This PCOS program checklist is here to help you organize your days, weeks, and months, completing the tasks you need to do in repetition to achieve your most audacious goals. Yes, there’s an awful lot of checking lists for accountability that goes into losing fat with PCOS. Embrace the ritual and see results. 🙂 Download the form here.
Monthly checklist:
1st day of the month:
- Receive & review your monthly workout program.
No matter the program you’re doing – one of ours or other, review the exercises and think about what substitutions you’ll make if your gym doesn’t have a machine or if you’re working out at home with dumbbells or resistance bands. Think about what time of day you’ll do each day’s workout. (Don’t have a program? Here’s one – FREE monthly plan. )
- Review & sign the 5-Day No BS Clause
You only have to do this once. This is a contract with yourself that is a safeguard to stop you from quitting on your goals. A lot of the time when we decide to quit it has zero to do with the program and everything to do with our compliance. Make a deal with yourself not to quit for the wrong reasons. Works for ours an any other program you’re doing.
Weekly checklist:
Friday:
Use our daily menu planning template or any paper / digital means to write out what you’ll eat each day, tracking the protein & calorie count only. (Don’t over-complicate your life in the beginning. Just track protein & calories.) Make sure the majority of your ingredients come from our Daily food lists & some from the sometimes lists if desired (or follow the food list provided by your own trainer). Try recipes from the We the PCOS recipe library. We have jam-packed them with protein while keeping calories low using mostly DAILY & SOMETIMES approved foods from our We the PCOS food lists.
Saturday:
- Shop for food to cook for the week.
Sunday:
- Bulk cook for multiple days (3-4) or plan to cook daily.
It will take you several hours to cook all your meals for 3-4 days. You will get much faster the more you do this, so don’t be discouraged. Wear comfortable shoes. 😉
Monday – Saturday:
- Work the program.
Plan and do your workouts. Eat the healthy low-GI food you’ve prepared. Track your calories & protein. Log your progress.
Sunday morning, first thing:
- Weigh in
Record your weight and any other data you can (fat, muscle, water, etc.) in the We the PCOS app. (Get the app with our FREE monthly plan here. )
- Take your measurements
Record inches or centimeters around your chest, waist, hips, arms, legs, etc. and note them in the We the PCOS app
- Take any vital statistics you wish (HR, etc). Optional.
- Take progress photos
Take front, side, and back progress photos in a bikini or sportswear. Upload to the We the PCOS app.
- Check your progress
Compare your weight, measurements, and progress photos to last week’s stats. Then compare them to the stats you took on your very first day on the program. Try to ignore the scale. Watch your measurements over time and how your clothes fit. If you’re not making progress, check your diet to be sure you’re on track. No matter what, keep going. We all have dips. Log into the app on your desktop to see larger graphs of your progress.
Reflect on your nutrition and training performance for the week. Prepare your mind for the coming week.
- Enjoy a TREAT meal
In addition to your daily calorie allowance, enjoy 500 calories on top of this of absolutely anything you want. It can be pizza. It can be ice cream. It can be alcohol. It is to keep you from feeling deprived and it is to be enjoyed if you have been 100% compliant all week. Don’t have a treat meal if you’ve been treating yourself all week.
Daily checklist:
Early morning
- Wake up & eat half your planned breakfast.
You are giving your body energy to workout. Great options are oat bran, protein pancakes, and other low-GI carb + protein mixes.
Before work / your day gets going
- Complete your assigned workout using the We the PCOS app.
Immediately post-workout
- Eat the other half of your planned breakfast.
Low-GI carb + protein mix is ideal. Post-workout will be the best time of day to eat carbs, so eat them here. Ideally carry your post-workout meal with you to the gym so you can eat it right away.
Midday
- Eat the PCOS-friendly lunch you prepared.
Evening
- Eat the PCOS-friendly dinner you prepared.
Before bed
- Eat the PCOS-friendly snack you prepared.
Bed time
- Log all your food in the We the PCOS app.
Make sure you get enough protein & eat at your calorie deficit. Don’t overeat and don’t undereat either or you will be very hungry in a few days and likely cheat.
At the end of every month:
Get a bird’s eye view of your behavior and can address any barriers to achieving your goals
Tips & Flexibility:
- You don’t have to workout in the morning. Workout whenever you can fit it in.
- You don’t have to split a meal before and after your workout. It’s best to have eaten something before training so you’ll have energy to work hard. But it’s even more important to eat afterwards when your muscles need nourishment to grow and your body craves carbs and is in the best state to burn them.
- You don’t have to plan your menus on paper as long as you are eating primarily from the Daily Foods lists and hitting your protein goals and calorie deficit. Though it usually takes some practice to be able to eat on-plan, on-the-fly.
- Bulk cooking is infinitely easier if you plan to eat the same breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack for 3-4 days in a row. It takes discipline, but any meals you can eat more than one day in a row will simplify your cooking life.
- If you aren’t hungry in the first half of the day, you don’t have to force yourself to eat then. Some of us get hungrier at night. It’s okay to push most of your meals to later or earlier in the day depending on what suits you. Just stick to your protein & calorie deficit.
- You can alter most everything on the plan to suit your lifestyle. Just eat right and get your workouts in. As for priorities, these should be yours:
PRIORITY 1:
Nutrition – Don’t exceed your calorie budget. Get enough protein. Eat mostly from the DAILY food lists & now and then from the SOMETIMES food lists. Same TREAT foods for your treat meal.
PRIORITY 2:
Training – Get your resistance training in. Working hard in the gym building lean muscle mass makes your cells more sensitive to insulin and will make you look and feel better. You cannot transform your physique without resistance training.
PRIORITY 3:
Cardio – After your nutrition and training comes cardio. Doing cardio is like stoking the speed furnace on your transformation. But it is ALWAYS firmly in 3rd place. Don’t believe the hype about cardio being bad. Just do the kind you like. That’s the kind you’ll stick with. Walking, swimming, jogging, elliptical, spinning,… choose your weapon.
You can achieve your most audacious goals. Let your love light shine.
Fitness and medical disclaimer
The information available from We the PCOS is for general health information only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. You should not rely exclusively on information provided by We the PCOS for your health needs. All specific medical questions should be presented to your own health care provider and you should seek medical advice regarding your health and before starting any nutrition, weight loss or any other type of workout program.
If you choose to use the information available from We the PCOS without prior consultation with and consent of your physician, you are agreeing to accept full responsibility for your decisions and agreeing to hold harmless We the PCOS, its agents, employees, contractors, and any affiliated companies from any liability with respect to injury or illness to you or your property arising out of or connected with your use of this information.
There may be risks associated with participating in activities presented by We the PCOS for people in good or poor health or with pre-existing physical or mental health conditions. If you choose to participate in these risks, you do so of your own free will and accord, knowingly and voluntarily assuming all risks associated with such activities.
The results obtained from the information available from We the PCOS may vary, and will be based on your individual background, physical health, previous experience, capacity, ability to act, motivation and other variables. There are no guarantees concerning the level of success you may experience.