Plain and simple. These switches work off nutrients and not calories which means you can be eating plenty of calories and gaining weight but still be undernourished. When you get into the intracellular processes at play, nutrition is a ridiculously complicated field that gets more confusing the more I try to learn about it. At the end of the day though, the practical advice of every expert I follow always seems to be that if we want to be adequately nourished in order to lose weight, then we should eat plenty of whole foods, particularly fish, meat, and eggs.
For example, on a gram for gram basis, grass fed beef has been shown to be much higher in omega 3 fats and conjugated linoleic acid CLA than its grain fed counter parts Daley et al. While the antioxidant properties of omega 3 fats seem to be fairly universally appreciated, what few people seem to be aware of is that CLA is the ultimate weight loss fat. This fat, which comes primarily from beef, lamb, butter, and ghee has been well documented to improve body composition Blankson et al.
CLA is such a great weight loss agent that people try somewhat unsuccessfully to use it as a weight loss supplement. Several studies suggest that grass fed beef also has higher amounts of vitamin A and E, as well as cancer fight antioxidants such as glutathione Descalzo et al. These are the kind of facts that you can really use to convince your family to switch to a PCOS friendly diet with you.
When they start to object to you changing the menu, just tell them that Prime Rib counts as a health food now! There are so many of those little-guys in there that if I had a dollar for each of mine, I could pay off the US national debt and still afford a long overdue cut and color. As the gatekeepers of our digestive system the microbiome has a massive influence on our body composition. While researchers have only recently begun to unravel the mysteries of the microbiome so far we know that it affects how much we eat Fetissov et al.
Not only does this help with weight loss, but women also report sleeping better, and feeling happier. These results make perfect sense in light of the close relationship between our microbiome and the gut-brain axis. Eliminate the foods to avoid I describe in detail here. A well-informed doctor like the types I just mentioned will normally have you eliminate these problem foods as a first line therapy for most chronic illnesses because doing so is incredibly effective and it costs so little to implement. This list of foods to avoid is one of the practical applications of Steps 2, 3, and 4 above.
Once you understand the mechanisms that cause women with PCOS to gain weight faster than other people, the argument for replacing processed foods with whole food alternatives becomes even more compelling. Reducing and managing stress can sound like one of the least scientific ways to lose weight with PCOS. As I witnessed after the birth of my son, the cortisol weight-gain connection is strong.
Not only did I start gaining weight rapidly due to sleepless nights and the usual first-time-mom anxieties, but I also quickly saw my ever slim hubby packing on the pounds despite our PCOS friendly diet remaining unchanged.
After nine months of taking some potent probiotics, continuing to eat well, and getting a little more sleep, his abs are now slowly re-emerging from their cushy hideout. Within the scientific literature it has also unfortunately been shown that women with PCOS are both more likely to suffer adverse effects as a consequence of stress Cooney et al.
1. Try a low-carb diet on for size, and up your protein.
Well, when it comes to stress and anxiety management, I tend to think about it in two ways — direct, and indirect. Direct methods include things like removing stressful triggers in your life, cognitive behavioral therapy, relaxation exercises, mindfulness meditation, and self-compassion exercises such as those described by Dr Kristin Neff. Indirect approaches focus primarily on fostering a more kind and compassionate relationship with yourself.
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Learning to be more realistic with our expectations, and being kinder to our human failings is one of the best ways we can lower our stress levels. Not only is getting enough sleep one of the best ways to improve your resilience to stress, but after dietary changes, sleep is the second most powerful lifestyle intervention for managing your body weight.
What all these studies indicate is that even mild sleep deprivation over a long period will contribute to significant weight gain. Lack of sleep messes with the hormones that control appetite, satiety, and fat accumulation and decreases both our willpower and our better judgement when it comes to food and physical activity. Nearly a third of Americans get six hours of sleep or less per night Krueger and Friedman 72 which is far greater than the tiny percentage of people that have a genetic polymorphism that lets them function properly with this much sleep.
How To Lose Weight With PCOS: 5 Easy Dietary Tweaks
For the vast majority of us, we should be getting at least 7 — 8. The good news though is that improvements in sleep quality is one of the most common things I hear about from women taking part in my free 30 Day PCOS Diet Challenge. My theory is that this is mostly due to people quitting sugar, but all the beneficial nutrition from my PCOS friendly recipes has to be making a big difference too.
These include:.
The Best Types of Exercise for PCOS - Exercise Right.
You can read the rest in the morning. For people looking at a more complete lifestyle transformation though, regular exercise is a simple no-brainer. The thing that I like the best about exercise is the positive effect it has on our psyche. Working out is empowering. It makes us feel great about ourselves, and boosts our emotional health with far greater effect than any antidepressant or anxiolytic medication.
When it comes to PCOS, exercise is well known to be an effective lifestyle treatment. While high intensity interval training is now well understood to be a time-efficient strategy to decrease fat from the stomach Maillard et al. Researchers have also found that progressive resistance training is highly effective in improving PCOS symptoms Cheema et al.
Creating new exercise habits seem to be a common theme with many of the success stories that graduate from my full 10 Week Program. Sarah adopted a sustainable gym routine to help her steadily lose 30 pounds over a 12 month period while Bianca K. This is extremely important because just like PCOS, having an underactive thyroid can cause unexplained weight gain, heavy or irregular periods, infertility, thinning hair, dry skin, insomnia, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, depressed moods and more.
Taking medications like birth control is a major risk factor for drug-induced thyroid problems because the oral estrogens used in these drugs lowers the free thyroid hormones available for your body. They also deplete selenium, zinc, and the amino acid tyrosine which are all needed for proper thyroid function Palmery et al. Fluoride containing drugs can also be a major trigger as fluoride is a known thyroid toxin Prystupa Examples include the most commonly prescribed drugs used for acid reflux, anxiety and depression, yeast infections, UTI, and for lowering cholesterol levels.
You can find a full list of fluoride containing drugs here. When you look into it, the list of drugs that interfere with your thyroid seems almost endless. I really wish I had known this years ago, as the hypothyroidism I developed in my early thirties is almost certainly a result of a decade of antidepressant use.
This also explains why other women can take longer to see the benefits of a PCOS friendly lifestyle. In his free ebook Thyroid Disorders , the well-known Functional Medicine Practitioner, Chris Kresser, describes five of these thyroid patterns. My advice is to discuss testing for all of these markers with your doctor before concluding that your thyroid function is normal. Even then though, there are several ways which you can still have thyroid issues while still passing these tests. This short free ebook is a patient-centric educational resource that can help you guide your physician in the right direction.
While thyroid disorders can be super complicated, what I can say for sure is that the best solution in all cases of hypothyroidism is to follow a PCOS friendly lifestyle. The steps that have been shown to make the biggest difference include eliminating gluten entirely from your diet, avoiding inflammatory foods especially vegetable oils and sugar, regulating your blood glucose levels through strategic consumption of carbohydrate foods, promoting a healthy gut microbiome, and reducing stress.
Not only can you overcome PCOS weight gain and achieve your ideal body weight, but these same principles can help you treat all your other PCOS symptoms too. Kym Campbell is a Health Coach and PCOS expert with a strong passion for using evidence-based lifestyle interventions to manage this disorder.
Kym combines rigorous scientific analysis with the advice from leading clinicians to disseminate the most helpful PCOS patient-centric information you can find online. You can read more about Kym and her team here. This blog post has been critically reviewed to ensure accurate interpretation and presentation of the scientific literature by Dr. Jessica A McCoy, Ph.
Weight Loss, Exercise and Diet Tips for Women with PCOS
LinkedIn Google Scholar Researchgate. This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Consult a licensed physician for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility! Alex is a professional writer who takes pride in helping people achieve their health goals and motivates others to start taking care of their bodies through exercise and proper nutrition.
Being a part of the BetterMe Team, he is extremely inspired by our mission to promote a healthy lifestyle, which includes not only physical, but also mental well-being. Alex emphasizes the importance of safe yet efficient workouts and healthy diets. His main goal is to make more people realize how essential these aspects are, and how drastically they can improve their lives.
My name is Laura VanTreese. I am a professional nutritionist as well as personal trainer who has over 8 years of experience in the health and wellness world. I have worked in a variety of different settings as well as with a vast array of clientele. I worked primarily as a nutritionist in a public health setting working mainly with pregnant and postpartum women helping them to maintain a healthy lifestyle while juggling the new demands of motherhood.
I've also worked for several years as a personal trainer and have helped numerous clients create a sustainable healthy lifestyle through manageable healthy eating habits and regular exercise routines. My main goal in life is to help others achieve their health and wellness goals and I'm so happy to have this platform to be able to do just that! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
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