Hypothyroidism and loosing weight

Hi Chrissy~I was dx with hypothyroidism a few years ago and have really struggled to lose weight. The first thing that worked for me was completely cleaning up my diet with the Whole30. Not only did I lose weight but I gained a TON of energy. Most likely I will stick to a Paleo diet just because I feel so great without all the added sugar and other crap in my diet.

Of course the main thing you need to do is get your medication levels straightened out, once that is good, losing weight will be manageable. Clean up your diet and start exercising. There arent any special recipes or exercises for hypothyroidism just eat healthy meals and get moving Good luck!

Love, hypothyreoidism only reduces energy expenditure of your body once, when the disease breaks out. I read numbers of approximately 4% of your BMR. It's not much. However, being hypo can lead to more water being stored (this is the weightloss people often see once they get levothyroxine), being too tired to move around more, being more hungry and eating more, and feeling generally miserable and unhappy with oneself, which again might lead to moving less and eating more.

You can totally lose weight while being hypo. It's all about finding your BMR and working from there, weighing all the food you eat on a scale and tracking properly here. When I was losing weight I already had hashimoto but was left untreated. No problem losing at all.

mghaffar89 wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

Love, hypothyreoidism only reduces energy expenditure of your body once, when the disease breaks out. I read numbers of approximately 4% of your BMR. It's not much. However, being hypo can lead to more water being stored (this is the weightloss people often see once they get levothyroxine), being too tired to move around more, being more hungry and eating more, and feeling generally miserable and unhappy with oneself, which again might lead to moving less and eating more.

You can totally lose weight while being hypo. It's all about finding your BMR and working from there, weighing all the food you eat on a scale and tracking properly here. When I was losing weight I already had hashimoto but was left untreated. No problem losing at all.

Wait so you're saying you're not on any meds and just control it wth diet and exercise??? Can you please give me some tips and ideas of what you did. I don't want to go on medication and decided to do this the natural way. Only problem is I have no idea how to cut out sugars and add all the good things I need please help

No, I had a rubbish gp previously. He say my skyhigh TSH, he saw the antibodies, and said we just keep an eye on it. That was completely ridiculous to start with because the body needs thyroid hormones. I did feel utterly miserable as well. (I still managed to lose weight though.)

Listen, if you're hypothyroid then you need to substitute hormones. No diet can change that! Levothyroxine/synthoid/whatever it's called is not a medicine, but it's something your body needs desperately but cannot produce in sufficient amounts by itself due to your thyroid being sick. The hormone in it, T4 gets transformed into T3. This is were the problem starts: all your muscles need T3 to function, your brain and all cognitive functions don't work if you don't have enough T3, did you know your diaphragm needs T3 to do it's thing? That's what makes you breath. I can tell you it's terribly scary if your breathing gets so shallow that you're continuously low on oxygen. I was nearly put on oxygen at night to not suffocate! And my muscles were so weak that I had to decide whether to use the bit of energy I have for walking, or for supporting my breathing. I didn't have energy for both! Did you know that in the olden days people were misdiagnosed with tetanus (that's what got people into iron lungs!), but their only problem was a lack of thyroid hormones! That's how bad it can become, and that's how important those hormones are! So get proper treatment!

You have to make time for yourself.

I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2000 resulting in a total thyroidectomy. I ended up putting on ~70lbs over the next 14 years - had nothing to do with hypothyroidism. I transitioned from a high active military career to a cushy civilian job in academia, had no clue what I was eating, and stopped exercising. I found MFP in 2014 and lost 60 lbs the first year through a moderate calorie deficit and progressive exercise.

Don't overestimate the impact this has on metabolism. From clinical observation this amounts to ~5% of your Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) and no bearing on your caloric output.

Simply being overweight can complicate hypothyroidism and any hormonal issue. Hormones are free cycling, so increased body mass make it more difficult for hormones to find their receptor sites.

You don't cure thyroid disorders with food, you cure this with medicine and surgery. You can however minimize side effects with diet and exercise.

There are several posters on MFP with thyroid disorders all who have successfully lost and maintained their weight. Also several elite level athletes out there with the same issue. Don't let this hold you back.

I am hypo and have now lost 30 pounds without exercising much. You can do it just by being careful with what you eat, and making sure your thyroid meds are at the right level. Once you have that, your body acts just as it should. Now that I'm lighter I have to increase the exercise to be able to keep eating the way I have been, but I'm still losing steadily.