Weight and PCOS

I have two conditions that I found out about when I started looking into why my husband and I weren't getting pregnant. One is PCOS and the other is under active thyroid.

Both are associated with weight gain and great difficulty losing weight.

A handful of years ago I started gaining weight very rapidly for no apparent reason. I hadn't changed the way I ate at all. I had been a size zero in graduate school (though my "normal" was more like a size 4-6). I attributed it to the metabolism slow down of the late twenties.

I tried to diet. I went back to the diets that had gotten me to that size zero that I so enjoyed being. I continued to gain weight. I tried the diet that my husband had used to lose over 100 pounds. I continued to gain weight. It was staggering. We couldn't figure out where my body was getting the material to put on weight. So I just gave up for a while.

Luckily for me I found out what was causing this before my weight got too out of control. I am 5'4" and the heaviest I ever got to was 173. I know a lot of people in my situation are over 200.

I wouldn't have known except I got blood work done at a fertility clinic. I started seeing an endocrinologist and got onto medication for the thyroid. I have not gotten on any medication for the PCOS as of yet. I hate taking medication (I'm kind of a hippy natural girl) so I'm seeing what I can do with food and natural living first.

However, the thyroid medication has made weight loss possible again. It isn't easy. I'm still fighting for every pound and eating to a much stricter code than my healthy/normal friends. But I've lost 20 pounds and am at 153, which is near where I was when I first started noticing fertility problems.

If I can get down into the 130 range then it is likely that my cycles will become more normal and I might start ovulating again.

Some people think thyroid issues is just an excuse but I'm here to tell you that thyroid issues can make losing weight impossible no matter how disciplined you are. If you struggle with losing weight or have PCOS, get your thyroid levels checked. Once you've got that under control then the battle really begins!