A year on keto from a gal with PCOS

pcos
(Mandy) #1

I am quickly approaching my first year on keto. When I first started this journey I honestly had no idea how hard it would be to drop weight as a female living with PCOS. I actually didn’t even consider it might come into play. Keto has taught me that we are all different, vastly different, and our medical issues do matter.

I jumped into keto expecting to whiz through it all. I would lose all my unwanted weight in a matter of months and that’s all that mattered. It would be grand. Well, that is definitley not what happened. My first few weeks did not go as I had read many people write about. I didnt drop a single pound, not even what many consider as the intial water weight. I started panicking of course. What was I doing wrong? I started obessing over every carb. I was tracking every meal and it was honestly stressing me out! I eventually concluded, this was not worth it. I started eating intuitively. 4 months later… I found I craved fat, not carbs. My stress level dropped and I actually started losing. I got a lot of encouragement from this forum about all sorts of things I expereinced. Which was a great help.

The longer I spent on keto, the more I read. I was determiend to gain the knowledge to understand what was going on inside. It never occurred to me that my PCOS was insulin resistance as I had never had a glucose or insulin issue. It also never popped into my brain that my body might need many, many months of healing from the years of low fat, calorie restricted, yo yo diets.

Fast forward to today. Almost a year later, roughly 25 pounds down. Most people would say 25 pounds in a year is the slowest weight loss ever. I would have agreed in the first 6 months as sure, it can be maddening. With that said, its still a loss and its still heading in the right direction. I have a ways to go but I’m loving my keto life and accepting that things aren’t the same for everyone.

A few keto insights from a gal living with PCOS:

  1. weight loss will most likely be slow, very slow. this is probably normal for us lucky ones
  2. you may have a severe hormone imbalance but not to fret, keto can help!
  3. you may or may not start to believe you have a thyroid issue, and thats possible but dont jump to that conclusion. your hormones can really cause a lot of the same issues
  4. dont listen to people who say “thats not keto”. I personally find a sweet potato once a week helps my hormone regulation immensely
  5. Weight loss is great but keep in mind all of the other great things happening when the loss stops or stalls. Treating your insulin resistance being at the top of the list.
  6. If you weigh at all, stay off the scale leading up to those magic female days. It can really mess with your head to see the fluctuation
  7. Stop comparing your journey to others!
  8. Most importantly, keep calm and keto on

Thanks for reading and thanks to all the folks who have helped me over the past year. It’s been a life changing event.

Excuse my awkward facial expressions, candids caught me in a laugh.

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17 year old daughter treated for PCOS. Amenorrhea 2.5 years - doing Keto
New to Keto - help!
(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

You look great! If I had to guess, I’d say you lost a lot more than 25 pounds of fat. I wonder if you put on some muscle, or your bones got denser, or something. In any case, whaterver you’re doing is working. Keep up the good work! :+1:

(Mandy) #3

Thanks Paul. I haven’t done a ton of exercise over the year. A little light walking and some very light weights but it’s possible you are right. I think the drastic change is the 10 inch loss in the belly region! Ha. Thanks for your help with my journey BTW!

(Khara) #4

You look awesome! Thank you for sharing your experience!

(Mandy) #5

Thanks Khara!

(Libby) #6

Thank you for the inspiration!

(Ellen) #7

Amazing Mandy! It might “only” be 25lbs but that’s some major body recomposition, 10 inches is outstanding.

(bulkbiker) #8

Too right… thats amazing well done you look great!

(Mandy) #9

Thanks @MarkGossage and @Elle79. It’s been a hard fought year but totally worth it!

(Ashley) #10

You look great! Even if it’s only a 25lb difference your body looks like it’s a way bigger difference!

(Mandy) #11

Thanks ash! It definitely feels like a bigger change than the nasty scale says!

(Ashley) #12

I’ve felt the same way! I’ve got lucky a bit I lost about 50lbs. But I also was 250+ lbs I’ve fluctuated a lot and can’t get below 200. But I’m coming up to a year in about 3 weeks and I’m still super happy to be 50lbs down. A lot of my loss was in the first 6 months but I’m still getting told I look smaller and smaller so even though I’m staying the same weight 204-209. I think my body composition is still continuing to change.

(Mandy) #13

That’s a fantastic win! It can be difficult to power through when in a stall but hey, its better than gaining. specially when we get to eat such delicious foods.

(Ashley) #14

Exactly I’ll take the stall over being super unhealthy again. Even at my weight I feel 10 times better than I did! I have a feeling getting stricter will maybe give my body the push it needs so working on easing myself into very strict Keto! Have played with it in the past. I also have signs of PCOS which I have talked with my doctor about which made me partly go Keto to avoid having to do any types of medications for it!

(Mandy) #15

keto really is the perfect antidote for PCOS. When I saw a new gyno she came into the room with a bunch of papers. she started off with, you know this issue is linked to insulin resistance. she was all set to talk me into going LCHF. Before she even got started I said I had been keto for 6 months. She was super excited to not have to talk me into it. She herself is also keto and tells all of her patients its the best WOE for people in general but especially for women. huge score finding a keto doctor!

(Ashley) #16

Yeah I was having irregular periods and now that I have started Keto mine are still slightly irregular but instead of one every 3 months now it’s more like every month to maybe every 6 weeks so it’s helping me out a lot!

(Mandy) #17

exactly the same here! she said if i didn’t continue with keto, i would need to take progesterone as going months in between can lead to cancer. all hail keto!

(MelissaH) #18

You look fantastic @rhltechie!!! I’ll be sharing your story with a PCOS discouraged friend of mine! I appreciate you sharing your story.

Question… how/why do you feel a sweet potato helps with your hormones? I follow an app called “my flow” (feel free to message me for info, it’s helped with my PCOS tremendously) it recommends different foods throughout the month. Sweet potato is on there but I’ve been afraid of the carbs…

(Mandy) #19

Thanks Melissa! Are you familiar with Leanne Vogel? She has a podcast called “the keto diet”. She does carb ups. I was very nervous about it too and I have to be honest, I’m not the best on the science behind why it helps women with hormone issues. Take a listen though, this one is centered around the issue. I found my hormones to be feeling really out of whack. Adding in the carbs once a week seems to really even me out. That’s without making any other changes. I don’t gain and actually lose a little. I have no idea about how it affects my ketosis as I don’t check right after. When I check in the morning, still in ketosis though.

Listen below:

(MelissaH) #20

Thanks for that info @rhltechie! I have watched a few of her video’s. For me personally, I didn’t find her relatable. It was a what I eat in a day video, and she was eating some pretty strange things🙃 lol the my flow app helps with telling you to eat certain foods that help flush estrogens or whatever out at certain times. It’s been super helpful. I’ll listen to the podcast