Hello!!

I agree with spiriteagle: I'm another severely hypothyroid, menopausal, aging woman . . . any of which some people will claim are weight loss doom. That's not been my experience. I lost around 50 pounds (about 22.7 kilos) at age 59-60, and have stayed at a healthy weight for 9+ years since. Properly medicated for the thyroid condition, I lose weight the same way anyone else does.

I didn't materially increase exercise from the activity level I'd had for the last dozen years of overweight/obesity, either: I'd been quite active, but stayed fat. I understand what you're saying about mobility limitations - I have some but am able to work around them - but there have been people here who were severely limited wheelchair users who lost weight purely through changing eating habits.

There's a really good thread here about hypothyroidism and weight management:

It was written by a guy who's a scientist in the hypothyroidism field, himself hypothyroid - thyroid gland surgically removed, if I recall correctly - who lost weight by calorie counting. Unlike way too many things on the web - some of them scammy! - it's solid science-based information. I recommend reading it.

Gradually gaining weight can involve surprisingly few surplus calories. Your gain of 28 kilos in 3 years implies eating on average only about 200 calories more daily than burned daily. That's like one meager serving of peanut butter, or an extra-big dollop of creamy salad dressing daily, or some bigger thing less often, such as a deep-fried appetizer and dessert on Saturday night most weeks, or one of those sweet venti Starbucks drinks a couple of times a week . . . not all of those things, just one of those things, and it can be a combination of eating just a bit more and moving less, besides. From some experiences in my own life, I know that mobility limitations can decrease calorie burn surprisingly much.

A further implication is that you can change this situation, and it may not be as radical a change as you imagine. If you want to go the calorie counting route with MFP, start logging your food, and see where the calories are coming from. For many of us, the first and easiest cuts jump right out when we see the calorie "cost" of what we're eating.

I'm sure you'd prefer to lose faster than the 3 years the gain took, but doing it at a moderate pace will be easier to stick with long enough to lose the whole amount you wish to lose. If you can eat 550 calories daily fewer than you burn, you'd expect to lose around half a kilo per week on average, so be 26 kilos lighter in about a year. Since we burn calories just being alive, and more calories doing our jobs or home chores, that isn't necessarily out of reach. Slower loss would take a little longer, but also be easier. I think you can find the right balance for you, as many other people have done.

While hypothyroidism or mobility limitations can make it mildly more challenging, they don't necessarily make it impossible. Mindset, including committing to the process and sticking with it, really matters.

Wishing you success - the rewards are worth the effort!