Please tell me honestly... what is going on?

[Holly19]

So i realised recently that i had piled on 2 stone since my wedding and my poor husband must be thinking this isn't what i signed up for (joke!!)

My weight a month ago was 12st 11lbs and i am 5ft 3 so it is just far far too heavy!

Over the last month I have done the following to try and shift some weight.

Firstly i started the Exante meal replacement saches. I was having one for breakfast and one for lunch with a low cal dinner. Two weeks of that and the scales did not budge. I wondered, as i have PCOS and am insulin resistant, if maybe there was too much sugar in them so i switched to macro/cal counting with low carb.

The last two weeks i have done a minimum of 45 mins cardio 5 x a week at the gym + a weekly body pump class. Stuck to low carb meals had no take aways, no cakes in the office, no wine and upped my water intake.

My weight 1 month later is 12st 12lbs - 1+ HEAVIER!

Please help me - what am i doing wrong. I use my fitness pal and i am totally honest about what i eat. I sometimes don't stick to 30g or under of carbs but max is 45g carb a day which is still meant to be low carb.

I just dont get it. I am ready to cry.

In the past spinning always worked for me. Why isnt it now :(

Oh sending lots of sympathy - that's so discouraging!

Did you weigh at different times of day / different points in your cycle? Could you be bloated or just have tummy full of liquid from drinking loads? I can find these things can make between 4-8lb difference to my weight.

It sounds like you're doing all the 'right' things diet wise. Is it possible you've loaded up some muscle with your pump class (maybe that's a crazy suggestion, I don't know how quickly that happens). Do you feel any better? Are your clothes any looser?

Are you weighing your food or just guessing?

Long bouts of cardio aren't good for Insulin Resistant PCOS! You could well be stressing out your system and messing with cortisol levels.
Although I am no expert and I am very interested to see what replies you get as I am also IR PCOS and cannot lose weight

Hi first of all, well done on your determination. I am very similar to you and barely manage 3 cardio and one PT session.
I am no expert at all but I have been recommended to do HIIT workout for 10 mins instead of cardio of 30 mins. Follow any standard hiit program, I use a treadmill, you can use any machine or even no machine. Google should give you some ideas. I have started losing marginally although not a lot as my diet can be hit and miss through week and have stressful days at work so comfort eat. My jeans definitely fit better. Good luck! I also have a problem with portion control and am working on it.

Maybe worth seeing your GP. Are you taking metformin?

Thanks everyone! I have read all your comments and done some googling. I had no idea that too much cardio could be a problem and it sounds like that might be the case. Time to mix it up. I have looked up some HIIT exercises to try instead and I will cut down to two spin classes this week and see if it makes a difference.

I do weigh my food like meat and cheese but not veg but maybe i should be weighing everything?

Gluten, soy and dairy are also bad for pcos. There's loads of groups on Facebook if you're on there, with lots of advice.
The weight thing is undoubtedly THE most annoying and confusing thing, though!

Def stick with low carb, just for the health reasons alone. It will greatly help pcos symptoms. If you are doing exercise, you may be replacing fat with muscle which can actually push the scales up. Ignore the scales, therefore, and take progress pictures/ measurements. I put my favourite summer dress on the other day. I am 15lb heavier than this time last year, but I was surprised how much slimmer that dress looked on me, I have clearly slimmed down a lot, although the scales say otherwise. Keep up the good work and take the ‘weight’ reading with a pinch of salt. There are so many variables to weight, water weight, body fat percentage, time of the month to mention just a few. Go by how you feel, how fit you are, how well you sleep, your mental agility, endurance, how your clothes fit. All the above are better indicators of your progress.

When you use your muscles (particularly if you haven't used them for a bit), they hold on to water. If you count your cals, keep a sensible consistent deficit, you will lose weight.

That sounds very disappointing. I'm wondering what your daily average calorie count is?

Have you done the calculation from your current weight/ maintenance rate in order to work out your calorie deficit- to lose say 1 or 2 lbs a week?
Persevere- your exercise will certainly be good for your more general health- heart, lungs, bones.

I've read that intermittent fasting is wonderful for insulin resistance.

As is the keto diet.

Have a look at them, see if it works for you.

The 16:8 or 14:10 fasting, I mean.

Well done for addressing the issue. It must be much harder with PCOs and insulin resistance.

My advice would be to forget all the meal replacements and diet packages and just start eating a mainly vegetable based diet supplemented with eggs, chicken and fish. Limit fruits to berries and apples and drink water, tea and coffee with a limited amount of milk. Cut out cheese, high sugar fruit, alcohol and processed foods. Watch your portion sizes.

Maintain your activity levels and weigh yourself once a week, first thing in the morning. The weight will come off.

Long bouts of cardio aren't good for Insulin Resistant PCOS!

I’m really intrigued by this. Not that I can particularly do lots of cardio anyway (also have fibro and possibly EDS) I mostly stick to water based exercise and at the gym I take it steady

Try not to get discouraged OP and look for non scales victories too like fitting into clothes more easily etc x

This happened to me and it turned out I have very underactive thyroid - I couldn't understand why I wasn't losing anything at all.

Your carbs are very low. Can I ask why? Are you doing keto (I follow keto and it's great, but fairly restrictive) If you are, you need to increase the healthy fats you are eating. You aren't eating enough.

Ditch the crazy diet stuff. Eat real food. Cut out the sugar. Don't snack in between meals. Don't restrict calories like a demon.

Cut down on the cardio. Add in some resistance training. You tube has some great training ideas. Resistance bands are great, cheap and easy to fit in.

Calories in v calories out. It's so boring but works. Any kind of low carb / fasting diet is simply cutting calories.

You need to write a list of exactly what you are actually eating and we will tell you where you are going wrong.

Are you using MFP?

Yes. I second that. Tell us exactly what you are eating

What @AllOverIt said
Good luck

I agree with the PP about no fads, Just keep going eat well with protein, small portions of carbs whatever suits you. Plenty veg. Less sugary/high fat foods. Don't be obsessive that's not sustainable for most long term! But a rough idea of calories as you need a deficit.

Drink water regularly. exercise is so good for us don't let it put you off! I find mixing my exercise routine up a bit helps. Perhaps more strength/ weight work?

Try not to focus on weight but your shape, maybe don't weigh yourself as regularly but do measurements instead?

@PegLegAntoine there are loads of articles on it, here is just one: thepcosnutritionist.com/resources/exercise-for-pcos/

I know for me personally that if I do long (over 10-15 min) of steady cardio I actually get bloated! Crazy.

I do not have the answer though, currently really struggling with pcos and weight, it is as I said earlier, very complicated! And so bloody frustrating!

Hi OP I recommend you look at Team RH on Facebook

I have pcos. I can't exercise now as I have ME (chronic illness) but lifting weights used to work well for me. Better than cardio for pcos.