When You Can't Lose Weight Due to a Thyroid Condition
Wednesday April 16, 2008
I had an opportunity to do the Odyssey on Health radio show with Darian Schaubert, at the University of North Dakota's School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The topic of the show was to help dieters recognize when a thyroid problem might be sabotaging their weight loss efforts. Some thyroid patients also called in and asked thyroid and diet-related questions. Listen now.
Comments
Losing weight has more to do with the food industry than anything else. If you stop eating supermarket, processed, and junk food and stick with real food in moderate amounts, the weight will come off. I have been following this advice for a couple of years now and I have lost about 20 pounds. Eat foods that have no label and/or foods with no added ingredients you can’t find in a garden or at a farmer’s market. It’s not your will power, your genes, or anything else that is making you overweight. It’s the food industry’s additives of chemicals our bodies do not know how to process that is messing with our ability to maintain a healthy body weight. In addition to messing us up, they (the food industry, with the blessing of USDA) is getting rich off of destroying our bodies. Eat real food and drink water and you will see your weight head to what is normal for you. It worked for me, try it!
AMEN, Pat!!!!! You said it!!!
Pat,…. Your advice to stay away from processed foods containing additives, preservatives dyes, etc… is quite sound advice for good health in general. Many avoid these not only to lose weight but to avoid migraine headaches, allergic reactions, water retention and more. However you cannot dismiss the role that your genes play in your weight/ stature. In doing so you tend to blame the victim, so to speak. I am extremely knowledgable in nutrition and very adept at label reading. I eat very healthy whole fresh foods and journal my intake daily. I exercise daily (one hour of sweaty aerobices!, I also golf 18-holes 3 times a week and swim daily in the summer) and I still battle weight. I eat less and exercise more than any of the thinnist of my friends. I have Hashimotos disease as do two of my sisters and one brother. Need I say more about genetics.
Pat – For over 20+ I’ve eaten in such a manner, never had a weight problem until I reached the young age of 45 – gained 35+lbs due to a low thyroid function – started medication and still have not been able to drop the weight. I wish eating well and exercising would get me back to my original weight cause I do this naturally and NOTHING gets me to lose weight -very disappointing. Genetics – never had a problem except for the large legs (family curse!) I wish the docs would have listened to me (they said age) when I was telling them the weight gain is not naturally to me! Best of luck to all of us!
I agree Tammara. I also exercise and eat right and the weight just won’t come off. I agree all those additives aren’t good for your body. I exercise and eat right just to maintain. I don’t want to gain more! Drs. just don’t care to understand. “EAT LESS – EXERCISE MORE” just does not work for alot of us. Like we don’t know to exercise and eat?
Could always lose weight easily, but due to age, and being hypo I gained about 10 unwanted lbs. I have always been very careful about what I eat, lots of FRESH fruit, lots of vegetables and chicken, very little beef, no SWEETS at all and work out 6 days a week. Went to WW also,cost alot of money, lost less than 5 lbs. Have always weighed 115-118 until thyroid problem, now 130. Heaven knows how much I would gain if I didn’t eat correctly.
I completely disagree that it is solely based on food choice! I too have Hashimoto’s and I’m in the same boat as many of you. I also have many food sensitivities, so I don’t get the luxury of many food choices. I don’t eat fast food or junk food, no alcohol, no soda, yet the weight does not just drop off! I too keep a food & exercise journal. My doctor has actually advised me to eat more because of my workouts (run 25-30 miles a week & pilates 3X/week). My TSH levels are still not stabilized, so hopefully I’ll be able to lose some of the weight once it falls into a normal range.
Tamara, Your story is so familiar and your comment about doctors not listening
hits home. Keep looking until you find a doctor that listens and understands. I recently went to a new Endocrinologist that a friend recommended ( and who was on this websites referral list) and he cut my Levothoroxin (Synroid) dosage in half and added T3. I have lost 8 pounds in 3.5 weeks without making any major changes in my diet. I have upped my exercise just a bit but not enough to account for that type of loss. It’s definately the meds working. Keep searching for what will work for your body and don’t waste your time with MDs that tell you to eat less, exercise more. That pat answer comes from those who don’t know and/or don’t care.
As with everyone else that first post doesn’t know a thing about hypothyroid people. For us eat less exercize more DOES NOT WORK. I was on a strict 1200 calorie diet, 2 hours of working out a day for TWO years I counted calories and gained 100 pounds. Even with meds now I still have to try just as hard just to maintain a morbidly obese body.
Well I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s at the age of 26 years old after having gained a whopping 50 lbs within 1 year! I was a consistent 185 lbs until then now I am approximately 242 lbs. The doctors just dont listen when spoken to. They tell me to watch my diet and my portions. I barely eat. My 8 year old daughter could probably eat more then me. I am getting really disgusted anybody have any good tips?
I started taking my perscribed medicine, and I am now taking EXTRA RAW Thyroid to help with the metabolisim. I don’t suggest this to anyone, but I am at my wits end. I was Hyper and I am now Hypo and have gained 130 lbs in one year…. My life sucks
I am just like Katie. I have had Hashimoto’s for 9 years and my thyroid level goes up and down. It put me in early menopause and my libido is very low. I, too have gained 100 pounds and can not get it to budge. I would love to lose all of it but a 75 pound lose would be great.
I can relate to all of you! I don’t have an active thyroid due to RAI for graves disease. My weight kept going up and up when I was on Synthroid. It wasn’t only the weight it was how bad I felt too! I am now on Cytomel only and I feel 100% better and the weight has come off. I also eat very well, whole foods and exercise 6 days a week. Well anyone who still has severe weight and other hypo symptoms needs to convince their doctor to give them T3, Cytomel.
I also could not lose weight after going through treatment for inflammatory breast cancer. Unless I pedaled for two hours a day I would gain. I finally got my doctor to agree to let me take the lowest dose of thyroid medication even though my thyroid was always barely in the normal range. This medication barely bumped me up into normal; but, I have been losing a few pounds a month now since I have been on the medicine. It may take years; but, I finally have some hope.
I unfortunately have the same problem. I have Hypothyroidism and I was on the Atkins Diet and I lost a lot of weight and I could again fit into my clothes. I hit a plateau and nothing happend I could’t lose anymore and I wasn’t feeling that well and I was craving carbs. Final result I started eating carbs regained my weight I can’t fit into my clothes again. It’s very depressing and I love fruit and I love vegetables anf I also have a sweet tooth, so I really have a problem. I am trying to eat better but it’s very depressing. Some days I am bloated I feel like a boat and other days I don’t have as much stomach. The thing is that I used to be flat as a board but I can no longer say that. I walk, I bike, at one time I also did Pilates, I try to do the Pilates 100 once in a while but I guess this is the way it has to be. I changed endocrinologists also because the other three didn’t seem to care. They also told me to eat less and exercise more.
I have the same issues everyone is listing. I am on Thyroid pills and I can’t lose. although I did lose briefly on the GI diet and I guess I need to go back. I believe that people with thyroid issues cannot process breaks, sweets, there fore the weight watchers type of diet where you count points will not work. But the GI diet which is sort of weight watchers core diet, I think will work. But can anyone tell me what this T3 is? Maybe I need it. I need some suggestions. I heard in Germany they now take blood test and taylor the diet right to you and they are losing weight fast.
I too suffer with being unable to lose weight. The doctors tell me my levels are within the normal range due to levothyroxine but although my life is fairly active looking after 11 horses and managing some exercise I feel awful. All this and still morbidly obese! Julie
im 16 years old and i have tried ever dietician i know im not obese or even overwieght for that matter but i feel like weighing 59-60kg and being 166 cm is way to much i constantly feel bloated no matter how much exercise i havnt eaten sweets or high calorie food as long as i can remmeber and yet i still struggle to lose weight i just dont know why i am 100% sure i am doing everything right and i hav atleast 5 kgs to lose but my body constantly bloats i dont no what to do and it has even stopped me from going out becasue i am jsut to sick of feeling fat and no matter how hard i try exercise 4-5 times a week the weight doesnt disapear im getting worried because it cant be normal…
I know how everyone feels. When I filled my first prescription for synthroid the pharmacist says “eat what you want the weight will fall off”. I didnt listen because I already gained lots of weight. I have been on the meds for 2 yrs and nothing. I walk 2 miles a day and do turbo jam. I lose 3 and gain 4.
only 20lbs in 2 years?
at least you lost something
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Hi all I was told at 14 I had thyroid at 18 i stop taking medication, I get all these sytoms but no doctor knew what was wrong.(29) I was told finally that i have hyer thyroid called graves disease know nothing but that I have lost all my butt and hips in less than two months…
I need some information on this.
Thanks,
I am 20 and 260 pounds. i have an under active thyroid and a very serious heart condition called long QT syndrome. i just take synthroid. When i exercise i can not get my heart rate over 113 or i faint. i exercise and lift weights 5 times a week of and hour. i eat well and i havent been able to loose anything all i do is gain, i am so frustrated with this body and all its problems. i feel i am doomed to be over weight for ever. i also have a spine disease that is caused from being over weight called scheuermann disease, i am in constant pain and i am so depressed i removed all the mirrors from my house because every time i look in them i hate myself alittle more. i hate the way all the skinny people in the malls and in restraunts look at me, because i know what they are thinking, and it hurts. i really just dont know what to do anymore and the doctors are no help at all!!!!
I have an enlarged goiter and my thyroid levels are low. I have gained 60 pounds in 7 years and cannot lose one pound of it. It is very discouraging. I went to a new endocrynologist because I did not feel the other cared or was listening. All she did was put me on phentermine to lose weight and all it did was make my heart race. The new doctor put me on cytomel and I am anxious to see if it levels me out and allows me to lose weight. I feel all of your pain and hope the best for you! Maybe there should be a support group for us!
Wow everyones comments sure do hit home. I have been taking some form of thyroid medication from the age of 8 I am now 59. I was hyper then and then after the birth of my first daughter I went to hypo and wt. went up. After the birth of my next two daughters the wt went up even more. I weighed 104lbs when I got married and 30 yrs later my wt is 198. I have grown another person! Medications I have taken are Iodine, thyrolar, synthroid with once adding cytomel to that. Right now I am on levothyroxine 112mcg and TSH, and T4 are in normal range but I feel tired, no energy, and the weight keeps going up. I’m a nurse and I still feel helpless in my own thyroid condition.
I am so glad to have found this site. I have just made an appt. to see a Endocrinologist and praying he can help me. I have been seeing my regular doctor since I found out I was hyperthroid(that was 7 years ago).I exercise everyday and have gone from 116 to 154 and I am so MAD about it.
Thanks for the posts!
I’m 17 and I was diagnosed with Graves Disease a few months ago. Its weird though, because my levels are low and all I’ve done is gain weight. I’ve always been heavy and now I’m around 190 pounds. I can’t stand it. I haven’t seen an endocrinologist yet, and I’m afraid if they put me on medication that my weight will go up more. I just need a way to lose around fifty pounds. I need help!
I’m 18 and I currently weight 240 pounds. When I was a kid I was a very athletic and skinny young boy. Then when I was put on medication to control my anger I started to gain a massive amount of weight. I was around 130 and I gained around 20-40 pounds in 2 months. The doctors finally took me off the medication, but my weight is still going up. Does anyone have any idea on how to lose weight.
I was on a diet and exercised for two hours a day, but there was no results in my weight. I was actually gaining and not losing.
Yes, gaining weight does have to due with the low thyroid; I never had a weight problem until 2 years ago when I gained 30 lbs in 2 months and found out my thyroid stopped; I went on meds, worked out 6 days a week/ weight watchers, michael thurmond, no carbs, etc, and after 18 months only lost 8 lbs of the 30lbs and no inches ANYWHERE. I had to stopped the workouts for a month because I was sick and I gained it all back in 2 weeks.