take measurements and progress pics! you'll be surprised at what you think is only a 3-5lb weight loss actually translated into lots of inches lost in all areas of your body.

it took me 10 months to drop 29lbs after my meds were adjusted 3-4 times. I have come to a stand still and have been teetering between 139-141lbs, but if you visit my thread in the Success stories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/690731-from-168lbs-to-139lbs-pics-w-hypothyroidism

you'll see a big difference. it's a slow process to lose weight for us hypos, but in the end, it'll be totally worth it!. I got 14lbs to go to hit my weight loss goal, but realistically, I'm not putting myself on a time frame, i'm just gonna go with it and see where it takes me.

Congrats! You look so good & happy! :flowerforyou:

Don't be despondent, there are a number of important factors here. Firstly losing weight more slowly means less loose skin, a factor we hypos have in our favour. Seconly losing weight slowly and with more determination means it is more likely to stay off, studies into recidivism show that those who lose weight for a health reason are much more likely to stay at a healthy weight even if they put back some weight.
As a hypo your skin is less likely to line and age as metabolism is slower and your heart beat is likely to be stronger and heart rate lower together with blood pressure. There are of course negatives to being hypo but in the long term wouldn't you rather keep the weight loss off permanently? In some ways the 'norms' should envy US!
It seems like for a hypo you are doing really well.
Jasmin

Don't be despondent, there are a number of important factors here. Firstly losing weight more slowly means less loose skin, a factor we hypos have in our favour. Seconly losing weight slowly and with more determination means it is more likely to stay off, studies into recidivism show that those who lose weight for a health reason are much more likely to stay at a healthy weight even if they put back some weight.
As a hypo your skin is less likely to line and age as metabolism is slower and your heart beat is likely to be stronger and heart rate lower together with blood pressure. There are of course negatives to being hypo but in the long term wouldn't you rather keep the weight loss off permanently? In some ways the 'norms' should envy US!
It seems like for a hypo you are doing really well.
Jasmin

This ^^^^^^^
Thank You for that information, Now I understand why I look far younger than my biological years compared with my Friends the same age or older. I do not have a single line on my face, and everyone comments how young I look. I did not realize a slow metabolism can be a blessing along with the curse of extra weight. I did not realize the slower the weight comes off the less likely for loose skin at the end when I reach goal. I think you have just made my day a little better. I started hyperthyroidism over active thyroid did not gain weight easily, and must have burned it out to be hypothyroid under active and now it is sooooo hard to lose a lb adding adrenal gland fatigue, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, hypoglycemia, other health issues I have a battle on my hands to lose 1 lb no matter how low I cut my calories.

I also found that many of my family members did much better eliminating gluten from their diets as many Hypos have gluten sensitivities. Weight loss for them has been much easier. I was tested and did not have an intolerance but later found out the blood tests that they do are very finicky and you still can have a sensitivity even if it says you dont as my one cousin who is a sever Celiac has tests that say shes not intolerant but when sent to her Gastro or some specialist said she might be the most sensitive person they have ever seen. I have tried to cut out as much as possible tho I have found to have adrenal issues since so that may be the reason. I'm not finished the booK but there is a ton of info that suggests that all hypos would benefit from being gluten free. It saved my life as my first diagnosis was in 2002 and i was bad then yet went through 5 years of insomnia and multiple docs telling me that you only over sleep with thyroid disorders and never get insomnia. I got an over night sleep study by a Mayo Clinic doc that said thats so far from true, that every thyroid disorder will if untreated end up with insomnia and will continue until the thyroid is titrated. A big red flag thats its a thyroid issues is if RX sleep meds have no effect on sleep. I also had gotten Bells Palsey and that was due to the thyroid swelling in the neck and shoulder area. If you have been tested and your hep free and shingles free the only other cause of Bells is a thyroid disorder. It was after seeing the Mayo doc that my doc was finally willing to prescribe me synthroid. Tho I should switch to Natural Desiccated Thyroid as I have one of the many side effects of Synthetic hormone treatment. I have a cough that wont go away and it started right after the synthroid. Tho I have had good luck with it other wise helping the thyroid, I dont do well on it with the added side effects of it. Im switching to bio identical hormone replacement instead as everyone I know who switched says they feel better after and are very bad they did. Tho you can go through a period of getting worse when switching if the doc dosnt increase the dosage fast enough which they tend to want to wait a month to increase as with NDT you should increase it every 2-3 weeks and go more by how your feeling then by lab results and at the end my friends and family said they feel like how they use to so I'm very excited to do that. That is what inspired me to start on here again as ill physically be-able to soon. I'm 31 years old and have had to resort to using a walker because of the exhaustion but im very hopeful that this is working. I took T3 and started to get better but the doc said my TSH was too high tho its the best I had felt in years. Its been 10+years now for me so I decided i would learn how to fix myself and between the book the groups and my medical texts i have gotten much better than i had been and hopefully see the finish line here.

I just joined this group in order to respond to your post.

A few months ago I complained to my General Practitioner (GP) that since I was faithfully taking my synthroid, watching what I was eating and going to the gym a few times a week, I expected to be able to lose weight.

But the scale refused to cooperate. No matter how diligent I was, It didn't budge.

When I told the GP that I couldn't lose anything, he asked, "Are you eating any soy?"

"Yes," I responded proudly, "a lot of soy! I'm eating tofu, edamame, miso and drinking soy mlik. I know soy is healthful, so I'm trying to get as much as I can."

Said the doctor, "Soy is not healthful for YOU. It can interfere with thyroid medications. Cut out all the soy and see what happens."

Ugh. Soy has been a mainstay of my diet for a long time. But I went home and started going through everything that contained soy. Gathered up my bottles of soy sauce, tamari, hoisin sauce, packages of tofu, tofurkey (my favorite!), Tofutti, Soy Delicious and tempeh, and left them in the break room at work (I couldn't eat it, but also couldn't bear to throw out all that good food).

I began to carefully read the labels on everything in my cupboards and realized how many items had soy "hidden" in them. There was soy in everything from my salad dressing to my supplements to my protein bars! Again, I took it all in to work and let my coworkers enjoy it.

I walked down the aisles of the supermarket wearing my reading glasses and scrutinizing every label for soy flour, soybean oil or soy lecithin.

Bought Larabars (no soy) instead of Luna Bars (contain soy). Replaced Morningstar Burgers (contain soy) with Quorn Burgers (no soy). Etc., etc., etc.

It isn't easy to adjust to a new way of shopping and a new way of eating -- especially since I was convinced that what I was doing before was "healthy" -- but I'm doing it.

And less than a month after making the change, the scale began to move down. I've been soy-free for nearly two months now, and I am losing steadily. Not as quickly as a person with a totally healthy thyroid, but giving up soy has made a real, significant difference.

If you, too, are eating soy, I suggest you try eliminating it and see whether it helps.