Can someone with a thyroid condition still lose weight?

notenoughspeed

I have a family member who has a thyroid condition. They have been over weight as long as I can remember. I'm trying to get them on here with me, but they make up every excuse including their thyroid condition. Can anyone share their experience who has this condition and their weight loss success?

echamin

As long as it's under control with meds, you can lose weight. It worked for me.

amydee714

They are definitely using their thyroid condition as an excuse. If they are on medication and their numbers are "in line", then they would be fine. I am. I have had a thyroid condition for about 6-7 years. I have been able to lose weight no problem... once I made the decision to that is.

leantool

i am a hypothyroid patient with regular medication and i 'm loosing weight. hormone replacement therapy to bring TSH level within normal limit for their age and sex will negate any effect that may be due to hypothyroidism. exercise will obviously benefit them and prudent eating to keep bad cholesterol in check will also help immensely to decrease cardio-vascular morbidity associated with hypothyroidism. don't give up, pursue them, encourage them to educate themselves about their condition. take care

Sarauk2sf

Yes you can lose weight. It may be harder, but you can definitely lose weight.

MoreBean13

It's tricky but doable. First thing first is getting the thyroid stabilized with medication. Even with medication, it can be harder than the average person- thyroid hormones still can fluctuate, and having the tests come back normal doesn't mean it's normal all the time, but it's certainly the first step.

Next step is getting moving. In my experience there's no way around exercise for people with underactive thyroid- it's a must. Taking regular walks is where to start. ASAP.

Next is doing the research on your specific condition and medication, and doing as much as is feasible to help with your diet. For me, those things include a lower (but not LOW) carbohydrate diet, avoiding goitrogens like soy when feasible, getting enough iodine (for me that was un-limiting iodized salt), avoiding calcium/dairy early in the day, taking my medicine several hours before eating, not getting too high fiber, and including saturated fats more liberally, particularly coconut oil. Note that some of these things are contrary to standard dieting advice! I'm not saying the things that work for me will work for everyone, and I'm not that strict about all of them, but everyone needs to do their research and try things out for themselves.

Finally, it's EXTREMELY important to not compare yourself to other people's results and success. Having thyroid disease means that you won't necessarily be able to replicate the path of someone without the disease. It doesn't mean it's impossible, just different. I like to think of it like having the equivalent of a weight-loss learning disorder. It's not that you can't get there, just that your path might be different.

I've lost about 30 lbs in about 6 months, and I had to fight hard for them- but I never starved myself, and I never gave up. Sometimes I'm tempted to be discouraged when I see people with more impressive numbers, but I just have to remind myself that my numbers are AWESOME for ME! I do both cardio and strength training, and I eat all my exercise calories back. It took me a while (6 weeks) in the beginning to lose ANYTHING, but since I figured out the tricks that worked for me it's been pretty steady. That initial period of figuring out the tricks can be really frustrating, but you have to just stick with it. If you don't try, nothing will ever work.

loranch

I am hypothyroid and treated with medication and have been able to loose weight. However it has not been easy. I have to be very consistent and persistent with my diet and exercise. I plateau easily but I continue anyway and I actually have learned to try not to focus so much on the scale as how I'm feeling and the positive affects from exercising. Which everyone should be doing anyway. Just stick with it the benefits are worth it.

LottieLou13

Yeap.
Mine isn't even under control yet....getting there but slowly and since I've been started on medication I'm down about 20lbs (give or take). THE most important thing is to not compare my weight loss with someone who has been on their journey the same amount of time as me.

Also every little loss is so much more important to me than it may be to someone else. I celebrate every single loss no matter how small. 1/4 lb down.....woop! Whereas some people seem to only think that 1lb+ losses count. I had 3 months where I wasn't allowed to do any form of exercise whilst my heart rate was brought under control, I still lost a bit of weight just through diet.

The most important thing is figuring out your TDEE and BMR and eating between them. Thats all there really is to it.
Having a thyroid condition isn't an excuse.
So yeap...it can be done. No excuses :flowerforyou:

robynrae_1

It hard but it can be done, there is even a thyroid group on this web site. Being informed is very important.

Tinytaru

as long as you have the right medication (and actually take the pills ehich I stopped for a while) you can still lose weight

it is indeed easy tho to lie to yourself "why even bother when I can't win"

nsblue

Sorry to say this....but unless they realize they need to lose weight and are ready to do so, they will hide behind any excuse going. I hid behind quite a few excuses.
Having a thyroid condition doesn't prevent you from losing... doing nothing with a thyroid condition which is under control will not make you lose. I take synthroid for my under active thyroid. I lost weight before being diagnosed (170 pounds) and lost weight afterwards (224 pounds). IMO that defunks the belief of "You cant lose weight with a thryroid condition"

If she doesnt honestly try..one never knows and i mean honestly trying because we do go through half assed attempts in life......... like saying if i play i will lose so i will not play. maladaptive thoughts can keep us from doing things.

Wanting to help a friend that's not in that place yet to change is hard.

davidrolfe79

Another yes here. I have an under active thyroid and am on stable medication doses.

I've lost over 40lbs in 4 months.

danwood2

I have an under active thyroid and have lost the weight as well. Rather quickly at first but cannot seem to make it to my goal weight, just yet!

karylee44

yes. not as easy considering the thyroid is a big controller of that.. but can be done.. i have graves.. (hyper) but still doesn't make the weight fall off.. even though i am in remission. but it has been a bit of a struggle.

vytamindi

It's very possible. I also have hypo and once my meds were leveled out, it was much easier to lose the weight.

I agree with another poster about low carb diet (I do a ketogenic diet, and it's working great so far) and exercise. Exercise is a necessity for me! Been on a month plateau and hoping starting up C25K again will help me bust through it.

But if your friend is using it as an excuse, I understand that. I've been there. Then once I got my meds leveled, I started to want to be active. Lost a few pounds, felt better, and just kept going. I never really hit "rock bottom," but I do think an increase in energy levels was the first motivation and drive for me to lose weight.

Wanting to help a friend that's not in that place yet to change is hard.

This. No amount of talking could get me to be active... I had to make that decision on my own. Now, I wish I could go back in time and slap myself for taking so long!

Cindy393

absolutely. I have hypothyroid and am on meds. I've lost 52 lbs since 6/25. Doesn't hinder me one bit!

emcdonie

A hypo thyroid can indeed lose weight. But it may be harder and you may have to throw some standard advice out the window and focus on what works for YOUR body. I am finding I can not rely on the stardard MFP advice to lose. I have to eat far lower calories than I am supposed to be able to eat. And I have to monitor carbs, they don't have to be super low, but less than a 100 or so.

The past 3 weeks or so I have ate a little higher on both calories and carbs, still less than MFP would recommend and it has made me stall out big time. I need to go back to what was working for me, even if it doesn't fit the standard mold of what works for most folks. I also find I need things in my diet like seaweed (for the iodine) and such. I hate it, but I need it. Someone mentioned about being careful of when you take your pill. It's true, I have to be careful of that too.

All in all, I don't think unless this person actually WANTS to lose, they will not. It takes an amazing amount of discipline and willpower for anyone to lose. I think it takes even more as a hypothyroid person. I know before my thyroid went wacky, I lost weight SOOO much easier in the past.

Until they truly decide to change on their own, they never will. There is no amount of convincing anyone else can do. Too much pushing would likely as not make them dig their heels in even further. You can politely and kindly encourage them, and be a good example yourself....but not a lot you can really do.

Cindy393

absolutely. I have hypothyroid and am on meds. I've lost 52 lbs since 6/25. Doesn't hinder me one bit!

EMc4452

As everyone else said... Under active thyroid should not be an excuse. You can definitely lose weight even though it may be harder than the average person. I have under active thyroid and I take medecine, exercise regularly and try to stay consistent. I plateau very easily but I was still able to lose close to 30 lbs.

islandmonkey

While having a hypothyroid can make it difficult to lose weight due to slower metabolism, lack of motivation to get moving, cravings for sugar and carbs etc....you can absolutely lose weight. It has unfortunately become an excuse for many people....as if they think having their thyroid "fixed" would result in weight just magically melting off.

One of the most difficult issues is proper testing and dosing (assuming we're just talking about hypothyroid issues here; hyperthyroid issues are a different story).
* Most doctors just test TSH, when they should be testing free T3 and free T4 (the actual thyroid hormones in your blood).
* Doctors often tell people their results are "normal", but normal doesn't mean "optimal"


But nothing you can do will get this person to stop making excuses. They have to get there themselves.



(And, and I lost 20 lbs while really hypothyroid from anti-thyroid drugs - 1lb/week, through nutrition and exercise)