Advice!!!

AmberGlitterSparkles

Hello all,

My names Amber I’m 35 years old 5 ft 11 and weigh 325 lbs. I also have Hoshimoto’s thyroiditis if anyone knows what that is. Long story short the weight loss struggle is real! I am no stranger to dieting. Though, success has never lasted long for me. I have some questions for someone who may be more knowledge able than myself and thought I would reach out to you guys. So, if I am understanding correctly, my body naturally burns 3250 calories due to my weight. So to lose 2 pounds a week I would need to deficit 1000 calories a day. The app puts me at 2200 calories a day roughly. I don’t eat nearly that much. Normally between 1200 and 1400 a day. Because of the Hoshimoto’s, I am pretty restrictive on my diet. I avoid gluten, soy, dairy and sugar I don’t drink anything caffeinated. No soda coffe tea juice etc. I limit salt carbs and fat as well. I have a very active job. I wear what I call a “fake bit”. It’s my generic fit bit that tracks my steps. I average between 7 and 8k steps a day. However, I know it’s much more than that actually. Most of the time at work, I am carrying heavy things around from one place to another. I live on the fourth floor and I am up and down the stairs all day. I am up and down ladders all day at work, as well as carrying heavy thing moving things stocking shelves etc. At home, I have a toddler full thrust in her terrible twos, and an autistic 13 year old, so I have my hands filled there too. Currently, I don’t go to the gym, I did for a long time. I even employed a personal trainer for a long time. I still can not lose weight. As a matter of fact, I am gaining weight still, very rapidly I might add. I know the thyroid has a lot to do with it. But I have also had it suggested that the body needs a minimum of 800 calories to keep your organs going. If I’m only eating 1200 calories and I’m burning some off from walking etc, am I not eating enough? I’m just scared to try and eat more food and end up putting on even more weight!

L1zardQueen

If you are not losing weight eating 1200, something is off with the way you are calculating your intake. Do you use a food scale to weigh everything solid?

AmberGlitterSparkles

Yes, and I round everything up just to make sure I’m not leaving room for missed calories.

L1zardQueen

Would you mind making your diary open to the public for a quick look-see? Something is still wrong. You should be losing weight.

AmberGlitterSparkles

Ok, done.

kommodevaran

To lose weight, you need to take in less than you burn, consistently, for real, and for a long time. You estimated your body burns 3250 calories, that sounds about right.

So if you're not losing weight, you're not eating 1200-1400 calories on a daily basis. If you start eating more than you do now, yes, you'll gain weight, and faster.

So if you want to lose weight, you have to eat less (than 3250), and consistently, for real, and for a long time. Logging accurately and sticking to your calorie target is going to make you lose weight. Arbitrary restrictions won't.

AmberGlitterSparkles

My restrictions aren’t arbitrary, I have a disease and they are required per my doctor

kommodevaran

Those restrictions won't make you lose weight. A calorie deficit is what makes you lose weight.

L1zardQueen

Read this OP, good info!!

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

faramelee

I believe I am right in saying that the calories noted on packaged foods can be out quite considerably so, albeit small, cold potentially be a contributory factor.

AmberGlitterSparkles

The restrictions are not to help me lose weight they are because I have a disease and those food items make me ill.

hippysprout

The restrictions are obviously not arbitrary if you require them for your medical conditions but those restrictions have nothing to do with you losing or gaining weight. Since you asked for opinions, here is mine: buy a food scale and use it. Measurements like "1 cup" or "1 sandwich" are not exact even if they come from the posted nutritional information from places like Jimmy Johns. Weigh your food, all of the food you put in your mouth, every lick, bite, taste, oil you cook with, etc and then log it with accurate entries. Sometimes you have to look for a hot minute before you find a good entry to use. Please know, I'm not judging the logging you're doing. I don't weigh everything I eat, but if I ever stop dropping weight I know that's exactly what I'll have to do to get the scale moving again. Good luck.

kristingjertsen

You might benefit from finding a bariatric doctor who has experience working with people with a metabolic disorder like Hashimodo's. If you are doing all of these things and aren't able to lose weight than something else is going on. Based on your message, you are living a high stress, very busy life (autism parent here myself and my son began having massive meltdowns when he reached puberty plus you have a toddler and an active job). High stress jobs raise cortisol levels and can pack on fat. Sometimes it isn't as simple as "calories in, calories out" in real life. Check with your insurance company--if you have extreme morbid obesity plus other health issues, they may gladly cover your fees to work with a bariatric doctor. Good luck!

AmberGlitterSparkles

Kristingjertsen thank you so much for your kind words! I will definitely consult them and see what they can do!

beckystansberrylyons

Thyroid hormones are incredibly tricky and they control so much of what is going on in our bodies, including metabolism function. I have Graves’ Disease, so I understand somewhat how frustrating it can be.
If you don’t already have your thyroid condition being monitored by an endocrinologist, I would recommend starting there.
Definitely keep up the careful food logging, etc. It can be a great source of information for your doctors/nutritionists/trainers, etc.

AmberGlitterSparkles

I don’t see an endo currently, but I can look into that too for sure! Thank you!

emmamcgarity

I am not able to see your diary. How long have you been logging all of your food? IMO the first step is to consistently log your food as accurately as possible for several weeks before making adjustments.

randielizabethwatts

I have Hashimotos and found it impossible to lose weight until I got my thyroid levels in check. You should really be seeing an endocrinologist and be taking thyroid replacements. Once your thyroid levels are back to normal you should lose weight at the recommended calorie intake as long as you are measuring correctly. I will say from experience, my metabolism was almost nonexistent before I did that. Didn’t matter if I dropped down to 1200 calories. Kind of the way with hashimotos.

GrantRKn

It takes around 12-15kcal per pound to maintain a body weight, 325lbs is around 4100-4200 kcal a day to maintain the weight, eating 1000-14000 would put you at a humongous deficit which isn’t necessarily safe but if your body copes then it’s fine, I know this is all math but IMo is something to definitely think about, the only way for you to know what to put into your body is to just experiment with it, you know what you can and can’t eat, trial and error untill you hit the sweet spot, with a calorie deficit a slight increase in carbs can cause your body to produce more insulin and increase water retention in your muscles and kidneys which of-course affects the scales, when you do weigh yourself do it in the morning after you’ve done your morning business so you know what your base weight is ( without food or liquids added ) also try avoid stepping on the scales every time you think you may of lost something, bad results can have a negative side effect on your mentality ( I learnt this from personal experience ) they say you need to burn more then you eat to consistently lose weight if you’re eating 1200kcal and burning 600 then we all know where that one is leading, I would suggest bumping up your calories to 17000-2000 high protein low carb, joining a gym and doing low to moderate cardio ( treadmill, stairmaster, elliptical cross trainer, cycling machines ) 40-60 will put burn off between 400-800 calories depending on how intensive you go, you will read that you need to get your heart racing to lose weight but going overboard can be highly counterproductive and dangerous as you get older, studies say it takes around 1000-12000 kcal to keep our organs alive but obviously there are many factors to take into concideration for example if the bodies needs of energy exceeds that what is given by food it will liquidate fat tissue and use it for energy so that isn’t something which should be worried about. You’re doing an excellent job of losing weight and I really feel for you as you’re a stranger to dieting, please keep updating how you’re getting on

AmberGlitterSparkles

randielizabethwatts wrote: »

I have Hashimotos and found it impossible to lose weight until I got my thyroid levels in check. You should really be seeing an endocrinologist and be taking thyroid replacements. Once your thyroid levels are back to normal you should lose weight at the recommended calorie intake as long as you are measuring correctly. I will say from experience, my metabolism was almost nonexistent before I did that. Didn’t matter if I dropped down to 1200 calories. Kind of the way with hashimotos.

You are right, and I have found it near impossible to keep it in check. It seems to level out for a few weeks, and then sky rocket. When I am leveled out I don’t have as much issue loosing weight. When it gets out of wack again, I start to put on weight very very rapidly with no diet changes. I went in on Friday for labs. My tsh was a 45 and they increased my levothyroxine to 250mg. My doctor thinks that my thyroid might be kicking the bucket completely now. In addition, I had some pretty severe vitamin deficiencies. So, I’m getting those corrected now too. I do agree that it’s safe to say that I need to get an actual endo at thing point though. Maybe a dietician would help as well because I have such severe food sensitivities. Thank you for your help!

GrantRKn wrote: »

It takes around 12-15kcal per pound to maintain a body weight, 325lbs is around 4100-4200 kcal a day to maintain the weight, eating 1000-14000 would put you at a humongous deficit which isn’t necessarily safe but if your body copes then it’s fine, I know this is all math but IMo is something to definitely think about, the only way for you to know what to put into your body is to just experiment with it, you know what you can and can’t eat, trial and error untill you hit the sweet spot, with a calorie deficit a slight increase in carbs can cause your body to produce more insulin and increase water retention in your muscles and kidneys which of-course affects the scales, when you do weigh yourself do it in the morning after you’ve done your morning business so you know what your base weight is ( without food or liquids added ) also try avoid stepping on the scales every time you think you may of lost something, bad results can have a negative side effect on your mentality ( I learnt this from personal experience ) they say you need to burn more then you eat to consistently lose weight if you’re eating 1200kcal and burning 600 then we all know where that one is leading, I would suggest bumping up your calories to 17000-2000 high protein low carb, joining a gym and doing low to moderate cardio ( treadmill, stairmaster, elliptical cross trainer, cycling machines ) 40-60 will put burn off between 400-800 calories depending on how intensive you go, you will read that you need to get your heart racing to lose weight but going overboard can be highly counterproductive and dangerous as you get older, studies say it takes around 1000-12000 kcal to keep our organs alive but obviously there are many factors to take into concideration for example if the bodies needs of energy exceeds that what is given by food it will liquidate fat tissue and use it for energy so that isn’t something which should be worried about. You’re doing an excellent job of losing weight and I really feel for you as you’re a stranger to dieting, please keep updating how you’re getting on

Thank you so much for your kind words and great advice. I think you’re right about needing to just experiment to see what works. I have a lot of issues with carbs and what you said makes sense. I love them, but feel like absolute trash when I eat them. (Refined carbs). I am struggling to stay off the scale. You’re right about that too. I’m trying to get myself in the habit of only weighing myself once a week at the same time. You’re suggestions about the morning weigh in was a good one! I find that I usually do it later in the evening after dinner so that could be having some effect on getting a true base weight. I have a treadmill and I do that at home. However, I was thinking about joining a gym I tend to push myself a little harder if people are watching! Thank you again!

GrantRKn

Carbohydrates are needed for energy, when I lack in carbs I feel like absolute trash, I fatigue in the gym very quickly, I feel like trash through the days, the only major aspect to your diet is counting your calories, I know some people will say carbs and fat matter to but your calories contribute to what you gain and what you don’t gain, if you feel comfortable joining the gym I would highly recommend it, I love seeing people who can admit they’re not the weight they want to be but are 100% willing to do whatever it takes to get into the shape they want, I wish you all the best with your journey, if you’re researching keep in mind that is something seems to good to be true then it usually is, he realistic with your diet and don’t keep cutting down your calories thinking you will lose more weight it will only damage your body and make you weaker, calories are our friend if given in the right dosage, if you can do weekly updates of your progress that would be great