I don’t believe there is enough awareness for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a essentially a hormonal disorder where there is an imbalance in a females sex hormones.

To be quite honest with you until I became a personal trainer I didn’t know a great deal about PCOS. Through my studies we learnt nothing of it, there wasn’t even a great deal of emphasis at all placed on the role hormones played in the body. I think that is silly as hormones can play such a big role in a persons health and their weight.

Without getting too in depth (i’ll save that for the science links below should you wish to know more) we have a very delicate balance of hormones in our bodies, each playing a very important part to the functioning of our bodies. If this delicate balance is shifted in anyway it can cause various health problems and a great deal of frustration to women.

From my knowledge and experience I now know that if there is  a hormonal issue with a client you will have little luck changing their weight or physique unless the hormone issue is dealt with first.  Having too much androgen (male hormone) will not go away by increasing your exercise. I’ve seen clients punish themselves with gruelling workouts only to get frustrated when they hop on the scales and nothing changes. Yet through all the disappointment they refuse to seek medical help and find out the true cause.

This is a generalisation but if you are eating correctly, exercising correctly and have a healthy lifestyle and you are still greatly overweight and nothing changes then there is something else going on. Please trust me when I say your best bet is to go see a doctor or an experienced naturopath (who performs apropriate testing) and find out what is going on in your body.

I had a client a few years  ago who would not lose weight, we upped her exercise changed her eating habits and still nothing would happen. Was my client lying to me? I didn’t believe so, it was only when she saw her doctor for testing that they discovered she had PCOS. After surgery (surgery was needed in her case) she found it easier to lose weight.

Just recently I discovered another client had PCOS. I had my suspicions for some time that something deeper was going on. Over about 6 months her weight increased, coincidently her stress also increased dramatically. We focused on stress management and healthy eating to improve her wellbeing. We improved eating and increased exercise and documented these areas.  Coming close to a year of gradually stacking on weight and unable to control stress I repeatedly asked her to see her doctor for a full blood test. I knew something wasn’t right. Her family doctor refused testing and told her she wasn’t working hard enough. This really ticked me off, I was angry at the backwards and ignorant attitude and insisted she seek another doctor. After proper testing my client was diagnosed with PCOS.

It is important to listen to your body and know when something isn’t right. If you are putting in the effort and the health benefits aren’t being produced seek further advice and medical help. Don’t ever let a doctor dismiss your concerns, if you are not happy find another doctor. The doctor isn’t paying for the testing out of their own pocket so there is no reason they should refuse you and you should not have access to proper testing.

I have had more clients with hormonal issues (not just PCOS) than I have liked, I wish it was as simple to wave a wand and make the hormone levels right. But I will say this, if you have a problem do something about it, there are people and methods which can help you.

For more information on PCOS visit here

For some more sciencey info here you go

 

Please share this article to women you know to increase awareness about PCOS and that there are people to support you and ways to help.