The Best Tips for Diet and Exercise from a Fitness Professional

A lot of women struggle with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), and all of its unpleasant symptoms. As a fitness professional, the most common reason that women with PCOS come to me for: long term lifestyle changes (namely, exercise and nutrition) that lead to weight loss. Inexplicable weight gain is a pretty big symptom of PCOS, so that would explain why so many women with PCOS come to me for this. Due to the hormonal profile that PCOS can present at times, my article on how to lose weight after a hysterectomy might also be of help to you.

The truth is that the typical nutrition strategies and exercise routine is a little different when it comes to dealing with the disorder. This article will discuss how to lose weight with PCOS naturally with a combination of smart dieting and workout routines that target the problem. Educating people on women’s health and PCOS must be on the top of every trainer’s list to help women with PCOS.

[sc_fs_multi_faq headline-0=”h2″ question-0=”What supplements help with PCOS?” answer-0=”The supplements that help the most with PCOS are the ones that help address the underlying causes of PCOS. 1. Berberine: helps with insulin resistance 2. NAC: helps increase antioxidants in the body 3. Myo inositol: improves insulin sensitivity 4. Zinc: optimizes testosterone levels in women ” image-0=”” headline-1=”h2″ question-1=”Which exercises should I do if I have PCOS?” answer-1=”The goal of exercise is to improve insulin sensitivity as much as possible. To that end, the two groups of exercises that accomplish that most effectively are high intensity interval training (HIIT), and strength training. For high intensity interval training, the form of exercise doesnt matter (running, cycling, swimming, rowing, etc.). What matters the most is the intervals. Your high intensity intervals should be 30-120 seconds. This should be followed by lower intensity intervals, of 1-4 minutes in length. For strength training, the exercises that work the most muscles at the same time also improve insulin sensitivity the most. Some examples include deadlifts, squats, lat pulldowns, pushups, overhead presses, and rows. ” image-1=”” headline-2=”h2″ question-2=”” answer-2=”” image-2=”” count=”3″ html=”false” css_class=””]

Well cover:

What is PCOS?

PCOS stands for polycystic ovary syndrome. So there are multiple cysts on the ovaries. This condition is very troubling for a lot of women because of PCOS symptoms associated with it (according to the Mayo Clinic):

  • Excess abdominal fat. Women with PCOS carry a lot of body weight which is affecting their everyday life. A lot of women say to me that they look like theyre pregnant when they arent. This is an unusual body fat storage pattern for pre-menopausal females that makes it very difficult to manage weight with PCOS.
  • Male-pattern hair growth/loss. Women might start losing hair on their head, and growing hair on their forearms and back.
  • Skin problems, like acne, or oily skin
  • Infertility. Many women trying to conceive feel like theyre less of a woman because of their inability to conceive.

Other risks associated with PCOS symptoms are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and endometrial cancer.

Hormonal Abnormalities of PCOS

These symptoms are largely produced by the hormonal signature of PCOS. The two most known hormones that are off in PCOS are testosterone and insulin. Theyre both high, and they both go hand in hand. Testosterone is the primary male hormone, but in PCOS, it becomes dominant in women. Insulin is the hormone that helps you lower blood sugar after a high-carbohydrate meal. But in women with PCOS, there is more insulin released than there should be. For some reason, the cells dont hear the message of insulin, so insulin needs to be louder to get the message across. When your cells are resistant to the insulin signals, it will prompt the pancreas to produce more insulin, increasing weight gain, specifically belly fat. These hormonal abnormalities cause issues with PCOS and weight loss.

According to research, there are approximately 70% of women with PCOS have insulin resistance. Their cells don’t recognize the hormone insulin.

In addition to testosterone and insulin, there are a number of lesser-known hormonal abnormalities in PCOS:

  • High luteinizing hormone (LH). LH is a brain hormone that tells the ovaries to make estrogen. When estrogen is low, LH is high, and vice versa. So low estrogen should trigger the release of LH, and in turn, LH should trigger a release of more estrogen. This cycle is broken in women with PCOS. So they end up having both high LH and high estrogen.
  • Decreased SHBG (sex hormone binding gobulin). In the blood, estrogen, testosterone and progesterone dont float around by themselves. They need a carrier to take them around. That carrier is a protein called SHBG. Its like a person in a taxi. The person is the hormone, and the taxi is SHBG. As a result of lower SHBG, it makes testosterone higher in women, because more of the testosterone is free.
  • Low progesterone. The hormone that is dominant in the second part of the menstrual cycle, causing irregular periods.
  • High cortisol. The stress hormone. It’s important for women’s health, when you have the right amount of it, at the right time.
  • One study found that there is more subclinical hypothyroidism (slow thyroid) in women with PCOS compared to women with the same weight, but without PCOS.

Does PCOS cause weight gain? The truth is that Polycystic Ovary Syndrome causes weight gain indirectly by contributing to hormonal imbalances. High blood sugar can cause women to produce the male hormones (called “androgens” as a group). This cycle of high insulin levels and high androgen levels will lead to irregular periods, acne, hair growth, and weight gain. Losing weight will improve insulin sensitivity and reduce PCOS symptoms. With a smart mix of dieting and exercise, women dealing with PCOS can reverse some of the symptoms of the disorder.

What Is a PCOS Weight Loss Diet?

We know that a big contributor to PCOS weight gain is high insulin. Who else has high insulin? Diabetics. So the diet that works for diabetics would also work for women with PCOS, and indeed, that has been proven in study after study after study. The conclusion of all those studies: a low carbohydrate diet lowers both insulin and testosterone in women with PCOS (oh, and bonus: the women in these studies also lost belly fat).

But if you think that simply a reduction of calories helps, youd only be partially right. Yes, reducing calories is good. But reducing calories from carbohydrates is even better. Case in point, in this study, the women ate a low-carb diet for 8 weeks, and a different diet for another 8 weeks. The calories in both diets were identical, but the hormonal responses were different. Low carb diets are superior to high carb diets when it comes to improving hormonal profile (both insulin and testosterone), which are essential to improving body composition with PCOS.

But dont confuse that to mean that low carb diets are superior for people without PCOS. As far as weight loss is concerned, equal weight is lost on low carb and high carb diets, as long as calories are the same. I cover this in more detail in another article: Whats Better Low Carbs, or Low Fat?

If youre wondering about specific guidelines, the recommended PCOS weight loss diet should look like this:

Recommended Diet

  • Carbs should be between 20-40% of your daily calories. So if youre eating 2000 calories per day, between 400-800 calories (or 100-200 grams, because each gram of carbs has 4 calories) should come from carbs.
  • Fat should be around 30%. Sources of fat would be things like avocados, olives, olive oil, salmon, etc.
  • Protein should make up the remainder. So thats 30-50%.

When working with clients in either a one-on-one setting, or in online coaching, I like to simplify things, since a lot of people dont like counting calories. So I give my clients quotas. I dont tell them what to remove, rather, what to add.

So I have my PCOS clients shoot for 35-50 grams of fibre per day, as well as about 1.6-1.8 grams/kg/day (so if a woman weighs around 150 lbs., shed need around 110 grams of protein per day).

As long as they meet those quotas, its hard to go wrong. For one thing, both fibre and protein are very filling. If you meet those quotas, you probably wont have much room in your belly for much else. So it accomplishes a few goals:

  1. You lose weight
  2. You improve your PCOS symptoms
  3. You lower insulin levels
  4. You lower testosterone levels
  5. You dont feel deprived while youre doing it. Its easier to add things to your diet, than remove them.
PCOS weight loss diet

Worst Foods for Losing Weight

The foods that contribute to PCOS and make it worse are:

  • Pasta
  • White bread
  • Potatoes
  • Rice (yes, even brown rice)
  • Alcohol
  • Sugar (that includes natural sugars, like honey)
  • Fruit juices
  • Most breakfast cereals (if you want a good cereal, look for one that has 2 grams for fibre for every 10 grams of carbs)
  • Corn
  • Oatmeal

By now, you might be thinking I eat these all the time. What is there left to eat? I might as well give up, and accept my PCOS diagnosis. Ill just eat whatever I want. At least Ill be happy. Dont despair, my friend. I wont leave you hanging. Woman’s health is essential to my work as a trainer especially for women with PCOS who struggle with weight gain.

Best Foods for Losing Weight

Protein

  • All meat, fish and seafood is fine. (Chicken, turkey, beef, tuna, tilapia, cod, salmon) Enjoy!
  • Beans
  • Lentils
  • Quinoa
  • Buckwheat
  • Amaranth

Vegetables

  • Peas
  • Spinach
  • Broccoli
  • Cucumbers
  • Celery
  • Cauliflower
  • Cabbage
  • Peppers
  • Tomatoes
  • Lettuce

Fruits

  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries
  • Raspberries
  • Strawberries
  • Apples
  • Avocados
  • Olives

Other

  • Chia seeds
  • Hemp seeds
  • Flax seeds
  • Garlic
  • Onions
  • Cinnamon

Losing weight is not easy for those living with polycystic ovarian syndrome, but with physical activity and a healthy diet, they can achieve their goals. Women with PCOS should consume healthy fats such as olive oils will fuel their body, and optimize brain and heart function. Processed and fatty foods must be avoided to keep blood sugar levels down.

Don’t give up on your weight loss journey! It is only just beginning.

Are Yogurt and Milk Bad for PCOS?

Ah, the dairy controversy. The jury is still out on that one. On the one hand, there arent any conclusive studies saying that either yogurt or milk directly contribute or even make PCOS worse. However, there is a study showing an association between dairy and PCOS. Having said that, association is not the same as cause. After all, beach ball sales are associated with drowning. But that doesnt mean that beach balls cause drowning. The reason that beach ball sales go up when drowning goes up is the obvious: temperature. When the weather is hot, more people swim, and more people buy beach balls. So dont make the same mistake about dairy.

Heres my take: the studies that show improvements in PCOS symptoms (including weight loss) dont eliminate dairy. They dont emphasize dairy, but they dont eliminate it, either. So I believe that any controversy about the role of dairy for PCOS is minimal, and overblown. If youre really concerned about dairy, and want to play it safe go ahead and avoid it. But if you really like your yogurt, milk or cheese, go ahead and enjoy.

Whether you include dairy or not in your diet wont make much of a difference to your PCOS.

PCOS Weight Loss Supplements

Many women with PCOS want the supplements that help them lose weight. Unfortunately theres a difference between weight loss supplements, and PCOS supplements. Theyre not one and the same. Weight loss supplements are either thermogenics (they increase your body heat) or appetite suppressants. As I wrote about in my article on fat loss supplements, the safe ones arent very effective. They result in a loss of 0-3 pounds in a 3-6 month period. The effective ones arent very safe. Yes, they result in a loss of 1-2 pounds per week, but come at a cost of insomnia, possible high blood pressure, anxiety, and possible heart palpitations. You dont need that.

Trying to drop that PCOS weight overnight won’t work. Physical activity is essential, and you can combine high-intensity interval training and weight training to decrease weight gain and increase muscle mass.

Bad weight loss supplements can cause irregular periods and hormone abnormalities affecting insulin levels. That is why women’s health needs to balance physical activity, healthy fat intake, protein, and other healthy food to avoid weight gain.

Fortunately, PCOS supplements are both safe and effective. They wont help you lose weight directly. But they may do so indirectly.

The most effective PCOS supplements

  1. NAC (N-acetyl-cysteine). This is a precursor to an antioxidant called glutathione. One study that did a head-to-head comparison of NAC vs. Metformin (the most common medication for PCOS) found superior results for NAC.
  2. Myo inositol. This is a vitamin, similar to the family of B vitamins. In several studies, myo inositol is able to make the cells more sensitive to insulin, thereby lowering the amount of insulin the cells release in response to carbohydrates. The studies use between 2000-4000 mg/day.
  3. D-chiro-inositol. Sometimes, myo inositol is combined with D-chiro-inositol. One study did find superior results when the two were combined (d-chiro-inositol is usually given at doses of 1000 mg/day).
  4. Folic acid. This is considered vitamin B9, and its often used to manage PCOS. The typical dose is 400 mcg/day.
  5. Zinc. In a number of studies, using zinc improves male pattern baldness and hair growth in women. Additionally, it helped with inflammation. Most studies use around 50 mg of zinc per day.

Why is Exercise Good for PCOS?

Exercise is absolutely essential if youre looking for a solution to how to lose weight with PCOS without medication. There are a lot of benefits to exercise, but specifically for PCOS:

  1. Insulin sensitivity. Exercise helps improve the insulin responses to spikes in blood sugar. That is, less insulin is needed to get blood sugar down for women who exercise, compared to women who dont. Remember, one of the key features of PCOS is insulin resistance.
  2. Exercise improves sleep. A lot of women with PCOS experience sleep disturbances. Exercise helps you fall asleep faster, as well as sleep deeper and more restfully.
  3. It may actually improve fertility.
  4. All the same things that apply to people without PCOS will also apply to PCOS:
    1. Better heart health
    1. Better muscle strength
    1. Less inflammation

Ya know the drill

Recommended Exercises

Although there arent many specific studies as far as exercise for PCOS is concerned, we can look at the research from exercise for diabetes, where theres much more research. I wrote the webs most comprehensive article on exercise for diabetes, so I wont rehash the whole thing here.

Although theres no research on exercise for PCOS, I think my over 15 years of experience count for something, so Ill plug in my 2 cents.

The big goal of exercise for PCOS is to sensitize the cells to insulin. That is, to make the cells hear the message of insulin. To do that, there are two ways:

  • Get rid of the sugar inside the muscle cells (thats called glucose disposal). This creates more room for new sugar. So rather than floating in the blood, it goes inside the cells. Both cardio and strength training accomplish that goal.
  • Increase the storage capacity for sugar (thats called glycogen storage). Muscles can hold around 350 grams of sugar. But if you grow your muscles, that capacity increases, so there will be less of it in the blood, and more of it in muscle. Only strength training helps you grow your muscles. Cardio doesnt do that.

From a big picture perspective, whats the best exercise for PCOS? Strength training. But dont take that to mean that its an either/or type of scenario. You can do both, and you certainly get better results if you do both.

If we narrow it down even more, to whats the best strength exercise for PCOS, the answer would be based on which exercises have the greatest effects on insulin. Because only the muscles that are worked become more insulin sensitive, therefore, the most beneficial exercises are the ones that work the most amount of muscle.

I go into much greater depth in my article on workouts for PCOS.

What Exercise is Best for PCOS?

If I was to pick a single best exercise for PCOS, Id have to give my vote to the deadlift, or variations of it. In this video, I show you how to do a deadlift.

Weight loss starts with a healthy diet and exercise

The deadlift works the hamstrings, glutes (butt muscles), and lower back, as well as the grip. But there are a few muscles left behind, like:

  • The chest
  • Shoulders
  • Arms
  • Back
  • Stomach/abdominals

To round out the routine, I would pick 1-2 exercises for each body part, and do each one for 2-4 sets of 10-15 reps, using a weight that when you finish, you should think to yourself (I probably had 1-3 more in me). If you think I could have probably done 5 more, thats too light.

Other Strength Training Exercises

So choose from these exercises:

Legs

Back

(the biceps are working on these as well)

Shoulders

Chest

Arms

Stomach/Abdominals

Whatever exercises you choose, do them 2-3 times per week. Keep in mind, that youre going to get maybe 60-70% of the benefits of exercise from strength training 2-3 times per week, so if thats all that fits your schedule right now, 2-3 times per week is better than 0-1. But dont get stuck in a rut. The most important part of an exercise program is the progression model. Try to beat either your weight or number of reps either every workout, or every second workout.

Now you have your strength training in place, but lets say that you have more days for exercise what do you do? Cardio!

In my article on exercise for diabetes, I show how interval training (where you alternate going hard for 30 seconds-2 minutes, followed by an easy period of 1-5 minutes) has better effects on blood sugar compared to training at a steady pace, even when calories burned are the same.

The routine is simple (but not easy). Pick a machine that you like. Treadmill, elliptical, bike, rowing machine, doesnt matter. And it could be a different machine every time. Once you pick your machine, just go about 90% as hard as you can on it for 30 seconds-2 minutes. Then go easy for 1-5 minutes, or until you feel like youre ready to go again. If you feel like youre good to repeat that same interval in under a minute, chances are youre not working hard enough, so bump it up.

Do anywhere from 4-15 intervals like this, 2-3 times per week. Consider HIIT workouts to help lessen PCOS symptoms. HIIT workouts (high-intensity interval training) are intense  (but relatively short) cardio workouts in intervals to help you lose unwanted body weight.

The Difference for Women with PCOS

This would be the routine for someone with insulin problems. But remember earlier in this section how I mentioned that theres a slight modification for PCOS? Here it is: because one of the hallmarks of PCOS is high testosterone as well, these women put on muscle easier than other women. Whereas a woman without PCOS may put on 10-12 pounds of muscle in her first year of training (and its half that in the second year), a woman with PCOS may put on 15-18 pounds of muscle in her first year of training.

This is strictly an aesthetic issue, and not a health issue. If youre OK with putting on 15-18 pounds of muscle, then stick to the routine as is. But if you dont like that look, the modification is simple. Instead of doing 2-4 sets per exercise, do 1-2 sets, and more cardio. Replace 1-2 interval sessions per week with 1-2 steady sessions, where youre going at a steady pace for 30-60 minutes.

Progress with PCOS and Weight Loss

So there you have it one of the most comprehensive guides on the PCOS weight loss, diet and exercise. Women can help manage their symptoms from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome by implementing these nutrition and exercise strategies. There is no magic bullet on how to lose weight with PCOS fast, but with some time and effort, youll start to feel the effects of the following:

  • Weight loss, especially belly fat, so that you can wear the clothes you want to wear, and like the way you look in pictures.
  • Better energy levels, so you can be more productive at work, and get more done in your day.
  • Better confidence, so you feel like going out more.
  • Easier, more regular periods
  • If youre trying to conceive, you may find your fertility returning
  • Less hair growth in undesirable places. More hair growth on your head.
  • Reduce sleep apnea

Women’s Health

That’s why I want to help women with PCOS: to help them with their weight loss journey and lower blood sugar levels through physical activity, weight training, and diet. Keep those PCOS symptoms at bay by eating a healthy diet and doing some HIIT workouts (high-intensity interval training). You will be feeling like yourself in no time!

Youre welcome