PCOS causes all kinds of side effects which sheer willpower can’t always beat—thinking it can is what’s lazy
Lead photo by Wilhelm Gunkel/Unsplash
Last week, a then-unknown (and eventually back to being virtually unknown) food content creator from Cebu caused quite the stir when she declared—with her online voice coming from her whole chest—that overweight women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are just “fat and lazy.”
And that she was “sorry, not sorry” for the opinion, and people can “go cry about it.”
She waited until after Women’s Month was over to launch that callous, scathing, and uncalled for attack on her fellow women. But one thing she did get right is that PCOS does cause weight gain, which could turn into obesity and other related health issues such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, all through no fault of the woman.
What she gets wrong is that weight loss with PCOS is not a straight line from fat to skinny that all women can ride down smoothly like a roller coaster
For the uninitiated, this is because PCOS causes a hormonal imbalance in a woman’s body. In a nutshell, the syndrome prevents the body’s proper usage of insulin, leading to a buildup of the hormone and sugar, which then leads to the increased generation of androgens. That male hormone ultimately leads to weight gain, among other side effects. It’s also mostly abdominal fat, which carries a lot of health risks with it.
What Ms. Food Content also gets right is that weight loss is a matter of willpower and effort, even with PCOS. But what she gets wrong is that weight loss with PCOS is not a straight line from fat to skinny that all women can ride down smoothly like a roller coaster.
First, there’s the anecdotal evidence. I’m a man, so therefore I cannot speak for the female experience—that’s why the comments on the issue, like from those who have rallied around Misschiefeditor’s post calling her out—are truly helpful for getting a handle on why this particular weight loss scenario is not the same.
Some women have reported extreme fatigue during attempts to work out. Some women report depression, which is already a tough obstacle to start working out—even if, ironically, working out helps mitigate that mental health condition. (But best believe exercise never fully cures a depressive episode.) Then some report that the hormonal imbalance simply makes fat loss near-impossible, no matter how hard they try.
The deck is stacked, and not everyone gets to play with a good hand. She even cites voice artist Inka Magnaye—who has been public about her PCOS, weight gain, and subsequent weight loss—as proof that the effects can be overcome. But the thing is, again (and this is something I can now add from my own experience), not everyone gets the luck of the draw when it comes to circumstances that contribute to weight loss.
The fat loss journey is miserable
Support and empathy go much further and work much better than a vile and self-aggrandizing comment | Photo from Unsplash+ in collaboration with Nick Fancher
And here’s another thing I would like to add from my own experience with fat loss: that process is thankless, exhausting, and demoralizing.
Yes, weight and fat loss is good. It’s good for your body and health. But it’s also some of the most miserable months you’ll ever live in your life, even if you try to do everything in a way that’s as pleasant as possible. You’ll go anxious counting your calories, you’ll get depressed not being able to eat the food that makes you feel good, and you’ll get tired from lower energy levels because you’re not eating as much. And the worst part: You’re always hungry.
I’m back to a looser eating “regimen” after a year-long cut that stalled simply because I could not progress any further without going crazy, even with all the physical movement I had. Even if all good things must be earned by sacrifice, I wouldn’t wish that misery on anyone who’s already being made miserable by PCOS.
People don’t really need judgment because they already see themselves in the mirror—besides, support and empathy go much further than a self-aggrandizing comment
I’m not saying you should ditch weight loss altogether, especially with so many dangers that obesity brings. But the process has to be a choice that one is fully committed to making—and people are not going to get there if they’re shamed into doing it all because the deck that PCOS stacks against them makes them look “fat and lazy.”
And this doesn’t just apply to PCOS sufferers, too; it goes for anyone who’s having a harder time dropping fat, whether the obstacles are physical or mental. People don’t really need judgment because they already see themselves in the mirror. Support and empathy go much further and work much better than a vile and self-aggrandizing comment.