It can be challenging to manage your weight when you have PCOS but there are things you can do that will help! It’s a good idea to talk with your health care provider and ask about meeting with a registered dietitian who can help you with making PCOS-friendly food choices. Exercising and managing your weight will also help to manage your insulin levels and lower your risk for diabetes. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Choose nutritious, high-fiber carbohydrates instead of sugary or refined carbohydrates
- Balance carbohydrates with protein and healthy fats
- Eat 3 small meals and 3 snacks throughout the day instead of large meals
- Exercise regularly to help manage insulin levels and your weight
About your concern about having kids someday…
Girls with PCOS are born with a normal uterus and healthy eggs so almost all women with PCOS can have children. Some women with PCOS have trouble becoming pregnant and need medication or IVF to get pregnant, while others with PCOS don’t have any difficulty at all. It’s always best to talk to your health care provider about your concerns. Because many girls with PCOS ovulate occasionally, if you are sexually active, be sure to use birth control and condoms every time you have sex.
Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.