Don't Know Where to Start

TarynPage

So today I just confirmed with an endocrinologist that I have Hashimoto's Disease and most likely hypothyroidism. At first I thought, oh okay, well being fat isn't all my fault. But now I'm just getting more and more depressed reading how people are still struggling with their weight years later. I walk 3-6 miles every day, I hardly ever eat, I just feel defeated before I even start. I need some motivation! I can usually overcome my challenges, but this one just feels insurmountable. I want to be successful and take control of the situation, but I just feel like I need help- like I can't do it alone. I don't even know where to start. I feel like the fatigue and insomnia that go along with these conditions don't help either.

Where do I start? How can I keep positive? I have looked for diets, etc, but the jury seems to be out on what to eat when you have this disease. It makes it all the more overwhelming. How do I attack something that has always been hard for me, when it is just going to get harder? My endocrinologist was an amazing man, but he was not okay with my weight. He basically said, you have to get on it or you are going to have real problems in the future. That should be incentive, but weirdly it just makes me even more reticent to attack the situation.

I weigh about 199 right now and am 5'7. So I probably need to lose at least 50-60 pounds. That is some scary *kitten* right there.

I need friends

La5Vega5Girl

i just found out i have the same thing. my scale doesn't move much and i work my @$$ off!!
i have an appt with a rheumatologist next week and hoping to get more info on what i can do. i am eating paleo and reading as much as i can, continuing to do things for my health and TRY not to think too much about the scale (yes, almost impossible)
*sigh* i am seeing inches lost when i do my measurements every monday, so that is encouraging!
you can add me as a friend if you like

FitOldMomma

Well, the good thing is you got a proper diagnosis! Perhaps once you start taking thyroid meds and get your hormones leveled out, losing weight won't be such an ordeal? My sister in law was diagnosed with hypothyroidism a couple of years ago. She has lost 70 pounds since starting her meds and increasing her activity. She was always too tired to exercise, but now feels like a new person. Good luck.

Debbjones

I have Graves Disease which is just the OPPOSITE of your condition. When first diagnosed, in 2002, I went into a "mini" depression.

Treatment for me was to treat my thyroid with Radiation (which in turned "killed" my thyroid, rendering it inactive). The end result now is I have hypothyroidism. The treatment for hypothyroidism is thyroid medication for the remainder of my life to regulate a thyroid function (and for me blood pressure medication as well... but that is me) .

Your condition should not be an "OVER" concern. By allowing my condition set in as a depression I gained weight. LOTS of weight. After being diagnosed a type 2 diabetic (nearly 10 years after my Graves diagnosis and treatment) I realized I was, for the lack of another word, "killing" myself by not addressing the problem.

I changed my diet, cut out sugar (only use sugar substitutes) and monitor my calories daily. This has allowed me to drop 90 pounds and go form a tight size 18 to a size 0.

Add me as a friend if you like... but you CAN do this. All it takes is a little desire and determination... trust me!

TarynPage

Thank you guys. Still not quite sure where to begin. Everywhere I read has different dietary suggestions, and a lot of them are contradictory. I am thinking about getting a nutritionist or someone to help me understand what I should or shouldn't be doing to my body. I definitely struggle with fatigue and it doesn't help that I am constantly stressed out by academic stuff.

pknjhh

Get a professional to setup your diet. A friend of mine does professional bodybuilding coaching. I learned so much working with him and following his meal plans. It is confusing but it really comes down to 3 main things. Carbs, protein and sugars. The rest doesn't matter as much if you don't eat sugars and keep carbs 100 or less. As far as thyroid medicine it works great. I use t3 25mcg twice a day to speed things along. Don't know what your doctor will prescribe but it will definitely help weight loss as long as you cut out sugars and keep carbs 100 or less. Moderate cardio with heart rate at 130. Don't jump it higher it is counter productive. You burn mostly muscle when you go above 140+. More muscle needs more calories so you burn more fat overall by keeping heartrate at 130. Use incline 3.5 at 3.5mph on treadmill 45 minutes a day. Then right after do whatever body part you want to lose most weight at. If it's core do full body situps or planks bringing knees up. If it is arms do dumbbell tricep extensions, kickbacks and curls. Doing the area you want to go down faster after you exhausted yourself will really trim it down.