If you are struggling to lose weight or have gained weight for no apparent reason, you aren’t alone. This is the most common complaint I hear from my patients with PCOS. It can be so frustrating to try diet after diet, along with exercise, and get minimal results while you see others around you losing weight on the same program! And the advice given to you by your doctor to “just eat less” is totally useless. The truth of the matter is that there are REAL reasons why it’s more difficult to lose weight with PCOS. But the good news is that the majority of people with PCOS are able to lose weight. It just might take a little detective work to find out what works best for you. I’m sharing my top tips for losing weight with PCOS that have helped many of my clients.
7 areas of focus for losing weight with PCOS
Since weight loss is such a HUGE topic that I could break down into 100 blog posts, I’ll provide an overview of some tips that have helped my clients through the years. By no means am I trying to make it seem like I have all the answers or telling you to “just follow my tips, and you’ll lose weight.” It’s so much more complicated. But I’m hoping that you can grab a few tips from my blog post that will help you on your journey. Please keep in mind that weight loss diets need to be tailored to the individual person. This is what I do with my PCOS coaching clients. And each of my tips is only touching the surface area!
And if you don’t work on getting to the root cause of your PCOS, such as stress or insulin resistance, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to lose weight and keep it off. The same goes for adequate sleep, meal planning, and a sound support system. Because it’s so common to get caught up with the diet component, these other areas often get neglected. Word of warning: before you read my post, I want to warn you that this post isn’t about giving you a “diet” and meal plan, it’s more about giving you tips for the big picture.
One more thing: please don’t get caught up in the scale. Focus more on how you are feeling, how your clothes fit, your energy levels, your labs (e.g., blood sugar), and your menstrual cycle regularity. If you feel getting on the scale helps motivate you, then go for it. In my experience, it is not helpful for most people.