I am really struggling with this as well. I've tried a number of diets and had no luck. I think I'm maintaining, but any time the scale does move it's always in the upward direction. I have hypopituitarism and it sucks It causes hypothyroidism along with a lack of other hormones. I'm on a med now that helps, but I still have some symptoms and the weight loss has not started yet. I've tried paleo, low carb, hcg, calorie counting, lots of exercise, lots of supplements, time off from exercise, etc. I keep trying because I worry that it will be worse if I stop trying. At the same time, I know that it will not work until my hormones are right. It does sound like lots of people eventually do get their hormones right, however.
If you haven't done so already, don't be afraid to try many docs until you get one that really listens to you and is willling to try new things.

I think it's not just the calories... but also the quality of the calories. Not sure if you've seen our posts myplacetohide... but also found this on how to calculate calories which may be of help to others. It does incorporate a slight reduction in calories for anyone that is hypothyroid.

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/eatingenough.htm

I agree that we do need to eat slightly less though (as incorporated above)... ultimately we're all different, so what works for one won't necessarily work for someone else. The only way is to experiment... but hope this helps someone.

When people say that they are struggling to lose weight....I always recommend opening up your diary so that we can look to see if there are any trends in your eating that could be the culprit. I realize that having a bunch of strangers review it is scary...but there really is very limited advice that we can give without fully understanding what you are consuming.

If you are using the MFP suggested total...I would recommend looking into TDEE. I lost very little on the MFP provided calorie limit (it was too restrictive). Since switching to TDEE-20%, I am actually losing weight.

Also, I have upped my water consumption and find that that is helpful as well.

Good luck.

I was born with congenital HYPO thyroidism, therefore according to Taber's medical dictionary, I have "cretinsm". It's interesting how people throw the word "cretin" around and they don't know the real meaning of it. It's like when people throw around the word "retard". I was finally diagnosed at two months old. Back then, we took Armour thyroid. I was initially misdiagnosed with mental retardation. I have some memory of going to a special preschool called Association for Retarded Children. Instead of improving or maintaining, I'm told that I regressed. So my parents had me re-tested and re-diagnosed as having learning disabilities. I was put in mainstream school. Granted I had to repeat kindergarten. From thereon, I cont..to remain mainstream and go to the "resource room" for approx. an hour everyday for extra help. Also had speech therapy in elementary school. Except for repeating kindergarten, I graduated from high school on time, in 1987. Would you believe today I'm friends with my resource room teacher from back then?! She's been one of my biggest cheerleaders over the years. Plus, I'm blessed with parents who really advocated for me when it came to my education. Alright, I'm rambling here. LOL. In my teen years I was reluctant to take my armour thyroid rx because I associated it with stigma. My mother would lecture me that I was always going to have a weight problem (although I was never overweight as a child or teenager. She was more obsessed with my size and weight back then. She was only projecting her own wt issues on me. In my late teens when I started into my eating disorders, the bells and whistles went off in my head "Alright, so if I'm going to gain wt if I don't take my thyroid rx, then I should lose weight if I take a higher dose". Over the last couple years, when my depression was at its worst, I punished myself by not taking my meds. In addition, I quit smoking two years ago. I really packed on a lot of wt. Finally, back in middle July I went back to doctor and got back on my Synthroid again. That first week I shed nine pounds without change in my eating habits or physical activity. This was the impetus for me to cont..getting the weight off. I've lost close to sixty pounds since middle July. Yay me!!