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Hypothyroid Bodybuilders?

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annemama
annemama Posts: 245 Member
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Are there any hypothyroid bodybuilders out there? I would love to hear your stories. Here are a few questions I would love for you to answer:

What has your transformation been like?
What are your workouts like?
What nutrition plan do you follow?
Anyone Primal/Paleo?
What are your macros set to?
How did you adjust your BMR/TDEE/Cut values to account for your low thyroid issues?
Anything else you think might be helpful?

I've been severely hypo for 12 years now, and I'd just like to learn from some of you who have found a way to make this happen.
I will post this in several places on the boards to see who will have something to share.

Thanks!

Replies

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Are you medicated and has the medication brought your thyroid hormones within a reasonable range?
  • sraffel
    sraffel Posts: 66 Member
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    Bumping to follow.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Tagging
  • BikerGirlElaine
    BikerGirlElaine Posts: 1,631 Member
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    Are you medicated and has the medication brought your thyroid hormones within a reasonable range?

    I basically have no thyroid function any longer, but once we got my Rx in the right place, I have no symptoms at all. So SideSteel voiced my thought. :flowerforyou:
  • AmyW125
    AmyW125 Posts: 303 Member
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    I lift heavy and I'm also hypo. I'm having a lot of issues getting my meds right. Last Dr claimed they were OK but I'm still losing my hair and I'm always freezing (just feet and hands) and I seem to have that I'm going to pass out feeling a lot. It's a pain. I haven't found a "happy" calorie amount either. I have gained 10 pounds since I was put on Levo. I go back to the Dr Tues for more help. My macros are 4030/30...protein/carbs/fat. I lift heavy 4 times a week. I try to run or do other cardio 3/4 times a week. I eat right now 15-1600 calories a day but I'm gaining with that. I would love to read what others have done.

    Thanks for this post!!!
    **edited to say I lost over 70 before I was put on Levo...and I was eating 1250 a day with eating back workout calories.
  • annemama
    annemama Posts: 245 Member
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    Hi everyone! Thanks for the responses! Yes, I'm medicated and my numbers are all fine now. I take a boat-load of meds, but I finally feel like I assume normal people feel. So I was hoping that now I would be able to drop some lbs. My numbers have been in a really good range for about a year or so now.

    I'm 80 kg (180 lbs) and 5'6". My entire adult life (possibly even most of my childhood) I have tried to lose weight by eating 1200 calories and working out. About a year ago I started lifting weights again (finally joined a gym again). 7 months ago a friend pointed me toward In Place of a Roadmap, and EM2WL and so I read all that I could, calculated repeatedly, then increased my calories to my "reset" maintenance level of 2300 calories. This seemed like a crazy number of calories. So I lifted heavy and stuck to it for 3 months, gaining 4kg in the process. I gained it all rather quickly, then maintained the rest of the time. So I started a cut at 2100 for more than a month, 1800-2000 for more than a month, now 1600 for just the last few weeks. A few weeks ago I took a break and ate at 2100 for two weeks just because it is recommended after 6-8 weeks of cut. So I'm writing this novel to say that I have not lost any weight. I don't alway eat "clean", and I've toyed a bit with Primal because many people with thyroid problems claim they see progress by restricting carbs somewhat (I say toyed with because I don't really see any results doing that either, but it seems good in theory!). My BF is somewhere around 32% and has not changed. My measurements do not change. 3 or 4 days a week I lift heavy, maybe not heavy for all of you...but people at the gym stop to watch me deadlift sometimes! :happy: I do cardio by hiking maybe once a week, and then 30 minutes 3 days a week on the treadmill, elliptical, or using my step at home. It was recommended that to build muscle (which I love) a person should not "cardio" away all the nutrients needed to grow muscle, so I try to keep that at a moderate level. Pictures show that I look exactly the same as I did 7 months ago. I hope I don't sound like I'm whining. I really just want to learn from someone who has made this work. I don't expect to ever look like a bodybuilder, but I certainly would like to wow my husband! I don't think any of the TDEE calculations take thyroid issues into consideration, so maybe there is an adjustment I can make? If any of you has any wisdom you would like to share....fire away! And if you have endured this post to this point, you ROCK!

    Thanks!
    Beth
  • AmyW125
    AmyW125 Posts: 303 Member
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    Anne....I feel your pain. I have upped mine...gained. Lowered stalled. Cardio...too much...Cardio not so much...Lifted heavy (love that) and nothing seems to work!! I'm so confused also!!
  • annemama
    annemama Posts: 245 Member
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    All right then, stay tuned! I'm hoping for some info to come our way!
  • AmyW125
    AmyW125 Posts: 303 Member
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    me too!!! fingers crossed.....anyone?!?!?!
  • BikerGirlElaine
    BikerGirlElaine Posts: 1,631 Member
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    Annemama, if you think your thyroid medicine is in the right place now, then maybe SideSteel and Sara can help you the way that they would help anyone. I know that *for me*, once my thyroid Rx was right, I felt very normal and I don't have any hypo symptoms at all, including gaining and losing weight appropriately for my age/weight/height. So I'm not going to try to speak to anything that might be going on for you.

    Amy, you sound like your Rx isn't right yet! It's so frustrating, I know, having been through it. I think what's hard is that it takes so long to adjust meds, and our doctors are usually not as up on things as they need to be in order to help us. Thyroid hormones are an incredibly complex subject, and a general practitioner might not have all the latest info.

    What I did was I did some research, and I was working with a nutritionist who gave me a lot of coaching. You might need to be referred to a specialist, you might want to try going to a naturopath. Synthroid is not the only drug out there, and there are a lot of things that can be going wrong with the system that synthroid doesn't touch at all.

    I kept pushing and pushing until I felt right again. My thyroid issue was one of the reasons that I changed doctors even!


    I can recommend these two books so that you know what the issues are to look at:

    The Thyroid Solution by Ridha Arem

    What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypothyroidism by Marietta Abrams Brill


    I hope this is helpful and it isn't stuff that you already knew. Once you get your thyroid issue right you'll feel so much better!

    Wishing you luck :flowerforyou:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    It looks like Gesneramor has covered the medication aspect, and as I have no real live experience I have nothing of value to add in that respect. However, from the nutrition side, could you open your diary so we can see if there is any suggestions we can make with that regard.

    Thanks
  • AmyW125
    AmyW125 Posts: 303 Member
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    Thanks. I'm going to a new Dr next Tues. I hope this one can help. :cry:

    My dairy is open Sara. Any advice is welcome. Thanks so much.
  • annemama
    annemama Posts: 245 Member
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    I'm opening my diary now! (sorry, I thought it was already open)....Please disregard yesterday! I spent the day with my husband and told him I would go anywhere he wanted to go! So we played golf and ate fish and chips. The golf was great, the meal I'm still feeling! I really appreciate any help any of you can offer. I typically lift heavy 3 (sometimes 4) times a week. A recent injury to my wrist (I fell on the stairs) put me behind on my lifting schedule a week or two, but the last two weeks I've been back to normal. When I look at my diary, there is one thing that makes it hard to follow. When I change my calorie goal or my macro goal, it changes retroactively! This means that looking back, it looks like I have always been 500 calories over, but in reality the goals were different then. So If anyone knows a way to "set" my diary so nothing historical changes when I change my goals, that would be helpful. I love data, so I like to go back and look at my history to look for help, but even I have trouble deciding what my goals were! Thanks everyone!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Thanks. I'm going to a new Dr next Tues. I hope this one can help. :cry:

    My dairy is open Sara. Any advice is welcome. Thanks so much.

    Hi! Could you start new thread with the answers to the questions from here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/910257-the-new-and-improved-asking-questions-about-your-intake



    Thank you. =)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I'm opening my diary now! (sorry, I thought it was already open)....Please disregard yesterday! I spent the day with my husband and told him I would go anywhere he wanted to go! So we played golf and ate fish and chips. The golf was great, the meal I'm still feeling! I really appreciate any help any of you can offer. I typically lift heavy 3 (sometimes 4) times a week. A recent injury to my wrist (I fell on the stairs) put me behind on my lifting schedule a week or two, but the last two weeks I've been back to normal. When I look at my diary, there is one thing that makes it hard to follow. When I change my calorie goal or my macro goal, it changes retroactively! This means that looking back, it looks like I have always been 500 calories over, but in reality the goals were different then. So If anyone knows a way to "set" my diary so nothing historical changes when I change my goals, that would be helpful. I love data, so I like to go back and look at my history to look for help, but even I have trouble deciding what my goals were! Thanks everyone!

    Hi! Your diary is still not open. Maybe you just opened it to people on your FL?
  • annemama
    annemama Posts: 245 Member
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    Sorry! That's me being scatterbrained... I've been out gardening all morning and forgot to do it. It's open now. Thank you so much for your help!

    Beth
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Sorry! That's me being scatterbrained... I've been out gardening all morning and forgot to do it. It's open now. Thank you so much for your help!

    Beth

    Talk about scatterbrained....I totally missed this. Will respond shortly and really sorry for the delay...it got lost in the shuffle.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    So I started a cut at 2100 for more than a month, 1800-2000 for more than a month, now 1600 for just the last few weeks. A few weeks ago I took a break and ate at 2100 for two weeks just because it is recommended after 6-8 weeks of cut.


    Can you be a bit more specific about the above time frames with regard to gross intake and and what your weight did during those times.

    You actually do not need to take a break that often during a cut - context is relevant and it is a very individual thing. It is discussed a bit more on this thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/964759-talk-to-me-about-breaks
    So I'm writing this novel to say that I have not lost any weight. I don't alway eat "clean", and I've toyed a bit with Primal because many people with thyroid problems claim they see progress by restricting carbs somewhat (I say toyed with because I don't really see any results doing that either, but it seems good in theory!).

    While getting good nutrition is important, you do not need to eat 'clean'. Restricting carbs can help some people with thyroid issues, but it sounds like you may not have had success with this. You can restrict carbs without a Primal type diet. What were your carb grams at when restricting? As in, how low did you go and how long did you give it?

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