Weightless and under active thyroid?

whispernikki
whispernikki Posts: 6
edited November 11 in Health and Weight Loss
im struggling to lose weight, I'm on thyroxine and my bloods are up to date and within range, but I just can't seem to lose a oz of weight.
Anybody here who has a interactive thyroid but been success in losing weight?
Many thanks for reading xx

Replies

  • whispernikki
    whispernikki Posts: 6
    Spell check by iPhone lol
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Do you weigh your food and log everything you eat?

    Do you eat your exercise calories back? If so, where do you get those burns from?
  • klkateri
    klkateri Posts: 432 Member
    Yes!! I had half of my thyroid removed and the rest is just crap due to Graves disease. I'm not on meds as my numbers are just "normal" enough that my doctor won't put me back on them even though i'm like one number in on the normal scale... sorry, end rant!! (Actually I have to go soon for the 8 hour thyroid test and I'm not looking forward to that at all)

    But yes, I've lost approx. 40 pounds but it's hard... REAL HARD!! I eat at a deficient and workout and most people would have lost double of what I have going at my rate but yes, it is totally possible you just have to be even more patient I find and know that the weight will come off just much slower than it would for others.
  • Terrymichelle
    Terrymichelle Posts: 49 Member
    I've had Hypothyroid since I was 6 years old. I was on thyroxine for YEARS and YEARS! I went to a naturopathic hypothyroidism doctor and he pulled my labs and said yes I was within normal range but on the low side and was getting almost no synthyroid in my system. He switched me to Naturthyroid and I have had a much much easier time with losing weight. Look into it. I feel better than every with this new medication and I've had hypothyroid for 20 years!
  • upsmom0107
    upsmom0107 Posts: 4 Member
    Hi, don't give up, use your food diary & log everything....even on cheat days, no one sees it but you & you need to be honest with yourself so you can see where to improve. I wasn't loosing & couldn't see why until I started logging every bite. A taste here, a bite there, all the small things you forget to log during the day, they add up quickly. Just tasting & adjusting meals for my family & then my meals add up! You can do it, I lost 140 pounds, kept it off for 4 years but then put back on 20. That 20 is killing me to loose but I'm trying. I had 1/2 my thyroid out in 2001 & the other half taken out in 2013 & I've been on synthyroid since then. Have your blood tested by an endocrinologist AND your GP, see if two different doctors agree with each other. You may have to pay for the second test but it's not much & you'll have peace of mind, that worth a few dollars! Good luck!
  • lisafred24
    lisafred24 Posts: 306 Member
    I have been on Synthroid for 15 years or so and it is extremely easy for me to gain weight. Not as easy to take off. But I did manage to take off 85lbs in a year (3 years ago). I did it by using MFP to log ALL my food and 95% of the time I did not exceed my calories, I did not eat back my exercise calories (per my trainer) and I worked out 30-45 minutes 3x a week with a trainer. The combination of tracking everything I ate, drinking a lot of water, and working out with the trainer worked really well for me. However, the minute that I stopped doing these things I gained back 60 of the 85 lbs VERY EASILY.
  • gobonas99
    gobonas99 Posts: 1,049 Member
    edited January 2015
    I was diagnosed hypo in Sept 2011 after gaining over 50 pounds in less than a year. It took almost a year to get me on the correct dose, and then another 6 months before the weight started coming off (my other symptoms went away first), and it is VERY slow going.

    It's taken me almost 2 years to lose 51 pounds, and I HAVE to count every bite that goes into my mouth and I HAVE to exercise more than the average person (like 30 minutes of weight training 3x a week and at least 45 minutes of INTENSE cardio 3-4 times a week - I'm a triathlete, so my cardio is all swim/bike/run), but it IS coming off. I'm now below the weight I was when I developed hypo, and about 12 pounds away from my initial goal weight.

    ETA - I usually only eat back half my exercise calories at the most, unless I'm having a "hangry" day - then I eat closer to 75% of them back, so I don't kill the hubs. LOL! :wink:
  • gwenlatus77
    gwenlatus77 Posts: 6 Member
    I have been on Thyroxine for about 10 years now and have gained a lot of weight over the years. I attribute most of it to just overeating, but I think some of it is due to the thyroid... The way I understood it from my doctor was that my metabolism is chemically dependant on the thyroid medicine, so I can't really rev up my metabolism or change it unless my medication changes. But the way to lose weight is still the same- calories consumed VS calories burned. Since July I have really been honest with myself and committed to this. I weigh my food, don't go over my daily calories, I walk, and don't really eat back my exercise calories that often. So far I have lost 47 lbs! So you really can lose weight with a thyroid condition because it is the same as everyone else- calories consumed VS calories burned- it has worked for me :smiley
  • sharriso371
    sharriso371 Posts: 8 Member
    I was diagnosed in 2012, went on synthroid (75), and with some work, lost about 25 lbs in 6 months. I lost slower than a lot of other MFPers, but I was making progress. Since then, I've been a year with a "bad" endocrinologist (he kept switching medications, and dismissing my symptoms because my TSH was in range after a hike in dosage), and gained it all back. I know my medication is off because what worked in 2012 isn't working in 2014.

    Things I've found (Hypothyroid specific)
    • Low(er) carbs will help with the weight loss, but don't cut too low, or the brain fog gets MUCH worse (for me, in any case. I try to stay in the 120-160/day range).
    • Not all thyroid medications are created equal. Endo switched me from synthroid to levothyroxine (same dose, 112), and I felt absolutely miserable. Every single symptom worsened (hair falling out, dry skin, gained weight, depressed, brain fog, etc...).Then again, levothyroxine works better for some folks, including a friend of mine with Hashimoto's.
    • Exercise. Yeah, a lot of folks on MFP lose weight without the exercise component, but I found that I simply cannot lose at a calorie-deficit-by-food alone.
    • I found that I lost weight faster with a veggie and fruit smoothie for breakfast than with a protein shake (even a no-carb one, like Isopure, and even if the calories were higher for the smoothie). Nothing else changed in my diet, just the juice bar closing up shop.
    • Like upsmom said, if you think there's something wacky going on, have your GP check your bloodwork. I visited my GP three weeks after my endo, discussed what had been going on, and (after reviewing the test results from earlier that month) re-tested my blood. My TSH had doubled.
    • It's all about your personal style and what works for you. Smoothies are supposed to be out for Hypo/PCOS folks (high sugar content v. insulin resistance), but it worked for me. Cutting carbs is supposed to be good for hypo folks and, whaddaya know, it worked.

    Good luck!
  • upsmom0107
    upsmom0107 Posts: 4 Member
    I find that the calories earned from exercising shouldn't be so easily lumped into the daily calories allotted by MFP...it seems counterproductive. I like seeing my 1250 allotted & all the daily goal totals without the earned calories mucking up the totals. It's too easy to go over when you see the added calories. Turning it off completely tho isn't an option for me because I do want to see what I'm accomplishing with exercise. Argggg!
  • Keith3481
    Keith3481 Posts: 91 Member
    edited January 2015
    I have an underactive thyroid and I take synthroid 88 mcg for it. My bloodwork is kept up to date and my condition seems to be under control. Using MFP I've been able to lose weight, so my thyroid condition doesn't seem to be a hindrance. Just stick with the plan and focus on winning every day. The saved calories add up. You can do it!
  • gobonas99
    gobonas99 Posts: 1,049 Member
    upsmom0107 wrote: »
    I find that the calories earned from exercising shouldn't be so easily lumped into the daily calories allotted by MFP...it seems counterproductive. I like seeing my 1250 allotted & all the daily goal totals without the earned calories mucking up the totals. It's too easy to go over when you see the added calories. Turning it off completely tho isn't an option for me because I do want to see what I'm accomplishing with exercise. Argggg!

    Wrong...if you're following the MFP method, the exercise calories are there for a reason. Even with hypo, if I tried to do an intense cardio workout on my "rest day" calories of 1300, I would (1) get lightheaded and/or pass out from lack of energy/fuel, (2) get so hungry I'd binge, (3) kill my husband, or (4) any combination of the above.

    When not eating back at least some of your exercise calories is just a BAD idea, IF you're working out intensely. On my lifting or yoga only days, where I'm only burning a couple hundred calories, I may or may not eat back those extra 100-150 cals. But on my swim/bike/run days, when I'm burning anywhere from 400-1500 calories (depending on intensity and length - you burn quite a lot of calories on 4 hour bike rides), you bet your behind I'm eating at least half back.

    If it makes you feel better, you could always to a "quick add calories" and do a negative calorie adjustment for half your exercise calories, if you can't do the math in your head (ie - I burned 600 cals today, so I need to eat 300 over my base calories...so I should have 300 calories leftover today that aren't really available). :) Or change to the TDEE method, where you log your workouts as burning just 1 calorie, if you choose to log them at all. :)
  • phoenixmed
    phoenixmed Posts: 114 Member
    Hypothyroidia' when untreated' mâles you gain Wright and more difficultés to lose Wright. But if you are treated and your thyroxine is withing normal range' weightloss is nous harder than for everybody else
  • upsmom0107
    upsmom0107 Posts: 4 Member
    My problem is I work at UPS & since I spend my entire shift on my feet, running around, lifting packages & loading trucks my fitbit ends up giving me around 1400 (or more) extra calories a day! Since my body is used to my daily "exercise" (I've been at UPS for 19 years) it doesn't affect me as it would others, I actually need to still go on my elliptical to actually feel like I've exercised for the day & get my heart rate up. My day would kill most but it's normal to me. When I started gaining weight (20 pounds) this was discussed, in excruciating detail, with both my GP, my endocrinologist & my trainer. They all agree that 1250 cals for a 48 year old woman, with no thyroid, is the right amount of calories for me to loose weight. The only thing I can do to avoid the fitbit & MFP giving me sooooo many extra cals is to not wear it to work & avoid it registering the 22,000 steps I take in an average day.
    So All I'm saying is that giving the extra cals to everyone, without having a filter to tailor it to the individual's lifestyle, is counterproductive at times. There's no way I can eat nearly 3,000 cals in a day & still loose weight.
  • gobonas99
    gobonas99 Posts: 1,049 Member
    upsmom0107 wrote: »
    My problem is I work at UPS & since I spend my entire shift on my feet, running around, lifting packages & loading trucks my fitbit ends up giving me around 1400 (or more) extra calories a day! Since my body is used to my daily "exercise" (I've been at UPS for 19 years) it doesn't affect me as it would others, I actually need to still go on my elliptical to actually feel like I've exercised for the day & get my heart rate up. My day would kill most but it's normal to me. When I started gaining weight (20 pounds) this was discussed, in excruciating detail, with both my GP, my endocrinologist & my trainer. They all agree that 1250 cals for a 48 year old woman, with no thyroid, is the right amount of calories for me to loose weight. The only thing I can do to avoid the fitbit & MFP giving me sooooo many extra cals is to not wear it to work & avoid it registering the 22,000 steps I take in an average day.
    So All I'm saying is that giving the extra cals to everyone, without having a filter to tailor it to the individual's lifestyle, is counterproductive at times. There's no way I can eat nearly 3,000 cals in a day & still loose weight.

    You're talking about activity tracking...I'm talking about intentional exercise. Your issue has an easy solution - disconnect MFP and Fitbit, so your daily steps don't skew your numbers, and only log your intentional exercise on MFP. Or do the negative quick add calories thing for the "activity calories" that you get from your Fitbit steps. :)

  • Cinnamonhuskies
    Cinnamonhuskies Posts: 78 Member
    is there a natural thyroid help that is OTC?
  • freechewy
    freechewy Posts: 111 Member
    Oh my gosh, I so agree with this statement "So All I'm saying is that giving the extra cals to everyone, without having a filter to tailor it to the individual's lifestyle, is counterproductive at times. There's no way I can eat nearly 3,000 cals in a day & still loose weight."

    This could be the reason I am not losing weight either. I am pretty sedentary at a desk job, I do work out but my FITBIT and MFP seem to be giving me extra calories. I can't "eat back" 900 calories, I would blow up like a ballon.
  • CentralCaliCycling
    CentralCaliCycling Posts: 453 Member
    I have been on one form or another of thyroid prescription for a little over 30 years (Armour Thyroid, Synthyroid, and now Levothyroxin in a high dose amounts since my thyroid apparently doesn't work much at all). Weight generally has not been an issue for me but I also have been very active most of my life, averaging over 100 miles a week on the bike for the last seven years or so and before that it was basketball, snow skiing, sailing, running and, in my teens and early 20s, working in construction aside from time at the gym. If I run out of the medication and miss a day or so my mind slows down a lot.
  • CentralCaliCycling
    CentralCaliCycling Posts: 453 Member
    I do not believe that MFP is that accurate calculating calories burned and probably is at best an educated guess about calories eaten.
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