Hypothyroidism and weight loss!

Hi Maggie I too have hypothyroidism, I have managed to lose 10lbs since end of Feb til now, I'm feeling much better and I still have my tired days but I push myself to go to fit camp 3 times a wk because I know I wake up sore but now at least I'm fighting back I've dropped a dress size too , it is very hard but definitely worth it to get back to the old me

Okay, you're right, a corrected thyroid will enable a person to lose weight just fine.

Now as to why you haven't lost weight?

1. How long have you been at this?
2. What are your current stats? Height, weight, pounds to lose? You look awfully tall ... and you're young.. only 29...to only be eating 1200 calories
3. Do you use a food scale?
4. Are you selecting correct data base entries and verifying them with the USDA website or nutritiondata.self.com?
5. What, if anything, are you doing for exercise/training and when did you start that program/activity?

Also, I plugged your stats into scooby's calculator and you should be eating 1400 calories to lose weight. You're eating more than you think in the first place by not accurately assessing your intake, and 1200 is too low a goal for you once you do tighten things up.

There are a couple of things to be aware of.
1. Take it one hour before food or two hours after food.
2. Avoid soya products. They affected me greatly and I had to stop drinking soya milk and shakes.
3. Don't drink coffee to close to when you take it but otherwise it should be fine.
4. Don't take any supplements 4 hours on either side of taking meds. This is not for all supplements but there are a few that I can't remember right now. So I just have a blanket rule for all.

Being on the right dose won't make you lose weight. All it should so is help you lose weight like a "normal" person with eating right and exercise. (Exercise optional)
:-)
Also 50 is quite a low dose! :-)

I don't exercise a lot now, only a few times a week. But when I was desperate to lose weight when nothing was happening, I was doing double classes at the gym like body pump, zumba and so on and I lost nothing. This was one of the red flags for my new doc as my "burn" was much higher than what I was eating in a day but nothing was happening. Add to that my hair falling out, barley able to keep awake, having no memory at all and writing massive lists of things to remember, no nails, dry skin, the list goes on and on.
Now I am on meds that are good for me and I am getting my life back now. Going to take a long time, but that's fine!

Maggie, I looked at your diary and there are entries in grams. If you aren't weighing your food, how are you measuring it?

maggie_teacher wrote: »

Cheers Guys! I have already picked myself up from the misery. Hashimoto is my issue too (gluten free and all sorts of things).
Mamapeach I don't measure it. It's mostly bar codes scanning, info from boxes and packets or info from MFP.

I have celiac disease, so I'm Hashi's and gluten free too.

Okay, first thing... get a food scale.

Second thing, start verifying your data base entries.

You could be eating a lot more calories than you think and that might very well be where the problem is.

Even items in packages often weigh more than what is stated and contain more calories than what they say. I've weighed out slices of bread that weighed 50% more than what a serving size was listed as.

Great information here. I have been dealing with thyroid issues for 37 years. In the last three years I have lost 114 pounds. It is possible. I do weigh and measure everything, even prepackaged foods. Protein bars and things like that are often up to 10% larger than stated on the package.
The calorie burns stated in the database are often overestimated, in my head I reduce them by a third and that is generally accurate for me.
When you take your medication drink a least 8 oz of water with it. That will help you break it down and absorb it better.

mamapeach910 wrote: »

Even items in packages often weigh more than what is stated and contain more calories than what they say. I've weighed out slices of bread that weighed 50% more than what a serving size was listed as.

DEFINITELY this.

I have thyroid disease too. I have to really keep an eye on what I eat or it seems like i can gain 5 to 10 pounds rather quickly. I lost weight about three years ago with calorie counting but then slowly put it back on by slipping into old bad habits (not logging, eating out a lot, cakes and desserts). What i have noticed is that the medication is not a magic pill. I take generic synthroid. It only makes you normal and function like everyone else. It takes me about 6 weeks to see any changes when I really start trying. Keep at it. When you have thyroid problems, it will be a very slow and steady race. Stay positive and remember that you are making investments in your health even when the scale doesn't budge.

Here are my suggestions based on the posts. Please keep in mind this is what worked for me:

• I've found the dietary effects are very individual. I'm hypothyroid and I eat a ton of soy. Having some tofu now, actually!
• Mind your meds--avoid antacids, take them as far away from your thyroid meds as possible. Shoot for at least 4 hours before you have any calcium. Ideally, take the meds 4 hours before eating--I take mine in the middle of the night.
• There are also recommendations to avoid cruciferous veggies, peaches and strawberries. I avoid none of them.
• The food scale and measuring cups are critical as the serving size and an actual serving differ. Even for a slice of bread. The package says a slice of bread is 100 calories. I weigh the slice and it's actually 115 calories. Two slices of bread: 30 additional calories. Those really add up throughout the day.
• Weightlifting and increasing my muscle mass over time helped.
• Interval (HIIT) training gets my heart rate up.
• Going lower carb helped. I do 35% protein, 35% carb, 30% fat. Usually. Fiber is important.
• Be assertive when it comes to your meds and numbers. Just because your TSH is "normal" does not necessarily make you all better. Free T3, Free T4 are important. I didn't start feeling better until I started taking a T3. Know what the standard is that your lab is using and what the standard is set by the medical professional association where you are. You said your weight in stones, so I'm not thinking you're in the US. Here, it's the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Sometimes they use different numbers. You need to be your own best advocate.
• You're close to a healthy BMI, losing weight gets tougher when you have less to lose.
• Be patient, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Regarding cruciferous veggies? Just eat them cooked. Cooking partially destroys the goitrogens.

I eat all the goitrogenic foods all the time. Peanuts, strawberries, edamame, cauliflower...