Issues with figuring how many calories to eat with Hypothyroidism.

o0opinklemonadeo0o
o0opinklemonadeo0o Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
It's really difficult because I am 5' 9" and 210lbs. My Dr. wants me to lose at least 50lbs. He actually wants me to focus more on muscle building more than anything but I obviously need to see where I stand in my daily calorie intake. The problem is the formula I am using isn't making ANY SENSE. Here is the formula I am using to determine the calories, (copy and pasted from a site that is dedicated to thyroid diseases)


*****
To calculate how many calories you need:
Divide your current weight in pounds by 2.2, in order to convert your weight to kilograms.
Multiply you weight in kilograms by 30. (30 is the number of calories you need per pound of body weight.)

Subtract 200 calories for your thyroid condition, an estimate to reflect the reduction in your metabolism and calorie requirements. This is the amount of daily calories you would need to maintain your current weight.

To lose weight, you need to cut your calorie requirements by 5 calories per kilogram, so that means you multiply your current weight in kilograms by 25 instead of 30.
******

SO.. WITH my weight that means I would need to consume 2,663 calories a day to MAINTAIN my weight of 210lbs.. OBVIOUSLY I do NOT want that.. Going by the formula to LOSE weight, (multiplying my current weight by 25 instead of 30) leaves me with 2,186 calories a day TO LOSE WEIGHT.. SERIOUSLY?! Doesn't that seem off? I mean for someone who doesn't even have a thyroid disease would need to eat 200 calories more, (2,386) than that to lose weight.. I would have guessed 1400 calories or something but not 2,186!

PLEASE tell me I am missing something here?!



Replies

  • RedBeardBruce
    RedBeardBruce Posts: 15 Member
    Hypothyroidism isn't as complex as most people make it out to be, at least when it comes to losing weight. Your base metabolism is just a bit lower than normal, so you will burn slightly fewer calories than average.

    Just use MFP, and w/e daily caloric goal it gives you for weight loss, subtract 200 calories for your condition.

    Accurately log your calories consumed per day, and in a few weeks you arn't losing weight make necessary adjustments.

    For reference, I/m close to your height and weight and my daily goal is ~1600 for a 2lb/week loss.
  • BuddhaB0y
    BuddhaB0y Posts: 199 Member
    Get on your correct dose of synthroid and follow the normal MFP guide to lose weight.

    I had my thyroid surgically removed a number of years ago and told myself I couldn't lose weight because of "blah blah blah" but once I started using MFP it was just obvious I'm fat because I was eating way more than I should.

    I've lost about 60lbs since November 15 and I'm still going.

    Once you come to terms with the reality that you are eating too much food, it makes the excuses disappear.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    edited February 2016
    Yeah, that calculator seems pretty crazy to me. If I follow that formula- I should be eating 2286 calories a day?!?! That's how I got this chubby in the first place! :dizzy:

    When you did your profile for MFP, what caloric intake did it give you for your weight loss goal?
    Stick to whatever that says + half your exercise calories, and just take your meds as scheduled. Make sure you're taking them on an empty stomach at least an hour before taking anything else. I was taking mine with my multivitamin in the morning and it turns out that was totally screwing up my absorption!

    After a few weeks on the meds, you'll notice your energy levels rising and your metabolism improving, and you'll feel better, and after a few weeks counting calories, figuring out what your macros are and where you feel best having them, you'll see a real difference in your weight, too. :)
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    BuddhaB0y wrote: »

    I've lost about 60lbs since November 15 and I'm still going.

    Once you come to terms with the reality that you are eating too much food, it makes the excuses disappear.

    Just wanted to say ROCK ON WITH YO BAD SELF! 60 pounds since November? WAY TO GO! :)
  • JenniferLynWhatx
    JenniferLynWhatx Posts: 141 Member
    I just take my meds and follow what MFP gives me and I'm losing
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Take your meds, set your weight loss goals in MFP, eat the calories it tells you to eat. No need for special calculations.
  • RemarkablyUnremarkable
    RemarkablyUnremarkable Posts: 63 Member
    RedBeardBruce wrote: »
    Hypothyroidism isn't as complex as most people make it out to be, at least when it comes to losing weight. Your base metabolism is just a bit lower than normal, so you will burn slightly fewer calories than average.

    Just use MFP, and w/e daily caloric goal it gives you for weight loss, subtract 200 calories for your condition.

    Accurately log your calories consumed per day, and in a few weeks you arn't losing weight make necessary adjustments.

    For reference, I/m close to your height and weight and my daily goal is ~1600 for a 2lb/week loss.

    I disagree its not complex. I've spent the last 10 years hoping from Dr to Dr not getting any where but a script for synthetic T3 only hormones and told my Tsh is high so I have hypothyroidism. Fast forward to countless hours of research and testing and I find I also have Hashimotos which caused my thyroid issue. In addition my script was never right all along. No one bothered to test my reverse T3 T4 and uptake and tpo antibodies. If I could go back in time I'd kick the Dr's in the shin who said if " You have to get a disease, this is the easiest one to treat " I am now improving so much in natural dessicated thyroid meds. I know as my dose increases well find the sweet spot where I feel like me again and my body temperature is finally at least 98.0 degrees :\ You know it's never been addressed how slow the metabolism goes while hypothyroid. I am loosing slowly on my meds 1200 calorie diet and about 45 minutes in my recumbent bike. If you have any more insight I am all ears :) I am more than ready to feel fantastic again!
  • BuddhaB0y
    BuddhaB0y Posts: 199 Member
    edited February 2016
    michellebarnes3551 wrote: »
    RedBeardBruce wrote: »
    Hypothyroidism isn't as complex as most people make it out to be, at least when it comes to losing weight. Your base metabolism is just a bit lower than normal, so you will burn slightly fewer calories than average.

    Just use MFP, and w/e daily caloric goal it gives you for weight loss, subtract 200 calories for your condition.

    Accurately log your calories consumed per day, and in a few weeks you arn't losing weight make necessary adjustments.

    For reference, I/m close to your height and weight and my daily goal is ~1600 for a 2lb/week loss.

    I disagree its not complex. I've spent the last 10 years hoping from Dr to Dr not getting any where but a script for synthetic T3 only hormones and told my Tsh is high so I have hypothyroidism. Fast forward to countless hours of research and testing and I find I also have Hashimotos which caused my thyroid issue. In addition my script was never right all along. No one bothered to test my reverse T3 T4 and uptake and tpo antibodies. If I could go back in time I'd kick the Dr's in the shin who said if " You have to get a disease, this is the easiest one to treat " I am now improving so much in natural dessicated thyroid meds. I know as my dose increases well find the sweet spot where I feel like me again and my body temperature is finally at least 98.0 degrees :\ You know it's never been addressed how slow the metabolism goes while hypothyroid. I am loosing slowly on my meds 1200 calorie diet and about 45 minutes in my recumbent bike. If you have any more insight I am all ears :) I am more than ready to feel fantastic again!

    They didn't imply that correctly medicating thyroid diseases can't be complicated, they only meant in terms of diet.

    If you are on the correct dosage of medications, losing weight follows the same simple CICO guidelines as everyone else.

  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
    Based on my weight loss and calorie intake over the last seven months, that formula wouldn't work for me. What they say is the maintenance calorie intake for a non-hypothyroid person would keep me maintaining quite nicely, and if I subtracted 200 from that it would result in a slow loss. (The preceding statements are true IF I didn't eat back my exercise calories.)

    If your thyroid is well medicated your BMR/metabolism shouldn't be significantly, if any, different from that of a person w/o hypothyroidism. So I wouldn't overthink things.
  • Cryptonomnomicon
    Cryptonomnomicon Posts: 848 Member
    Maybe this link could help you, they explain better than I could.


    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    For individuals outside of the standard TDEE formula, you can track your calories and weight for a month or more and then use a simple formula.

    Average Daily Cals + Weight lost(lb)/days * 3500 = observed TDEE

    For example, if over 30 days you are eating on average 1600 cals and have lost 2 lbs.

    2 lbs / 30 = 0.067 lb per day * 3500 = 235 cals per day from weight loss
    1600 cals + 235 cals = 1835 cals TDEE

    You can use my worksheet which will extract your data and perform these calculations:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/EvgeniZyntx/view/mfp-data-export-tool-the-overview-659927
  • bellabonbons
    bellabonbons Posts: 705 Member
    I have hypothyroid. It's not complex. When I diet I lose weight. And when I do regular cardio exercise I can eat as much as I want and never gain.
  • Duchy82
    Duchy82 Posts: 560 Member
    I just plugged my details into mfp, used their calorie goal and lost 63lbs so far, I don't think you need to go so complicated. I mean if you find mfp's goal doesn't work just reduce by 100/200kcal a week/month until you do start losing. Simple.....

    P.s. diagnosed hypo 6 years ago. started at weight of 237lbs.
  • haviegirl
    haviegirl Posts: 230 Member
    edited February 2016
    [
    If your thyroid is well medicated your BMR/metabolism shouldn't be significantly, if any, different from that of a person w/o hypothyroidism. So I wouldn't overthink things.[/quote]

    This. I've been hypothyroid for over 28 years, and am very well controlled on levothyroxine. I'm losing weight steadily by staying in calorie deficit, just like people without thyroid issues can.

  • KendraMonster
    KendraMonster Posts: 46 Member
    My issue is trying to get the correct dosage. I used to be on the correct dosage and maintained a proper weight, then all of a sudden I had overdose symptoms so they took me off Levothyroxin and checked my blood. I was still registering as "in the normal" so they decided to take me off my meds and re-evalute in 6 months. My labs still came back normal...so they did a bunch or hormone testing/ultrasounds and the like. I have been off my medication for over two years since then my weight has steadily increased, they told me my thyroid is dying (there are holes all over in it). I am now logging everything I eat and working out at least 30minutes a day 5X a week and I have made slow progress using MFP calorie recommendations...but progress.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    Oh, Kendra. That's terrifying!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,226 Member
    I'm hypothyroid, and have also lost weight (62 pounds since April 2015) following MFP's normal formulas. My thyroid hormone levels are correctly controlled with medication, so I haven't had to eat any fewer calories than a non-hypothyroid person. In fact, MFP seems to underestimate my calorie requirements by a bit.

    It seems odd to me that the formula you have doesn't discriminate between men & women; people of different heights or ages; or different activity levels. Or have you just picked out the numbers from the web site that would apply to your sex, age, activity level, etc.? Oddly, the formula does approximate my net maintenance calories at my current weight (if I don't subtract 200).

    As an aside, muscle building and weight loss are somewhat conflicting goals. To lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. To truly build muscle, you normally need a calorie surplus, or at least maintenance. (Reportedly, people new to weight training can make some gains for a while with a deficit, however, if if the deficit's not too large.)
  • neohdiver
    neohdiver Posts: 738 Member
    KendraMonster wrote: »
    My issue is trying to get the correct dosage. I used to be on the correct dosage and maintained a proper weight, then all of a sudden I had overdose symptoms so they took me off Levothyroxin and checked my blood. I was still registering as "in the normal" so they decided to take me off my meds and re-evalute in 6 months. My labs still came back normal...so they did a bunch or hormone testing/ultrasounds and the like. I have been off my medication for over two years since then my weight has steadily increased, they told me my thyroid is dying (there are holes all over in it). I am now logging everything I eat and working out at least 30minutes a day 5X a week and I have made slow progress using MFP calorie recommendations...but progress.

    I hope, in all that, they were actually testing the individual thyroid hormone levels. Levothyroxin only supplements T4. The expectation is that your body will convert T4 into T3. That doesn't always work, sometimes it converts it into rT3. The only way to know is to test the individual levels. Not TSH, and not just T4, but the individual levels.
  • bellabonbons
    bellabonbons Posts: 705 Member
    I have low hypothyroidism and lose weight easy whether I am taking synthroid or Armor. I never take generic thyroid hormone. The government allows generic a 2% range of accuracy which can cause havoc. I keep up with testing to also ensure I am maintaining a normal range. Hypothyroidism is very easy to be managed. If not, change doctors.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    I read some papers on hypo that they only cause a BMR decrease of about 5%. Say your base metabolic rate was 1500, then a 5% reduction would bring it down to 1425. That's isn't too bad, right? Most of weight gain related to hypo seems to be related to water weight and to having more hunger due to lack of energy and all the other things related to hypothyroidism. Hey, I'm hypo and had no problem losing weight once I figured out CICO and used the food scale.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I'm hypothyroid, and have also lost weight (62 pounds since April 2015) following MFP's normal formulas. My thyroid hormone levels are correctly controlled with medication, so I haven't had to eat any fewer calories than a non-hypothyroid person. In fact, MFP seems to underestimate my calorie requirements by a bit.

    It seems odd to me that the formula you have doesn't discriminate between men & women; people of different heights or ages; or different activity levels. Or have you just picked out the numbers from the web site that would apply to your sex, age, activity level, etc.? Oddly, the formula does approximate my net maintenance calories at my current weight (if I don't subtract 200).

    As an aside, muscle building and weight loss are somewhat conflicting goals. To lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. To truly build muscle, you normally need a calorie surplus, or at least maintenance. (Reportedly, people new to weight training can make some gains for a while with a deficit, however, if if the deficit's not too large.)

    There are more than a dozen formulas that exist out there from statical approximations. Some use height, weight and sex. Others don't. In fact, one of the more accurate formulas focuses on %bf rather than gender and height.

    Still, the best way to estimate your own TDEE is to look at how much you eat vs how much you lose via tracking.

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