Dieting with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)

rhiawillis8398

Hi my names reannon I have hypothyroidism and am struggling to lose weight i have lost 4.4kg since the end of January I was wondering if there was anyone else on here that could give me some recipes or tips on how they manage there diet while having this I am on medication but want to change my diet

sollyn23l2

There's no special diet that's going to help, assuming you're not extremely iodine deficient. Don't supplement without working with your doctor either, as way too much iodine can, in some people, trigger hyperthyroidism. As long as you're medicated, your thyroid should not affect your weight loss at all. I had my thyroid radiated, so essentially I have no thyroid and have to take medication.

yirara

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10937131/dieting-with-hypothyroidism-underactive-thyroid

You don't say what your current stats are, but 4.4kg in about 12 weeks is not too shabby! That's still 0.37kg per week, or 0.8lbs per week. Thus: expectation management please if you're not that heavy. If you're very overweight and you expected to lose faster then I suggest you tighten up your logging: use a foodscale in grams for everything with calories. Check database entries. Log every single day. Don't guess, don't use cups and spoons or serving sizes on packaging because all those things add up, and we tend to underestimate overall, rather than overestimate.

AnnPT77

I'm severely hypothyroid, too, but properly medicated. I lost weight fine, when I buckled down and committed to the necessary behavior changes.

There isn't a scientifically-justified "thyroid diet", though there are people on the internet who'll try to sell you one. In all probability, a well-balanced generally health-promoting eating style should be fine.

4.4kg since the end of January is a reasonable loss rate in the real world: The fast-loss hype from the blogosphere, reality TV and tabloids is deeply misleading. Shooting for fast loss just makes the process harder to stick with consistently for long enough to lose a meaningful total amount of weight, plus increases health risks along the way. There are potential appearance consequences for those who care about that, too.

How fast is sensible to lose varies with body weight, because the more fat we have, the faster our bodies are likely to put up with losing it . . . not to mention that if weight itself is a health risk, that could possibly balance out some of the health risk from fast loss. A common rule of thumb around here is to lose no more than 0.5-1% of current weight per week, with a bias toward the lower end of that range unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for nutritional deficiencies or health complications.

There's a very good thread here about weight loss and hypothyroidism, started by a former MFP-er who's a scientist in the field, himself hypothyroid, who lost weight by calorie counting. I'd suggest reading that as quite worthwhile. He wrote the initial post there, but also answers various questions and comments further in the thread. It's here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10767046/hypothyroidism-and-weight-management

It's definitely possible to lose weight while hypothyroid, especially if fully and properly medicated. For those of us medicated correctly, it isn't appreciably different than for anyone else. I lost about 50 pounds (23 kg) in just under a year, and have maintained a healthy weight for 9+ years since, all while hypothyroid . . . plus old and in menopause, two other things some people would claim are weight loss doom. 😉😆

If someone is unmedicated or under-medicated, they may find that their personal calorie needs are lower than average for their demographics, but the difference isn't typically as huge as many people think. IMU, there are a few types of thyroid conditions that can cycle from hypo- to hyper- and back unpredictably, which actually can make calorie counting somewhat more unpredictable, too, because the calorie needs vary somewhat with what the thyroid level is at the time.

Honestly, you're doing fine already, but if you could lose a little faster without going to extremes with health risk and stuff like hair/muscle/bone loss, that's just going to be about fine-tuning calorie balance through eating or activity-level changes. Hypothyroidism doesn't really change those tactics.

Best wishes!

MarjMJMM

First of all well done on the 4.4.kg. That is something to celebrate. So you must have been doing something right. Take some credit for that.

I have hypothyroidism, controlled with medication, am approaching 60 and have managed to shed 10kg since last August, just taking it slowly. The way I have done that is by making good choices (most of the time, I am human) weighing everything, logging everything and moving a bit more. I check I get a balance of the macronutrients I selected, and have taken a great deal of inspiration from reading threads and replies by @AnnPT77 amongst others.

It it is a marathon, not a sprint. We didn't add the kilos overnight, so no need to lose them overnight.

The thing I have learned is that my calorie intake to maintain is pretty low (much lower than I thought/expected) and is probably because…well I'm a middle-aged woman who came from a 'clean plate club' culture and has done stupid diets all her life, so probably have a vestige of metabolic damage going on there.

But I have also forgiven myself and am much more considered with respect to what I eat. And that was probably my secret. If that's your bag.

All best wishes

M