Trying to diet with Hypothyroid

juliehh73

I would love to hear from members who suffer from hypothryoidism.
I have gained over three stone (40lbs +) over the last couple of years, a some amount is due to my thyroid, but the rest is due to eating!
However, with a medically slow metobilism it's proving very hard to shift the weight, therefore any help or shared experiences would be great.

Mulktide

How did you find out you had hypothryoidism? Meaning what made you decide that you needed to get maybe "tested"?

mara232

Hypothyroid here too. Once my meds were set to the right level I started feeling much better which has helped me have more energy to exercise and given me strength to eat a lot better. I can see now that what I was eating was making me fat, not my thyroid. My thyroid made me feel awful so I didn't care what I ate and whether or not I exercised.

Are you on any meds? I'd ask your doctor to run your T1 and TSH levels. Good luck!

ProjectSara

BUMP

BeckyKSmith

I'm with you! I have hasimoto's autimmune thyroid disease. Just had my blood drawn today as a matter of fact. Make sure that you are not deficient in selenium or iodine. But don't take too much of those either.

I have been able to lose about 1 lb a week. My TSH has been about 1.5 (always keep it under 3!!!!).

sandybeach11

Agree w/ Mara232. Having also gained 40 lbs it's very sobering to realize that I did this. Now, the hypothyroid assisted in bringing me down, which 'allowed' me to make poor choices to gain the weight. Even on proper medication, I still have days where I'm really tired, but I make much better choices. Recently started to lower carbs, as per doctor's orders.

juliehh73

thanks for replies,

I found out nearly a year ago after having a series of medical complaints, such as burning mouth syndrome, cramping chest pain (but this was found to be mitral reguiration) terribly dry itchy skin, more laterly omeda in my legs and feet, of course weight gain and generally feeling like I was living in fog.

I had several tests before getting my TSH done, which came back showing hypothyroid, It was a relieve to find out I wasn't going mad, but of course....very wrongly blamed this for my extreme weight gain.

I'm on 125mg of levothyroxine, and it hasn't made an ounce of difference to my weight lose (in fact I've gained more!)

Now here I am trying to shift the weight, I have tried on numerous occasions, but failed big time to get things moving.

PLEASE HELP

Serenitytoo

I have lost over 80lbs and I have a very underactive thyroid (150mg daily, plus an additional 12.5 every other day). For me it was all about watching what goes in vs what activity was going out. I didn't lose weight going on medication like I had thought would happen (go figure! I was apparently in denile :laugh: :laugh: ) You just have to stick with it, watch calories and exercise. I am finding now though it is getting harder as I am approaching more normal weight ranges. Good luck! and it is possible!

Edited to add: Unfotunately I have also found that having hypothyroid can help you put it back on faster if you go off track (I took 6 months off while going through a large amount of life stuff and stress and put 27lbs back on!)

2Nahs

Totally understand how you feel. Diet is always a big part in weight loss, and when deal with Hypothyroid, it's even bigger. Sometimes I wondered too - whether the medicine works or not, but I do notice differences if I was doing well on the diet and workout for even a week. I think the hardest part is the will power for people with Hypo, and you just have to keep going. It's easy to say, I know. Bottom-line is, let the medicine taking care of the Hypo, and you take care of your body.

sandybeach11

Glad you were able to get the proper diagnosis. Unfortunately the meds will not make or facilitate weight loss. The meds will help rebalance (for lack of better words) our thyroid and generally bring us back to feeling normal. But as I had to realize, I acquired really bad habits and gained the weight as a result. We will have to work at the weight loss just like everyone else on mfp. My doctor recommends low carb and walking daily. I have to say the low carb is working (nothing extreme like Atkins but lower than mfp recommends). Now i have to work on consistency on the exercise. : )

I think we feel so bad for so long we develop bad food habits and thought processes. I know I was in denial on the poor food choices for a long time. This website really opened my eyes with regard to choices and portion control. But don't worry, it took time to gain the weight and so will be the healthy weight loss. Stick with it!! Good luck!

bestdaysahead

I too, have been suffering from a hypothyroid for a very long time now (over 10 years). I have been taking medication and adding the pounds on. I have a very hard time getting motivated to even move at times. I now have over 100 pounds to loose and intend to get it done one way or another. You can "friend" me and we can try to motivate each other somehow.

Marshall5686

I just found out that I have Hypothroidism today. Got a call from my doctors office with the results of a blood test. Went in for a routine physical and out of frustration due to my inability to lose much weight, despite a lot of exercise and a healthy, low cal diet for five years, but most the last 4 months especially. My Mom and my sister both have the disease. They checked my thyroid 3 years ago and said it was borderline low, but didn't treat me with meds. This time they said it was quite low and want to start me on meds. I guess we will see how it goes. fingers crossed that it helps.

My wife is hopeful that it will help improve my memory. I don't know what she is talking about.