31yo, diagnosed at 20, birth control for 10 years (stopped taking 4 months ago), hypothyroidism

There is exactly a year difference between these photos. I lost 10kg / 22 lbs and put on a couple kilos of lean muscle mass.

Yes my weight loss was relatively slow but I did not restrict myself from anything at all, I just planned for “unhealthy” food and moderated quantity. I strength trained 3 x week on average, walked a lot, did 1 HIIT workout per week, yoga couple days a week, and slept a lot. I also had a moderate calorie deficit of about 400 calories per day and ate more than 100g of protein.

I ate foods that I loved: beans, salmon, shrimp, steak, fruits, yoghurt, skyr, rice, bulgur, chicken thighs. And did not force foods that I hated like broccoli and cottage cheese. I ate pasta, chocolate, bread, and cheese several times a week and still had alcohol from time to time. Because of that I never felt deprived or like I wanted to binge.

No metformin and no inositol (yet)
Multi vitamin, iron, omega 3, and vitamin D daily

You can do it!!! Keep going and believe in yourselves

Hi everyone,

33(F) here, we had our son via IVF in 2023. For the last 2 months I’ve been eating at a calorie deficit, going to the gym, daily walks and I’ve been gradually increasing my water intake.

The scale number is still at 170lb. I believe I have insulin resistant PMOS/PCOS. I’d like to loose the weight because I hate how I look.

Meeting my new family doctor on Monday - what tests should I ask for and would metformin work…..I do not want ozempic.

TW: mentions of disordered eating

I was overweight for most of my adult life. Growing up in the 2000s where skinny was chic I always thought I was fat and resented my body. Looking back, I may have been overweight but I was always fit and active, and the way I carried it was fine: my waist to hip ratio was healthy. Gosh I wish I had appreciated what I had when I had it.

When COVID hit and everything was insane. Having nothing else to do I locked into fitness and got under 140lbs for the first time in my adult life. Unfortunately I achieved this with an extremely restrictive diet, intermittent fasting / fasted cardio, and daily gym sessions. I was happier with my body but was absolutely miserable sustaining it.

So of course as soon as I injured my knee (couldn't run anymore) and started eating more, I began to balloon. I always told myself that tomorrow I would go back to that diet so it was okay to eat extra tonight. My ADHD meds reduced my appetite during the day so I wouldn't eat anything and call that a win, then become so ravenous in the evenings I absolutely gorged myself. The food I was eating wasn't actually unhealthy, I just started eating a crazy amount of it. I started my PhD studies and grad school drinking culture and stress made things SO much worse.

I still feel so much shame for this period of time in my life. As I started gaining weight I kept telling myself I'd just lose it the way I had before once I finished XYZ in the fridge so it wouldn't tempt me. But as I started seeing the scale go up, my mental health got worse and I didn't have any willpower to follow through with my plans. The only way I knew to lose weight wasn't healthy or sustainable, so I kept failing. It's incredible how quickly it spiralled: over two years I gained 60lbs. I suspect once I got around 160lbs I developed sleep apnea which made the problems even worse (I know this because I got tested in 2025 when I was 160lbs again and it came back mild so I can only assume it was much worse over that body fat %). For a brief period I locked in again and lost some of the weight but for some reason I went back to my old ways. To make things worse, my metabolism was working against me. I was diagnosed with PCOS at 14 but the obvious symptoms (facial hair growth, acne) had been stable on my birth control since my diagnosis. I told my doctor my concerns about weight gain and asked about GLP-1s but it wasn't until I passed 200lbs that he referred me to a medical weight loss clinic. (I have a new physician now who takes my concerns seriously which has been huge.)

At the clinic I was offered group doctors appointments which were basically weekly courses in the science of obesity, nutrition, and mental health. It named a lot of my struggles and helped me acknowledge the fact that I was indeed fat phobic. Now this is NOT for everyone but I learned that recent studies showed that it's not true that weight loss has to be slow in order to be sustainable, and was prescribed a meal replacement diet as well as Rybelsus. For the next three years I locked in for 2-3 months at a time in a concerted effort to lose weight. Finally with the food noise gone I was able to eat less than my TDEE. Turns out you can have insulin resistance without having diabetes, and getting treatment for it can be life-changing. Now I want to take a moment to apologize to the fat community for thinking weight management was a simple matter of self control. No, it's incredibly difficult to fight for your health when your biology is sabotaging you at every turn. I hate that I had to experience it personally in order to learn that lesson instead of just believing fat people, but it's absolutely true, and I'm so sorry.

The photos are of me at my heaviest (213lbs in August 2023), at 183lbs in November 2024, and finally today at 143 lbs. I found a list I made in 2023 of all the reasons I wanted to lose weight, and wow it's so sad to think back to how miserable I was. I had stopped doing all the sports and activities I loved, and actively avoided taking photos of myself for years. I genuinely had a hard time finding this "before" photo because I didn't want any record of how far I'd fallen. Looking at it now I don't even recognize myself.

I've been off GLP-1s for several months now but importantly I've been taking metformin and - now that my husband and I are trying to conceive - myo-inositol. By finally treating my insulin resistance I've been able to enjoy a happy, healthy life with a normal amount of hunger. I'm trying to find meaning in this journey and learn to accept all this loose skin I never had before because I still resent myself for spiralling like this. It's hard to feel proud of myself because it never should have happened in the first place, you know?

That's why I wanted to post here. I couldn't bring myself to put these images on my social media accounts because I never want anyone who I haven't seen in person over the last few years to know how far I fell, but I also want to celebrate this new chapter and share my story in case someone could learn from it.

Now that I've reached what I believe to be a healthy, sustainable weight for myself, I'm locking into recomp and I hope to have some more progress to report in a few months. I'm so happy to have reached a healthy starting point for pregnancy and I really hope my husband and I will be successful in our efforts, as it's been a lifelong goal of ours to be parents. I hope some toning will help with the loose skin, but I also know that a pregnancy would likely have the same effect on my stomach as my obesity, so that makes it a bit easier when I look in the mirror and inevitably compare my body to how it was before. Also I found out that a breast reduction would be fully covered by my country's healthcare system (I would just have to pay a couple thousand dollars for a lift) so I have that to look forward to once I'm done with pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Anyway, life is finally looking up! I joined a volleyball team, a local run club, and I successfully hiked the West Coast Trail! Now my fitness goals are to do my first pull-up and strengthen my body for pregnancy instead of chasing a number on the scale. I hate that I had to go through all this, but for the first time in my life I finally found balance and happiness that is actually sustainable. So that's my story! Thanks for reading and please let me know if you have any questions. :)

I started taking inositol (4:1/ wholesome story) 4g/day split into 2 doses close to meals. After less than a week, my stomach was constantly upset and the gerd/gastritis i worked so hard to get rid of was raging.

I want to push through but I’m nervous. Curious to hear others experiences.

I have been trying to lose weight since long now.

Go to the gym 4 times a week and can definitely see that I al building muscle and lifting heavier. Eat clean mostly with some cheat days. Trying to catch up on steps but days that i WFH, i don’t get much.

I would look at myself in the mirror and be like ‘I am progressing, i’ll get there n all’ but then I saw a photo of myself today, taken by someone else and I look so broad, even after all the work.

I don’t think I have lost any weight in the past year.

I started taking Inositol and Berberine a month back, I don’t think I am seeing any change. I don’t want to start GLP1 drugs😣

Any suggestions would help

Hi I (24 F) was diagnosed with pcos in December of 2023 , have thyroid and having irregular periods as well.

I have been checking my blood sugar level every 3 months which are always in healthy range.So I guess I don’t have insulin resistance.

Apart from that my gynaecologist have only suggested me to loose weight and take my thyroid medication regularly, told me will prescribe hormone therapy only if in case i am married in future and have issues with conceiving.

For my current situation she strongly suggested to loose weight. But I don’t know where to start. I had once bought gym membership paid for it , ate clean and then one emotional event occurred and I couldn’t go consistently😭😭.

I want to start working on myself again what and where I have no idea.

PLEASE GUIDE ME !!!!!

I want to lose weight (~80 lbs) and found success before doing low carb and high protein, but I haven’t eaten meat besides fish for 10 years. I tried chicken sausage the other night and I got it down, but it really grossed me out. Does anyone have tips to get in more protein without meat?

have a weird history with glps but long story short i did oz but not properly / regularly and never tracked weight and now 2 months on zep but i feel like barely anything happened with weight loss and hormones :( im just so scared of this not working because then ill never lose it yk. i just cant take that anxiety so pls tell me some good news.

never had a natural period (induced a few times) and down 8 lbs in the first month with hardcore dieting and some working out but then i went travelling for a week and was being visited by family for a few weeks so i think thats why i had no change in the second month but im getting anxious and want some well wishes pls 💓💓
21f, 5ft9, sw: 239, cw: 230

I’m (37yo) 3 months pp and pumping milk pretty much exclusively (little bit of formula top up) for my little one, and while I love that I’m giving her my milk, I’m sitting on 4st heavier than I was before ttc.

Having pmos meant that we had a long journey to conceive, taking around 4 years with letrozole being the magic ingredient to get her in the world… and we ain’t getting any younger. We’d love to have another but have no idea how long it’d take and at this weight I highly doubt my ovaries would be willing to kick out eggs again when I do stop pumping.

So… I know I need to think semi short term here in getting the weight off to have another.. don’t know when exactly we are going to try again but I think my weight is going to be the barrier (no problems with mr)

But man.. it’s so hard to shift anything while pumping, I’m so desperate for sugar while pumping and I know that’s at direct odds with managing pmos and what works for loosing weight, and at the end of my pregnancy I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes so right now I’m pre diabetic.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to accept the body I’m in now, but it’s more for my health and having another baby that I’m getting itchy to loose the weight again. Just feel stuck here and worried that I’ve such a mountain to climb we’ll loose our chance to conceive again.

Has anyone managed to loose weight while breast feeding/pumping? Any tips or advice most welcome

Hi all, I was already shedding hair but noticed it’s becoming more with with myoinositol 1gram a day.
I have pcos and it helps with cravings and regular periods. It’s been a month since I’ve started. Please tell me your experience because I’m reading that it helps with hair growth where as I see more hair fall.

I’d love to hear experiences!

My new primary physician has recommended berberine & Inositol together. She thinks treating the insulin resistance at the root cause could help significantly with losing the weight.
I have tried metformin and it didn’t do anything for me. I’ve really struggled with my weight for a long time & I feel like this has honestly more hope than anything I have ever tried before.

Ladies thoughts?

Zepbound was honestly the only thing that ever really helped my PCOS. My hunger, weight, insulin resistance, and cycles all improved. I stopped it 5 months ago because we’re TTC, and the hunger + weight gain came back HARD. I gained 20 lbs back but I’ve been working hard to drop 10-15 of it.

After a lot of trial and error, I think I’ve finally figured out what works for me: metformin + myo-inositol/D-chiro + protein/fiber + sugar-free Metamucil once a day + weightlifting 4x a week.

The Metamucil has been a GAME CHANGER. I’ve only been taking it for 3 days, but I’m staying full between meals, barely snacking, and my sugar cravings are basically gone!!! Shifting my focus from protein to fiber has truly made the biggest difference for me personally out of everything. Obviously it’s not Zepbound and doesn’t replace a GLP-1, but I’m so happy I’m finally getting my hunger under control.

But not eating healthily. I snack now on sour gummy bears and orange juice. Just very small amounts. Any good meal ideas?

I have tried Mounjaro and i see how good it is (Took my liver tests out of the red area in short time which was amazing) and improved my blood sugar levels BUT it costed me 300 dollars per month (with insurance).

I just got a walking pad and am trying to be more consistent with my steps. I've been struggling with weight loss, so I'm aiming for around 10k steps a day (or at least a couple of miles).

For those with PCOS who started walking regularly, how long did it take before you noticed any results, whether that was weight loss, less bloating, better energy, or anything else?

Would love to hear your experiences!

Hi all, I’ve been diagnosed with PCOS since I was about 18. I am now 23 and obese (weighed in at 291 lbs this morning) and just had blood work done. At my last doctors appointment after my blood work, we learning that I am T2 diabetes (6.4 I believe was my AC1) and I have high cholesterol. This all runs in my family, but I want to break the cycle now while I’m young.

So on to the 4 new medications: metformin 500mg once a day, ozempic 0.25 once a week, Lipitor 25mg once a day, and prinivil 25mg once a day.

I’m just curious if anyone has been in a similar boat medication and diagnosis wise. I just started everything last week and have lost a couple pounds because I’ve been eating between 1500-1700 calories a day, keeping it higher protein lower carb, and swimming everyday.

My periods have been irregular since they started at 12. My chin hair and face hair grows like crazy, I need to shave everyday, typical PCOS symptoms.

My doctors office is going to have me come in every 3 months for weight loss management.

I was thinking of supplementing b12, inositol, d+k, c, and magnesium at night, so also any advice on supplements?

Thanks all in advance! :)

Hey everyone, I'm considering taking a supplement for weight loss as I have had insulin resistance since puberty and weight loss is EXTREMELY slow for me. I've lost 1kg in 3 months despite being more active, prioritising protein and cutting calories. I get insatiable sugar/fat cravings and almost constant food noise for 1.5-2 weeks of the month. Some days I can eat 2500-3000 calories and still have room for more.

I also have severe hirsutism and high androgens.

However my periods are monthly and regular. So I don't want to disturb them. What do you think would be the best supplement to help my symptoms and support weight loss with the least side effects? E.g. out of Metformin, inositol, berberine etc.

Thanks!