I never compare myself to others. It is discouraging.

I try to look at the big picture. I know I haven't lost weight over the last month or so, but I look back over the last year... maybe year and a half, and notice that I've lost 18lbs. That's a lot, especially for someone as short as I am. My coworkers compliment me on my loss all the time.

I also know I feel a lot better than I did a couple years ago. When I first started to exercise, it only took ten minutes before I felt awful. Now, I can go for 45 minutes and still have energy to go do something else, like make a healthy dinner. I'm sleeping only 7 or 8 hours a day compared to 10-12 like I used to.

Do what you can, and be proud of yourself for doing it.

I understand how you feel. Before I had my thyroid removed, I thought it was just an excuse for people who were overweight "oh, I have a thyroid issue" (yeah right) But holy cow, it's SUPER hard to lose when you don't have a thyroid. I just have to keep working at it. I have a month where I'll lose 3-4lbs and then a month when I gain back a 1lb. So far (since the beginning of the year) I've lost a little over 30lbs. It's possible, but it's a lot more work than it used to be. I think by having to work harder, I feel more pride in how far I've come. And I don't want to quit because I know how fast I could be back up into the 200's. Good luck, hon!

@ Firstsip....I absolutely feel a disconnect. I think we just replied to the same post where the OP said that being hypo is just and excuse.

I am 243lbs and I "should" be losing 1-1.5lbs a week with the way I am eating and exercising. However, I am losing closer to .5lbs a week. It is frustrating. I see so many people lose faster than me and I get discourage. Then I see the ignorance and misconceptions of other people and I just want to SCREAM (the thread we both replied on).

I have the same issue - with my plan I should be losing AT LEAST 1lb per week and that is if I sat on my butt and never moved. However, I have only lost 2lbs in the past 4 months. I still have all my hypo symptoms and the Dr. just looks at me like I am a fat, lazy cow and tells me my results are normal.
I DO read the success stories but I take them with a grain of salt because their situation is not my situation and if I try to "be" them I will only set myself up for heartache.
I am coming back off of a lapse in motivation or whatever you want to call it. For the past two weeks I havent logged and I have been somewhat careless in my eating choices. Now by careless I mean - I had a chicken salad sandwich and waffle fries one day. A vendor at work brought me incredible cupcakes. I ate two of them in the same day. Then a yesterday we had an event at work and I ate two more cupcakes. They were totally worth it by the way. Best cupcakes EVER! That's it though. Otherwise, still on plan. I have gained 3lbs in those two weeks. It took me 5 mos to lose those lbs and three days of indiscretion to gain it back.

Hang in there. Dont get too discouraged and try to ignore the idiots that claim "Calories in vs calories out is the bottom line" and other statements that dont apply to us. We ARE different and it is harder but that doesnt mean it cant be done. It just means you will have to be patient and persistent. You can do it! Good luck!

I agree that it is definitely NOT a calories in versus calories out situation for us, but I also don't think we should sit around feeling sorry for ourselves in any way. Yes, our progress is slower, but that doesn't mean it is non-existent, or not worth doing.

I think a lot of times people who have this diagnosis get discouraged and stop trying to be healthy because they see it as a goal that cannot be achieved, which is not necessarily the case.. It just makes the goal that much more awesome when it is reached.

I totally agree with the other posters. It has taken me 9 months just to lose 4.5 lb. My Dr. finally put me on Thyroid Med (Armour Thyroid) back in May, then increased in August and only now in the last month is the weight really coming off and staying off. I had gained 5 lb in the last 18 months and had struggled with losing 2 then gaining it back over and over again. I am a Dietitian too and I agree it is much, much harder to lose weight when you are hypo vs. normal person. And yeah I had to work alot harder at it.

I actually came to this site from a different one that my friends use because i had such a disconnect from THEM (and the other boards here, i just try to avoid them). Not only am I hypothyroid, but I also have PCOS which makes things just stupidly difficult. I've always eaten rather minimal and am moderately active (albeit somewhat lazy ). But after they dropped like 30lbs in 3 months or so while I lost... less than 5 was painful. What made it even more painful was i got a "just eat 300 less than your allotted calories!" Trying to explain that your metabolism is faulty AND your insulin is broken just didn't seem to click.

But you guys are awesome (I've been lurking around a few days) and I'm so glad I came here and left them behind

Sending sympathy ur way. I dont truly know what your going through as ive only had problems with my thyroid for just over a year. (Hashimotos completely destroyed it) but u must be a very strong person. Alot of people give up trying when they dont see results but ur still fighting and havent given up. You should be proud of yourself, i hope i can be as strong as you and not give up when it gets too tough. I hope one day things will get easier for you. Take care xx

That is exactly how I feel. A total disconnect, and a slight bit of depression upon reading success stories. I want my success story, it will just take longer. I love the point about it taking longer for us and therefore will be a forever change