Hi everyone. I’m 26 years old, overweight, and while I currently have ‘normal’ blood sugars I have a family history of Type 2 Diabetes and have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) which wreaks havoc on my hormones, weight and insulin. I struggle a LOT with a physical and psychological addiction to sugar and carbs and sometimes genuinely feel like I can’t control myself reaching for high sugar, highly processed food. I’ve bought the 8 Week Diet book and am waiting for it to arrive. Are there any other ladies out there with PCOS – or people who have done this diet who had similar issues with the cravings that I’ve listed above? Would love to hear from you and how you got through it. Would also like to hear from anyone who found waking up in the morning really hard but has seen improvements in that area.

Feeling nervous/excited about my upcoming lifestyle change!

Hi ashri, you have described the former me! I have PCOS, type 2 diabetes, had completely out of control eating habits and NO energy.
I have been on the bsd for 4 weeks. So far I have lost 10kg, which is unheard of for me. My blood sugars are almost in the normal range and am almost completely off meds.
I am way older than you at 41 and have 3 kids who sap my energy, but my energy levels are now so high. My housework is all done (I hate housework so would always put it off). My dog is exhausted from all of the walks I take her on. My boys are often embarrassed as they turn up at home with their mates to find me dancing around the kitchen, just cos I can. I have not had this much energy for years.
My mum bought me the bsd book and it has honestly saved my life.
I feel really excited for you in your new beginning. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Hi I have PCOS and was totally addicted to carbs and sugar. I would spend the whole day needing sugary foods and was hungry the whole day. I have the same family history as you also. Well I am 6 weeks into the 8 week diet and I can say I am so happy to be doing it. I don’t have the cravings any more like I had and I feel like a new person. I have more energy and don’t find it hard getting up in the mornings (I used to find it hard to get my head off the pillow). I was on medication and am no longer taking it. I have lost 20lbs, my symptoms have started to reduce also. I could of lost more but need to exercise more. My hardest time on this diet was the first 4 days as I felt fuzzy in my head ( I think it was my body not having the sugar and carbs). It was hard at times and it was made easier by throwing out all the foods that tempted me. I have broke the diet twice as I was out with friends and it was so not worth it, I felt sick afterwards. If you do have foods that you should not don’t punish yourself, start a fresh day and continue with the diet.
I highly recommend this diet, it has really helped me and I am going to continue after the 8 weeks as I have more weight to loose. I have tried diets in the past and they have never worked. I was literally shocked when I weighed myself with this diet. I see this diet not for 8 weeks but as a lifestyle change. I never want to go back to feeling the way I did.
Good luck and don’t give up. Look forward to feeling better 🙂

Hi. Just read all your blogs and you have inspired me as have been struggling for 3 yrs. I am 62 and didn’t have a problem till I had cervical spine surgery and something change and now have 20 legs to lose to be health again and get blood pressure under control. Will start tomorrow and keep you all updated, I struggle with even starting as have read book 3 times and had for 2 months, so will bit the bullet and get on with it. Mermaid2

Hi BarrelOnLegs and Rebcar. How long did you find before your cravings went away? Also, did either of you have digestive issues as a result? I find that when I go on to a low carb diet I have trouble moving things along if you catch my drift – did either of you experience this? How long does it take for you to feel in control? I wake up in the morning and just feel like I haven’t been to sleep. My dream is to

a) wake up and not be tired
b) not spend my whole day thinking about food
c) wear a dress that comes above me knees

Is it hard giving up the sugary carby foods? I love bread haha. I have about 15kg I would like to lose (not sure what that is in pounds sorry – a bit over 30lb?)

Hey ashri,
can’t promise that you will bounce out of bed, but I certainly find that mornings are not as grizzly as they once were.
I eat heaps of fibre in this diet, in the way of veg. More than I think I ever have before at any time in my life. So no probs with getting moving.
On the first few days of the diet I had sore heavy legs. No idea why this was but it passed, as did the hunger.
I missed bread for a start but feel really full after meals now so no longer feel any cravings as I watch my kids toast a loaf after school.
I know that you can do this and achieve success. I can’t wait to see where I am at in another 4 weeks. It has such quick and amazing results that every time I step on the scales I am motivated to keep going.
You can do this.

Hi mermaid2,
I hope you have given day 1 a crack. Once you get into this way of eating it is hard to imagine any other way – and this is coming from a lifelong junk fooder. I just feel so much better. Tell yourself that you will commit for 2 weeks and see how you feel from there. Good luck and keep us posted.

Hi there I’m another pcos sufferer. It’s true I’ve lost weight a little slower than some but I’m very happy with how it’s going. (18.5lbs in 8 weeks ) my blood sugars weren’t high but after suffering gestational diabetes and my father and sister already type 2 I know I’m a ticking time bomb.

This is working for me I hope you find the same.

Hi Ashri I also loved bread as I used to eat so much toast but have not missed it once. When I got a craving at the start I used to have a diet fizzy drink, which used to help. I can’t remember when the Cravings went away but it was around the end of the first week. I still get the odd craving of wanting something sweet but I have a small fizzy diet drink, make myself busy and it’s gone.
I have no digestive issues, there was one day when I drank hardly anything where I felt a bit like that. I just make sure that I drink plenty now. I have found foods to replace the carbs and sweet foods. I enjoy the new foods more as with the carbs and sweet things I would eat them feel good and twenty minutes later be down and hungry needing more. It was one big bad cycle.
Once I started to exercise I started sleeping better. You can do it. If you do get cravings just tackle them one by one and think of the healthier, happier you. Take it day by day and you will get there. I think the first week was the hardest and then it gets easier. Good luck.

Hey ladies – I’ve started a blog called Finding My Way To Health. I’m going to track, in complete honesty, my thoughts and feelings as I go through the 8WBSD process. I’m hoping to post every couple of days. I’m hoping it will inspire others to take the challenge but also looking to build a community of supportive people around me while I attempt to change my life for the better. Would appreciate if you could check it out and let me know your thoughts 🙂

https://findingmywaytohealthblog.wordpress.com/

Go ashri, your blog sounds so positive. The right attitude is so the key. Good luck. Oh and looks like you and I are from the same part of the world. Noticed the.co.nz. in your blog. We are in the perfect time of year for soups and crock pot meals with cauliflower rice. Yum and easy.

I’ve put up my second blog if anyone’s interested – talking about linking our eating of food to the instinctive response and how we can pause and consider our actions before impulsively acting on them. It’s also a little bit of a download of how I’m finding the 8WBSD so far https://findingmywaytohealthblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/so-far-so-good/

Hi everybody,

It’s so good to see there are other ladies with PCOS on this diet. I am on week 3 now and I generally feel really good. I still get pretty hungry sometimes but knowing I am eating better than I ever have before keeps me on track. I am a bit disappointed with my weight loss, 8.5lbs so far, I was hoping for something more dramatic but I intend to stay the course. My skin has cleared up and I am sleeping better than I have for a long time although that wasn’t the case for the first couple of weeks. I don’t do the exercises in the book, I run every couple of days instead and I am hoping this will gete asier as I lose the weight. Wish me luck!

I have PCOS and uterine fibroids. * I braved up, and posted a query earlier today. ( I have been on BSD for 3 weeks now, and am not losing – AT ALL. ) It is very hard, but not impossible to lose weight with PCOS. ( I lost right at 100lbs on ultra-low carb, but it stopped working, about 6/8 months ago. ) Hence my presence here; I’m kinda at the end of my rope :-< Congratulations to all who have lost weight, though. Losing weight is hard work, and we should support each other <3

Fellow PCOS sufferer here too! My weight loss can be extremely slow and stubborn at times but then there are occasional points where I will drop – sometimes by only a 1lb, but a loss is a loss! I have learned that I need to be extremely patient when I’m trying to lose weight and I am not naturally patient AT ALL! I can totally understand you being at the end of your tether, it is so very frustrating. Are you drinking lots of water? I used to worry about retaining water weight but then read that the more water you drink, the more it flushes out water weight, which doesn’t make sense really but does work. I’m not a big water drinker typically but am trying to increase my intake whilst on this plan. For PCOS sufferers the low carb suggestion of around 50g/day may need to be reduced even further. What is your typical carb intake? Are you tracking all your carbs and calories?

Doordie I don’t have PCOS but I’m having uterine fibroids removed in a couple of weeks so I’ll let you know if that makes any difference.

Oh, please do, Natalie!
* Good luck with the surgery!

Flash, I track my calories obsessively, but am not tracking carbs, as I eat lo-carb, naturally. *I eat lo-carb, but no longer ketogenic, as it was aggravating some health issues. ( I usually keep my net carbs under 40. I have to go under 15 to achieve actual ketosis. ) However, now that autumn is here, those lovely, little, red pears are in at the grocers, and I bought one the other day. ( It had more carbs than I thought! ) I have become accustomed to having a fruit at breakie – either in my smoothie, or with my yoguhrt. ( No, I never eat stuff like bananas, or mangos! ) I am going to start doing a better job with trying to choose a more lo-carb fruit. I adore apple/butternut squash soothies! ( I never eat more than around 230 g, [ 2/3 C ], of fruit at a time, anyhow. )

The fruit… It’s my one treat, other than coffee/tea, and I just really don’t want to give it up :-<

FOLLOW-UP NOTE : I am beginning to think some of my issues are likely hormonal. On the advice of a medically-trained friend of the family, I was taking an all natural, ( bio-identical ), progesterone cream. I stopped this roughly two weeks ago, as other than sleeping better at night, I did not feel that it was helping me. SInce then, I have a tiny bit more energy, and seem to be a bit less depressed. Also, this morning upon waking, I noticed the bleeding was less =]

Fingers crossed!

Just curious… Any ladies on here have any experience/stories regarding the use of progesterone cream?

Hey Doordie,

Sounds like you’re well up on knowing what works or doesn’t work for you and you seem to be a low carb pro already! Keeping carbs under 40 seems like a huge challenge but I think I might have to drop mine down slightly if the 50g limit doesn’t work for me. I think pears can be quite carby, as are apples, unfortunately. I think berries and citrus fruits are ok in moderation. 100g of pear, for example, has 15g of carbs and apples are similar so 230g would be over 30g of carbs. I guess you already know this, however! Have heard of progesterone cream but have not used it so cannot offer any stories, I’m afraid. Hopefully things will continue to improve now you’ve stopped using it 🙂

Oh, I certainly hope so – I need something to shift for me!

* According to the A*k&n% site, the lowest carb fruits are : olives, avocados, berries, and fresh apricots. Bananas, mangoes, dates, and grapes are the worst.

And, of course no grains, or bread at all :-<
On being female, and eating bread after 40… Well, ladies, you may as well sit in it – ’cause that’s where it’s gonna go >;-[

It’ll happen. Most likely slowly, which is super annoying but if one thing PCOS suffers have to have, it’s patience 🙁

Glad that apricots are on the lower carb list, I will add them to my shopping next week. But oh how I miss bread! I only have to look at it to gain several pounds. Gah. Stupid hormones!

But at least we are aware of what we need to do to treat our bodies kindly and make them more healthy. We’ll get there in the end.

The best diet plan for PCOD problem are as follows:

Diet should be dominated with lots of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Avoid dairy products as much as possible.
Lean cuts of chicken and fish can be taken. But avoid red meat.
Hydrate yourself well by having minimum 2-3 liters water/day, coconut water, buttermilk, vegetable soups, and smoothies. Avoid aerated drinks and sugary foods.
Eat unsaturated fats and delete saturated and hydrogenated fats from your diet. Always check the label of the product while buying them.
Binge on whole wheat products like wheat pasta, wheat poha and avoid maida, suji
Brown rice in and white rice should be out of your diet. Red rice is also found to be rich in antioxidants which can be used as a substitute for white rice.
Include natural herbs in your diet like flax seeds, methi seeds, coriander, cinnamon.
Include millets like barley, ragi, quinoa, and oats. They are known to cool your body.
Say Yes to walnuts, almonds and no to cashews.
Apart from it homeopathy treatment has worked wonders in curing PCOD problem.