Have you lost weight with an underactive thyroid?

I'm struggling to get my TSH down to 2.5 right now it's still hovering at around 5

I've lost 20 pounds but it's taking FOREVER and I have been very active at the gym. My normal thyroid sister and I have similar activity level and we are eating the exact same things. I outweigh her by a hundred pounds so I should be losing more but she has lost much more weight than me.

At least I'm losing.

It can be done. Don't let it be an excuse! I have found that it may not be as easy, but if you are very active and watch your eating you can lose the weight. I have lost almost 40 pounds since the first of the year by working out 6 days a week and staying under my calories MOST days. I am almost to my goal and have never been this small in my life. If I can do it, anyone can.

I also have hypothyroidism and I stopped taking the medication because I felt that it was not helping me. I was at 420 when I first started on mfp but now I am at 350lbs. I did go to see a doctor when I first started to lose weight and they gave me the same medication that you are taking synthroid to start off, but since I have not taken any of the medication for so long it was only 15mg and since one of the symptoms of hypo is that you gain weight and I noticed that I was losing weight without it I stopped taking it all together. But I really do not suggest not taking the medication for anyone I just feel we know our bodies better then some doctors. But your levels might be lower than mine are. And I became hypo because I was given a radioactive pill to take me from hyperthyroidism to hypothyroidism because I was losing weight so rapidly. And due to my metabolism being so slow due to the hypo I go to the gym with the goal of losing 800 to 1000 cals. And its not easy but its not too hard when your at my size.

I have had a complete thyroidectomy. When my tsh levels were around 2.5 - 3.0, I could maintain/lose a little with a lot of exercise and being very careful with what I ate. However, I still felt really tired very often.
I switched to Armour Thryoid, which is a natural product, about 9 months ago and really noticed the difference. I feel great, and have been steadily losing. My tsh levels are around a1.0 now.
But the big question is how much of that is the meds, and how much is me? I have changed a lot of things -- specifically I work out pretty regularly (at least 4 if not 6 days a week) and I am very strict with measuring and weighing my foods.

You should open your diary -- maybe it is what you are eating.
Do you eat a lot of fruits and veggies? Do you drink enough water? What kinds of things do you eat?

If you're talking to me, I closed my diary because I got tired of people telling me I eat too many carbs, too much fat, not enough food, too much food, too much sodium when I rarely go over my sodium, too many fruits, too much fiber, (yes too much fiber), critiquing my food for going 100 calories over when I was zig-zagging my calories. telling me I wasn't eating "clean" because I chose to splurge and have a chicken sandwich at Subway. Now I just log for myself and don't worry what everyone says. Not that I don't appreciate helpful advice, I just get tired of the nit-pickers...

Anyway, I eat a balanced diet that has a LOT of fiber from fruits vegetables and legumes. I eat 1-3 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables every day. I eat very little processed food but will indulge on occasion (like going to subway once or twice a month) I get most of my fat from eggs (which I eat freely since my LDL and VLDL are in the "optimal" range),olive oil or avocados, I never eat refined grains unless it's part of a rare splurge. My staples include: plain yogurt, berries and fruits, all types of vegetables, red beans, lima beans, kidney beans, chicken breast, cilantro by the bunch, garlic by the fist, parsley by the bunch, lean ground beef (no more than 2 ounces) chickpeas (yummy hummus), red lentils, green lentils, eggs, 2slices of 100% whole wheat bread per day, nuts.... my processed food splurges are: morningstar farms grillers and immitation crab- both of which are a bit high on sodium but so delicious and good sources of protein. I also use exactly two teaspoons of added refined sugar a day which isn't great, but to me it's better than using artificial sweetener.

I drink 3 liters of water (I have a liter size bottle that I refill three times or more so it's easy to keep track) a day, but sometimes less in the summer when I'm eating a lot of juicy fresh fruit which naturally have a high water content.

So anyway, my diet is good. I log my food honestly and am under my calories 95% of the time. on days when I don't log, it's just because it's a day when I ate a preplanned menu and I knew exactly how many calories it had.

I'm pretty sure it's my TSH. I really need it lower but my endocrinologist appointments are so far apart. In a week I'm moving out of the country and I know the doctor where I'm moving to will increase my Synthroid immediately so I'm just being patient until then. But even with a TSH of over 5 I still managed to lose a bit so it can be done it just ain't easy!