Losing weight with a thyroid problem
ahopewell07
Posts: 3 Member
I have hypothyroidism and am finding it very hard to lose weight. If tracking my activities for about 3 weeks. I try to walk about 2 miles 6x a week and do a boot camp 2x per week. I’m currently on a 1200 calorie diet. I have lost 7 pounds since starting but for the last 2 weeks I’m at a stand still. Anything that can be suggested to get over this hump will be greatly appreciated. Thank you
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Replies
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Actually, 7 pounds in 3 weeks is really good. A 2lb/week loss can be difficult to maintain and if you are less than 20lbs over weight, it isn't really recommended. Give yourself some time. It can be more difficult with a thyroid issue, but it is definitely possible (I've done it before, in my late 30s early 40s)! Good luck!2
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I'd strongly suggest reading this thread:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10767046/hypothyroidism-and-weight-management
Written by a guy who's a scientist in the field, himself hypothyroid, who lost weight using MFP. Very informative.
What you're experiencing is pretty normal (for anyone) during weight loss. If you're a premenopausal woman, it's even more normal. 😉 Specifically, we often lose a good chunk of weight at first, part of which is water weight. Later, as some of that water weight rebalances, it can hide some continuing fat loss on the scale. Successful weight loss is a long game: Multiple weeks, at least, to see what your weight loss rate really is.
For premenopausal women, hormone-related cycles can add and subtract varying amounts of water weight at different times during the month. At minimum, you want to be comparing your weights at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles. I've seen women report cycle-related gains of up to 8-10 pounds, though I think fewer than that would be closer to average.
This would be another good thing to read, so you can better understand what causes weight fluctuations, and how to know whether you're making progress:
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
Your best friend right now would be patience. You're eating low calories (assuming they're accurately logged (not a criticism: logging is a skill that takes time to develop for all of us). You're getting exercise. If anything, you may've cut calories further than necessary or desirable. You can reasonably expect to be losing fat. But patience will deliver the answer, over a period of weeks.
FWIW, I'm severely hypothyroid, though properly medicated. I'm also pretty old. Nonetheless, I lost 50 pounds in less than year at age 59, and have maintained a healthy weight for 4+ years since. Hypothyroidism - even untreated hypothyroidism - isn't weight loss doom, as you'll learn if you read the thread I recommended above. If you're not properly medicated, get properly medicated. With that, you should be able to lose weight pretty much like anyone else does . . . which doesn't mean that it will always be easy, that it will be quick, that it will be linear, or anything like that. But if you persist patiently, it will happen.7 -
I lost 3 pounds in two weeks and then maintained, I have about 100 pounds to lose to get to my ultimate goal weight. Weight loss is not linear. 7 pounds is fantastic.1
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Hypothyroidism doesn't make it harder to lose weight, but it does mean you may have less energy to work out- that's typically the problem. I've been Hypothyroid for 22 years (diagnosed at 11)1
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Much depends on if one is hypo because of diet or because of autoimmunity, autoimmunity changes all the rules.0
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If your hypothyroidism is treated to bring your hormone levels to normal (which it should be), then you can lose weight with no particular problem. I've been on levothyroxine (Synthroid) for years and lose weight just as CICO says I should.1
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