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.