Weight loss struggles - PCOS - advice please!!

[BraceFace92]

I’m really struggling with weight loss and it’s making me so depressed. I weigh 14 1/2 stone and I’m 5ft 5 so classed as obese and I really want to get healthy. It’s not even about looks at this point, I just want to feel healthy (although looking a bit better in my jeans wouldn’t go amiss either hahaha).

I’ve been trying to lose weight since January with no luck. I’ve tried weight watchers, basic calorie counting, I got a PT, intermittent fasting, the lot and nothing is happening.

I know first thoughts would be that I must not be tracking accurately but I really feel like I am. I might miss a bit of butter or a cup of tea here and there but surely that can’t be making that much of a difference? Genuinely I do not snack at all, completely cut out chocolate, cakes, crisps etc. I don’t even have snacks lying around the house, and I try to eat sensibly for my meals. I try and get lots of steps in, and go to the gym 3x per week. The scales will shift downwards by maybe 0.5kg in two weeks and then bounce back up to 91.5kg.

I don’t know if I’m doing something silly. I try to eat 1800 calories a day which is what my PT advised, and it’s gotten to the point where I’m absolutely obsessed with calories and weight loss, and I feel like it’s all I’ll talk about. Even on days out with my daughter I’m thinking about. “Oh I shouldn’t eat XYZ, this is what I’ll have for lunch to fit my calories” etc etc and it’s exhausting. I wouldn’t mind the constantly thinking about it if it was actually making a difference. I’m even starting to skip meals even when I’m starving just to try lose some weight. It’s driving me insane and I feel really depressed.

I’ve recently been diagnosed with PCOS and I know this can make it more difficult but I’m not sure what else I should be doing. Has anyone been in a similar position or have any advice?

I would say it's probably a combination of a few things. Missing out a bit of butter and a cup of tea with milk may well be enough to tip your calorie total from a small deficit to maintenance calories. It's surprising how many calories you can accidentally consume if you don't measure out absolutely everything.

Is your diet prioritising lean protein, vegetables and some fruit, with a small amount of healthy fats? I would suggest reducing your calorie total by 100 to 200 cals a day alongside making changes to what you're eating and see if that makes an impact.

The other thing that you could consider is whether weight loss injections are a possibility, as they will also help with all the things that you are finding hard atm.

You sound very similar to me. After 20 years of battling it, finally WLI came along. I’ve lost about 8.5st in a a year. Mounjaro has been the only ‘treatment’ I’ve ever found for PCOS.

If you are in the position health wise and financially, just do it. Don’t waste any more of your precious life & time, get your life back.

How old are you and what is your activity level? It may be that 1800 calories is still a little too high. I’m 52, perimenopausal, have pcos and am 5’5. I exercise 4 times a week and 1800 is maintenance for me.

I got up to 14 and a half stone at one point at 5'7", have PCOS. I needed to eat 1400/1500 calories a day to lose weight below 13st, in spite of all the caculators say 1700/1800 was right.