Hypo thyroid

There's a really great thread here about hypothyroidism and weight loss. It was written by a guy who's a scientist in the field of hypothyroidism, is hypothyroid himself, and who lost weight by calorie counting. Solid, authoritative information, in contrast to the world of nonsense about the subject that's so common on the web.

Direct link:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10767046/hypothyroidism-and-weight-management

I'm severely hypothyroid, properly medicated, had no more difficulty than anyone else losing weight by calorie counting. (That doesn't mean it was necessarily easy every second. What I mean is that a lot of people, maybe most people, find weight loss challenging in some way. People who are hypothyroid tend to attribute the difficulty to the hypothyroidism, women who are menopausal tned to attribute the difficulty to that, etc. Most of those things aren't insurmountable barriers, more like bumps in the road, maybe.)

I lost weight fine, eating a balanced-macros diet at reasonable calories, patiently and mostly consistently, over a period of months at age 59-60, and have been at a healthy weight since, now age 66. I can't speak to the auto-immune diet, because I never tried it.

As far as naturally boosting energy:

1. If your hypothyroidism isn't properly medicated, work with your doctor on that. It can require a series of dosage changes, monitoring, and adjustment.

2. Get some mild/moderate exercise suited to your current fitness level. Don't do punitive/exhausting exercise: That's not the most effective route to either fitness or weight loss. The sweet spot for exercise is doing something you enjoy (or at least tolerate) that is a small challenge to do at your current fitness level, but that leaves you energized rather than exhausted after exercise sessions. (A few minutes of "whew" feeling right after the exercise is fine, but you don't want to be dragging through the rest of your day(s). As you get fitter, increase exercise duration, frequency, intensity or type to keep a manageable challenge in the picture, and you'll keep making progress. Doing some of both strength and cardiovascular exercise is a plus, but no need to start everything at ones - fine to phase it in.

3. Don't try to lose weight aggressively fast. Calories are energy, y'know? You need a moderate deficit in order to lose weight, but unless you're so very overweight now that your weight by itself is an acute health risk, high speed is optional (and more difficult, prone to failure). A good target would be 0.5-1% of your current weight, on average, per week, preferably toward that 0.5% end of the range.

4. Work on getting good overall nutrition. The MFP default macro goals are a reasonable place to start, for most people. Treat protein and fat goals as minimums, try to come close (exact isn't necessary). Get enough fiber, increasing that slowly if your current fiber intake is low (so constipation doesn't result - it can be more of a risk when hypothyroid, but it's always good to ramp up fiber gradually, plus get enough fluids (water, etc.) and fats while doing that). Beyond that, eat plenty of servings of veggies/fruits.

5. If your sleep quality or quantity are sub-ideal, work on that if possible. If you have a high-stress life, stress can also cause fatigue, so using stress management techniques can be helpful, to reduce stress effects. Keep in mind that calorie limitation and new exercise are also stressors, even though they can be good for you. All forms of stress, physical and psychological, add up. When intentionally limiting food intake and/or increasing exercise to manage weight, it can be important to manage other stressors, too.

I know, that's overwhelming: 5 things that can naturally increase exercise. Don't try to do everything at once. Pick one or two things that seem manageable, relatively easy, work on those. Form new, more positive habits. When those one or two things are able to be kind of on autopilot, and you have some spare willpower/motivation, pick another thing or two to work on. Rinse and repeat. In a few months, you'll be surprised how far you've come, if you do that.

Best wishes!

The best programme is to get your doctor on board and find a replacement therapy that works for you. People who are hypothyroid don't need to feel miserable. That's probably the first step: feel good, then work on yourself. (yes, I know that many doctors are *kitten* when it comes to thyroid. It's just a women's problem, so what do I care? It's complex so just a look on bloods, looks good enough, send her away... /rant)