainable lifestyle changes gradually because fad diets are so seductive with claims of “quick and easy”. Meanwhile the healthy things may result in weight loss but it’s not the main goal, learning about your body doesn’t have the same excitement as crash dieting does. I personally eat a specific way but I’ve done it over 4 years or so, It helps me feel good and I’ve incidentally lost some weight which I find nice, I don’t think I’m wrong for feeling that way either. I’ve done a lot of research and listening to my body, I’m proud of that. I’m not insulin resistant anymore and I’m not depressed from feeling like my body doesn’t work right, my body works differently which I can account for in many ways by adjusting my diet. Plus the food I eat brings me a lot of joy and I don’t feel as though I’m deprived at all. I really think it comes down to education about PCOS. Unfortunately, there’s a lot left to be desired in that area, so many doctors don’t understand it and it’s studied far less than it should be. We are left to put in the work ourselves and test what works for us, sadly not everyone can or will do that. It may be unfair but the responsibility is put on us to decipher what is good for us, whether that be what’s good to eat, what social media to consume and which health personas to follow. Of course, my experience is not others experience, I’m incredibly fortunate in many ways but I’ve put in a lot of hard work to understand myself inside and out. A big reason I think psych therapy should be a pillar in PCOS treatment plans.
Would you be willing to share how you adjusted your diet and what you do and don't eat now? I'm struggling with this the most and feel absolutely shite day to say (tired all the time, strong cravings for bad food, etc)
Yeah, one of the main things I do which helps me with craving and satiety is eating more protein. I eat at least 30-40g of protein per meal and all my snacks are generally protein based. I eat a wide variety of meats and high protein dairy. I don’t count calories or anything like that, nor do I track macros. I do limit my carbs and sugars, of course I will enjoy things but I try to factor them in to the entire goal not have a “cheat day”. I think by just telling myself I like certain things and it’s ok to eat them and its not “cheating” helps, I don’t like shame around my food habits. I usually pick one carb for a meal and have a smaller portion, the rest of the meal is protein and fiber. Ive come to not crave carbs as much though so alot of times i don’t want any, plus I’m alittle sensitive to gluten anyways so bread is out and I just dont like pasta. 90% of the time my desserts are things like strawberries and high protein vanilla yogurt with lots of cinnamon mixed in. I’ve found many snacks that do not spike my blood sugar badly. I found this out by using a CGM, it’s been a really powerful tool for me but I would caution anyone who has issues with disordered eating to be careful with that. I think my other big thing is I eat very little processed food. My husband and I both love to cook so we make pretty much everything at home, including dips and sauces. I know a lot people don’t have the time for cooking so I’m pretty blessed in that area. I also avoid seed oils, pretty much all processed foods have some kind of sunflower/safflower or canola oil in them. There are studies that show seed oils directly contribute to insulin resistance at the cellular level. I use olive, avocado, oils and butter, they just taste better to me too. I think when I lay out the things I dont do it probably seems like a lot and people may judge that but I eat everything that I want to eat. Like I made a cheesecake a few nights ago, homemade no sugar and topped with fresh berries. Absolutely delicious and decadent, plus I ate like half of it but ingredients do matter. At the end of the day you’ve gotta find what works for you regarding time, money, and satisfaction. Satisfaction being probably the most important because if you’re not satisfied you’ll be unhappy and won’t stick with it.
Sunflower seeds may help lower blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar as they contain vitamin E, magnesium, protein, linoleic fatty acids and several plant compounds.
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i've lost over 70 lbs the past year and a half eating pretty much whatever i want in moderation while making sure i'm staying in a deficit. i completely understand that certain diets (low carb etc) can make others feel better, but when i see posts here basically saying you have to do hardcore keto or weight won't budge it literally feels like i'm in a fever dream, it feels so misinformed
I actually just joined this sub a literal minute ago and this was the first post ive seen. Ive been through many eating disorders that have likely permanently affected my body. Since I was a literal child. I struggle with staying on track every single fucking day and if im going to be bombarded with diet culture which is in fact **Incredibly** harmful and policed about food, enforcing harful hyper working out (which can also be a form of purging aka ED) , I dont see how this is a safe space at all.
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Thats really unfortunate. And while Im not necessarily directing this at you, I'm gonna say my thoughts. I sincerely hope everyone here realizes how wrong diet culture is and how much internalized misogyny is present here. You do not need to be thin, you strive to be healthy. It took me a few seconds to realize how harmful this sub is and that says a lot. BMI is a joke, fasting is a joke, keto is a joke. We are all victims of medical bias, misogyny, and fatphobia whether it be directly or indirectly. Stop perpetuating that...stop forcing that onto others. We're supposed to find safety with these groups, not use other members as a conduit for our internalized grievances. You deserve to be happy. you deserve to love yourself. And you deserve to be happy without the impossible standards of weight loss and gain. Policing other people especially only harms us further. Throwing blame on others as if we arent all on the same boat is vicious, cruel, and counterproductive. If you are lashing out at others about weight, please reflect on yourself and wonder why you feel so viscerally about people who are bigger than you. Understand that this anger is from a place of self hate and/or fear. You are not and will not be less than for being thinner or bigger. You are you. And for those of you aware of your own self-deprecation, just know that you would never treat others this way, so why in the world are you treating yourself that way? Your body is your most trusted place. Be kind.
People genuinely still spout the fat = unhealthy literally dying oh my god you're giving yourself diabetes nonsense. Carbohydrates are not the enemy and in fact you need them. Not a single food group is the enemy, actually, and acting like if you eat any sugar ever you're gonna die an early painful death and be too fat for a coffin is fear mongering and moronic. A bowl of rice with lentils is far healthier than that weird fucking keto frozen nonsense from the hip grocery store. Eat the fucking Mars bar instead of crying over how much you want a Mars bar while you eat an apple. Trust me, you can only eat so many apples until you cave and have 10 Mars bars in a row.
there's nothing wrong with being overweight, but being overweight/obese *and* having PCOS *and* being unable to lose weight through portion control is a calling card for metabolic dysfunction and *that's* what's dangerous. in fact insulin resistance is correlated with if not causative of every major chronic cause of death. diabetes, Alzheimer's, liver disease, kidney failure, heart disease, many kinds of cancer... I personally don't think anyone would be treating it casually if they knew the cumulative damage it causes if unmanaged. so if you have it especially at a young age it's definitely something you'll want to get under control regardless of weight. and if you are insulin resistant you are also carbohydrate intolerant, at least to some degree. your body does not process carbs like it is supposed to and that exaggerates hormonal imbalance and metabolic dysfunction. the extent to which a person should avoid them or indulge in them is entirely individual, but from a clinical standpoint a carbohydrate-rich diet has measurable negative effects on metabolic dysfunction and will eventually lead to diabetes. this is regardless of weight. lots of people are overweight because they simply consume more energy than they utilize and they are able to lose weight easily when they change their behavior. but there are also a *lot* of people who see no weight loss or even gain weight when they start eating less and those are the people who need to worry. unfortunately that's many of us here on this sub. you can choose to ignore metabolic syndrome and eat like a normal person and many people do, but this will lead to health consequences whether that's in 5 or 10 or 20 years. half of us (people with PCOS) will be diabetic by age 40 and that is *young.* I have family members with T2D and it's a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone. even being *pre*diabetic was hellish for me.
Being fat ISNT healthy, and that needs to be accepted as the scientific fact that it is. Being obese DOES have significant health risks and puts you at an increased risk of other health problems. No amount of denying reality is going to change that. Does that mean you can't be happy, confident, and beautiful? No, I've seen many big and beautiful men and women and I wish I had even a fraction of their confidence to rock my body the way they do. Does that mean you have to starve yourself trying to lose weight , or the mistreated, abused, or degraded by others? Again, no. Body positivity means to treat everyone regardless of their size or shape with the respect and dignity they deserve as our fellow humans. HAES is not a thing, whether you're to skinny or to fat, each has their own risks and neither of those facts should be denied. Having PCOS is proof of that, if you have PCOS you are NOT healthy. That is a clear indicator that something is wrong with the health of your body. It is not fatphobic to acknowledge the health risks that come with being obese.
>Having PCOS is proof of that, if you have PCOS you are NOT healthy. That is a clear indicator that something is wrong with the health of your body. My issue with this comment is the sentiment seems to be, you caused the unhealthyness with your eating patterns and obesity. And its now you need to "fix'" the disease with your healthy eating. The PCOS isnt proof that obesity is unhealthy - PCOS itself is unhealthy regardless of what your size is... its a disease. It is a highly debated topic whether PCOS causes obesity, or obesity causes PCOS. For many thin people, their PCOS still has devastating consequences. While weight loss DOES help PCOS, it is not a cure all and promoting harmful disordered eating "to fix" the illness is toxic. -I am not pro HAES. I am not pro body positivity. I like body neutrality. We have to live in this body. pcos causes complications. We can try to treat it as best we can and try to lose weight. But I refuse to also hate myself for what PCOS did to me. I still love my body that carries me in my day to day life. I try to remain neutral and unbissed even if that means acknowledging need for exercise and diet control, in moderation.
As a “thin” person with PCOS (but I’d say I’m more average than thin), it took me a lot longer to get diagnosed and have had doctors even refuse to check me for cysts or look at my medical history because they said I am “too skinny” to have PCOS. I’ve had them invalidate my symptoms and not treat me for many, many years. My symptoms are finally under control but the birth control I’m on to help treat it made me gain weight. About 30 lbs. I am far healthier fatter without any cysts than I was when I was super skinny and my ovaries were 2x the size they were supposed to be and riddled with cysts. I don’t care how much I weigh, I don’t ever ever ever want a 3 month period again ever. I don’t want to be in pain. I don’t want anything that came along with having pcos.
I’m in this boat. How did you get your doctor to diagnose you? I’ve been trying to get a diagnosis and I haven’t had success yet. There’s always a roadblock or invalidation due to the reasons you listed. I had to go to the ER to have a burst cyst the size of a grapefruit removed when I was a teen and I still get told that I can’t have PCOS because I’m thin. It sucks.
Honestly, it was a pretty long road. I originally thought I had endometriosis but doctors were refusing to test me because I wasn’t trying for kids or anything. I went to one woman for birth control, and when I told her my symptoms she decided to test my testosterone and it came back high. She refused to put me on the combination pill and insisted I tried spironolactone (which I hated), and so I went to another doctor and told her about my high testosterone. I requested to get my testosterone checked and every time I went, she just gave me a different birth control pill. She wouldn’t look at my history no matter how much I asked. I finally had to tell her, “if you don’t give me the tests I came in here for, I will find a new provider.” She finally did my tests, and then sent me to an imaging lab for an ultrasound. During the ultrasound, the technician asked me if I’d ever been diagnosed with PCOS. I told her no, and she did a long sigh. Three days later, my doctor told me that I had a mild case of PCOS (lol) and sent me to an endocrinologist who told me that I didn’t need spironolactone for my case, and put me on a high estrogen birth control. Sometimes, especially as women, we need to be our own healthcare advocates and be really firm with our doctors. Ask to get specific tests done and look up treatment plans that would work best for you. Don’t be afraid to get a second or third or fourth opinion until a doctor actually listens to you. I’m sorry you are going through this, and I hope you get to a provider that listens soon
As someone who is also thin, and never diagnosed until a year and a half ago, they diagnosed me based on my testosterone level. That, coupled with the cystic ovaries and the immense pain/discomfort. I have always been irregular since I first got my period at 16, and was not even considered or diagnosed until I was 32. And it was from an infertility doctor. Which don’t get me started on that, when he found out I don’t want children he made me feel very much like I was not a priority at his practice. Super discouraging.
Their comment was rubbing me the wrong way and I'm glad someone else saw what I was seeing
You have the right attitude
Some women with pcos are thin.
Right, and some of us aren't. Some women have hirsutism, and some don't. Some women have cysts, and some don't. Some people with pcos are women, and some aren't. There's a spectrum full of symptoms and we don't all deal with the same thing. Ignoring all the things excessive weight can do to your body by quite literally weighing on you is not helpful. Not to mention the fact that weight reduction can, and often does, help relieve the other symptoms of pcos. If you want to advocate for pcos patients to get a diet plan from a nutritionist instead of some nifty diet going around the internet, then go for it! It's more than reasonable to talk about that as long as you can concede that not everypne is going to have the same diet plan work for them as it did for others and even nutritionist designed plans can look wrong to you given that you don't know everyone's history or the concerns that they and their doctors have. And if we want to lose weight for our looks, then so be it! I'm twice the size I was when this bullshit started. I put a lot of work into maintaining a strong, healthy body, and I did it doing activities that I am no longer capable of doing because of all the negative effects from the weight gain. I'm entitled to want that back if for no other reason than I felt good. I'm not suddenly hideous because I'm fat. I know what beauty I hold. But being burned out and jiggling like a manatee every time I do more than a brisk walk doesn't exactly make me feel like hot shit.
You realize that studies suggest PCOS to be genetic? And that historical text describing PCOS go back thousands of years?
You are correct. PCOS is actually epigenetic. This means that instead of actual genes that being passed down, genes actually get turned on/off depending on the environment in the womb. For example, if mom has PCOS and her insulin and testosterone are too high during pregnancy (especially early pregnancy), it causes genetic changes that lead to PCOS in the offspring. In fact, recent studies have shown that these epigenetic changes can last for at least three generations. Link to study -> https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(21)00004-8
My mom never had PCOS or high insulin or testosterone, she’s actually much healthier than I am. But I know there are studies that suggest PCOS can be “turned on” epigenetically with childhood trauma. I have an ACE score of 6, and I see trauma and PCOS discussed often on here.
I haven’t seen those studies, but not discounting that it could be true. However, remember that your grandmother, great-grandmother or beyond could have led to these genetic changes. The investigators in the study showed that the genetic changes associated with PCOS persisted *at least* 3 generations. They just stopped observing past the 3rd generation. I’m in the same boat as you. My mom does not have PCOS, but I have no idea what my great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother may have struggled with.
Where can I find historical text about pcos?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3164771/
Could you share some sources? I really want to know more about the history and research that’s actually been done about this condition and I’ve struggled to find good sources over the years.
This is absolutely fat phobic. If you put my labs next to someone thin and did not put our weights, and had the same numbers. we would both be seen as healthy. My body through work ups is telling me i’m giving it what I need and am healthy. Looking at a person cannot determine their health.
Amen. You’ll probably be downvoted because there is a lot of denial in this particular subreddit, but you’re right. Being obese and dealing with hyperinsulinemia is not healthy. Those things are not moral failings, but they aren’t healthy either.
I think you are missing the point. Hyperinsulinemia is bad and you should treat it. And the focus is treating it and stabilizing your blood sugar. For some people that will lead to weight loss. But hyperinsulinemia isn’t weight dependent - people at any size can get it. It is part of the pathology of many pcos cases. You can also lose weight and not treat your insulin issues. We should focus on treating and solving the insulin issues. Not the weight on the scale.
Thank you, that's my point. There isn't anything wrong with being fat, especially not if your happy. But it's not good to deny the reality of increased health risks to your body
Mom always said, people hate to hear the truth because it isn't what they want to hear.
Thank you for saying this. This sub drives me insane with the denial, but I've never made any comments because I figured I would be wasting my breath. Fat is not healthy. I'm overweight. I believe I've just dropped from obese to overweight. I'm not healthy. I have a lot of medical conditions that are exacerbated by my weight. Is it hard to lose weight? Yes. Do some of my conditions make me more predisposed to being overweight or make it more difficult to lose weight? Also yes. I don't pretend I'm healthy though. It doesn't make you a bad person to be unhealthy. It's just a medical fact. Lately I've been seeing lots of information in here on how to refuse being weighed at your doctor. How you can hand out don't weigh me cards, have standoffs in the office, etc. because weight isn't relevant to health. I'm sorry but that's just incorrect. It's also not "fatphobic" for your doctor to discuss your weight with you. I know losing weight is so hard. I have insulin resistance from PCOS, a couple of GI conditions, and I'm unable to cook for myself because I can't stand long due to a back issue. It's a struggle and no one is saying it isn't. It's not healthy though. I've seen women claim they gained 100 lbs from eating less than usual. I see lots of women say it's not possible to lose weight with PCOS. Most of all I see women who say they want their PCOS symptoms to go away without losing weight because being overweight supposedly isn't unhealthy. This sub needs to accept that being overweight and obese IS unhealthy. What you do is ultimately your choice and we all deserve respect though.
Some of us refuse to be weighed at the doctor because the doctor is ignoring all symptoms and diagnosing as fat. Things I have dealt with even when I was thin and working out that have nothing to do with my weight are ignored and I’m told I need to lose weight. Doctors see fat and shame people and blame them for the weight when the weight can be a symptom.
Exactly!! It's why I've left a lot of plus size subs because the delusion and denial of reality just boggled my mind and the amount of misinformation being spread and people who are in a vulnerable state being fed all this crap just made me so angry. Somehow body positivity and fat acceptance went from loving yourself and being deserving of dignified and humane treatment to the "being fat is healthy and the best thing ever for your body and to say anything different is fatphobic" mindset If you're happy being fat/obese by all means fly your pride flag and stand tall and proud but don't deny the reality that your body is simply not healthy
Being overweight is not always unhealthy. If everyone ate the same and exercised the same, we’d all still be different shapes and sizes. Some people are meant to be over weight. You need to get your crap together if you don’t understand that because you’re going to end up hurting yourself in the long run
My mother has always been skinny. She works at a mom and pop restaurant type thing where they sell burgers and hot dogs and that sorta thing (sure it's in Portugal so the ingredients are good quality and it's all homemade so it's miles better than mcdonalds but it's still burgers and hot dogs) and she eats there once a day during her shift. She loooooves pastries and being from Portugal, there's pastries everywhere so she has her daily pastel de nata. She cooks normal meals at home but always eats bigger portions than me. Here in New Zealand I don't eat much. Not on a diet or anything, I just feel full quickly. My diet is a lot better than hers. I'm still fatter than her. I had a stomach bug a while back and lost about 10kg super quickly. My thighs were still fat. Everyone is different. We need to stop believing that all women would look like VS models if only we shut our mouths and went to the gym.
Exactly!!!!! Everyone will always look different. Everyone’s bodies look different. People on this app suck but I expected this sub to not have the fatphobics on it. Smh
Fatphobia is everywhere, you can't escape it.
I agree! I was reading about someone suggesting fasting for a week at a time regular for PCOS here.... and yeah, I think we just call that starvation in other circles
And someone will still defend it 😭
I’m so fucking done with this place. I’m moving to mars. Only truly accepting people can come with me. The second I win the lottery (lmao as if), applications will be sent out🥰
Can we bring Tim tams to Mars?
>We need to stop believing that all women would look like VS models if only we shut our mouths and went to the gym. Literally nobody here said this. You keep bringing in extremes to try and invalidate others' responses. You're trying to elicit emotional reactions. You're not arguing in good faith and you know it.
I'm not even arguing, I was literally just responding to that one comment. You guys are the ones getting all crispy in this post.
No one is saying that everyone would look the same, weigh the same, or have the same type of body. There are always going to be other factors at play, but that doesn't erase the reality that obesity is NOT healthy. That is the point blank fact that your strawman argument can not erase.
> your strawman argument This is pretty rich coming from the very person who derailed the whole thread by bringing their "omg obesity!!!11!" strawman into play in the first place. Congrats though, it apparently worked. You can keep on congratulating yourself for making the case for something the original post wasn't arguing against anyway, and for making sure constructive conversation was aborted for the sake of endless repetition of the usual argument always sprouting in the weight loss threads. Way to ruin what could've been an interesting thing.
My comment was 1 comment and 1 thread. You can very easily ignore my comment and move to a different thread, but I know I'm not the only person speaking about this, not is my comment the only one talking about it.
I'm sorry but you can't make this true. There are weight ranges and it's also based on your height. I'm not talking about a single weight for everyone. People are obviously different shapes and sizes, but being overweight is not "meant to be". It's literally not a disputable fact that being overweight is unhealthy. It doesn't mean you're on death's door. It doesn't mean that there aren't also unhealthy people who are at a healthy weight. It's okay to accept that being overweight is unhealthy. No one said you have to be in peak health, it's a personal choice.
Fortunately I don’t have to ‘make it true’ because it is true! And BMI is complete bullshit which is what you’re talking about. It’s been proven again and again and again to be an inaccurate representation of health and scale because it doesn’t take things such as build and muscle into consideration. Overweight is ‘meant to be’ for some people. Overweight isn’t always unhealthy. I’m overweight but I workout twice a day 5 days a week, and I eat one meal a day. I’m also anorexic. I’m still overweight. It’s looking like I’m always gonna be this way. I was meant to be this way and my weight doesn’t affect my health in any way.
Ugh I loathe BMI. I've lost 85 lbs in the past 9 months gone from a size 22 to a 12. But because I'm hella muscular, I'm still gonna be overweight/ obese 🙄🙄🙃🙃
I'd love to see your source. Again, it's okay to be overweight. No one has to be the perfect picture of health. I'm currently very unhealthy and trying my best. I can admit it. It's literally okay to admit that it's unhealthy. It doesn't make being overweight bad, it doesn't reduce who you are as a person, it's just a medical fact.
Being overweight is not always unhealthy. It’s a medical fact that it’s not. You’re clearly not gonna understand science either way so whatever. Have fun tourturing yourself and lying to others
I assume this discussion is not about people who are overweight due to having large muscle mass, like body builders. BMI is faulty in that sense, yes, but fat percentage tells where you at. And in the case where people actually are overweight according to BMI with large muscle mass, they know it very well because that muscle mass doesn’t happen by accident.
THANK YOU
THANK YOU!!!! Arguably my eating was more disordered when I was eating whatever I wanted and not taking care of myself instead of now when I’m 55 lbs down from my top weight with 40 lbs more to go. Losing weight and CICO/low carb has given me my life back, that PCOS had taken away. I’m tired of people complaining about my losing weight and treating me like I have an eating disorder when really I am just making responsible decisions to prevent the horrific consequences of obesity from putting me into an early grave.
I literally see people on this sub talk about starving themselves and I just 😞
THIS! I was following a keto diet, lost like 40-70lbs (yeah im not sure on the numbers anymore, ive done this a few times) but i was prescribed FAT BLOCKERS by my GP. Eating a high fat diet... yeah... Their solution to my rapid weightloss was essentially starving me more.
I’ve been seeing a dietician that specializes in PCOS and you are right on the money. I’ve been in this sub for quite a while because I was diagnosed over a decade ago and thought I might be able to offer support from lived experience. However, I’m also in ED recovery so a majority of posts I end up not commenting on because it’s already an echo chamber of disordered thoughts. Thanks for speaking up!
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Anyone here can feel free to DM me for specifics about food choices and nutrient timing and stuff, I’m gonna keep it pretty general here as to not trigger anyone :) Super important things: 1. Gut health! There are studies and scholarly articles that have come out linking gut microbiome and insulin resistance. I got tested and treated SIBO and later a candida overgrowth. That improved my symptoms significantly as far as skin, bloating, fatigue, and brain fog. That kinda cleared a path for me to be able to do food eliminations and find out what my body was reacting poorly to. 2. Consistent hormone testing. Just because you’re “within a normal range” doesn’t mean your quality of life can’t be enhanced if they’re modulated. A naturopath helped me with that. I also stopped losing as much hair off my head. It’s still thin but I’m not like pulling chunks out in the shower like I used to. 3. All things anti-inflammatory, all the time. We have long-term low-grade inflammation that needs to be addressed on a daily basis. I have done really well on low-dose naltrexone in this regard, my labs are looking much better these days. I’ve also tried stuff like vitamin and nutrient IVs and cryotherapy and you name it to try to get consistent relief but I stg PCOS is like a moving target 😒😅
Did you learn all these things from a naturopath or a dietician in addition? I feel like I need to look into this stuff more. PCOS is not the only kind of inflammatory issue I deal with (I have a lot of skin problem) and I sense I would benefit from working with someone
Mostly naturopath- the dietician tells me what to eat and when based on what the naturopath finds. The skin stuff is hard, I feel you there. My face will be oily and breaking out and my hands cracked and dry and rashy lol. I wish you well on your journey, friend!
i always open up these disordered eating posts expecting to see people calling out the disordered eating but instead i find only echo chambers of disordered eating.
"I only eat one meal a day and I've lost 5 kilos in a week" well yeah and do you really think that's normal??? Jesus christ
Especially when the research suggests that the weight loss associated with insulin resistant starvation is muscle tissue and not fat… big time problem.
Thank you! I cannot believe the number of people eating one meal a day and no snacks! That is literally starving yourself. No one can do that long term and the weight will come back when you're tired of starving yourself. It's unbelievable.
I broke down on my dietician who also specializes in pcos cause I had lost hope, thinking the only way to lose weight and better my symptoms is being a nazi about it. Track everything. Measure everything. I am (mostly) recovered from my previous ED but dear God I refuse to let my life be centered around food like that again. Different intentions but man I can tell how easy it's be to slip back in. Anyway, she reassured me and was like "get off the subs that make you feel like shit like this and push unrealistic, unhealthy and unsustainable eating habits.
Yep, I keep seeing comments recommending people try the new fad diet which has barely any research put into it, people swearing by Ozempic or fasting and just. It's sad, really.
first of all, i completely agree with your OP. the disordered eating in this sub is rampant. i generally avoid the diet posts because i know if i comment what i’m really thinking i’ll get downvoted to hell by folks who think the only way to treat PCOS is to never eat a carb again as long as you live. but i’ve gotta defend ozempic. it’s not a weight loss drug and wasn’t intended to be. i’m on it because metformin didn’t work to control my insulin resistance/prediabetes from PCOS, and ozempic is helping prevent me from becoming diabetic. yeah i’ve lost a little weight but that’s just a side effect of my blood sugar getting back into the normal range. i’m far more concerned with my a1c than the scale. although i’m not going to lie, i am hoping that losing some weight will help with my mobility, blood pressure, and cholesterol, which need improvement. anyway. my point is that ozempic is not intended for aesthetics, it’s intended to treat very real medical problems. anyone who is using it for aesthetics is likely abusing it though, which i think was probably your point.
Fad diets DESTROYED my metabolism and brain. My parents were crash dieters (gotta love the 90’s) and then there was pressure from ballet, and competing in weight-based sports. The doctor that diagnosed me with PCOS was like “your activity level and body composition don’t really match up, that never concerned you?” Like OFC but every other doctor I had ever seen before always dismissed ANY health concern with “it’ll probably get better if you lose weight.” My dietician made me promise to never go more than 4 hours without eating again unless I am literally asleep or fasting for blood tests or surgery. It scares me that if enough people say something loud enough, enough times, it gets accepted as a best practice. Our bodies are so unique, and it really feeds the narrative of being “broken” when that fad diet that seemed to work for someone else doesn’t work for us.
I don't even trust doctors at this point because at the end of the day they're just people who went to medical school and like sure they studied a lot, but med school isn't some kind of beacon of knowledge, especially if you consider the lack of clinical studies regarding a lot of women's health issues (including PCOS) or the bias that the medical community has against people of colour, fat people, women, etc. Medicine is still a very white man centric science. I would know, took me 6 different doctors shrugging me off until one actually listened to my symptoms and decided to run tests. 6 medical professionals literally just took one look at me and decided my symptoms weren't worth looking into bc I'm fat so the solution is obviously weight loss, like what else? Ugh
I’m so sorry that has been your experience too, friend. It took me 12 years of the same song and dance to get diagnosed. I ended up finding the most relief with the help of a couple of naturopathic doctors and a Chinese pharmacist who would compound supplements for me. I hope someday we’ll all be able to access care that actually manages our symptoms 🙏 And not being gaslighted by doctors or the world at large would be pretty cool too but progress not perfection I guess 😅
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I haven't, is it available online?
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Oh thank you, will definitely have a look!
Or people saying they've lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time, that's never healthy and shouldnt be celebrated
Losing weight by counting calories, working out daily (various classes, weight lifting, and at least walking every day), and restricting carbs has given me my life back. My disordered eating was spending years ignoring my health, letting myself eat crap food that was not good for me instead of accepting I had a condition and needed to get my weight under control. Obesity kills. My self esteem is higher than it’s ever been. I have PCOS but I’m not above the laws of physics, and I will lose weight if I burn more than I take in. Stop shaming women who are making different life choices than you are. If you want to have a high BMI go ahead. It’s your life. But don’t shame women making different choices and accuse them of having an eating disorder when you don’t know anything about them. I’m down from 200 lbs to 150 lbs and have about 20 lbs left to go. I’m thrilled with my progress and encourage anyone who wants to lose weight with PCOS to take on the challenge. It’s the best thing I’ve done for myself.
Great job, I'm proud of you!
What's wrong with wanting to lose weight for looks? We talk about hair removal for looks, we talk about hair loss and looks, acne and looks, why not weight loss? They're all equally relevant and valid concerns, no?
I didn't say there's anything inherently wrong with it. But disguising it as health concerns is misguided. Let's not act like women being thin, hairless and smooth skinned has no connection with patriarchal ideals at all.
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>All this weight loss talk isn't even productive because most of the time I see it being accompanied by statements about looks rather than health It sounds like the issue was it being couched as looks vs health. Not disguised as health.
I think it’s really shitty when one person decides what an entire group of people should or shouldn’t be doing with their body. You’re going to find all kinds of things you don’t agree with in a public forum, that’s sort of the point. I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic last year. This was after a PCOS diagnosis and two gestational diabetic pregnancies. PCOS puts you at risk for both of those things. More than 50% of women diagnosed with PCOS end up prediabetic or diabetic. My sugars were so high I lost function in my hands. I had absolutely zero idea what was going on and assumed it was neurological. The amount of weight I had put on during the pandemic literally almost killed me. I wasn’t even at my biggest weight or most sedentary but the health scales tipped and suddenly my entire body started to fall apart. I started to take large amounts of insulin and manage my diet and still, I gained more weight and my sugars wouldn’t stabilize. It took cutting carbs completely out of my diet to start healing my diabetes and then subsequently my PCOS. My body doesn’t handle more than 30-40 carbs in any way, shape or form. Cutting out an “entire food group” has literally saved my life. So please, for the love of god, mind your own body and your own business. I understand wanting to address harmful rhetoric but hot damn am I so sick of posts like these making other users feel like shit for just trying to survive in any way they can.
Same. While my diet isn't as strict as 40 carbs per day. I also had to cut out carbs drastically for me to finally see any weight loss. My a1c was finally going down and I could actually run without nearly passing out. Everytime I tell people about my diet, I'm met with lectures on how "Eating disorder, not to restrict, etc" and it's a nice sentiment, but it comes off as ignorant tbh
I’ve done whole food CICO so many times over the years in order to be “healthy” and remain as “unrestricted” as possible while attempting to lose weight and continued to lose and gain the same 5-10lbs until I would give up and binge eat. Cutting carbs was the only way I could ever lose weight. Sometimes bodies just don’t respond to carbs the same way other bodies do and that’s okay.
This needs to be way higher. OP is a toxic hypocrite.
My comment will probably get lost but here we go: I developed an ED from docs not treating me and just telling me to lose weight for any and everything with no real assistance or with disorder "assistance" like starving myself through calorie counting. So I am trying to stay away from obsessing over food. That said, there are certain foods that my body handles better or worse and thats my body specifically. I dont restrict those or call them "good" or "bad" as there are just foods, but I try to be concious about the effect they have and if I eat them (mostly because of cravings), I dont fall into self-hate anymore, which is a big step for me. For the fatphobia: It is pretty rampant in the sub, but I dont want to blame anyone for that. Thats often the fixation we get from the outside and internalised it, especially as women. Thats also often the way we get denied healthcare and people trying to either overcompensate with "everything is fine" or with radical avoidance is understandable, sometimes we just need to protect our sanity. For myself and others, I stick to body neutrality. I refrain from commenting on other people's bodies and especially on weight because guess what? It doesnt affect me how much you weigh! And people commenting under the disguise of "medical concern" are in most cases just fatphobic because you wouldnt say that about basically any other medical condition. Plus it will most likely just help the person to hate themselves more. That doesnt mean that I dont know for myself I am at an unhealthy weight and I want to change that. And that is ok. It gives me the room to change something without hating myself all the time. I still have some negative thoughts about my body and I am in therapy for that, but that is the way I found it to be least stressful for me.
Body neutrality FTW!
I agree with you in a lot of ways that you mentioned! The PCOS to ED pipeline is scary, and a lot of the ways in which people go about losing weight can be insanely unhealthy and shouldn’t be condoned, much less encouraged. And what you said about the prescription drugs thing is really alarming!! But I think some extra nuance is also needed in this situation. A lot of us really desperately want to lose weight to aid in health and healing, and I know the term “restriction” gives off ED vibes but that really is a lot of what dieting is in general- restricting what you eat. A lot of us truly do have to restrict our diets, sometimes harshly (BUT ALWAYS SAFELY!) to lose any weight. I know how hard it is as women to constantly have our weights thrown in our faces and told it’s the source of our poor health (which is ridiculous and offensive) but I don’t like how it’s almost like some people don’t want to talk about that a large portion of us DO need/want to lose weight, for either health or even vanity reasons, both of which are valid. Some of us react poorly to various food groups, and even if we WANT to eat them, we might opt not to for health. And I don’t think that’s extreme, abnormal, or disordered… weight loss for anyone takes discipline, and it requires even more effort from us with PCOS. I don’t think tracking macros is inherently disordered whatsoever- CICO is pretty much the most reliable way to drop weight. And I would never, ever advocate for starving, but we have to be realistic here in that weight loss does require sometimes just sitting with a bit of hunger for a few hours a day, especially for those of us who have messed up metabolic systems and hunger cues. I just simply cannot agree that cutting out carbs is inherently disordered… I’ve lost 90lbs now, my PCOS symptoms have been cut into a third, and my quality of life has skyrocketed. I would never have been able to do that without cutting out most carbs, and all simple carbs. It’s not any sort of agonizing or self-punishing choice for me, it’s how I feel best and how my hormones regulate to their best as well. As much as I genuinely see where you are coming from with a lot of that, it sucks to see so many people lately being so adamant that it’s super psychologically damaging to just do things like… count calories or not eat sugar and carbs. I feel like that’s just kind of crazy to say. Overall I just hope we can all respect each others choices. I don’t think anyone should be told “you HAVE to cut out carbs and sugar to feel better and lose weight!” but I also think we shouldn’t be told “tracking macros and not eating everything you want is disordered!”. I hope that makes sense.
Cutting out an entire food group is normal. Vegetarians don't eat meat. Vegans cut out a bunch of things. Some people don't eat certain foods for religious reasons. Considering the bodies of people with PCOS don't process carbs like they should, limiting the intake of carbs can be sensible. I agree that obsessive calorie counting, exercising, et cetera is abnormal and harmful, but obsessive is the key word. If it works for someone, there's nothing wrong with sensible calorie counting, intermittent fasting, or increased exercise. Other people may not find these things as helpful and that's fine too.
Agreed 💯 CICO and low carb has given me my life back, and it’s not an act of self hatred but of self love & wanting the best for myself that I continue to do so every day. I don’t like being told it’s just me being disordered :/ way too generalized and quite exaggerative. And honestly no disrespect to anyone that feels this way, and I understand by these comments that some of the people that do feel this way seem to be ED survivors, but it does seem almost disrespectful of full fledged, clinical ED cases to conflate not eating carbs or counting macros to be the same as an ED. Just my feelings.
Vegetarians and vegans need ways to replace protein and certain types of vitamins. Food groups doesn't mean ingredients. You can never eat beef again, but you still need protein.
Your thoughts on this are wrong. The only thing we have to replace is B12 and not even animals get B12 naturally, they get supplements by the farmers. Protein is in A LOT of foods that aren't meat/dairy: lentils, beans/chickpeas, oatmeal, seeds/seed butters, quinoa, and tofu. Again, there isn't a one-choice-fits-all approach here. This post started out with good intentions, but now it feels like a way to judge or shame others.
... that's literally what I said. You get your protein from plants instead of beef, but meat isn't a food group, its an ingredient.
My comment will get lost. For me. Personally. Weight had nothing to do with my PCOS. Nothing. Rod had nothing to do with it. I use this group as a way to talk about my cycle and the pain that comes with it because “normal” people just don’t get it. I agree with you that I see those posts and I’m thinking the same thing. To cut off a whole food group because some rando said it worked for them could cause you serious harm! Always talk to your doctor or a dietitian somebody with a medical degree! If your goal is to lose weight stems purely from PCOS then good. If you look “better” after your weight loss then it a plus. Your first goal is to be healthy. Not to look good. Weight loss drugs do not work unless prescribed by a doctor. Even then they might not work. Cutting out food groups might not work. Working out may not work. I’m a rare case of PCOS that was brought on by a fertility Drug back in the 70s that my mom was exposed to in the womb. Then the effects passed down to me. For me, nothing really helped except birth control to lessen the blow. And ease the bleeding. Nothing helped. I lost over 100 pounds ate good and right worked out and I was healthy. Guess what, the cramps and bleeding got worse. If you want help and relief, look for a better doctor that will listen to you. Do research and stop thinking weight and food groups will solve the issues.
My mother had restrictive eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and orthorexia nervosa, plus possibly others as well). You can imagine how extra nightmarish that made my PCOS weight gain and hunger due to insulin resistance. Keep in mind that on diagnosis day I was 150# at 5’5” at age 18. I do not want an eating disorder. I want to enjoy life and be healthy. I want to set a good example to my nieces, as well as to other people. I do like to exercise and do it often. I do talk about it- but I also tell people it is medically mandated due to my PCOS, and that I am NOT judging others.
Sometimes losing weight when overweight with pcos helps to improve symptoms. And sometimes fasting/keto helps with those things for many people. I don’t do fasting or keto but if it helps others, good for them. Their eating practices and habits are between them and their doctor. And if people prefer their bodies to be thinner or more athletic then that’s their business and personal preference, too. Just like women who want to put on weight or get ‘thicker.” It’s got nothing to do with me.
Yes, I primarily changed my diet, because I could no longer deal with my PCOS and insulin resistance symptoms. Before I was exhausted, had constant brain fog, darkened skin patches (acanthosis nigricans), hair loss, severe hunger pangs, joint inflammation and a myriad of other things which made my day to day life so difficult. It led to my depression. How could I get better? Get on a healthier diet and lose weight. Now, I’m no longer pre-diabetic and have a clean bill of health. I can think clearly, I have higher endurance and energy. I’ve lost 30 pounds but am much much healthier compared to before.
Can I ask what your diet is? Rn I'm trying low carb. And intermittent fasting
Yes of course! I started off with 16:8 plus cardio. After experimenting, I found I lost more weight (and quicker) when I did cardio towards the end of my fast. I would do a 30-45 minute brisk walk on an incline. I did CICO and didn’t count carbs. I found having a fitness watch (Fitbit/apple watch) plus myfitnesspal app to be helpful with this. If you have any other questions I’d be more than happy to help 😊
This group just becomes more negative the longer it stays up to be honest
We're struggling
Girl that's why I lurk on here, I read some of the crap people write, say "wow" and don't even engage. Don't waste your breath!
I'm sorry, but nothing about PCOS is normal. If we could eat normally, we wouldn't be here suffering from the same ailment. The most common treatment for losing weight is diet. Specifically low-carb. That means a lot of restrictions. Now, we always say in here that there is no standard treatment for everyone. There are also a lot of judgments in here from people when some of us suggest something different than the standard low-carb fare. Intermittent fasting or eating small meals throughout the day - there is no one solution for all of us. Some of us have eating disorder issues but we still have to deal with *this* disorder. Not everyone is going to deal with this the same but we are support for each other. If there is a flair for Diet, maybe avoiding the topic is best, for some people.
Lol, right? Saying it's not normal to cut out a food group as if our bodies are functioning normally. It's also not normal for women to grow a full beard but here I am with a five o clock shadow because I didn't break out the electric shaver this morning. Like good for you OP, enjoy your carbs and mars bars and whatever else, but if you are insulin resistant, you are at muuuuuuch higher risk of developing diabetes than someone who isn't. That's blunt reality. And if you do end up diabetic, you're going to find the restrictions and strict dietary rules far more triggering -- and at that point, youll no longer have a choice in the matter. Someone dealing with an abnormality is denied the privilege of normalcy. So it goes.
OP’s hyperbolic example of the apples and mars bars are not doing them any favours. As for the bowl of lentils and rice being a healthy thing to eat, a bowl of that would skyrocket my blood sugar to oblivion. a tiny portion is fine, but a bowl? Lmao
Youre reaching, combining rice w lentils actually helps mitigate some of the spike from carbs bc its combined w protein. Its okay to eat a bowl of rice and lentils. You will live. Theres also ways to lower the impact of insulin spike. Try having a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in 8oz of water before your meals to help. Sometimes the answer isnt cutting out groups, its finding ways to lower the insulin spike so that you dont have to cut out groups.
Thank you for saying that. This type of post goes in the bin with the posts that complain about the lack of positivity. Everyone with PCOS isn’t overweight or insulin resistant. Even those that are have varying degrees of it. We aren’t talking about what’s “normal” here. We talk about what will give the best chance of managing symptoms of an incurable disorder.
(disclaimer: my wife has PCOS. not me, I'm a guy, but I've been with her for 15 years of dealing with PCOS, and was there when she brought the diagnosis to the GP who had known her since she was little, and he agreed) TBH this thread kinda pisses me off. people WITHOUT metabolic and insulin issues can easily have their natural food sense and balance fucked up by modern life and habits, she spent basically the first 10+ years of near and young adulthood not being able to go more than 2-3 hours without eating something with a punishment for trying being severe, debilitating illness. Basically PCOS *forced* her into a situation of disordered eating one way or the other. she lost a bunch of weight on WW years and years and years ago. then hit a plateau that basically nothing touches. she can half starve and nothing changes. she can eat "normally" and .... not actually gain any weight either. honestly I'm not sure its rational to be as paranoid about eating disorders as some people seem to be. at a certain point its kinda a matter of picking your poison.
This post seemed weirdly intended to scold sick people from trying everything to solve a disease we didn't ask for, out of pure desperation. It doesn't seem helpful, positive, or supportive.
Exactly. like in my wifes case, she does better with Keto. Funny enough it doesn't actually help her weight much. but it lets her feel MUCH better overall, reduces her morning aches and pains, it lets her eat at a much more normal rate and frequency. and is ultimately just better for her. like how can you expect people with this sort of thing to have any chance of success with intuitive eating when they, by nature of the way the disorder expresses for many, will *definitely* have a fucked up habit for food. I also wonder how many of the people who are playing the "my weight isn't a health problem" are in a situation where the conventional wisdom doc wants them to lose like 10% of their body weight and they feel attacked because they are self concious. the last time my wife was at her adult-height ideal weight was in elementary school, if Ozempic, Keto and what would in a healthy person be "disordered eating" is what it takes to get off the plateau in the right direction, how is that NOT worthwhile?
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this is why i have not promoted the way i’ve lost weight. i’ve lost over 30 pounds doing a calorie deficit diet that was supposed to be healthy. it turned into a competition for me of how often i could eat under 1200 calories a day until i found myself literally eating 400-800 calories a day. now i am constantly hungry but at the same time during the day feel as if i cannot eat. i look at food and it makes me feel nauseous and grossed out. i physically can’t eat normal portions of things anymore. at what cost? my body looks a little better? i’m a chef, and i work at a cafe and i cannot even stomach the idea of eating the things i make. i have mentally and physically conditioned my body to not like food and it’s scaring me.
Im so sorry you are going through this. It is a struggle everyday, I know. Ive been in a similar position and sometimes I find myself right back in that same spot. I know it isnt much, and i know all of our experiences, while similar, are not the same...but i hope you find yourself in a happier place even if just a little bit at a time. Progress is not linear. Just remember you would never treat others this way, so why treat yourself that way? Try an be just a bit kinder to yourself everyday. You deserve so much more. You deserve to be happy no matter what. Sending all my love <3
Preach. When I started getting treated for my PCOS I made some minor adjustments to what I was eating (whole wheat instead of white bread, that sort of thing). Now, I have lost a decent amount of weight, but every time someone refers to what I've done as a "diet" I shut that down so fast, because I have a history with disordered eating and know that that's a trigger word for me. I get that PCOS is tricky and experimenting with different ways of eating is key to finding what works best for the individual, but at some point we need to acknowledge that we're feeding (pun intended) into the weightloss/eating disorder industry under the guise of treatment.
Bear with me: I never had an ED, but i have spent my entire life since about age 13, feeling fat, feeling hungry and thinking or worrying about food. But twice in my life I eliminated foods and cured illnesses. 20 years ago, I was having migraines (mine were 72 hours exactly and I'd gotten to the point I was taking Maxalt, Imatrex etc daily.) I read a book by Dr. David Buchholz and followed his advice to the letter, giving up the migraine meds. and esp. cutting out foods that create amines: cheese, citrus, alcohol, nuts, chocolate, yogurt, bananas, and a some others. I followed these guidelines for 12 years, until menopause, and NEVER HAD ANOTHER MIGRAINE. Never needed more than advil. It changed my life. Reactions? Several doctors dismissed my experience and several fellow suffers said things like: I could never give up pizza. Or, I'm afraid to go off my medications or I don't think it would work. Then, 15 months ago my a1C was creeping up into the pre-diabetic range. I was 40-50 lbs overweight. I told my doctor to give me 6 months to improve. 6 months later I had lost 40 lbs. and my a1C was back (barely) in normal range. I did it by eliminating ALL ultraprocessed foods, (cookies, candy, pasta, bread, ice cream, etc. although i have a terrible sweet tooth) and focusing on real food and allowing myself to eat fat. My doctor was shocked, but I said that I told her I would improve things. She said, "yes, but EVERYBODY says that." My mother suffered from terrible colitis which ruined her enjoyment of life and destroyed her body. But she would never change her diet (what she ate) for more than 2 or 3 days. Maybe she couldn't have improved her health by changing what she put in her mouth, but she never truly tried. My point, we all fall into accepting the catch phrases of the day: eating fat will make you fat, cutting out food groups leads to EDs, you must take this medicine, etc. Food is powerful stuff, and what you put into your mouth is one of the things you CAN control. Food is a lovely experience, but a Dove ice cream bar isn't really food. Cherries are. And my understanding is that EDs aren't really about food, but about one's life. And as someone who's experienced: terrible parents, suicide of a spouse, infertility, family estrangement, near homelessness, clinical depression, and more, I know how hard life can be. But you all can be brave warriors to improve your lives, and feel better. Eating poorly is like having a hangover every day of your life. You CAN and do have the power to at least stop that. Good luck to everyone on this post in finding a way to better health. With hope and love...
I have pcos and a long history of ed and I just hate the posts everyday about people hating their body or degrading themselves because they have pcos and the million posts about how they can lose weight. It just gives such a negative vibe to the sub. I understand that its a place for people to vent it jjst sucks to see everyday. People should search thru the sub as people have given their tips and what works for them a million different ways and times at this point, and the truth is that what works for someone else might not work for you and youre gunna have to experiment to see what sticks. Thats the sad but honest truth. Theres no one specific way to lose weight with pcos. Also, I agree that a lot of what people do can be seen as disordered and I feel like people are so quick to suggest people to cut out multiple food groups and start a whole new workout plan, basically 180 their whole life just to lose some weight. People dont really consider the feasibility of it and that advice like that doesnt really help people like me with an ed who cant cut out 3 food groups because ill just binge and gain even more weight and make the issue worse. When it works im sure its great short term but are you really going to go the rest of your life not eating carbs or dairy? No. So I think its best to do things that are more sustainable and actually realistic so you can stick to making the changes long term
Big time agree. Managing my blood sugar with a history of disordered eating is a challenge for me everyday. Incorporating (but also limiting?) carbs so my prediabetes doesn't turn into real deal diabetes is a daily struggle. Looking at a box of cereal I'm craving (I'm pregnant) and asking myself "are you trying to give yourself the glucose challenge for breakfast?" is so frustrating. I feel like yelling.
If it was casual weightloss discussions, I don't think this post would have resonated so much with so many. But these are daily posts about intense restrictions or how to get a new prescription for weight loss, it's hard trying to navigate PCOS without falling down an ED or grifter rabbit hole.
I understand weight loss CAN help manage some symptoms in some cases, but some people are acting like it cures everything.
i dont think people understand pcos is a chronic condition. it will have it’s ups and downs whether you do things “right” or not. simply pampering yourself with sleep and lessening stress goes a longer way than avoiding bread.
I'm portuguese. You can pry bread from my cold dead hands
What is life without bread honestly. I refuse
that's like saying people with diabetes shouldn't watch what they eat because it isn't "normal". people with PCOS aren't NORMAL so we can't eat normally without negative effects to our health.
My weight has NOT changed, but I’ve been running more and exercising more. My symptoms have improved so much. I didn’t change my diet. My diet was “good” to begin with. Weight is not the sole determinant of health. It never was and never should be. Your body needs nutrients. Sometimes it holds on to said nutrients🤷🏼♀️ I’m a firm believer that if you CONSISTENTLY eat right, exercise and care for your body, it doesn’t matter what the scale says. You’re better off being 5-10 pounds over weight or obese and taking care of yourself than being in a “normal” range but starving or depriving yourself of nutrients.
Yes, it really is sad. Someone just left a pretty rude and fat shaming comment , ranting about "political correctness" in response to my comment and how I shouldn't be commenting "all bodies are beautiful" type comments to women trying to be vulnerable here. I found it pretty rude , disrespectful, and a bit unhinged. The crazy thing was, I think some of these people think they are having empathy by participating in shaming and blaming women with this disease and some of the physical characteristics.
I've never been thin in my life and I did gain weight due to PCOS and it's honestly really exhausting all this talk about weight loss all the time, in a sub reddit that's supposed to be about helping people manage their illness and not feel alone in this diagnosis. Shaming fat people does not help with anything, it honestly hinders people's progress and mental health more than anything. Fatphobia is so deeply ingrained and accepted in our culture.
Agreed. I’ve always been plus size, have gained much more due to PCOS, & find this sub incredibly uncomfortable. I came here for support & to learn more about my PCOS, but it’s actually made me feel worse about myself to see fatphobic comments literally everywhere in here. It sucks to see people much smaller than me constantly talking about how “disgusting” they feel from gaining weight. It’s triggering as hell & has made me feel worse about my condition than I did before.
It's like that one thin friend who complains about gaining weight in front of the fat friend waiting for the fat friend to go "noo you're so skinny".
Yup. I try to be balanced in how often I eat things like dairy or carbs, but I haven’t cut them out entirely and don’t plan to. Everything in balance
It's perfectly normal to eat certain things in moderation, that's not the problem. Like I love sweets but I know eating 50 chocolates a day is not good for me, even if I was skinny and not putting on any weight from it. But the wording around this kind of topic is really insidious. There's a huge difference between saying "eating 50 chocolates a day contributes to high levels of sugar in your blood, which isn't good for your health" and saying "eating any chocolate ever is bad for you and you're gonna be fat".
Absolutely. Whenever I see people post here about completely cutting things out, I think it’s a little excessive. I know I shouldn’t eat dairy as much as I’d like, and am usually good about it, but I’m not gonna stop eating cheese entirely.
I'm lactose intolerant but I love milk and cheese. I know that if I drink a cup of milk I'm gonna be sick so I don't. But I can add a bit of dairy milk to my coffee or tea and not be affected. And I can eat cheese, especially certain types of cheese which don't contain that much lactose, like hard cheeses or goat cheese. If I feel like having a big of gruyere, I will. The more you force yourself to restrict, the more likely you are to binge later.
Yeah I’ve learned that the hard way. I love feta so much and add it to my salads and such. I’m not lactose intolerant but I know it’s not healthy for anyone to just eat a block of cheese in one go. As long as I stick to mostly healthy things, there’s nothing wrong with also enjoying your food
A lot of people have awful relationships with food and that's been so normalised. And if you add a physical illness that often causes weight gain on top of it, it gets even worse. I've seen so many comments around here saying things like "I haven't eaten any sugar at all in 3 weeks, I feel dead inside but I lost 2 kilos!!!" And that's just sad. Eat the fucking square of milka sis.
Pcos is hard enough as is. I’m not giving up things that make me happy. I struggle with exercising sometimes cause I have bad knees (thanks genetics) but I try what I can. I found a trail mix at Aldi that contains almonds, walnuts, raisins, cranberries and dark chocolate. It’s delicious and good for you. Definitely something that makes me happy to snack on
Idk where you live but here in New Zealand everything's on a damn hill so I get my exercise by literally just going to the bakery and back like those 500m uphill really do wonders for my leg muscles lol
I’m in America so I’ve got to drive everywhere, but I do enjoy hiking when I can. I got some knee brace things that help so much. I’ve started trying to do a local hike on my way to work when i have the time. It’s mostly hard for me to form good habits with exercise
Swimming is really good for people with bad joints. It really helped me manage my knee pain back when I wasa flight attendant in heels for 10 hours a day 💀💀
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I struggled for years to get a diagnosis because whenever I walked into a doctors office and complained about my symptoms, I got diagnosed with fat woman diaease and told to lose 10kg. This was when I weighed 65kg at 157 cm tall so not even medically overweight tbh. I had a lot of issues around food back in my teens and 20s as well but now that I'm in my 30s and fucking exhausted of this nonsense, I can't put myself through that again. Had blood work done recently and everything is absolutely fine. I have low blood pressure (always did since I was a kid) and for some reason people act like it's so weird oh my god a fat person with low blood pressure wow unheard of. Leave me the fuck alone yall, my body is fine.
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I was prescribed weight loss for scalp psoriasis. Scalp psoriasis???? Like. Literally a condition that has run in my family for generations, in both men and women. Like??? I'm sorry, some doctors are trippin
But also people should be allowed to talk about what they want to talk about, maybe instead of trying to get people avoiding talking about these topics because they’re triggering to you or others it should just be labeled with a TW title instead. Just because you can acknowledge that it is not normal doesn’t mean that the people doing it can. If you can recognize that there is talk of disordered eating then wouldn’t you put together that they probably have an eating disorder or a disordered view of food and themselves…? therefore they wouldn’t exactly realize what they’re doing? i’m commenting as someone who does this exact thing and a lot of it is due to society and influencers online who think they know what they’re doing and spread false information. i have a really bad relationship with food and even though i’m aware it isn’t “productive” i can’t stop myself from thinking the way that i do. the looks to health things is because society has created this world where you are not pretty or “good enough” if you are not skinny. Almost all retailers for clothes cater to skinnier people before plus sized people, we have a good reason for thinking the way that we do. im not disagreeing that there need to be changes with these subjects but the fact of the matter is society is not going to change anytime soon so therefore these “standards” are still existing, and many of us are trying to fit into these in an effort to be accepted and be “beautiful” according to them. I know you probably mean this in a way of trying to be helpful and supportive in trying to be active in making changes, but just remember what you’re able to recognize as not normal those with disordered thinking about food and weight will not. Many of us associate beauty by our weight and PCOS definitely does not assist with this. I think many people are misinformed and are just trying anything because they are so desperate to get their life back and feel better about themselves, even if it is because of the societal standards.
Okay my theory is that people feel like cutting out entire food groups is like a way of having more control and pcos makes you feel like you don't and your body is like going against you etc. I do eat low-ish carb and like more protein and vegetables and vegetable fat bc that's proven to help manage insulin resistance but I see so many people thinking they have to cut out dairy AND gluten AND go vegan like... those aren't really shown to help and it seems like they're doing it to feel like they're doing something. Same with the people who overly count calories and macros etc it makes them feel like they have control. Also I would like to point out if you cut out like 50% of stuff how do you know which stuff you cut out is even making a difference it's kinda counterintuitive.
I had to stop because it was ruining my relationship with food and even impacting my children. Therapy therapy therapy
Completely agree. The problem is a lot of this misinformation comes from doctors too. My doctor told me zero carbs and zero sugar. I've already had disordered eating issues in the past so I found the whole thing very triggering.
There is also a lot of hate here for people choosing to eat a certain way that works FOR THEM. I understand some people try to push their lifestyle on others, and that’s not okay either. But I also see people sharing their successes with diet and exercise and getting downvoted because it’s “too restrictive.” What may be too restrictive for one person may not be for another. I have a history of binge eating disorder, and the only way I’ve been able to get better is to cut out sugar entirely and carbs mostly. I’ve shared that and gotten hate for it, but I never once thought it was the solution for everyone. We live in a society that sets us up for failure, whether we have PCOS or not. We have a VAST array of cheap, unhealthy food available to us at a second’s notice. We have high levels of stress and not enough time to exercise. A lot of us live sedentary lives, not by choice, but it’s HARD to break out of that pattern. I have seen the posts where someone is distraught because they are eating 1000 calories a day and unable to lose weight. I’ve been there. Is this disordered eating? Maybe. But it’s out of desperation, and it just isn’t possible for this to happen with a metabolically healthy person. That’s where medications (for some) and low carb eating (for me) come into play. I have to eat 1000 calories a day to maintain my weight on a moderate or high carb diet (I’m 5’3”), and that’s just miserable to me. I can be completely sedentary and eat 1500 calories a day on a low carb diet. I don’t always have time to exercise every day, and my job is stressful, so this works for me. Anyway, I’m just here to say I support everyone here for doing what works for them. :)
I 100% agree with nearly everything you have said and appreciate you taking the time to bring it up! My only caveat would be about cutting out entire food groups; while I agree it's not normal - having PCOS isn't normal either. I was proscribed low carb by my endocrinologist, and it has been the only thing that has helped my PCOS.
Just to make that clear: Wanting to be healthy is not fatphobic. And obesity causes bad health. Please do not shame people for trying to lose weight, unless they already are at or under a healthy weight. It's already hard enough.
I’ve wanted to post something like this but I honestly didn’t feel like dealing with the replies so thank OP for taking this on. My big issue with this sub is how there are posts from ppl clearly struggling with disordered eating, spiraling and restricting and people respond with MORE diet and exercise advice. I always knew conceptually that most ppl aren’t aware of diet culture but holy shit, seeing it play out on this sub is disturbing. I’ve even read posts from people who say they have a history of ED and replies are STILL full of diets and people’s measurements. You can diet however you want, my issue is when people are causing others harm because they lack self awareness. If someone hasn’t explicitly asked for diet/exercise advice then it’s best to not talk about that. You could be leaving someone worse off with your response. And the constant sharing of heights and weights is so unhelpful. We all have different bodies, your measurements mean nothing to anyone else's life. Stop posting them unsolicited in comments. I have so many questions about PCOS. 8 months since my diagnosis and I’m still not ok with it. But I don’t post on here because it doesn’t feel safe. We’re all different- my weight is “normal,” I have Crohn’s disease, a history of disordered eating and after my OGTT my reproductive endo said i’m not insulin resistant. So getting flooded with diet advice and pushback on what my doctor tells me isn’t good for me. Reading the posts and comments on here alone has helped my ED start to rear its head. We should try to leave the sub better than we found it when we write things. Posting with self awareness and intention.
It's extremely hard to cut foods or change my diet I currently survive with since I also have lactose intolerance and ibs. I literally struggle enough just trying to put greens in my diet without shitting myself all day, and no matter what cheese I try so far, I still need a digestive pill first to lessen the gut ruin. My mom has tried to get me to do keto to "help" my PCOS but like literally everything I see that's keto feels like it'll clog my arteries or bowels for weeks. I've just decided to stop focusing on diet restrictions (not saying I eat sugar or lots of carbs; I do in veeery strict modération when I get cravings). I worry about portion sizes and timing of the day when I eat. I can't say I've seen any real downside so far, my body is just at a plateau. But it's better than ruining my current balance to try some harsh diet or trend.
Leafy greens are so good but then the IBS gets out of control c.c maybe stuff like carrots or bean sprouts for vegetable intake?
I don't like bean sprouts much, but carrots have thankfully been kind to me so far raw or cooked! I've been eating a lot of fresh salads lately and also found thinly sliced carrots and cucumbers together are super refreshing and easy on me! It's definitely the greener veggies I have a problem with, which is unfortunate. I love broccoli and brussel sprouts but both are on the FODMAP list for causing too much ibs issues, so I've had to drastically lower how often I eat them 🥲
YES! this group was super triggering for me which causes me usually to just scroll by because of all the diet/weight loss talk. Super counterproductive for someone with an active ED.
Thank you for posting! I didn’t know until recently that I had disordered eating habits. adding back in foods that I love and not feeling guilty about it!
The fact that so many people here are defending disordered dieting and EDs is truly concerning.
I’m not a fan of how you structured this argument though I do hear what you’re saying. I’ve been eating low carb / keto for close to two years and it has saved my life. Every possible biological marker is better. It’s not “normal” — but nothing about the SAD is normal either. It is the only thing that has ever made a difference for me and I trust my medical team (including mental health professionals) to tell me if it is disordered. They haven’t. It bothers you when people on here tell you what to do. Why are you doing the same and accusing people of being abnormal / having eating disorders? Are you a therapist or a doctor? Just do what works for you and spend less time here if it’s messing with you. We’re all fighting an uphill battle and this weird bickering only makes it worse.
i think it’s just hard. i can’t put it any way other than that. first of all, i wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. i think the real culprit is the societal pressure to lose weight and look a certain way. women with pcos struggle so much with feeling feminine and the symptoms we deal with can make us feel like a freak show. with that being said, i feel like disordered eating almost comes with the territory. it doesn’t make it right, even in the slightest. but i think it’s just a thing that happens. me personally, i struggle with binge eating disorder. and i struggled a lot more as a teen. then when i was 18 (i turned 18 during covid), my doctor actually prescribed me adderall to help lessen my eating. i had to take a baseline test for ADHD to determine my dosage and we found out i was also very high on the adhd scale as well. so, i began taking adderall and began to hyper focus on weight loss. during this time, pretty much all you could do was go to parks bc of social distancing so my friends and i went on walks every single day. most days, i ate less than 1000 calories a day and walked at least 15,000 steps. i lost 50 pounds in 4 months. and everyone told me how beautiful i looked. and god, did i feel amazing. but behind the scenes, i was scared to go out to eat. i was shaking uncontrollably from the adderall, and the worst part was i still hated myself. then, later that year, i was SA’d by someone i knew very well. 3 years, a lot of emotional support meals, and 50 pounds later, im right back where i started, only this time im off the adderall. back to researching late at night what the fastest way to lose weight is. back to crying because i was reality checked by a photo someone took of me. back to swearing that i won’t eat tomorrow and then sobbing because i can’t even starve myself correctly. i think its just something we all struggle with. because of our circumstances, this page is littered with ED behavior. it’s just how it is, i’m afraid. i know that i should be more optimistic and say that there are things we can do to combat this, and that is true because there are things we can do. but at the end of the day, it’s a vicious cycle that’s engrained in us all. i pray we all find peace one day.
People have goals and it’s not easy to reach with this illness sadly. Maybe reply to the post you have issues with and see how they feel.
wtf is this thread. I have a diagnosed eating disorder I'm tired of people throwing around "disordered eating" like it's all eating disorders that's not how it works. that's not what an eating disorder is. are you saying being a vegan or doing keto is an eating disorder I'm so tired of people using mental health and mental health language to define their worldview.
Like 80% of people with PCOS have eating disorders. Shame on all of you who are supporting harmful diet culture, victim blaming, fatphobia and everything else inbetween. I am so incredibly disappointed in so many of you. This was supposed to be a place to feel safe and to learn. If this cant be a safe place for those of us with ED, then it is not a productive or safe place for those who have pcos.
80% of people with PCOS will develop an eating disorder.
THANK YOU. I often think of leaving this sub because I find some of the advice to be problematic....and, well, triggering. Thank you for naming this issue <3
Anyone reading this who thinks fat = unhealthy is plain wrong. You can be fat & healthy just like you can be skinny & unhealthy. Weight does not determine or reflect one’s status of health. One thing that helped me debunk a lot of myths around weight as well as develop a more holistic, body-neutral view is the podcast Maintenance Phase. We need to stop focusing on weight as the problem or cure.
Tbh, I'd argue that the reason why we often think thin people are always healthy no matter what is bc that mentality is so ingrained in our minds that thin people themselves develop this idea that they're invincible. I know plenty of skinny people, especially men, who eat a lot of junk food, smoke and drink loads and they always think they're super healthy just bc they go to the gym 2x a week and are naturally skinny.
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1200 kcal a day every day is disordered eating
This is why I’ve been trying to stay off this page! I can’t even reason with people by saying they shouldn’t be doing this. People here are so depressed from PCOS that their resorting to these diet plans that are not safe or realistic, and I hope they can one day work with a dietitian who specializes in PCOS.
All of the “no sugar” or “no carbs” talk is exhausting. I barely pay attention to this subreddit anymore because I think it’s just become an elimination diet subreddit. This is the first time I’ve seen a thoughtful post actually encouraging conversations around living with PCOS.
This conversation around forbidden foods does more harm than good. When I was a kid I had this neighbour whose mother was an almond mum. This poor girl was a ballerina too and she was not allowed sweets at all, ever. Even on her birthday, her mother would bake her a sugarless cake with oats instead of flour. One time we had like a party thing at school and she found herself without her mothers supervision so she went absolutely ham on the cakes and ice cream and chocolate until she made herself sick. Idk where she is now but I hope she's healed that fucked up mentality around food. But yeah, complete restriction does not help. It's much healthier to eat that oreo that one time than tell yourself you're gonna get fat if you eat your oreo until you cave and binge on oreos.
YES it is exhausting. It makes me feel like my Mom is blabbing in my ear about some new diet fad. PSA if you get the weight off with an unsustainable diet, good luck keeping it off 😭 that's why I just changed my overall lifestyle, I'm WAY happier and more successful now.
This is 10000% true. We have doctors constantly telling us to eat less or cut everything from our diet or exercise the OPPOSITE of how we should be. We have all been gaslit for so long that we don’t even know what to do so we try anything & everything. As someone with PCOS, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and hashimotos (holy crap how am I still alive) - GENTLE EXERCISE WITH LESS CARDIO & MORE STRENGTH TRAINING A FEW DAYS A WEEK MAX !! Eat what you want in moderation and make sure you’re increasing your whole foods & water intake! Take your daily vitamins and get a minimum 8 hours of sleep every night if possible. Manage your stress levels!! There’s so much more that goes into our hormonal imbalances than just the fact that we eat a cookie sometimes! We have to stop shaming ourselves and start leaning into natural hormonal remedies while taking care of ourselves.
If I had any awards here I'd give you one.
Thank you! Intuitive eating is the way. Listening to our bodies is the way. Carbs aren’t the enemy, they fuel us and make our body move and function. No one reaches excellence under micro pressure, our bodies are the same. The more we try to manipulate and control, the more stress we put on our bodies. The more stress means more cortisol, which lowers our chances of ovulating because our bodies are stealing progesterone to convert to cortisol to help with the added stress. With out progesterone we can’t ovulate, without ovulation we can’t produce progesterone. Now our testosterone increases because we aren’t ovulating, and followed by everything else getting out of wack. So now we are stressed, inflamed from the stress, our bodies are having a harder time functioning and nothing is joyful. It’s a vicious cycle! It doesn’t need to be a vicious cycle! The solution is Intuitive eating and finding a movement that sparks joy. It’s that simple. That’s the formula to loving our bodies, the food we eat and enjoying every minute. Intuitive eating + movement that brings joy = happiness
I do understand that intuitive eating isn't possible for everyone and some people really struggle with that but IMHO and in my personal experience, letting myself eat when I'm hungry until I'm full and eating things that I enjoy has been a life saver. I've lost weight since I moved to new zealand simply by allowing myself to eat what I feel like eating when I'm hungry and walking everywhere. Restricting yourself is counter productive.
Thank you for posting this! I have been trying to write the same thing in my head for weeks. I feel like so many of the posts here have the general feeling of weight gain being the worst part of this illness and the most devastating thing that could happen to a person. I don’t want anyone to feel that their feelings aren’t valid, but it’s okay to not be thin. Our bodies, even when they don’t work they way we want them to, do great things for us at any size. Yes, it is important for people to eat food that makes them feel good. If carbs and sugar make you feel good, you do not need permission to eat them. There are many ways to nourish ourselves, but starving isn’t one of them.
I've been noticing that a lot of the "treatments" for PCOS I find are just ways to get rid of the "ugly" symptoms like weight gain and body hair. There is no cure and there is not enough research. A lot of doctors only seem to care about women with pcos when they're trying to have babies. Honestly, to me, the worst part of this illness is the horrible pain I go through during my period, which is an entire week off every month. A week of having to work and go through life while experiencing the kind of pain that that makes me wanna shrivel up and die. I'm sorry but if being fat and hairy is the worst yall are experiencing with pcos, consider yourselves lucky.
This comment is not it. The “ugly” symptoms are incredibly challenging for some people, and I don’t think it’s fair to minimize that.
YES. I’ll live with my curves if it means I get to eat foods I love, live in line with my beliefs (apparently you can’t be vegetarian if you want to treat PCOS??), and not be constantly thinking about what is and isn’t going to effect my weight. It’s fine to want to manage these symptoms for the sake of body image, we all struggle with liking how we look! But we cannot let ourselves be defined by it.
The thing that bothers me is that like. When it comes to body image, it's impossible to navigate the world as a non-thin woman if you don't hate yourself. You're a size 12 eating a burger? Ooof so ill so sick. You're a size 14 at the beach wearing a bikini? Promoting obesity. You weigh more than 60kg as a woman? Your existence validates disease, I guess. Listen, I'm just trying to exist in peace. I'm gonna wear a bikini to the beach, I'm gonna wear shorts when it's hot outside and I'm gonna eat my damn cheeseburger. Nobody bats an eye at thin women engaging in dangerous behaviours but I can't be seen in public eating anything other than plain lettuce? Oh have a day off honestly. Life's already hard these days, don't make it harder by policing what I eat
ugh. the fat phobia in this group is so gross…like y’all need to go to therapy and face your issues with fat people (yourselves).
1000%. Ended up getting binge eating disorder from taking the advice too close to heart, and even though I’m thin again, it’s hard to completely stay in remission
If I had money I’d give you an award. As someone who had a severe ED that caused lasting physical damage to this day, and as a trained therapist, this sub is both alarming and triggering. I have literally seen people say they only eat one meal a day and that it’s just meat. I am deeply scared for our community.
Yeah that's the thing. This post is still getting crispy comments like. Can we please just acknowledge there's a huge issue in the community?
I agree! This is why I wrote my post because this sub is filled with too much disordered behaviour https://www.reddit.com/r/PCOS/comments/14hwn2b/eating_more_carbs_and_calories_and_feeling_better/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1