What type of diet is best for me?

People are giving you good advice....and you are full of excuses and defensive.

I can't say what diet is best for you, and I don't know what kind of dietary restrictions if any come with your thyroid condition, but I'll try to address some of your specific questions. (On the "best diet" question, I will say this: You already have so many things to work around, what with not wanting to eat gluten, not being able to tolerate much meat or fruit at one time, not liking most vegetables, and a desire to restrict cholesterol, that I don't know why you want to add some other condition or restriction like low fat or low carb -- you need to find stuff you can eat, not eliminate more stuff just for the sake of being on some kind of diet.)

If you're really worried about cholesterol, you might want to trade out that cream in your coffee for a lower fat dairy or nondairy (by which I mean something like almond or soy milk, not those yucky combinations of vegetable oil and corn syrup that they sell as nondairy "creamers"). At least the eggs are giving you a fair amount of protein with your cholesterol; the cream isn't offering you much nutritionally with the cholesterol. You also get cholesterol in your meat/poultry/fish, but at least you're getting protein as part of the deal. I'm not telling you to worry about cholesterol, because the evidence seems to indicate that dietary cholesterol is not a big factor in determining blood cholesterol levels. But if you are going to worry about cholesterol, you should be aware that pretty much all animal products except fat-free dairy and egg whites are going to come with some cholesterol.

If you're worried about having two eggs a day, you could consider one egg and one or two egg whites. Since you apparently can tolerate eggs well, egg white would be a good protein source for you.

It sounds like you want to go gluten free. For people who don't have medical issues that require being GF, it seems like making life and eating more complicated than they have to be, but if you really think the complexion improvements were connected to being GF, and it's important enough to you to deal with the complications of finding GF foods at home, when eating out, when eating at someone else's home, etc., go for it. Or maybe you could see if just reducing the amount of gluten you consume would be enough to get the results you want.

If eating more than a certain amount of meat or a certain amount of food makes you feel sick, don't eat more than what you can tolerate.

I'm not entirely sure what constitutes "meaty fish" as opposed to nonmeaty fish, and I get the impression that you're concerned about eating it fried. Have you tried broiling/baking it and then dressing it with a little olive oil and lemon juice?

If you like avocado and nuts, eat them. It seems like there's awfully little you can tolerate, and you need to get calories from somewhere. Sure, they're both high fat, but they're "healthy" (unsaturated fats), and they've got fiber, and micronutrients, and a little protein.

When you say you can't find a salad dressing you like, have you tried making your own? Just whisk a little oil and vinegar together (I like extra virgin olive oil and white balsamic vinegar best, but you can experiment with nut oils, different vinegars, or citrus juice), a little mustard (I like dijon, but use what you like) to emulsify, a little salt, and whatever spices and herbs you want. You could even mash up a little avocado and whisk it in.

You say you're uncomfortably hungry all the time, and that all you have during the day is a salad. You need something more than that. Add a small amount of cubed poultry, meat, or fish (within the amounts you can tolerate), or some avocado, or nuts.

You say green beans are the only vegetable you like. There are a lot of vegetables out there. Maybe you need to try some different ones. If you can eat green beans, maybe you can eat fresh shelled beans (e.g., limas) or dried/canned beans (e.g., black, kidney, pinto, garbanzos). Asparagus, carrots, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, turnips, beets (yum!). Have you tried them all?

I think it's good that you plan to see a dietician or nutritionist when you get back from college, and that you're going to look for another doctor to get a second opinion since your current doctor doesn't seem concerned about what seem like an awful lot of food tolerance issues. I guess that second opinion does need to be from an endocrinologist, given your thyroid problems, but maybe you could ask for a referral to a different specialist (a gastroenterologist maybe) to see if you have some other medical issue that is causing you to feel ill from so many foods. (If I'm misinterpreting food preferences for actual physical reactions, you can ignore that, but my reading of your original post is that you're saying that the meat, fruit, and grain issues at a minimum are not simply preferences but actual physical responses.)

Wow! I am super impressed with the amount of excuses in that OP! If you put that much effort in a workout everyday...

Not sure how many of the responses you're getting are from people who actually are hypothryroid, because some of the advice is from left field.

First of all, it's great that you've already been diagnosed and are on treatment although I'd have to say that your endocrinologist sounds like a real treat...with advice like that you might as well pick your info from random pages on the internet.

In my own case, I spent my 20's starvation dieting to try and maintain my weight (which didn't always work) while trying to figure out why I was always cold, had no concentration and a number of other fun symptoms (like severe depression) to deal with while finishing an engineering degree. I was finally diagnosed when I was 30, and only because I went to see a gynecologist because of severe menorhaggia. He sent me to an endocrinologist who diagnosed me and started me on 115 micrograms of levothyroxine. Currently I'm on 137 and that seems to be the sweet spot for me. So yes, I have been there, done that and have a few different editions of the T-shirt.

I'm 5'4 and losing (slowly but steadily) averaging just over 1800 calories/day. I work out 4 times a week, just over an hour counting my walks to and from the gym.

So, what do I eat? Generally I try to keep to around 1 g of protein/lb of lean body mass, but tend to go over most days, a bit less than half a gram of fat /lb of weight and do the balance as carbs. For the most part, I keep my carbs to vegetables and fruits, but I haven't banished grains (breads, rice) or starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn) - just have them in moderation. I have chocolate pretty much every night and I drink milk. I am a sushi fiend and usually have it once a week.

I generally stay away from soy in any form, but have a weakness for soy sauce (which is a fermented soy product) or edamame. I eat them in limited quantities because of the isoflavinoids (genistein in particular) which block the action of thyroid peroxidase. I avoid eating cruciferous vegetables raw. If they are well cooked, it breaks down the substance which affects your thyroid (isothiocyanates), so if you really want to have broccoli, brocolini, cauliflower, cabbage (of any sort), Brussels sprouts, or turnips be sure to cook them well. Winter squash, spinach (can be used in smoothies if you don't like the taste of it), carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes and dark leafy greens (except mustard greens) can be your friends. Iodine rich vegetables are also good unless you have Hashimoto's, in which case you should limit them.

I use full fat cream, cheese, butter and regular eggs because most of the cholesterol in your blood stream is produced by your body and not as a result of the foods you eat. You are right, however, to keep an eye on your cholesterol levels, though, because a change in your cholesterol levels can be an indicator that your dose of levothyroxine is not adequate. Before you let anyone put you on cholesterol meds, have your T3 and T4 levels checked and see about getting your dose adjusted, and also make sure that you know where you're sitting in the acceptable range for these. This again is from experience - my doctor had noted that my cholesterol had gone up and wanted to put me on Lipitor or something like it. Since I keep on top of the literature and was aware of a linkage between thyroid function and cholesterol levels, I asked him where I was sitting in terms of my t3/t4 and was told it was in the acceptable range. Unfortunately, what is considered to be the acceptable range is far too wide in my opinion - when I pressed for an answer I was told it was at the lower end. I asked him to raise my dose and to check things again in 2 months. Surprise! My cholesterol levels were back to the lower end of normal (score 1 for knowledge).

Sorry to have gone on for so long, but having been there, I just wanted you to know that you don't have to starve, don't have to live on steamed fish and salad greens, and can have some latitude in your diet.

Good luck on your journey.

I think that diet and health (regardless of all the specifics) is a continuum...we are all on the learning curve. Look at what you are doing well today and try to build on it with small changes that are a stretch but not crazy. Making small changes will add up - and you can decide what you want to tackle first.

Consult with doctor / nutritionist. Log your food so you have an accurate reflection of what you are doing . Go slow and keep adding "better choices" that you can live with. :bigsmile: