South Beach Diet, PCOS, etc.

Having been completely unfilled for going on 2 months now, I am fighting back the frustration of weight gain. However I am still doing pretty good, BUT my PCOS symptoms are all seeming to just pop out in full bloom. Now its not just the time I have been unfilled contributing, because prior to my unfill I was starting to allow more carbs in, however they have really taken a substantial leap recently and oh my has my body noticed. Meaning I have been getting terrible acne, my periods for 3 months have been incrementally later and later (12 days late this month). I have been cycling through major mood swings, my cravings are at an all time high, etc.

So this morning I went in search of some natural remedies for PCOS and just read so many things that reminded me from before about how much carbs play a role on insulin resistance (the main culprit in PCOS). It lead me back to read up on the South Beach Diet which I have never researched and it sounds pretty reasonable (and I'll say even more reasonable once I have my band back). Has anyone ever done this diet (PCOS or not)? Can you share your experience with me? Also if you have a lapband and PCOS can you please share your experience with me on how thats going for you.

Thanks!

South beach diet is good or the glycemic load diet is good for PCOS.  The reason that South beach and glycemic load works is because it causes the blood sugar to remain stable

If you can get the recipe book it has a lot of good recipes

Thank You! I'll check out the recipe book. I am usually pretty good at just eating the same foods but my husband has agreed to give this a shot with me so I will need to be creative and versatile (he is really thin but wants to work on going off statins for blood pressure and cholesterol).

I hope you feel better and you PCOS symptoms go away.  Years ago I did a low carb diet and felt terrible (like detoxing) at first.  But then I felt great ! And I lost weight too.  You have me thinking maybe I should go back on it.  Good luck !

I am a huge fan of South Beach. I lost the most weight on this plan than on any other weightloss regimine in my entire life. I still use the guidelines to make better choices now. I haven't had surgery yet but my South Beach cook book is near and dear to my heart. The only reason I failed this (and all the other diets I've been on throughout my life) is the hunger...I did this for several months, which is longer than I was able to last on any "diet" and I think it would be great to use in conjunction with the band....coming from someone whose main problem with weight loss is will power.

Tia,

I have heard of south beach but never looked into it.  Is the receipes family friendly ? What I mean is alot of the receipe books you buy now days have some really funky ideas in it or they use ingrediants that are not even around me * i live in a small town lol *.

So I dont buy to many receipe books because of the funky ideas lol not very good when you have a family to feed lol.

I read up on it today and it is really versatile so you wouldnt need a bunch of special foods. Essentially you are giving up breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, and fruits the first two weeks. (though you can see the list of allowed foods here to check the specifics). At one point in time this would have been really a major challenge for me but I feel like my band life in the last two years has already helped me with this part so much the adjustment is far less drastic. Plus what I like about this is that you are not counting carbs. For example they encourage eating beans which are very high in carbs, but since we know our body requires carbs this helps it too feel more like a balanced system. Also unlike Atkins it doesnt encourage you to load up on saturated fats rather to stick with lean cuts of meat. The link I posted about really covers it but I managed to find the book on PDF if you want to read it, send me your email.

thanks Sarah I will check out your link there. maybe that is what I need to get past this slump Im in right now with the scales :o)

I love beans especialy refried beans and you are right they are high in carbs but I consider them good carbs because of the protein in them , maybe that is where Im going wrong right now ?

South Beach is an excellent diet plan, in fact it is the food plan my surgeon recommends. While it concentrates on protein, it isn't as strict as say Atkins. It is well balanced and easy to do.

I have noticed when I stick to whole grains not white stuff my pcos is better. But have your thyroid checked also.