Slow weight loss

I'm pretty sure I have PCOS, although I don't have a very formal diagnosis. I'm a midwife, and one of the doctors I work with told me that it's extremely likely that I have it, because we know from scans that I have cysts on my ovaries, I carry weight in the typical pattern (around my stomach), and I'm insulin resistant. And I have irregular periods. She thought that was enough indicators to make it likely.

Anyway, I still got pregnant after a year of trying, and I now have two lovely children, so it's kind of irrelevant whether I do or don't have PCOS in a way.

But, I've started dieting about 6 weeks ago, and to say how much I'm exercising (6 times a week for an hour at a time), and how many calories I'm eating, I think my weight loss is really slow. About 1-2lb a week. More like 2lb initially and now about 1lb.

Do you think the slow weight loss might be partly due to the PCOS? And is there anything I can do other than really try to cut down my carbs?

Hi Rachel,

I was told when i was 16 i had PCOS, I have always been overweight and struggled losing it.

I started slimming world in 2008 and like you i was only losing 2lb a week for a while and i was really disheartened, I stuck with it as i was determined i would do it and the more i relaxed into it and stopped trying so hard the lbs started to fall off.

At my last weigh in i recieved my 7 stone award!!
Keep with it...it sometimes is really hard and you feel like giving up. To be honest i don't think having PCOS has affected my weight loss even though i thought that was the reason for my slow weight loss in the beginning, I think i was putting to much pressure on myself and I think you may be doing the same. Hope this helps you and good luck

You may be right. I am getting a bit obsessed with it.
7 stone is amazing!!! Absolutely fantastic - you must look and feel fabulous!

Its so easy to get obsessed there was a time i would weigh myself every time i went the toilet because the scales were in the bathroom, it wasnt doing me any good and i had to move them!! I feel amazing and am sure you will do it, just remember it dosnt matter how long it takes to come off if your losing or maintaining your not putting on!! it has taken me 2 years to get my 7 stone and i am still not at target..

I think if i had kept putting pressure on myself i would of stopped going to class and now would most probably be weighing 20 stone.

i was diagnosed with pcos few months back after thinkin i had it for about a year, iv found out so much about it, one of the main things is the way your body digests food when you have pcos, for instance when you eat white bread white rice white pasta you body digests these as sugars so are stored as fat or something along those lines so you could be eating a healthy meal like fish veg n rice and the rice is where your going wrong, altho its not unhealthy to people who suffer with pcos its a nono, whilst dieting i would suggest picking up some brown pasta, it tastes soooo similar and with a sauce u cant tell, also with sugars normally we would get whats known as 'sugar rush' buuuut if you have pcos unluckily this we bring our energy levels dramatically down, i always wondered why red bull drinks etc never worked for me and now i know why, so whilst dieting, watch your sugar intake, and your white cark intake, switch to whole mean bread and wholemealm pasta, you can get wholemean rice but its a git to cook and it does have a different texture to white rice so if u dont get along with it i would but out rice altogether, this is just a little info if you google it might give you a better food list etc but i would try the gi diet its a low glycemic index diet which is good for pcos sufferers

hope this helps

sorry for spelling mistakes :-s lol

I was diagnosed about a year an a half ago, although i kinda knew i had it from the symptoms i was suffering with, i was too embarrased to go to the docs!
However i joined slimming world at the start of the year to try and lose the weight and improve my condition.
I found at the start it was really easy losing weight, and now im so close to my 3st mark im starting to strugle. Up and down from early april, and i started losing my motivation.
I then realised that even if it is just 1-2lb a week, its a loss, that all adds up and losing half a stone a month is a great achievement for anyone.
dont lose hope, yes its harder for us with pcos but its so worth the hard work.
An by the way, chrissie, i had no idea about the rice and pasta thing so, im going to try the brown rice/pasta for a few weeks see if i can make a difference, Thank you!!

I already do wholemeal bread (always have done), and I've just bought some brown pasta, so I'll see how that goes.
Might have to get a low GI book as well, to see what i can do with that.
It's just such a pain. I feel like I'm working really, really hard at this, and not seeing much in return.
Definitely not going to give up though.

Sorry to butt in, I've got pcos and I'm combining eating low gi with lowish calorie intake, around 1400-1500 a day. Lentils and quinoa are really low cal and low gi and a great replacement for couscous or even pasta! I've been having pasta only once or twice a week max and lentils or sweet potato or quinoa the rest of the time and I've lost 4lbs this week! Good luck everyone! xx

Hi all, I'm convinced it takes longer to lose weight when you've got pcos. After all if it causes weight gain then that would be a sensible conclusion. It certainly does in my case. I did Slimming World for 10 weeks last year and lost 11lbs whereas my friend had lost 1.5 stone in that time and most who were 100% had lost at least a stone.

well i have pcos and im doing lipotrim and in 2 weeks lost 16 pounds, its worth a try i think, go for it

I have thought a lot about total meal replacements - but I don't think it would be a good option for me.
I think I'd be able to stick to it, I'd probably lose a lot of weight. But I know I'd also get really, really obsessive about it - which I don't think is healthy for me, and I think I'd also end up putting loads of the weight back on by eating rubbish once I was allowed to eat again.

well whatever you decide good luck, sometimes slow and steady is the best way

I also agree that having PCOS will make you have a slower weight loss, but it just makes us a lot more determined to succed. ive been eating healthilly and exercising for 10 months now, and have lost 3 stone 4lbs. With the amount of effort and time ive put into it i think i would have lost a lot more then i have, but im just going to keep on going. itll come off in the end..!