The Effects of an Intensive Lifestyle Intervention on Reproductive Outcomes

This is a study to determine whether a low calorie diet using meal replacement shakes compared to current counseling about diet, followed by 3 cycles of clomiphene citrate (if needed) will result in: 1) improvements in ability to ovulate and achieve pregnancy either spontaneously or during 3 clomiphene citrate cycles 2) greater weight loss with reductions in waist and hip circumferences and improvements in hormones that are involved in allowing pregnancy to occur and hormones that are involved in metabolism, such as insulin and glucose (sugar) 3) improvements in other health conditions such as blood pressure, and emotional and physical well-being. Women eligible to participate will be between the ages of 18-35 with a BMI (ratio of weight in kg divided by height in m2) of ≥ 35≤45 kg/m2 who are seeking help for anovulatory infertility including women with a diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).