How To Lose Weight With PCOS Naturally
This is a huge topic. Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Because there are a lot of women out there who are really struggling with it, this means that many many people in my industry have jumped on the bandwagon and have out some really very confusing information about the topic.
Which just makes everything harder.
And I don’t think that is fair.
This has also led to women not only struggling with understanding what PCOS is and how it works, but it also means that they are struggling specifically with their weight with this condition.
In this article, I will tell you how to actually lose weight with PCOS.
You could argue that having specialist knowledge about PCOS is out of the scope of your Personal Trainer.
But there are so many women out there struggling with this, and clearly, the Medical Profession is doing its best, but they are leaving women like you behind on this topic. Partly because many Doctors just aren’t specialized in this condition. Or they aren’t specialized in Weight Management. Let alone combining the two.
And if they are…
Good luck getting an appointment with them.
So here I am.
A humble Fitness Professional who has helped a number of women with this condition (and other hormonal conditions like pituitary issues, thyroid issues, and insulin issues) all lose weight.
But I had to sit down, learn all about the Menstrual Cycle first, then learn about how PCOS can interact with that…and then put it into the context of fitness.
And that is what this article is going to do for you.
At one point, when I was figuring all this out, one of my clients called me “The Menstuaration Guy”
Don’t worry. I’m not changing my brand over to that.
Before we get started, I would love for you to become my friend; as your friend, I will email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, and sometimes I might just want to know how you are; either way…it means we can be friends.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR “HOW TO lOSE WEIGHT WITH PCOS NATURALLY”
If you would like to listen to an episode of The Fitness Solution Podcast on this topic, then check that out right here:
How does Your Menstruation affect your fitness?
In this article, I will keep it short and sweet.
For two reasons;
It's not entirely why you are here (you just need context)
I have already written a very helpful article on this topic right here
Let me start with a graphic:
In short, Week 1 and Week 2 are the weeks upon which you will most likely have more energy and be so much more adherent to your fitness regimen and equally as important, your nutrition.
This is known as your Follicular Phase.
During this phase, you have the highest count of testosterone in your system the closer you get to Ovulation, Day 14 of your cycle, and more testosterone means more strength for working out.
Once Menzies is over (around Day 5) your energy should be high, cravings low and this it the time of the month to really maximize your ability to stick to your nutrition and training plan.
Once you are out of your Follicular Phase and you have Ovulated, then Progesterone kicks in.
This is known as your Luteal Phase.
During this phase, things get tougher. Your body is using a lot of energy each day to help you build your uterine wall to prepare you for pregnancy (even if you aren’t pregnant!).
Because of this, cravings can increase, energy can be lower and adhering to a Calorie Deficit will be all-around a bit tougher for you. During this time I normally suggest increasing calories to your Maintenance Calories.
Read my Blog that has helped hundreds of people establish their maintenance calorie level
Your Luteal Phase comes with it some physical issues in terms of exercise as well. Progesterone can cause a slightly higher risk of injury as your joints might be looser, and therefore I wouldn’t expect you to hit PBs and feel your strongest in this phase. Focus on the quality of movement, not the quantity of movement.
Your Cycle is split into two 14-day phases.
And I think if you want to manage your fitness and fat loss with your cycle, then splitting your training up into two phases could be useful as well.
Phase 1 (Day 1– Day 14): Resistance Training with stronger lifts and more energy (especially Day 7- Day 14) and higher adherence to your Nutrition.
Phase 2 (Day 15 - Day 28): Resistance Training (but no PBs) and Maintenance Calories respecting your body and listening to its energy.
This is all very important to understand as PCOS can cause issues with the regularity of your cycle combined with other physical symptoms affecting the way your cycle might work.
How does PCOS affect you physically?
PCOS can come along with many different physical considerations [1].
An imbalance of the Female Sex Hormones Progesterone and Oestrogen
Increase in Testosterone and Androgens
Insulin Resistance
Cists upon the Ovaries (but this isn’t always the case)
As you can imagine. Each one of these can have a factor in your Fitness and especially your weight loss. I will go into this further in the next section.
But let's see how these conditions can affect you physically outside the context of weight loss.
An imbalance of the Female Sex Hormones Progesterone and Oestrogen
This typically causes a longer luteal phase (Day 15-Day 28) of your cycle where Progesterone is more dominant. This is because the cysts on your Ovaries are not allowing an Egg to be released therefore triggering Menstruation and the release of Oestrogen into the body again. [2].
Basically, your cycle will be all a bit stretched out in the latter part of the cycle
Increase in Testosterone and Androgens
If you have PCOS you will have more Androgens which are sex hormones. The most common Androgen is Testosterone, and this is prevalent in someone with PCOS. Testosterone is thought of as a Male Sex Hormone, although women naturally produce it anyway. Those with PCOS just produce more of it.
The higher amounts of Testosterone will lead to physical factors like acne, more body hair and an increase in weight.
The increase in weight occurs because of the relationship between Insulin Resistance and Testosterone. Testosterone increases your insulin resistance. [3], and insulin resistance can adversely affect your weight.
Insulin Resistance
This is a topic that seems to get hotter and hotter in terms of debate month on month.
If you are Insulin Resistant this could lead to weight gain. This doesn’t mean that because you are insulin resistant doesn’t mean you cannot lose weight.
Now to make this as simple as possible.
Imagine Insulin is a key to your cells. When you eat food this will increase your blood sugar levels, insulin is then released from the Pancreas, and makes your cells to open up to absorb the blood sugar.
Insulin basically tells your cells to let the sugar in your blood into your cells so that it can be stored until you need to use it as energy. [4]
If you are Insulin Resistant your cells can’t open as they are full already and therefore the Sugar gets stored as Body Fat [5].
Cysts upon the Ovaries (but this isn’t always the case)
Despite the name — Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Not everyone with PCOS actually has Cysts on their Ovaries. And this just leads to the mystique of the condition. That being said. It is there, it could be there and it might be affecting you.
From what I can establish the cysts on the Ovaries help delay the release of Oestrogen into your system, which therefore causes a delay in Menzies. This is why many women with PCOS experience a longer Luteal Phase of their cycle. So as you can see there is a lot to consider, and looking at that list it is no wonder that if you have PCOS you can often feel overwhelmed and at a loss about how to then go about losing weight.
If it was me, I know I would feel like the deck is stacked against me. And if you feel like that…then I’m here to tell you that it’s ok. And I am about to lay out an action plan for you that you can follow that will undoubtedly help you achieve your goals.
PCOS Weight Loss Diet and Exercise Plan
In this section, I am going to take each physical symptom of PCOS and give you workable solutions to help you work with your condition as well as move you towards your goal of fat loss. But first I want to show you how possible it is. Here is a graph of one of my friends and Online Clients weight loss journey who has PCOS.
And here is a screenshot of a text conversation I had just this week with one of my clients on The Strong & Confident Program - who has lost weight whilst dealing with PCOS (please excuse my french in this photo — but it’s damn appropriate)
The PCOS condition may make weight loss harder.
But both of these clients have adhered to the overriding principles of Fat Loss: a Calorie Deficit.
That is truly where their results lie, and PCOS can give you some advantages when it comes to losing weight, and it can mean we may just need to manage expectations a little more and adopt more patience and understanding.
But no matter who you are…you can lose weight with PCOS.
Increase in Testosterone and Androgens with PCOS
When I see this as a symptom of PCOS. I see the opportunity.
Testosterone will mean greater strength.
Greater strength will mean the ability to improve on a Strength Training programme much easier.
You need to use this to your advantage. Increased testosterone means you will have more strength and be able to lift heavier weights in the gym.
The extra Testosterone and Androgens are your superpower. You have this extra advantage that other women don’t have. It’s awesome. God has given you some stardust to kick ass in the gym lifting weights.
If you don’t do that…then it’s like being a superhero and not using your power.
Following a programme that is designed to improve muscle mass as opposed to just help you lose weight will achieve three things:
Burn more calories at rest and help you get into a Caloric Deficit
Improve body shape by having more muscle
Will make you feel like a bad-ass because you are lifting weights and taking control of your fitness.
Get A Weight Loss Workout For PCOS here:
Insulin Resistance and PCOS
In my experience, the best way to improve Insulin Resistance is to increase Daily Activity and follow a well-structured training programme.
Insulin Resistance is caused by a number of factors.
The first being a lack of activity. You need to free up space in your cells so that the sugar in your blood can enter it and then be used for energy. One of the easiest and most accessible ways to do that is to move more. Many people who are at risk of the effects of Insulin Resistance are just too sedentary.
They aren’t creating enough space in their cells through movement to allow the next load of glucose to enter the cells.
This is why it then gets stored as fat.
So let’s get moving, and by moving I don’t mean “training”. Prescribed fitness training will, of course, help you, and you should do that (utilising your Superpower) but movement means everything outside of that.
It’s whatever falls under the category of NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) and means:
Walking more
Standing more
Fidgeting more
Stop sitting at your desk for 8 hours a day and start scheduling in some walking lunches. Stand up when you have a phone call. Park your car further away from your office. Stand up on your commute. Climb the stairs when there is an ad break on the telly.
You will hear the term 10k steps a day. And it’s a nice figure. But if you only do 4k a day on average then it’s going to be hard to get to 10k. So try and focus your mind on steady increases over a period of time. Set yourself a bar that is achievable, but not defeating.
Best Diet To Lose Weight With PCOS
There is a whole host of research out there that backs up the fact that if you are Insulin Resistant then you need to use your diet to help you with that. The Diet is there to achieve two outcomes in this order of priority:
Help you lose weight
To keep your blood sugar in check
Weight loss will help you with Insulin Resistance because when you lose weight you will begin to lose fat from around your vital organs. This will then cause a knock-on effect of opening up space for the Glucose in your blood to be stored in the cells.
By reducing higher sugar foods, and moving away from foods that spike your blood sugar to a more controlled Glycaemic Diet you will keep everything more in check and it will allow your body to start normalising the role of the insulin in your system.
I can sit here and list the foods you should eat.
Foods you shouldn’t eat.
Particularly when it comes to dealing with Insulin Resistance
But let's face it. The restriction isn’t going to get you anywhere in a manner that is simple, straightforward and sustainable.
And the number one priority here is to lose weight…that is why you are here reading this.
So the key to doing this is the good old Calorie Deficit (Diet).
Take your Goal Bodyweight..this being a weight you have weighed before, something you know is achievable for you, and/or is something you feasibly believe you can get to.
This isn’t where you end up. This isn’t a pass/fail situation.
Goal Bodyweight is just a guideline for you.
Set your Calorie Deficit by taking your GBW in LBS and x12
This is your Upper Caloric Window. Your Lower Caloric Window should be set at your BMR (Basal Metabolic Weight).
Then you just need to land your calories each day between the two numbers.
This will give you flexibility, and sustainability, and it’s nice and straightforward for you to follow.
Getting your calories into this window will be made a lot easier by eating whole foods, more grains, more protein and more veggies.
Less of the sugary foods and simple carbohydrates will be useful, as they generally pack more calories and contain less volume.
And having a diet lower in more calorie-dense foods will help you control your Glycaemic Levels, but you can still lose weight eating foods you enjoy, as long as you keep within your Calorie Window.
Added to that, by eating more whole foods, and reducing sugar and more simple carbohydrates from your diet you may see an improvement in other symptoms such as Acne.
Ovarian Cysts
If you have this symptom of PCOS then it is likely that the Cysts will cause you to be in your Luteal phase for a longer period of time.
Dealing with everything this brings up is really very personal to each person.
From earlier on in this article, you will have seen that I have suggested the following for this phase:
Increase your calories to a Maintenance Level (find out how right here)
Focus on quality of movement not the quantity of weight in the Gym
You are likely to be a little more restless, tired, and drained during this phase…and the longer that goes on the more difficulty losing weight will be for you.
I’m sure you are very familiar with the usual cravings for chocolate that come along when you are about to Menstruate.
This is clearly going to have an effect on your ability to adhere to a Caloric Deficit.
I want you to avoid feeling like a failure at every turn.
Restricting yourself will lead to a binge.
Trying to do a Calorie Deficit during this time will lead to you not managing it and then again feeling like a failure.
So give yourself permission.
Give yourself permission to increase your calories during this time. Yes, it might slow down your weight loss, but it will be controlled, inside your plan and you will be able to stick to it for a much longer period of time.
This will keep you out of the cycle of trying to diet, and constantly slipping up every time cravings come along.
And besides, if you are still in the gym, with your extra testosterone superpower, then maintenance calories is really going to help add muscle, get strong, and improve your Gym performance.
You may have to be a bit more careful in the Gym during this time due to the effect Progesterone can have on the joints. But that doesn’t mean what you do can’t still be effective.
Does PCOS Make It Harder To Lose Weight?
This condition is always about managing your expectations. Because of the link with PCOS and the thyroid gland, then it does make weight loss harder.
Many people who have hormonal conditions believe that the condition is ceasing their ability to lose weight. I find a lot of these people have “tried everything” as well.
And that’s the problem.
They try. They don’t execute. They don’t “do”.
Doing takes time. Weight loss takes time — a lot longer than you honestly think.
In fact, weight loss is all about managing expectations.
The number of people I see that set their expectations far too aggressively because they come from a point of helplessness, and then end up failing even more because they don’t know what real, true weight loss looks like, is far too plentiful.
I see it with my Online Clients, I see it on Facebook Groups, I see it on Instagram.
If you follow the advice in this article then I have no doubt you will lose weight.
But it will not be fast.
It will not be magical.
It will not be instant.
But that is what we want.
I’m suggesting to you that you should think more about building muscle. I’m suggesting you should increase your calories for at least a quarter of the month.
These two things alone will interrupt your Weight Loss progress in the short term.
But it will allow you to be adherent and consistent in the long term.
And consistency will create results beyond your expectation.
But it might take a year.
It might take longer.
And it will be an up-and-down journey like all things are.
But it is possible I promise you that.
Here is my beautiful fiancee who has been following my online coaching for a number of years now. She focuses on her resistance training. She allows herself freedom with her diet but understands the principles behind what she needs to do.
And she has PCOS.
Her results have taken years. Years of ups and downs. Her physique comes and goes. But she stays the course. She works very hard on herself and is always very aware of what is going on within herself. She can be hard on herself.
To me, she looks strong, empowered and above all she is very happy. I’m so very proud of her. It’s easy for me to say, sat here, as her fiancee, but if you knew how dedicated to herself she truly is, you would be proud of her as well. She makes hard decisions, she allows herself freedom but the real secret to her success.
Is that when she goes awry, she doesn’t focus on it. She draws a line under it and moves on as quickly as possible. Gets back on track, and that is how she has been as consistent as she really should be.
Moreover, if I was to get you to guess her weight…go on…pick a number…right now.
What do you think she weighs?
Got it?
I promise you…it’s more than you are thinking.
The truth is…when this was taken…
She weighed: 77.3kgs
It looks very different from what it actually is, doesn’t it?
This is why having a target weight is important, but allowing yourself to accept the way you look compared to what that number says can make all the difference.
The scale is just one way of judging your progress…and it can very often be misleading between the number and what you see. Your challenge is to really see what you look like without letting the number interfere with your own personal thoughts about yourself.
I’m not saying at any point, you will look like this.
But it proves you can definitely lose weight with PCOS so long as you remain consistent with what you are doing.
I say to all of my friends and online clients who are trying to lose weight, that we don’t need to focus on how much and how fast. We need to focus on consistency and context.
You shouldn’t care if you lose 0.5lbs a week or 2lbs a week.
One is not superior to the other. Because at some point you will both end up at the same place: a feeling of achievement and accomplishment.
There is no rush. The speed at which you lose weight is the speed at which you lose weight taking into consideration all factors like:
Your home life
Your professional life
Your social calendar
Your health conditions
Your finances
Your mental wellbeing
These are all factors that aren’t created equal in anyone's life.
And they are all factors that help or hinder weight loss.
Conclusion
So how do you actually lose weight with PCOS?
Well, my biggest message from this article is the following:
You can do this
You need patience. PCOS can play havoc with your ability to adhere to a Caloric Deficit, not your ability to be in one.
It’s really important that you work with what your body is going through, allow yourself breaks when you need them in the Luteal Phase of your cycle. This might be longer than 14 days but that’s ok.
Allow yourself to be in a Caloric Deficit for your Follicular Phase.
Eat foods that help with your Blood Sugar Levels, not hinder them. But allow yourself some flexibility so that you can stay in this for the long haul. And move.
Get your NEAT up to make sure your cells are burning the glycogen in your blood and in your cells.
And go to the Gym. Get off the Treadmill and Stair Climber. Get under a Barbell. Give yourself goals based on what you can achieve in the gym.
Focus on Production of the body, not reduction of the body.
It will take time. There will be some months that go a lot easier than others. There will be times when you don’t need to increase your calories in your Luteual Phase…and that’s ok.
But above all stop thinking that your PCOS is the reason you can’t lose weight.
I’m no endocrinologist. But whenever I have ever looked into how much weight a hormonal issue can be attributed to and it usually comes out to around 5–10lbs.
Hormones do not cease weight loss.
They just make it a bit harder for you.
And that is why I have written a 3000-word article to try and help you with it as much as I can.
It requires understanding, education, and a plan of action.
And now you have all of that.
Good luck and don’t forget to let me know how you get on!
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I hope you found this article useful and that my tips help you improve your eating habits.
I cannot wait to see you again soon…
Coach Adam
References:
Healthline. 2020. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): Symptoms, Causes, And Treatment. [online] Available at: <https://www.healthline.com/health/polycystic-ovary-disease#causes> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Pennmedicine.org. 2020. 5 Myths About Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) — Penn Medicine. [online] Available at: <https://www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/fertility-blog/2020/march/five-myths-about-pcos> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Sensitivity, <., 2020. Testosterone Increasing Insulin Sensitivity. [online] Diabetes In Control. A free weekly diabetes newsletter for Medical Professionals. Available at: <http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/testosterone-increasing-insulin-sensitivity/> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Wa.kaiserpermanente.org. 2020. How Insulin Works With Glucose | Kaiser Permanente Washington. [online] Available at: <https://wa.kaiserpermanente.org/healthAndWellness/index.jhtml?item=%2Fcommon%2FhealthAndWellness%2Fconditions%2Fdiabetes%2FinsulinProcess.html> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Harrar, S., 2020. Insulin Resistance Causes And Symptoms. [online] EndocrineWeb. Available at: <https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/type-2-diabetes/insulin-resistance-causes-symptoms> [Accessed 14 September 2020].