Having No Thyroid (Hypothyroid) and Intermittent Fast 16:8?

Are you under medical treatment? Are your thyroid levels monitored and stable?

I would echo the idea of revisiting your doctor and making sure everything is still where it should be. I haven't had a thyroid since 2014, but have lost 100 lbs while still eating a fairly good number of carbs. I do know that my medication has had to shift over the years, and I recently finally got my doctor to look at my T3 levels in addition to T4 and found that I was low on T3 and am being supplemented for that now. Its hard to get an endocrinologist to look at T3, though it might be worth it. Your body takes T4 and makes T3 from it, and T3 is what goes to the cells for metabolic control, but doctors just assume that as long as your T4 is adequate, your T3 will be as well. But after getting my regular doctor to order the tests for me, I found that though my T4 was well in the normal range, my T3 was too low. When we forwarded the results to my endo, she finally agreed that I needed T3 as well.

So you might want to work on getting some more extensive testing done than just the typical TSH value the endos look at. My TSH was where the doctor wanted it, and I coudln't get her to look at anything else. Thankfully, I have a general doctor who is much more willing to work with me, and she ordered the other tests for me, then forwarded the results to the endo, who finally had to admit that my levels were out of whack even though my TSH was fine.


Now if low carb is the eating method that works best for you to be satiated and not hungry all the time so you stay within a calorie limit to allow you to lose weight, that's a different beast altogether. I know from experience that its very, very easy to convince oneself that we are eating at a deficit when we are actually getting way more than we think we are. I found that out when I bought a food scale and starting weighing out my ingredients!

Have you been logging your food and counting calories? I know there are a lot of folks on here with hypo who have had success eating at a calculated deficit!

Check out these threads when you get a chance, and good luck!

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

I am hypothyroid and have been medicated for about 20 years. I started my weight loss journet at 59. It can be done but I find I require less calories than others my age and height. Having said that though I am sedentary outside of planned exercise. My temperature runs between 94 and 97 degrees which I think indicates my lower metabolism. My doc says I just have to live with it my thyroid hormones are stable on Synthroid. Personally I can't do low carb since I no longer have a gall bladder and I am not willing to give up carbs for life anyway. My path was just to reduce my calories (no lower than 1200) and be patient. It took me 2 years to lose 100 lbs. I have maintained for a bit over a year. You can do it but avoid comparing yourself to others because you will only get frustrated. We can't change our physiology we have to work with it.

When properly medicated, hypothyroidism isn't a hindrance to weight loss. I was diagnosed in 1981 at age 8, and have lost weight just fine by counting calories. Make sure you're weighing your food and logging it accurately.

CaitM1318 wrote: »

My endro and my primary doctor actually both did extensive bloodwork and found that my iron was low but everything else was normal. I'm not supplementing iron and as of a few weeks ago, everything is still looking great for all thyroid levels.
I have and still am, eating low carb along with exercise and it does work but its very slow and doesn't always help. My endro and my primary doctor said I'm going to be one of those patients that just have a hard time losing weight regardless of where everything is. That's why I was looking in to fasting?

Fasting isn't a weight loss hack, though.

I'm also hypo, have been under treatment for 25 years and I would not accept that "diagnosis" from a doctor.

You really do need to have a food scale and log properly for a couple months, then if you're still having trouble get the T3 checked.

I had no problem losing once I had my food logging dialed in. It does take consistent logging and accurate numbers.

Question here... what do you consider to be a slow rate of weight loss? Perhaps your expectations are unrealistic?

CaitM1318 wrote: »

My levels and labs have been on for a few years now. They found low iron recently and said that could cause weight loss issues. But even several years ago, when iron, thyroid levels were normal, etc, I wasn't losing weight. I would eat 1200 calories, and gain weight. So then I changed it to 1500 and lost 5 pounds. Working out, low carb and I couldn't get past that 5 pounds. According to my primary and endro, some patients are just unable to lose it no matter what because even though you are taking medication, you still do not have a thyroid doing naturally what it's supposed to do. I have tried low carb, low fat, restricting calories, weight watchers, atkins, etc. I have seen a dietitian, I have worked out, strength trained, and logged on myfitnesspal for years. Yes I did switch apps for awhile but I have been using this one for years and still I have only lost 30 pounds and cannot get past that now and getting to that has been extremely extremely difficult. I have been at a stand still for 6 months now. I do weigh my food and read labels and rarely venture off the low carb track.

It sounds like you've done an awful lot of jumping from one diet to the next. Is it possible that all of these restrictive diets have landed you in a cycle of over restricting and binging, thus cancelling out any progress you have made? Weight loss comes down to calories in vs out. Low carb, low fat, all those brand name diets... they only result in weight loss if there is a deficit. Because you're medicated and therefore your thyroid should not hinder weight loss, its likely that something is off in your logging. Are you weighing everything even pre packaged food? Calorie dense liquids? Are you measuring all of your liquids? Are you logging exercise calories? If you are then it is also a possibility that you're logging too many exercise calories and that's cancelling out your deficit.

What is your current BMI? If you have less than 25 pounds to lose to be within a healthy BMI a tiny deficit is what you need, not a big one.

How much weight do you need to lose to be within a healthy BMI? It may be just a matter of patience. It took me eight months to lose the first 60 pounds and then nine months to lose the last 15. (Context)