How to Lose Weight with PCOS: Effective Strategies and Tips

How to lose weight with PCOS? PCOS is a common concern among reproductive-age women. It becomes even more difficult when you are on PCOS and hoping to lose a few pounds.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a disorder that reduces the production of progesterone. The dietary solution to this health disorder is to eat foods that promote hormonal balance and help regulate insulin levels.

But, when you are on a PCOS diet, losing weight feels like swimming against the tide. Gaining weight, on the other hand, feels much more easy. However, it’s not impossible to lose weight. Losing even a little weight affects your body positively, especially if you have PCOS.

Losing Weight With PCOS: Why is it Hard?

Body hormones are responsible for multiple different bodily processes, such as controlling hunger, stress, energy and more. PCOS affects body hormones and, in the process, affects bodily functions in different ways. Scientists are still uncovering the causes of PCOS and different ways of treating it.

Since the body’s function is affected, it becomes difficult to lose weight, even if that’s a small amount. But you can still lose some weight with the right diet and habits. Keep reading to know how to lose weight with PCOS.

It’s challenging to lose weight when you are dealing with PCOS. But you can progress slowly over time with the right habits and the right diet.

Build Healthy Habits

We broke down the process of losing weight with PCOS into three different processes:

• Developing healthy habits
• Diet
• Medication

1. Be Patient

I know you cannot wait to see the results. But, the first habit to master here is patience.

You can do a lot with your diet and your habits. But, to practice the right habit, you’ll need time. Those practices will take some time to show results. Even if you aren’t reducing your weight significantly, the right habits and dietary plans can reduce the risks involved with PCOS in the long term.

Most importantly, you can reduce your chances of developing diabetes and heart disease. With your patience with the diets in conjunction with diabetes and a regular activity plan, you can stay safe from common PCOS complaints like excess hair growth, heavy periods, acne, and fertility problems.

2. Regular Exercises

If you are already undergoing treatment, you must have an exercise routine ready for you. Usually, doctors recommend 150 minutes of exercise every week, which means 30 minutes daily.

This exercise routine includes physical activities and weight management. Women who have PCOS struggle to lose weight as compared to non-PCOS women.

Yes, initially, it might seem a bit disheartening because you may not see excessive progress even after putting in constant effort.

However, despite weight loss results, exercise has other benefits for your body, such as helping you relieve some of the symptoms of PCOS.

Here are some tips to make exercise a little less difficult while you have PCOS –

3. Focus on Activities you Enjoy

First, focus on staying active. When you focus solely on exercise, it might start to feel like a chore. Plus, there’s no specific workout that’s termed as perfect. Do physical activities that keep you engaged throughout. For example, you can choose to go jogging while listening to music. In fact, hiking and cycling do sound good.

Regardless of the kind of exercise you choose, you should enjoy it.

1. Build Your Exercise Routine

It’s important to build your habit around a specific set of exercises. But habits can be tiring. For example, if you do the same workout at a stretch, you’ll get bored. That’s why it’s recommended not to follow the same workout routine every day.

Instead, allow yourself some levels of flexibility. Don’t do the same activity at a stretch. This way, you’ll stay active and keep the entire process from becoming stale . It’s what you call spicing up the same old recipe for a change in taste.

2. A Little is Enough

Stop making the mistake of saying no to short workouts and exercise routines. Stop making excuses for not exercising at all because of time constraints. When you ask, ‘How to lose weight with PCOS,’ you don’t say no to short workout sessions.

Engaging in short 5 to 10-minute workout sessions is much better than doing nothing throughout the day.

Yes, you were supposed to do a 30-minute exercise. However, a quick 10-minute walk or a yoga break is also beneficial if you lack time. Try to find excuses for yourself to stay active from time to time. This way, you’ll ensure to work out every day.

Focus on PCOS Diet

Diet differs from person to person, especially when you have PCOS and want to lose weight. However, there are a few things that are common to everyone. For example, weight loss usually requires increasing your protein, fiber, and healthy fat intake. On the other hand, you cut down on carbohydrates.

Some PCOS patients also have insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar. So, if you make the said changes, it can also reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

We already have a PCOS diet plan for patients dealing with this disorder. However, if you want to lose weight while going through the treatment, here are some eating tips to remember –

1. More Protein & More Veggies

Make protein and veggies the first thing you eat in your meals. If you eat protein and veggies first and then take your carbs, it can spike your sugar level at first. Then, your sugar can crash leading to overeating. So, ensure you provide the macronutrients your body requires first and reduce the habit of overeating.

2. Fewer Carbs are Better than no Carbs.

Yes, you have to cut down on your carbohydrate intake. But that doesn’t mean cutting down on carbohydrates entirely. Reduce your carbohydrate intake to a limit where it’s beneficial.

In fact, PCOS patients with lower carbohydrate intake lose weight faster and enjoy an improved metabolism. After having protein in your meal, you can switch to whole wheat bread and pasta. Both of those foods are rich in fiber and other necessary nutrients.

3. Cope with your Cravings

If you want to lose weight, you must find a way to reduce your food cravings. Some women with PCOS have intense food cravings. Binge eating is often an issue they face. Sometimes, this habit goes out of control, and it is impossible to control it.

However, it’s not impossible to curb your overeating. With the help of proper therapists and doctors, you can reduce your overeating habits. How to lose weight with PCOS and overeating habits? Well, I guess you have your answers now.

4. Stop Over-Restriction or Over-Exercise

Never lean towards an extreme level of diet or exercise. Some PCOS patients often get frustrated with slow progress, so they resort to over-restriction or over-exercise. This way, they reduce their calories too much and risk their nutritional deficiencies.

Also, exercising too much while lowering their eating doesn’t really help lose weight for people with PCOS. Instead, they are at risk of injury when pushing themselves past their limits.

Medication

It’s important to note that there’s no proper medication for PCOS. However, patients can ease their symptoms through different medications prescribed by doctors. While used in conjunction with other changes in lifestyle, symptom-related medications can help a lot.

Usually, doctors prescribe medicines for the following symptoms –

3. Blood sugar

PCOS patients are usually at risk of developing prediabetes. It can lead to blood sugar or type 2 diabetes. So, doctors typically prescribe medicines to help them combat insulin resistance.

4. Oral Contraceptives

Oral Contraceptives: birth control pills help regulate hormones and reduce irregularities in periods and the excess growth of hair. No, these pills don’t help when it comes to losing weight. But, if you are taking the right birth control pills, they work as a great treatment plan for PCOS.

5. Weight Management Medicines

Different FDA-approved drugs for weight loss work wonders. Aside from a healthy dietary habit, your doctor might also provide weight loss medicines for PCOS patients. In conjunction with diet and exercise, these medicines can take you a long way in your weight loss journey while suffering from PCOS.

Don’t Lose Hope!

How to lose weight with PCOS? Hopefully, you understand that there’s no shortcut. This journey can often be frustrating, leading to depression or anxiety. In such cases, your doctor might recommend seeking help for your mental health. But if you follow the right practices with proper medication, you’ll definitely reach somewhere. So, don’t lose hope. Thanks for reading.

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