Fatigued whenever I reduce my calories

[Zazbag]

Hello,

Is it a common problem for other people with hypothyroidism to feel so fatigued they can't function when they have a calorie deficit for more than a few days? Does anyone know how I can overcome this? Many thanks.

[Lalatoot]

You need calories for efficient conversion.

[Zazbag in reply to Lalatoot]

Yep I know that. But does that mean you can't have a deficit at all?

[Zazbag in reply to Lalatoot]

I'm asking whether other people get that same fatigue when they reduce their calories. I haven't heard anyone else talk about it.

[humanbean]

Yes, I get fatigued if I reduce my calories. But I can cope better with reduced calories if the food I do eat is healthy and non-processed and nutrient dense, and contains good quality proteins and fats in sufficient quantities. I try to keep my carb levels down.

What do you consider to be healthy and nutrient dense? Do you eat fats? If yes, what kind? And what protein do you eat?

There are a lot of people I come across online who seem to think that living off vegetables and not much else is healthy.

[Zazbag in reply to humanbean]

Hey, thanks for your reply. I don't do low-calorie dieting or anything like that. I get at least 100g of protein per day from meat and fish like chicken breast, salmon and lean beef. I try to go as high as 135g if I can. I'm dairy and egg free so this can be tough. I get my carbs from oats, rice and low sugar fruits like berries. I'll sometimes have boiled new potatoes. Sometimes I'll have grapes or apples. I get my fats from olive oil, almond butter and sometimes avocado. I eat a lot of steamed broccoli and stir fries. I also have salads and soups but lately have been eating less of these. I snack on 85% cocoa dark chocolate. When I say calorie deficit, I don't go below about 1800. I do lift weights and run and stuff so I don't have to have really low calories to have a deficit, but it still makes me super fatigued.

[humanbean in reply to Zazbag]

The protein you're eating is very lean. You might feel more satiated / less fatigued if you ate more fatty protein. People freak out about saturated fat, which is associated with animal protein, but it isn't unhealthy.

Lots of ways of getting protein are shown in this link :

dietdoctor.com/low-carb/pro...

Info on healthy fats can be found here :

dietdoctor.com/low-carb/sat...

Just out of curiosity, why don't you eat eggs?

I just found this website giving you info on nutrition of various kinds of fat, and I've given three examples :

fatsecret.com/calories-nutr...

fatsecret.com/calories-nutr...

fatsecret.com/calories-nutr...

(Beef tallow is the same as beef dripping in UK terms)

[Zazbag in reply to humanbean]

In my experience, I need the carbs more than the fat. If I increase fat and reduce carbs I feel worse because I need to carbs for the exercise I do. Eggs give me terrible stomach cramps.

[humanbean in reply to Zazbag]

We're all different - too much carbs makes me feel sick, but I cope very well with protein and fat.

[Zazbag in reply to humanbean]

Yeah, I think my need for carbs definitely developed as my hypothyroidism got worse, because 10 years ago I used to restrict my carbs and I'd lose weight/fat easily whilst exercising really hard, whereas now if I don't have enough carbs after I exercise I feel like death for several days afterwards.

[jrbarnes]

I unintentionally ate less calories and my TSH went from 1.3 to 2.5 so yes I was fatigued.

[Zazbag in reply to jrbarnes]

Did you physically feel fatigued?

[jrbarnes in reply to Zazbag]

yes, physically fatigued

[Localhero]

Since I’ve been hypothyroid, or more accurately, since I’ve been on thyroid meds, I cannot tolerate any kind of deficit, it just wipes me out.

Like you, I used to be able to eat more low carb. Now I must eat carbs or I am useless.

You’re lucky to be able to weight lift and train. I have not been able to do anything like that for ages.

[Zazbag in reply to Localhero]

I'm sorry you're in that position, that must be very difficult. Are you on optimal medication and are all your nutrients/diet in order? I do much better now I'm on liothyronine too, and I found having optimal ferritin, folate and vitamins B12 and D really helpful. I also take low-dose naltrexone and that seems to help too. I'm not sure I would say that I am "lucky", perhaps I am, but I trained very hard, consistently for about 10 years and I worked very hard getting my medical care right (I self-medicate and source my own liothyronine and LDN) and I pay a lot of attention to my diet (I'm gluten, dairy and egg free). Having said that, even though I can exercise I have to be very wary how much I do, and if I step over my limit I suffer for days after, even with sufficient carbs.

[Localhero in reply to Zazbag]

@Zagbag

Thank you. No, my medication is not yet optimal but I think I’m not far off. I’m having a second go with adding T3 - the first lot weirdly started to exacerbate high cortisol signs after suspected COVID. I’m now trying to titrate up again.

I hope when I’m more stable, I can at least do some gym work again as I really enjoyed training for years.

My nutrition is good and all my vitamin levels etc are optimal.

What made you try LDN?