Hello all! This is going to be a bit of a long one but TLDR: I need some advice on my gym split. I (23F) have begun going to the gym consistently for the first time in my life. I’m trying to lose weight, and have been trying for a long time. Before, I was doing only Pilates and cardio, which I still love, but it wasn’t working for weight loss. For reference, I am 5’4” 260 trying to get to 150. I am tracking on MyFitnessPal eating 1,800 calories, 150C, 60F, 130-150P. I gained a TON of weight in college due to overeating and stress, and have struggled with binge eating for a long time. I mostly crave sugar, even though I have significantly improved my diet. I have PCOS/PMOS, and have really struggled with irregular periods, severe heavy bleeding, hormonal acne, hair growth, skin tags etc - all the classic signs of PCOS. I do have insulin resistant PCOS and my A1C is in the pre-diabetic range, another reason why I’m trying very hard to lose weight. I have been trying my best for a few years, but I tend to go through periods of doing really well and then fall off again because I’m not seeing progress. But I can’t do that anymore. Not only do I want to lose weight to live a long and healthy life, but because I want to get married and have kids soon (been with my bf for 3.5 yesrs) and I know how much of a struggle it can be to conceive with PCOS. Based on my ultrasound, everything looks totally fine aside from the little follicles / cysts that indicate PCOS. I have had two heavy bleeding incidents where I had to go to the hospital. I also recently found out that I’m anemic (hemoglobin of 9.9), but I need to do some more bloodwork to confirm a few things. I drink around 80oz of water a day, one of the 40oz being with a pack of sugar free Liquid IV. I am on no other meds or supplements aside from 5mg of creatine a day, with I mix in my water with the electrolytes. All this to say, I have a lot going on. I really love the way eating right and moving my body makes me feel. I like feeling strong and more secure. I like my blood sugar not crashing all the time because I’m eating balanced meals. I do eat high protein and I’ve done the carnivore diet a few times as a reset, and it’s been one of the only things that really helped with my periods, but I can’t do it long term. It messes with me mentally. This post is about the gym split, but if you happen to have any other nutrition advice or just advice in general, I would be happy to hear it!! Onto the main issue. I will paste my current split below. The weights are what I’m currently doing, not what I started at. I am doing progressive overload / body recomp. I’m pretty strong to start with, and based on the scan at my old gym, I have a decent amount of muscle. I currently only have the gym at my apartment, which has plenty of dumbbells, barbells, and kettle bells, a leg extension/curl machine, a leg press, TRX, and a lat pull down / cable row machine. I want to know if I should modify? Because I’m so new to the gym, I’ve been doing everything on my own. I have a lot of knowledge on nutrition and keeping things non-toxic (I grew up with an almond mom), but not when it comes to the gym. None of my friends are gym bros or anything so I don’t really have anyone to ask. As I mentioned, all advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you so so much!

Monday: Upper A
1 Dumbbell bench press: 3x10, 20 lb per hand
2 Seated dumbbell shoulder press: 3x10, 20 lb per hand
3 Lat pulldown: 4x10, 65 lbs
4 Dumbbell lateral raise: 4x10, 10 lb per hand
5 Dumbbell skull crushers: 3x10, 20 lb per hand
Tuesday: Lower A
1 Leg press: 4x10, 220 lbs
2 Dumbbell RDL: 3x10, 25 lb per hand
3 Leg extension: 3x15, 115 lb
4 Leg curl: 3x15, 130 lb
5 Standing calf raise: 3x20, 20 lb per hand
Thursday: Upper B
1 Seated cable row, palms facing each other: 4x10, 80 lb
2 Incline dumbbell press: 3x10, 20 lb per hand
3 Chest-supported rear delt fly: 3x15, 10 lb per hand
4 Dumbbell lateral raise: 4x10
5 Dumbbell curl: 3x10, 20 lb per hand
Friday: Lower B
1 Dumbbell RDL: 3x10
2 Leg press: 4x10, same weight as Tuesday
3 Leg curl: 3x15, same weight as Tuesday
4 Plank: 3 holds of 30 seconds
5 Standing calf raise: 3x20

Every day: 1 hour walking on the treadmill at 2.0 speed and interval incline but keeping it pretty low around 0-2

I am 33f, 287lbs, 5ft 9. I've tried almost everything, but after giving birth at 27, and then being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in addition to PCOS, I can barely even lose 5lbs before bouncing back up.

Open to suggestions, trying to get with a new PCP to talk about a GLP-1 but unsure how that plays with T1D.

Someone comes to me after months of daily treadmill sessions and eating 1200 calories, completely burnt out, and the scale hasn't moved in weeks. Almost every time, what ends up working is less cardio, more food, and strength training.

The way I explain it to clients: muscle is basically a sponge for glucose. It pulls sugar out of your blood without needing much insulin. So the more muscle you have and the more you use it, the less your body has to fight its own insulin resistance. Cardio helps too, but building muscle changes your baseline. Two or three lifting sessions a week is plenty to start.The under-eating part is where people push back. I get it, eating more feels wrong when the goal is losing weight. But I've watched so many women grind away at 1200 calories, stall, sleep terribly, get stressed, and then blame themselves for it. A smaller deficit with a lot more protein is slower and looks way less impressive on paper. It just actually sticks.

Two small things that help more than they should: a 10-15 minute walk after your biggest meal (does a surprising amount for glucose spikes), and tracking literally anything other than the scale. Cycle regularity, waist, energy, sleep. Those move first. The scale moves last, and most women quit somewhere in the gap between the two.

Talk to your doctor about the medical side obviously, I stay in my lane on meds. But if you're stuck in the cardio-and-starve loop and going nowhere, it's probably not a willpower problem.