Could it be possible — that the very diet — that you follow to a T … is making you fat if you have PCOS ? Abso -friggin-lutely!
Given the fact I have been successfully helping women with PCOS lose weight for the last decade, it is fair to say I have seen my fair share of diets. However, one thing I can tell is certain Weight Watchers and PCOS don’t mix!
Typically by the time most women find me, they have been struggling for quite some time with their weight. They have tried every diet out there with minimal success. I don’t think there has been one woman who has exited their initial visit with me not having an “ah-ha!” moment. When women leave my office, it’s often with a sigh of relief — like a load has been lifted off their shoulders. What they have been doing for so long has been so wrong — but they have been brainwashed to think that it is SO right. That folks is the true definition of frustration! No bueno!
PCOS and Weight Watchers: Why Weight Watchers is making you fat!
You see, most women with PCOS are SO confused when it comes to diet. And rightfully so! There is so much information out there — low fat, high fat, no gluten, no dairy, no salt, no carbohydrates. I’ve seen every diet out there. But if I were to say there is any one diet I see many PCOSers follow (or followed at some point in their weight loss journey!) is Weight Watchers. If there is anyone diet platform that is just so damn wrong for women with PCOS it is Weight Watchers. Yes, you heard me correcty! If you have PCOS, Weight Watchers is making you fat! Stop the presses — if you are following a Weight Watchers style diet – get the heck off of it now. Weight Watchers and PCOS do not play in the sand box nicely!
Let me tell you why.
Why Weight Watchers doesn’t work for women with PCOS
You see, Weight Watchers is a very high carbohydrate, moderate protein, low fat diet. Most of the programs created by Weight Watchers provide at least 60 % of the total daily calories from carbohydrates. For Pete’s sake — I don’t even feed my professional athletes that many carbohydrates! Most women with PCOS effectively lose weight when their diet is just around 30 – 40 % total calories coming from carbohydrates. For someone following a 1300 calorie diet, 40 % of your calories coming from carbohydrates would be < 140 grams per day. If you were following the same level calories (I know you don’t count calories on Weight Watchers – you count points – but bare with me sister’!) on a Weight Watchers plan would you would be taking in about 200 grams per day. As small as it sounds — these 60 grams of extra carbohydrates ARE NOT working for your waist line – not to mention how it is impacting your fertility and overall health.
Every time we consume carbohydrates of any kind (it doesn’t matter if it is fruit, oatmeal or a sweet potato!) our bodies break down the carbohydrates into glucose. In response to glucose your angry body dumps out the hormone insulin. Insulin is what we consider a storage hormone. This means when insulin is circulating in our blood system – our bodies do not break down body fat for fuel – but instead it goes into fat storage mode.
As many as 70 % of women with PCOS are insulin resistant. This means their bodies’ are resistant to the effects of insulin. Insulin resistance makes it very difficult for their bodies to process carbohydrates. That is why many women with PCOS take the medication Metformin. This miracle drug for women with PCOS makes their cells more sensitive to the effects of insulin. Therefore, Metformin allows them to break down carbohydrates more effectively. I say more effectively because even on a therapeutic dose of Metformin, say around 1500 mg/day, women with PCOS still tend to not thrive on a diet higher than 40 % total calories coming from carbohydrates. I think of PCOS like having a carbohydrate handicap – that even when medicated on Metformin — this handicap does not go away 🙁
Stop the carbohydrate madness – just say heck ‘no’ to Weight Watchers and PCOS
Weight Watchers is the wrong weight loss program for women with PCOS
So back to Weight Watchers and why it could be responsible for making you fat if you have PCOS. On a typical Weight Watchers program you are eating carbohydrates all day. Breakfast — Special K Cereal (Carb) with Skim Milk (Carb) and fruit (Carb) Lunch – Turkey Sandwich (Carb) with pretzels (Carbs) and a yogurt (Carb) Dinner — Chicken, Sweet Potato (Carb) and broccoli. Snacks – Flavored Greek Yogurt (Carb), Apple (Carb), Skinny Cow (Carb). As you can see there is no shortage of carbohydrates. You mine as well be fueling for a marathon!
I want to make it clear – I have nothing against any of these foods. But for women with PCOS this style of eating creates an insulin disaster! All day long your body is getting flooded with carbohydrates that drives your insulin through the roof. Therefore, on a program like Weight Watchers you become a fat-storing machine – completely the opposite of what you want!
I think Weight Watchers is fantastic for many things – one being accountability. Also for many people it clearly works – and I cannot deny that! But I lie to you not – Weight Watchers is NOT the appropriate program for someone with PCOS trying to lose weight. I work with MANY women who actually gain weight while on a Weight Watchers program. If this is you — do not blame yourself. I bet you are spot-on with your points — it is just not the right program for you.
The right weight loss diet for women with PCOS
Women with PCOS need to follow a modest, lower carbohydrate diet to promote and sustain weight loss. That isn’t the same thing as a no-carbohydrate diet or a low-carbohydrate diet (< 20 grams per day). No need to be so drastic. So please don’t get these terms confused. Most women do well when their carbohydrates are between 90 – 140 grams per day.
In future blog posts, I’ll discuss what a typical day looks like at these carbohydrate levels. But in the meantime if you are hanging with the ladies at Weight Watchers and you have PCOS, please promise me you will cut your ties?
I’m only saying this for your own good – I promise.
Got questions on why Weight Watchers could be making you fat if you struggle with PCOS? Please post them in the comments below. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you for this post! I have PCOS and did weight watchers for 3 months losing and regaining a mere 3 pounds. It was very frustrating and disheartening. I look forward to reading more on your site. It’s really hard to find good guidance, even from Doctors, on losing weight with PCOS.
Thank you for your post. I am Insulin Resistant but I don’t have PCOS. Several years back I tried Weight Watchers along with my office co-workers. Everyone was loosing weight as I was gaining. I agree Weight Watchers in NOT good for everyone.
You certainly can follow weight watchers and have PCOS. You just have to watch your carbs. You can utilize the point system by making it lean protein heavy and full of healthy greens and count your carbohydrates. It is an extra step But it is doable. I find your information to be slightly misleading.
Hi M Kathe – thanks for your comment.
Unfortunately, in my 15 + years of working with women with PCOS, most tend to struggle from a weight loss perspective with Weight Watchers. This is due to the fact that women with PCOS have very unique nutritional needs. They do not fit into a cookie-cutter approach. A very high amount of women with PCOS suffer from insulin resistance. The leaders at WW often have no idea how to handle these unique needs. I have seen countless – and I mean countless women who have attempted WW only to gain weight. Look at the two commenters above. The platform for WW is based on an approach that is 45-65 % total calories coming from carbohydrates. If someone JUST goes protein heavy and greens heavy – I imagine it would be terribly difficult to meet the ‘required points’ – given that greens are zero points and even some lean sources of protein are now zero points on the freestyle plan.
Or on the flip side – if the person focuses on lean protein and green veggies there is a good chance their calories are above and beyond what their body can handle. If many sources of protein and veggies are zero points – then they have something like 23-26 more points more left! Yikes! That could be a whole lot of calories! Zero point foods like fat-free greek yogurt, extra lean ground turkey all have calories (80-120) – so throw in a couple of servings of lean sources of protein/zero point foods – and you are looking at 200 – 300 calories above and beyond your points.
Most women with PCOS do best at no more than 30 – 35 % total calories coming from carbohydrates. Yes, I imagine you can lose weight on WW if you have PCOS. However, given our research at Yale plus the personal struggles I see with my patients – WW is not the most effective platform for women with PCOS. Once again – I can only speak from personal experience. You seem to have an entirely different experience which I completely respect.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I am happy to hear you are having success with WW – different strokes for different folks 🙂 Keep up the good work!
Hugs & High Fives, Amy