thyroid problems, can't lose weight

This is what you need to discuss with your doctor and treatment team

Hey there, fellow person with thyroid issues ! As was stated before, you should discuss it with your treatment team. Eating in a deficit may or may not help, depending on the severity of your condition (it may increase your levels of fatigue and other symptoms, so be very careful with that). I would recommend exercising, if you can, with a good balance of strength training and cardio (high-intensity interval training especially, if you are able). You might not lose weight (once again, depending on the severity of your condition and other possible issues - in my case, I on heavy medication for several physical and mental issues, which makes it almost impossible to lose weight) but you will boost your metabolism, which can definitely lead to an improvement of your thyroid problems.

Sure you can lose weight with being hypothyroid. It seems to be true that this condition slows you metabolism down a tiny bit, but it's not much. A substantial part comes from storing more water: this will go away as you take your hormones regularly. Additionally weight gain comes from: being more hungry, being more tired and thus more sedentary, being more frustrated from being miserable and eating more. For the last point counting calories and eating less than your body needs helps. It's easier once your medication work as you'll be less tires and less hungry. Overall, being hypo doesn't mean you cannot lose weight.

I lost 100lbs been on meds since 1991 best friend had hers destroyed she lost 40lbs- once you get dosage right you will feel better. its the calories you eat that will make or break your goals

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I've grown to hate thyroid threads.

I've lost 94 pounds, after menopause, with a bad thyroid. Don't let people tell you that thyroid issues will hold you back.

I'm in agreement and far too many willingly use this as an excuse. Since starting MFP I've lost ~60lbs and had a total thyroidectomy in 2000.

There are two hormones working in concert to maintain your metabolism - T3 and T4. When you have been sufficiently treated your metabolism works just like everyone else's. Even with hypothyroidism this only impacts you metabolism a marginal amount.

Eat in moderation - no need to avoid food/drink unless you have another medical condition. Stay away from sites such as Stop the Thyroid Madness and anyone selling or marketing a "thyroid diet". Punch your numbers into MFP and see what happens. If after two weeks you are not losing, then look to your logging accuracy first and adjust accordingly.

You cannot regulate your hormones if you are overweight, so this is one of the worst contributing factors to hypothyroidism or any other hormonal disorder. The best thing you can do for yourself is to maintain a caloric deficit and lose weight in a safe and healthy manner.

CSARdiver wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I've grown to hate thyroid threads.

I've lost 94 pounds, after menopause, with a bad thyroid. Don't let people tell you that thyroid issues will hold you back.

I'm in agreement and far too many willingly use this as an excuse. Since starting MFP I've lost ~60lbs and had a total thyroidectomy in 2000.

There are two hormones working in concert to maintain your metabolism - T3 and T4. When you have been sufficiently treated your metabolism works just like everyone else's. Even with hypothyroidism this only impacts you metabolism a marginal amount.

Eat in moderation - no need to avoid food/drink unless you have another medical condition. Stay away from sites such as Stop the Thyroid Madness and anyone selling or marketing a "thyroid diet". Punch your numbers into MFP and see what happens. If after two weeks you are not losing, then look to your logging accuracy first and adjust accordingly.

You cannot regulate your hormones if you are overweight, so this is one of the worst contributing factors to hypothyroidism or any other hormonal disorder. The best thing you can do for yourself is to maintain a caloric deficit and lose weight in a safe and healthy manner.

This point cannot be stressed strongly enough. A lot of what sites like Stop the Thyroid Madness bang on about when talking about people still feeling tired and whatnot comes down NOT to thyroid, but to people being overweight in the first place.

If you're very overweight and inactive, even if your thyroid gets properly corrected, chances are that you won't exactly feel chipper because both of those things themselves cause fatigue.

There's more about the action of fat tissue and T3 that I don't know enough about to talk about, but ... yeah. Eat in a deficit, get active, and take charge of your health.

yirara wrote: »

CSARdiver wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I've grown to hate thyroid threads.

I've lost 94 pounds, after menopause, with a bad thyroid. Don't let people tell you that thyroid issues will hold you back.

I'm in agreement and far too many willingly use this as an excuse. Since starting MFP I've lost ~60lbs and had a total thyroidectomy in 2000.

There are two hormones working in concert to maintain your metabolism - T3 and T4. When you have been sufficiently treated your metabolism works just like everyone else's. Even with hypothyroidism this only impacts you metabolism a marginal amount.

Eat in moderation - no need to avoid food/drink unless you have another medical condition. Stay away from sites such as Stop the Thyroid Madness and anyone selling or marketing a "thyroid diet". Punch your numbers into MFP and see what happens. If after two weeks you are not losing, then look to your logging accuracy first and adjust accordingly.

You cannot regulate your hormones if you are overweight, so this is one of the worst contributing factors to hypothyroidism or any other hormonal disorder. The best thing you can do for yourself is to maintain a caloric deficit and lose weight in a safe and healthy manner.

Yep, we need a thyroid sticky. I only wanted to lose 8-10lbs and in the end lost 40 - while having untreated hashi. I knew it was there but no endocrinologist treated it.

I don't agree with that you can't regulate your hormones if you're overweight though.

I may try this - I find myself continually posting the same things over and over again combating the massive amount of misinformation out there.

Hormones are free cycling and released into the body in to trigger a response in the corresponding receptor site. If you are overweight you have diluted the ability of the hormones to function and inhibited the feedback mechanism. In the thyroid to pituitary relationship T3/T4 has been diluted due to increased body mass, followed by increase in TSH response, which is also diluted due to increased body mass. This creates an unsustainable cascade which dramatically increases the chance of cellular mutation, tumors, cancer, etc.

You can, but it's akin to being overweight and running a marathon - sure you may be able to complete it, but it is inefficient and dangerous.

Don't get hung up on fitness being about weight loss. It's about how you feel. Push yourself to get stronger and be able to tolerate harder cardio moves like jump rope and harder strength moves lile real push ups. If you do this dilligently, you will feel happier because of the hormones released by your brain.

I agree, I have a low thyroid and have taken medication for it for years. I have lost 67 pounds and it doesn't seem to be any harder or easier for me than anyone else.