Thyroidless and calorie intake

[Batty1]

Hi everyone

I have one of these weird maybe unanswerable questions. How many "roughly" calories would someone without a thyroid and menopausal eat, I tried looking this up but of course no info for us with both afflictions (thyroidless and menopausal) only thing I've found was 1800 calories per day for and inactive menopausal women over 30 ....I seriously doubt I could eat 1800 calories without gaining weight and I'm starting to believe 1200 calories is too much.

I'm trying to take back my health but this is hard to do when nothing seems to be for menopausal and thyroidless females (calorie wise). I'm arthritic so strenuous exercise is out of the question and even walking isn't without consequences.

Do you think getting one of those metabolic test where you sit in a water pod and they determine how much fat you have would give a good idea of calories I need....still don't know if this would take the thyroid crap into consideration. Maybe someone has a better idea to determine how many calories to consume. I've tried 1200 (recommended) and I still gained while working with a nutritionalist and currently I'm might be barely eating 1000 calories per day because I have a poor appetite, I'm never hungry.

[greygoose]

I've tried 1200 (recommended) and I still gained while working with a nutritionalist

Then that should be enough to tell you that calories are irrelevant. Which they are. What is important is nutrients.

Gaining weight when hypo rarely has anything to do with what your eat. Your metabolism is slowed down, and a low-calorie diet could make things a lot worse, because you need calories to convert T4 to T3. In fact, you need calories for all bodily functions, like breathing and digesting. And that's all quite apart for 'exercise'. In fact, everything you do is 'exercise' in that it uses up calories.

By limiting your calories, you can make yourself more hypo by reducing conversion. It's low T3 that causes symptoms.

And, besides, it's doubtful that your extra weight is even fat. It's more than likely water. And restricting calories will do nothing for that. What is needed is optimal thyroid hormone replacement.

Can you pinch up your skin? If not, it's not fat you have, it's mucin. Mucin is a type of mucus found under the skin. Hypos have it in excess, and it retains a huge amount of water. Getting rid of it is not easy. There have been many, many posts on here on that subject. Try searching for them in the search window. But, the important thing is, it has nothing to do with calories. So, stop counting calories, which is totally unnatural and unproductive, and start counting nutrients. Did your nutritionist test any nutrients: vit D, vit B12, folate, ferritin? They all need to be optimal for your body to be able to use thyroid hormone and get rid of symptoms. So, if they haven't already been done, I would advise you to get them tested.

[Wetsuiter]

calorie counting can work for some people, but given that companies like Weightwatchers change everything they do every few years indicates to me that calories are not everything. A different approach is needed. (not sure i can make suggestions though)

[SilverAvocado]

Hi Batty1, I seem to remember, and looks like from past posts, that your thyroid hormone isn't at optimal levels. Weight gain is a symptom of being hypo, so really the only way to address it is to get good levels of T3 in the body.

Some people are lucky and the weight just falls off when they get their hormone looking good. But there is no point at all restricting calories when the levels aren't right, it's just making it more difficult for your body to make use of the hormone it has.

[Batty1 in reply to SilverAvocado]

Hi SilverAvocado

I have cut out all junk with the exception of one snack at night and Ive been lifting weights again and your correct I'm probably not optimized with my medication but I can't do too much about this, although I did finally get and appointment next month to see a John Hopkins Endocrinologist (only treat thyroid diseases) but I'm not sure he will even feel that I'm under treated, time will tell.

I can pinch a lot of fat and I've read a lot of issues particularly with women gaining weight after thyroidectomy because they are also menopausal ....apparently these 2 issues cause the perfect storm and with me developing debilitating joint pains after thyroidectomy I think it turned into a triple threat for me.....I guess I just need to play with calories.

[SilverAvocado in reply to Batty1]

I gained loads during my thyroidectomy and cancer treatment. Every time I've gone off all thyroid treatment I gained about 10-20 lb, which adds up to about 5 stone

I would suggest not restricting calories, or doing strenuous exercise. Both these things will tend to reduce how well your body can use thyroid hormone, and make weight gain worse.

[Wetsuiter]

i ve only just made the connection that some choc contains soy. Doh!