The 5 changes that made the biggest difference to my PCOS
How letting go of “more, harder, less food” helped my own PCOS
Hello everyone,
Today I bring you a past paid post on the things that have been the most impactful for my PCOS in the past 12 years.
I do want to make a caveat and say that these might not work for everyone. The nature of this condition is that is multi-faced and you need to find what works for you.
Number 1: Switching from HIIT to strength training
Like many of us, I was the woman with two spin classes on an empty stomach on a Sunday morning. I used to think that if my heart rate wasn’t hitting the 180s during a workout, it was a waste of time. Over time, I changed that.
Muscle is one of the most essential things for PCOS, as muscle is the best place to store excess glucose, which gets used up quickly when you move. The bigger the muscle, the more glucose it uses, even when you are just walking or resting. HIIT, especially when done on an empty stomach, can break down your muscles. I have still kept HIIT as part of my workout regime, but not on an empty stomach and not as often. I tend to do 3 strength training sessions, 1 HIIT and 1 spin class a week (this is, of course, before I fell pregnant).
From a research perspective, there isn’t actually one exercise type that has been proven to be superior for PCOS but muscle remains important to manage our condition and longevity.
Number 2: Not working out on an empty stomach
Women’s bodies are especially sensitive to the stress of fasted exercise. When you exercise without eating, it can cause your cortisol levels to stay elevated for longer. Chronically high cortisol can interfere with our hormones. Additionally, HIIT prefers glucose as a form of energy; therefore, fat is actually used more in moderate exercise efforts. It was always making me so hungry that I would overeat throughout the day to compensate. Terrible idea. It might work for some women, and if it does, please don’t change it, but if your hunger is exaggerated throughout the day, it may be a good idea to try to eat beforehand. Some more in depth information on this in the article below.
Number 3: Switch from a sweet breakfast to savoury
I was a sweet breakfast person for a long time. I loved oats, yoghurt and jam in the morning. This left me on a blood sugar rollercoaster for the rest of the day, as my body was craving protein to be able to support my muscles and activities throughout the day. Once I switched to eggs in the morning, my energy was so much more stable, my food choices were more nutritious, and I was less hungry throughout the day.
Number 4: Switching to a micronutrient mindset
I was the kid who asked my grandma to sieve the vegetables from a soup so I wouldn’t see them. I tried aubergine for the first time when I was 20, having a phobia of anything green. I know, I know, a nutritionist who hated vegetables. However, once I learnt the power of these little monsters, I just had to get on board. Once you make the switch, your body needs them. I had to learn how to cook them and implement them in my day-to-day. My morning green smoothie made a big difference. It packs loads of vegetables in one go. I find myself wanting broccoli these days, and my new favourite is asparagus. The micronutrients that these legumes pack will make a world of difference to your body. The moment I understood that our muscles don’t contract without Calcium, our energy production needs Magnesium, and our brain runs on Omega 3, it all makes sense—a switch from macro focus to packing as many micronutrients as I can.
Number 5: A switch from weight loss to health
I became obsessed with being thin from the age of 15. I look back at the pictures from when I was 15 and realise what a mind f** up this was. The girl in this picture thought she was fat.
The behaviours we engage in when we want to lose weight are pretty detrimental to our health. We try to eat less so we lose weight. If our foundational food is not nutritious, we are giving our body less energy and fewer nutrients. This leaves us hungrier than ever. We cut carbs, making us even hungrier. We overexercise, further making us hungrier. The results? No nutrients, no energy and your brain panics and we eat everything we see. Hormones are panicking because why would we prioritise a period when we can barely survive? Then you feel like you have no discipline, and you always fail, only to jump on the cycle all over again. I have been there and done it countless times.
An insightful conversation with a behavioural scientist can shine a bit more light on what I am saying above:
When we start eating right, our weight settles at what our body feels comfortable. It might not be the weight you see in magazines, or the one you want, but your body is happy. You are not hungry or skinny; you look healthy. You have muscle, your face is radiating, and your period is back. We were meant to eat food, not starve.
The result?
A healthy period, fewer PCOS symptoms and a happier and stronger self.
If you are struggling with weight, these two articles still stand true and give an insight into the relationship between weight and PCOS and my weight loss principles:
Supplements
I want to include this a bit separately as I don’t think supplements is what we should be leading our PCOS management with. However we can’t deny that there is solid evidence for some PCOS supplements out there. I have been taken Inositol for years, Chromium, Omega 3 and Vitamin D. This regime might not be suitable to the PCOS type you have so I recommend you work with a nutrionist to find the best combination for you. Supplements might not be necessary at all and you can save those money and invest them in professional help.
I hope you will find these empowering. I am sure you already do some of them, and I hope you find your five most impactful lifestyle changes.
See you next Sunday,
Francesca
The shift from weight loss to health mindset really resonates, but I'm curious about the timeline - how long did it actually take for your body to "settle" at its comfortable weight once you made these changes? Sometimes it feels like the hardest part is trusting the process when you can't see immediate results.
I love this! I wrote something similar (https://open.substack.com/pub/30girly/p/these-3-habits-changed-my-life?r=6ncba2&utm_medium=ios)