Hypothyroidism!!! Workout/ food advice/success ?

Amillionsparkles · September 2015

Good morning everyone,
I am new to My fitness pal. I recently got diagnosed with hypothyroidism and before discovering it i had some insulin resistance issues.. they are mostly from genetics.
I felt i had an issue because of the lack of energy, and when i would get up to do something i would feel like i need to do triple the effort to get it done. I weigh around 150 pounds and my height is around 5'5, i do not seem fat because of my body proportionality but i am not skinny either. I used to workout so hard before and then my motivation got burned up and i stopped and now i feel like doing some effort just not a lot, i hated the obsession that lead to nowhere!
I did workout programs like slim in 6 and such but stopped them, if you have any good workout or food recommendations i would appreciate it. I hate sticking to a diet i like to eat in proportions or be as healthy as i can but not follow a diet.

ANY advice is appreciated sorry for the long paragraph.
If anyone went through this but transformed, please share your success story and with real pictures if possible?

ShashayLee · September 2015

welcome to MFP, i also have Hypothyroidism, controlled by meds with the occasional odd episodes happening. Currently down 53 pounds with 60 or left to go on Day 111. I've been eating healthy & watching my portions sizes. I've cut out as much added sugar as i am able, increased veggies. no particular diet as i feel this time it is a lifestyle change. I do Leslie sansone walk dvd's as well as strength training.
So far i'm thrilled with my progress
It can be done

rubywooed · September 2015

Just got diagnosed with hashimoto's a couple of months ago. For me medication helped a lot with my energy. I still have setbacks but my doctor said it would take a few months. Also, I'm at my highest weight ever and he said losing weight would help with energy. No way around it. I would love to become friends with anyone going through it as well so we can support each other! :-)

SSummerville1985 · September 2015

Just got Diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia and Pre Diabetes a Month ago. On levothroxine not sure if its working yet. My Mother has Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia and has Type 2 Diabetes. So guess it has all passed down to me. Im doing pretty well with the Dieting so far but exercising is pretty difficult with being so tired all the time no energy, joint pain, muscle aches and extreme headaches. Sometimes I can hardly get out of bed let alone start working out. Ive mostly been swimming in my pool for exercise. Its easier on my Joints and back.. I wish there were other things I could do thou.... Swimming pool weather is running out..

Age 30
SW 306
GW 180

Tazlina39 · September 2015

I have been living with hypothyroid medications for the last 8 years. I have tried Synthroid, generic T4 and bio-identical meds. I am currently doing gluten free with lots of fish while trying to get my labs normal again. Not sure if I can be a great encouragement.. it is hard and I am still battling. Six weeks ago my TSH was 20.14 again so no wonder the more I dieted over the summer the worse I felt. My biggest advise is to keep track of your labs more often than once a year. I get busy, feeling fine and before you know it a year has gone by. It is important to have your medication right where you need it otherwise no diet and exercise program will work I have found. I am wishing you every success. I get my lab results on Thursday, but starting my food log today hoping for good news! Best of luck everyone.

Amillionsparkles · September 2015

Thank you all for sharing! I appreciate it , i heard that the only way we can actually reverse it isn't by using medications but by adapting a really healthy lifestyle ( no processed foods, soda, junk, and cut down dairy) seems impossible but with the right mindset it can be done. I know people who are going for paleo ( diet) and are transforming, feeling much more energized and they refuse to take meds. I started taking synthetic thyroid then i stopped, i didn't want to rely on it so much.. i will soon test for TSH as tazlina39 is suggesting if it's still bad i will have to do some changes and perhaps take the meds as my last resort. I also read that some foods can actually make our thyroid worse, for example if you have hashimoto's you are supposed to cut gluten out. And broccoli or cabbage and such are not good for our thyroid. I wish you all the best of luck and i hope that all the symptoms are gone.

gaelicstorm26 · September 2015

I have Hashimoto's as well. I was diagnosed early on, at only 11. I'm now 33. I've been taking Levothyroxine for what seems like forever! @Tazlina39 I had labs done last year and imagine my shock when my TSH was 28!!!! Yikes! My labs in June showed I'm still high, at just over 13. I get labs at the end of the month again...fingers crossed that I'm between 1-2!

I have been logging for 67 days and I'm down almost 35 lbs.

My biggest advice: take your meds faithfully and be sure to take them at least one hour before eating or three hours after eating, exercise as it just helps your general energy level, and eat what fits into your macros while maintaining a deficit.

You can do this!

Amillionsparkles · September 2015

Thank you so much It's just that i heard if we take synthetic thyroid, the minute we go off of it our thyroid is messed up again! Do you know any natural ways we can improve it? It's so tempting hearing from you how far you have gone, but then again i am thinking of how i cannot keep myself that way. I have been taking eurothyroxine 50 mg per day for just around a month but stopped ?

gaelicstorm26 · September 2015

Amillionsparkles wrote: »

Thank you so much It's just that i heard if we take synthetic thyroid, the minute we go off of it our thyroid is messed up again! Do you know any natural ways we can improve it? It's so tempting hearing from you how far you have gone, but then again i am thinking of how i cannot keep myself that way. I have been taking eurothyroxine 50 mg per day for just around a month but stopped ?

I'm not really sure as I think all cases are different. Mine is an autoimmune disorder, so my body is making antibodies that essentially attack the thyroid gland, weakening it and destroying it over time. I started on 25 mcg way back in the day and I'm now at 150 mcg. I work with my family doctor and an endocrinologist to try and optimize my thyroid. Sadly, I will be on medication for the rest of my life, and I've resigned myself to that fact.

transplants · September 2015

Hi had my medication raised because levels were off since then have lost thirty pounds feel great. Doctors did not help me went to a woman endiocrologist she helped with meds. Thank God

lithezebra · September 2015

Take your meds and have your blood tests. Eat at a deficit like anyone else who wants to lose weight.

Synthetic thyroxine is a replacement hormone. It doesn't fix damaged cells or cure an autoimmune disease. But it will give your body the thyroid hormone that it needs.

adamchalmers · September 2015

First things first. Go to a holistic, naturopathic, or a doctor who practices integrated medicine. The vast majority of medical doctors will just look at your TSH and T3 levels and say you're fine if they're levels are normal (or close to normal). Then they'll prescribe Synthroid (Levothyroxine) and send you on your merry way without any nutritional advice whatsoever, except to eat a low fat diet -- this is terrible advice and will only compound the matter. Now, some people respond well to Synthroid but many others don't. I recommend looking into WP Thyroid or Nature-Throid all of which are natural and gluten free (which is very important to you Hypo sufferers

). Most importantly, they seem to work. There's also a medication called Armour, but I don't think it's all natural.

http://getrealthyroid.com/why-get-real/wp-thyroid

Second, and also very important is to get a food allergy test. 99% of Hypothyroidism sufferers have a gluten intolerance and there's a decent possibility you might have a dairy and soy intolerance too. Gluten, dairy and soy are not easily digested and cause all kinds of problems, specifically, leaky gut. Leaky gut allows the gluten, dairy, and soy byproducts (plus other toxins) get into your blood stream. They're all sucked into your thyroid and your immune system attacks the thyroid thinking it's a foreign invader to the body because it's filled with all these toxins. This is called Hashimoto's Disease. If your medical doctor or endocrinologist has not checked Thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO) they need to do this. It is the most common test for autoimmune thyroid disease; it can be detected in Graves disease or Hashimoto thyroiditis. Next, get your Thyroglobulin antibody (TGAb) tested. This antibody targets thyroglobulin, the storage form of thyroid hormones. Hashimoto's is very common in women.

So get a food allergy test (Gluten, dairy, soy, meats, fruits, veggies, etc.). It's not cheap. Eliminate the bad foods (wheat, barley, rye, and oats) as they all contain gluten and it's wreaking havoc on your digestive system.

Demand a blood test for TPO and TGAb (mentioned above). Your gut is 75% of your immune system. Most medical doctors don't know this because they have no training in nutrition. They prescribe pills and tell you to eat a low fat diet. Horrible advice and it doesn't help most people suffering from hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia and other auto-immune diseases all stem from the gut. Fix the gut, get on the right medication, get on the right supplements (probiotics, B vitamins, vitamin D3, GI Revive) and keep eating correctly for this disease and you'll do great. This is a life style change. The Paleo diet works wonders for hypo and Hashimoto's.

Finally, How do I know all this? My 10 year old daughter gained 35 pounds in 8 months. Medical doctors and endocrinologists did nothing except prescribe Synthroid, exercise, and low fat diet. In fact, when things weren't progressing well, the endocrinologist said stay on the Synthroid (which wasn't working) and just exercise more and eat less carbs. Wow, what great advice for hundreds of dollars!! Once we went to a holistic doctor, he listened to us and got to the bottom of everything. If you're interested, his name is Dr. Sladic. He has YouTube videos and a website specifically directed and beating Hashimoto's. He's based in Novi, MI which is close to where I live. But for those of you who have hypo or Hashimoto's, it's worth a visit to his site.

tamaera · September 2015

Hi all- Hypothyroidism here too

I've been living with it for about 4 years now and just recently went way down on my medication. I have to take Armour thyroid which is a natural medicine - the Levo gives me heart palpitations and scares the living daylights out of me.

Anyway- I was on 60mg a day Armour for about 4 years or so, started working out with weights again after about a 6 year break early this summer. When I went in July for my yearly blood work my doc called me and said they were halving my meds because my numbers were way off. So now I'm down to 30mg a day, I did go back in late August and she said my numbers were great now. I need to go back here again in a couple of months to make sure we have it stabilized yet again. The ONLY thing I can think of that actually helped my numbers was the working out. I did Body Beast weight lifting with my son, also started doing HIIT training 2 - 3 days a week on my incline bike. I did have to stop working out about 6 weeks ago though because I hurt my back really bad (not excercise related injury but lifting a 85lb dog into a tub the wrong way injury

).

I still have about 100 lbs that I need to lose, but I was actually seeing results with the Body Beast program for the first time in years, I had lost 10 lbs in about 4 weeks before hurting my back. Losing weight with Hypothyroidism is not an easy task, at least for me it isn't. I have a very messed up metabolism and have had since my 3rd child was born

. I also had a ton of energy with that program so now that my back is feeling better I am starting it back up again - slowly though so I don't rehurt my back.

I can't recommend lifting weights enough. Muscle burns fat and eating right gives more energy than I ever have had in my life. It is a lifestyle change. I do this 6 days a week then on one day a week we have a cheat day - this goes back to when we (my husband, 24 yr old son and myself) were doing Body for Life which is also working out with weights and eating good whole foods. This cheat day I honestly believe gives your body a break, lets you eat the stuff your craving etc.

Anyway, I'm rambling, just wanted to put my .02 worth in from my own experiences. Oh- and as for the soy. According to Mayo clinic if you are on a synthetic hormone studies have shown that soy products of any kind interfere with the medicines absorption.

Haven't determined if they are doing me alot of good or not just yet, but my husband did buy me a Nutri Ninja a few weeks ago, I've been making green smoothies (about 100 calories total) several times a day and they def cure my sweet tooth.

Amillionsparkles · September 2015

adamchalmers wrote: »

First things first. Go to a holistic, naturopathic, or a doctor who practices integrated medicine. The vast majority of medical doctors will just look at your TSH and T3 levels and say you're fine if they're levels are normal (or close to normal). Then they'll prescribe Synthroid (Levothyroxine) and send you on your merry way without any nutritional advice whatsoever, except to eat a low fat diet -- this is terrible advice and will only compound the matter. Now, some people respond well to Synthroid but many others don't. I recommend looking into WP Thyroid or Nature-Throid all of which are natural and gluten free (which is very important to you Hypo sufferers ). Most importantly, they seem to work. There's also a medication called Armour, but I don't think it's all natural.

http://getrealthyroid.com/why-get-real/wp-thyroid

Second, and also very important is to get a food allergy test. 99% of Hypothyroidism sufferers have a gluten intolerance and there's a decent possibility you might have a dairy and soy intolerance too. Gluten, dairy and soy are not easily digested and cause all kinds of problems, specifically, leaky gut. Leaky gut allows the gluten, dairy, and soy byproducts (plus other toxins) get into your blood stream. They're all sucked into your thyroid and your immune system attacks the thyroid thinking it's a foreign invader to the body because it's filled with all these toxins. This is called Hashimoto's Disease. If your medical doctor or endocrinologist has not checked Thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO) they need to do this. It is the most common test for autoimmune thyroid disease; it can be detected in Graves disease or Hashimoto thyroiditis. Next, get your Thyroglobulin antibody (TGAb) tested. This antibody targets thyroglobulin, the storage form of thyroid hormones. Hashimoto's is very common in women.

So get a food allergy test (Gluten, dairy, soy, meats, fruits, veggies, etc.). It's not cheap. Eliminate the bad foods (wheat, barley, rye, and oats) as they all contain gluten and it's wreaking havoc on your digestive system.

Demand a blood test for TPO and TGAb (mentioned above). Your gut is 75% of your immune system. Most medical doctors don't know this because they have no training in nutrition. They prescribe pills and tell you to eat a low fat diet. Horrible advice and it doesn't help most people suffering from hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia and other auto-immune diseases all stem from the gut. Fix the gut, get on the right medication, get on the right supplements (probiotics, B vitamins, vitamin D3, GI Revive) and keep eating correctly for this disease and you'll do great. This is a life style change. The Paleo diet works wonders for hypo and Hashimoto's.

Finally, How do I know all this? My 10 year old daughter gained 35 pounds in 8 months. Medical doctors and endocrinologists did nothing except prescribe Synthroid, exercise, and low fat diet. In fact, when things weren't progressing well, the endocrinologist said stay on the Synthroid (which wasn't working) and just exercise more and eat less carbs. Wow, what great advice for hundreds of dollars!! Once we went to a holistic doctor, he listened to us and got to the bottom of everything. If you're interested, his name is Dr. Sladic. He has YouTube videos and a website specifically directed and beating Hashimoto's. He's based in Novi, MI which is close to where I live. But for those of you who have hypo or Hashimoto's, it's worth a visit to his site.

Wow i will check them out! Thanks!

Amillionsparkles · September 2015

tamaera wrote: »

Hi all- Hypothyroidism here too I've been living with it for about 4 years now and just recently went way down on my medication. I have to take Armour thyroid which is a natural medicine - the Levo gives me heart palpitations and scares the living daylights out of me.

Anyway- I was on 60mg a day Armour for about 4 years or so, started working out with weights again after about a 6 year break early this summer. When I went in July for my yearly blood work my doc called me and said they were halving my meds because my numbers were way off. So now I'm down to 30mg a day, I did go back in late August and she said my numbers were great now. I need to go back here again in a couple of months to make sure we have it stabilized yet again. The ONLY thing I can think of that actually helped my numbers was the working out. I did Body Beast weight lifting with my son, also started doing HIIT training 2 - 3 days a week on my incline bike. I did have to stop working out about 6 weeks ago though because I hurt my back really bad (not excercise related injury but lifting a 85lb dog into a tub the wrong way injury ).

I still have about 100 lbs that I need to lose, but I was actually seeing results with the Body Beast program for the first time in years, I had lost 10 lbs in about 4 weeks before hurting my back. Losing weight with Hypothyroidism is not an easy task, at least for me it isn't. I have a very messed up metabolism and have had since my 3rd child was born . I also had a ton of energy with that program so now that my back is feeling better I am starting it back up again - slowly though so I don't rehurt my back.

I can't recommend lifting weights enough. Muscle burns fat and eating right gives more energy than I ever have had in my life. It is a lifestyle change. I do this 6 days a week then on one day a week we have a cheat day - this goes back to when we (my husband, 24 yr old son and myself) were doing Body for Life which is also working out with weights and eating good whole foods. This cheat day I honestly believe gives your body a break, lets you eat the stuff your craving etc.

Anyway, I'm rambling, just wanted to put my .02 worth in from my own experiences. Oh- and as for the soy. According to Mayo clinic if you are on a synthetic hormone studies have shown that soy products of any kind interfere with the medicines absorption.

Haven't determined if they are doing me alot of good or not just yet, but my husband did buy me a Nutri Ninja a few weeks ago, I've been making green smoothies (about 100 calories total) several times a day and they def cure my sweet tooth.

Loved your advice! i was actually wondering about weight training, my fat percentage is really high and my muscle mass is not bad so to avoid being bulky my doctor recommended that i try to reduce my weight, and my fat percentage then do strength training. I might actually start a program that includes weights. I heard of Armour but is it truly natural? lets say a normal person takes it will it affect them in some way?

tamaera · September 2015

Hi, the Armour thyroid is derived from a pig instead of in a lab if I understand it correctly - this is what I found on their website also - Armour Thyroid is a natural, porcine-derived thyroid hormone replacement containing both T4and T3. What it would do for someone that is not hypothyroid I have no idea shrug.

As for the weight training, I highly recommend it but start with the lower weights. I love Body beast because A- it's pretty affordable compared to some of the other excercise programs out there. And B - I LOVE having dvd's that I can watch while working out, makes me feel like I'm actually working out with people without the expense of hassle of going to a gym (for me that would be a 45 min drive one way so not going to happen lol).

Forgot to mention in my earlier post that when I went for my blood work last December, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic also. When I went this august my bloodwork was great! Doc said there was no indication of pre-diabetes at all which I definitely contribute to eating a bit healthier and working out.

ECTexan · September 2015

Medications affect different people in different ways. Armour is natural in the sense that it is derived from pig thyroid glands. It does also contain binders and fillers, though. Unfortunately for me, I was allergic to Armour. I'm now back on a combination of Synthroid and Cytomel.

Chasity6 · September 2015

I am so glad I found this post. I have Hashimoto's I was diagnosed 20 or so years ago. Synthroid keeps my levels in normal range. I am lactose intolerant and had read a article stating that autoimmune disease can be linked to gluten intolerance as well. I started a paleo diet just to try to lose weight but I feel so much better and have so much more energy. I lost a significant amount Since August 9th when I started following the plan and logging everything. I guess gluten free/dairy free will now be a lifestyle just to decrease risk of further damage if possible.

lithezebra · September 2015

I love piglets, and I love my synthetic thyroid hormone.

CharCharJo · September 2015

Just wanted to also say thank you to everyone who's posted on here, I was diagnosed when i was 15, now 23, I've never really understood my thyroid problem and what and how I should eat. I'm a really fussy eater, like... Really fussy, so it's hard for me to follow certain diets or to actually eat the foods that I should be eating. Thanks again for the info here. If anyone could offer me any more info please feel free to add me!

azure7 · September 2015

I heartily second the advise given by @adamchalmers!! I have Hashimoto's also and his suggestion is the exact path that I followed 2 years ago. I'm gluten and dairy free now (and exercise religiously). I'm currently not on meds, although I still go to an endocrinologist every 6 months to have levels checked. The biggest changes I've seen are increased energy and sense of well-being. Weight loss has been minor, although I've seen quite a bit of body recomposition. My TPO antibodies have decrease dramatically over time (suggesting that the auto-immune response has been reduced) with only the diet changes. I would say, though, that Hashi's isn't truly "curable" (though some people may go into remission). I do think that hormone replacement therapy is necessary in many/most cases of Hashi's. So, in summary, find yourself a good integrative doc or holistic specialist AND find yourself an endocrinologist that you like.

Hypothyroidism!!! Workout/ food advice/success ?

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