Losing Weight with PCOS

If you are battling with PCOS, you know it seems impossible. You can follow the diets, take the meds and do the exercise, but the weight just hangs around. This can be very discouraging and make you want to quit. It can be done. It won't be easy, but it can be done.

Decide. I do not recommend that you start any weight loss plan unless you have done this step. This simply means that you have decided that no matter how tough it gets, no matter how much you want to throw in the towel, you will not quit. It is going to be hard. Losing weight for a person without PCOS is difficult, so you know you've got challenges ahead of you. You will have set backs. You will want to quit. Don't give up - it will happen.

Use food as medicine. A friend of mine gave me this valuable piece of advice. Instead of eating because you are stressed or depressed, you should be eating to fuel and repair your body. Nothing more. Just as you have set times to take your medicines every day, you should do the same with your food. For women with PCOS, it is a good idea to eat small, balanced meals 5-6 times per day. This can seem like a lot to handle at first, but eating regularly like this will help to keep your blood sugar in check and keep your energy up.

Cut out the junk. We all know that we should avoid junk food, but it especially important for women with PCOS. Your body already has enough stress on it with your out of control hormones. Junk food just taxes it even further. Chips, fast food, and sweets all taste great, and sometimes the cravings can be overwhelming. But, stop and think before you eat it. What is this really going to do to my body? Sodas, for example, diet or regular, have no nutritional value. It is basically a chemical cocktail sweetened with sugar or sugar substitutes.

I'm not saying you can never, ever have junk food again. You will simply need to be aware of what effects the food will have on you. If the craving just won't go away and you must have it, try not to overdo it. I try to stick to the 90/10 rule - 90% of the time I'm good as gold. The other 10% is where I fudge the diet a little. If you do go overboard once in a while, that's ok. You can get right back on the wagon with your next meal. If it becomes an everyday event, you may need to seek professional help to get through this roadblock.

Exercise. This is a standard for everyone, whether they have PCOS or not. It is especially helpful for women with PCOS, however. Exercise has been found to help with insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance. It also has been shown to reduce free-circulating testosterone in the bloodstream. (This was all the incentive I needed to get up off the couch.) The benefits go on and on, and you can improve almost every part of your body, inside and out, with exercise.

Getting started on an exercise program can seem daunting. There's so much out there - gyms, tapes and programs. The best way to start is, of course, by checking with your doctor if you are at all uncertain. Most people don't have restrictions on this, and any responsible doctor will encourage you to exercise, anyway. Next, start slow. This is at your pace - no one else's. If you can't handle 30 minutes a day, do what you can. The key here is to be consistent. Don't think too much about it at first. Just get up and move. Walk, run, jump rope, dance, whatever makes you happy and that you can see yourself doing when the new wears off. Just move every day.

Detox. Your body has it's own sophisticated detoxification systems that work very efficiently, and it functions well without any major help from us. With all the abuse we put our bodies through, they keep bouncing back. Too much garbage and stress on the body, and these systems can get overloaded. You can help your detoxification systems without going through weeks of messy treatments and eating strange concotions. There are ways that you can lessen the load on your organs to help them work at their peak. Here are some of the major players in your detox system and how you can help them:

*Liver - this one is a powerhouse. It cleans the blood. It's job is to neutralize toxins, remove excess hormones, making enzymes to metabolize fats, proteins and carbs, produce bile for digestion, and help regulate blood sugar, just to name a few. The liver recognizes many things as "toxic", such as drugs (this includes prescriptions), alcohol, highly processed foods, foods with high fat content, birth control pills, pesticides on foods, smoking and so on. If you eat it, breath it, or it is absorbed by your skin, it will be filtered through your liver.

When the liver becomes overwhelmed, you can start to feel pretty bad. Your blood sugar can become uncontrolled. The toxins that were supposed to be filtered by your liver can find their way into your blood stream and kidneys. Hormones may not be able to be eliminated like they are supposed to, which leads to worsening of your symptoms.

You don't need a long detox program to help out your liver. Adding some liver-friendly foods to your diet every day can go a long way to help. Some good choices are apples, berries, broccoli, brown rice, carrots, celery, garlic, hot water and lemon or lemon juice, oily fish, onions, parsley and spinach.

*Kidneys - this is the overflow for when your liver is overloaded. Your kidneys work by taking out salt and nitrogen, and keeping your mineral balance right. Once the toxins are filted out, urine (filled with the waste) travels from the kidneys to the bladder, and is eliminated. It was not really meant to handle the same workload as the liver. When the kidneys start to pick up the slack, you can start getting the toxins (which were meant to be eliminated in the liver) in the urinary tract. This can lead to yeast infections and urinary tract infections.

Some good detox foods for your kidneys are asparagus, broccoli, celery, eggs, garlic, grains, grapes, green beans, kidney beans, lettuce, melons, oranges, peas, pinapple juice, rasberries, rice and walnuts.

*Adrenal Glands - these are tiny glands that are on top of your kidneys. they are constantly on alert, and their main function is to help you deal with the stresses of life by making adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, helps us adapt to sudden stresses. This is the "fight or flight" response. It raises your blood pressure and heart rate, speeds up the conversion of glycogen to glucose, providing energy and strength to muscles. Cortisol is also produced during stress, and increases blood pressure, heart rate, and glucose. It also sharpens your mental acuity and slows down your digestion and other bodily functions.

In small doses, these hormones are wonderful. They help you do what you normally wouldn't be able to. Too much stress, whether emotional, environmental or physical, can lead to adrenal fatigue. This can cause your adrenals to produce too much cortisol. Some side effects of this include blood sugar imbalances, high blood pressure, lowered bone density, increase in body fat around midsection and reduced thyroid function, just to name a few.

To help combat the effects of too much stress, it is important to make time to relax every day. This signals to your adrenals that it is time to go back to normal function again. Exercise also helps by reducing the amount of free circulating hormones in the bloodstream, and by releasing endorphins. Endorphins reduce pain and lower blood pressure, signalling a more relaxed state.

Since the adrenal glands are attached to the kidneys, any foods that are good for the kidneys will be good for the adrenals. The adrenals like foods with high potassium and vitamin C. Good choices include bananas, raisins, peanuts, garlic, carrots, apples, oranges and most green vegetables.

Little by little. Your body is not going to change overnight. It is important that you not try to change everything about your lifestyle overnight, as well. Make small changes, one at a time, little by little, until they become a part of your lifestyle. Pick one and commit. That is half the battle. When you have conquered that one, move on. You will be surprised to see how far you can come in a short time.

Learn to be happy with who you are, at whatever size you are, and the changes will come more naturally. And, always remember, there is always hope.