thyroid?

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madelynne2014
madelynne2014 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone have any tips on how to loose weight while on synthroid? So frustrated :frown:

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  • HerpDerp745
    HerpDerp745 Posts: 223 Member
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    Move more, eat less.
  • kbanzhaf
    kbanzhaf Posts: 601 Member
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    Hi,
    I lost all of the weight that I lost on Synthroid (the generic kind). I had been on the medication for several years before I attempted to lose weight. My doctor was concerned about my blood sugar, and sent me to a dietician. I thought she was a quack, but I used her ideas, and it was extremely helpful.

    This is what she told me:
    1. Write down everything that you eat.
    2. Keep "carbs" to 15 or fewer per day. In her world, a "carb" was 15 grams of carbohydrates.
    3. Eat breakfast.
    4. Eat a nighttime snack.
    5. Get active

    There will be a lot of people who say you don't need to eat breakfast, or you shouldn't eat anything after 6 PM or whatever. This is what she told me, and this is what worked for me.
    I never used to eat breakfast, or if I did, it was a poptart on the way out the door. Now I eat oatmeal nearly every morning.
    For my nighttime snack, I used yogurt or fruit.
    I walk……and I walk…..and I walk……up to 100+ miles per month during my weight loss. NOW…..I have slacked off on this, and I've gained some back (initially lost 70+, and am still 40+ pounds lighter)….I'm still at a healthy weight, but I am looking to lose some of the weight I gained back.
    If you search the forums for hypothyroid, you are bound to get more advice and ideas.
    Good luck…..it isn't easy, but it is possible.
    Kaye
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    Make sure it's regulated.


    Keep everything else in check. Weigh and measure everything. Underestimate calories burned. Overestimate calories eaten. Move more. Incorporate strength training and cardio. Watch carbs, to an extent (180g or lower, supposedly).

    If that's all checked, then make sure what you're on (since Synthroid doesn't work for everyone, and I thought it was currently not being made?) works for you, make sure your levels are are stable as can be, etc.

    All I can say is patience. I lost 2x more slowly than everyone around me, eating less than they do, moving more than they do, being younger than they are, being taller than they are, etc. etc.

    It's a big wrench in your system if it's not stabilized. So do everything else perfectly and consistently so that if thyroid IS why you're losing is slow or stalled, you can be certain it's not personal error.
  • magurski
    magurski Posts: 45 Member
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    2. Keep "carbs" to 15 or fewer per day. In her world, a "carb" was 15 grams of carbohydrates.

    So, instead of just saying "eat no more than 225g of carbs" (which is ~900 calories right there), she made up some quackery?
  • kbanzhaf
    kbanzhaf Posts: 601 Member
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    2. Keep "carbs" to 15 or fewer per day. In her world, a "carb" was 15 grams of carbohydrates.

    So, instead of just saying "eat no more than 225g of carbs" (which is ~900 calories right there), she made up some quackery?

    NO, I don't think so…..it made this easier for me. A piece of bread is roughly 1 carb, a banana is 2 carbs, etc. I know what it multiplies out to as far as grams go, but doing this made it easy for me to keep track of "carbs."
    As far as I am concerned, it wasn't quackery -- after all, it worked! :wink:
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    If your dosage is correct, you should lose normally and not need to do anything special.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    MFP has a Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/770-hypothyroidism-and-hyperthyroidism

    I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease) and take 88mcg Synthroid. I lost way more slowly than most MFPers, but I lost just like everybody else—by eating at a deficit.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • RozayJones
    RozayJones Posts: 409 Member
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    Make sure your levels are right (this is key). Exercise and eat right :)
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
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    Does anyone have any tips on how to loose weight while on synthroid? So frustrated :frown:

    Make sure you're on the correct dosage.

    Weigh your food using a digital scale.

    I averaged 1.25lb/week loss on Synthroid not restricting anything other than trigger foods and total calories.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
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    I have Hashi's as well and I opt for Nature-throid over synthroid. It's natural dessicated thryoid (NDT) and has both T4 and T3. You might want to get your T3 levels checked -- they could be low. I'm not sure why the NDT works so much better, but it does for me.

    Also, you may want your doctor to check for other oftentimes seen together issues -- adrenal fatigue, vitamin deficiencies, etc.

    It came as a surprise to me, but I had severe deficiencies in both magnesium and vitamin D and also had insulin resistance (though my adrenals were good and other proteins, vitamins and minerals were normal). I found that until I found an endo that specialized in thyroid and metabolism, none of these were even checked before --- very frustrating!

    After getting the thyroid dosage and insulin resistance figured out, I lost like a "normal" person based on my calculated deficits (and by that point I was fastidious about weighing/measuring all my food and measuring exercise/output through an armband and double checking those calculations against other means).

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