Well what can I say I have began seeing a dietary specialist and on my third week of exercise, after years of not going to any gym of any sort, I have decided to see how well I can prove that if doesn't matter if you go all week with nothing weight still seems to pile on.
Week one went well Monday boxercise class, Tuesday 40 lengths swim , same again on Wednesday and Saturday Zumba class ouch painful experience grant total of £19.20
Week two missed boxercise due to massive hangover in over three years, so did three swimming classes £12.30
Week three boxercise classes on Monday pulled muscles in arms legs and stomach, 30 lengths swim on Tuesday and Wednesday and debating jassercise class tonight total: £13.70
A grand total of £45.20 and nothing to show for it, not one pound have I shed, I am determined to keep going until the money runs out.
My dietician will see me again on 25th July and weigh me, and if not one pound is gone there is talk of more bloody blood tests and seeing a thyroid specialist.
Have not got a report from the clinic yet about my levels but may have to rethink it and ask.
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sbetty
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Some years ago, when first diagnosed with hypothyroidism, my doctor gave me a free gym pass for 3 months (they did that then, don't think they do now) for health reasons as I was (and still am) very overweight). I went 2 or 3 times a week for 3 months as prescribed. My weight, blood pressure etc was all monitored at the gym by my 'trainer' and reported back to my doctor. I ate sensibly as suggested by the nurse at the surgery, who gave me a list of do's and don'ts.
Did I loose any weight? No, not one ounce! It didn't work for me! The doctor just thought I had probably eaten too much (I hadn't).
Dr Lowe said that when doctors put us on thyroid gland hormone in 'replacement' doses that is keeping our TSH within the reference range on levothyroxine, we gain weight.
hi, perhaps I have got your blog wrong, but it appears you want to set out to prove exercise doesn't work. Maybe if you approached working out with a positive attitude things maybe different. On the basis you wasn't able to do a couple of workouts because of a hangover ( I presume you had consumed too much alcohol ). Alcohol is very calorific and not necessary conducive to weight loss in large amounts. I hope this comment may make you re think your diet plan. I am writing this because I have only been diagnosed hypo for 7 weeks myself and not in a position to comment, but I go to the gym 4 days a week with my niece who was diagnosed 10 years ago, and she has lost 30pounds since february - so dont give up , it is possible to lose weight I have seen it with my own 2 eyes, my neice looks stunning with her weight loss and she holds her head high with pride in her new shape, keep with it girl !! but it takes a positive attitude and determination.
You are right, washealthy, that it is possible to lose weight despite hypothyroidism. The single most important factor is optimal replacement of thyroid hormone.
How lovely for your niece to have lost so much weight! she is to be congratulated, and of course she is doing the very best thing she can do, because increased activity and losing weight optimises the availability of the thyroid hormones, I hope the doctor has not reduced her dosage since she lost weight?
We do need to be careful, though, of assuming 'one size fits all' when it comes to the thyroid. So many factors can affect how the metabolism responds - inadequate medication, age, other underlying health problems - and so on. When I first had my thyroid removed, I was given adequate thyroxine and I had little trouble losing most of the weight I had gained after my total thyroidectomy. However things changed when the doctor reduced my thyroxine. I have gained four stones firstly because my metabolism has slowed down tremendously - the reduction was not trivial, it was actually one third of my dose - and I suffer extreme lactic acid pain when exercising. I still try, but the heart problem which has been caused by the under-treatment hampers me.
I do not repeat this to gain sympathy, but to illustrate that we are all different, and in some cases lack of proper treatment can lead to a downward spiral.
Since my thyroxine was increased after much hounding of my GP, I have started to lose weight - 9lbs since December - without changing my lifestyle at all - but. of course, I am able to be more active around the home so it will reinforce the weight loss and hopefully increase it. I do, however, recognise the benefit of exercise for health, and plan to do more when I can do so without pain. I do have a positive attitude, but it does not, sadly, stop the pain.
Although I am still struggling, as is sbetty, to lose weight, it is still lovely to hear of success stories like your niece, it encourages all of us never to give up.
I find its a balancing act.........eating plenty cos if I dont I dont loose weight. Then making sure your bowels are regular as if they are not you will retain water and bloat. Staying away fron wheat gluten and dairy helps as these foods will make you retain water bloat and feel crappy especially if you are intolerant. Of trying to ensure that your on a good level of medication.
My body has changed even whilst being hypo....when I xould get away with the odd skipped meal...I no longer can not. Also drink plenty of course. X
Hi SB. Just to share some personal experience on weight.
I've always had a tendency to be chunky and to some irregularity in control of blood sugars (not diabetes), but was able to shift weight easily enough with exercise in my 20s and 30s when training for sports - up to and including during the early stages of thyroid hypo problems. It took getting very fit and pretty intensive aerobic exercise though - gym circuits, running and weights.
The sort of intensity that at my current age no doctor would recommend for fear of triggering heart troubles etc.
Both exercise and diet always mattered for me, with the latter the most important - with the key being to eliminate sugars and not overdo the good (complex) carbohydrates - while after that eating greens (veg, salads etc) and protein in moderate amounts. (meat)
There seems to be a definite maximum proportion of carbs that if exceeded leads to weight gain, bloating and feeling unwell in the case of at least many of us. Processed additive, sugar, trans fat, and high carb containing foods are best avoided like the plague. Milk, wheat, especially factory white bread and cakes (a multi whammy of fats, wheat, sugar and additives) sugar and the bad non-natural fats - the 'whites'.
Your typical anti candida diet seems in fact to be the business for most of us.
Right through the 90s and until quite recently i was increasingly hypo, and too unwell with all sorts of secondary issues to exercise like this - and started to eat badly. (low energy/sugar cravings) I put on quite a lot of weight - and developed some very marked food sensitivities. It's hard to shift now with age and not being so fit, and hard to get fit - i have back and knee problems too.
There does seem to be a 'sweet spot' in thyroid replacement that triggers a natural loss of weight, but despite lots of experimentation it's never been possible to nail what the forumula is/maintain the condition. Just a sense of losing weight/feeling very energetic for a week or so that fades.
You probably don't have to spend a lot of money on training. A gym sub is useful, but after that it's mostly about getting on with it. All these fancy classes to my mind seem likely to be ways to part us from money better held in reserve for thyroid testing etc when needed...
ian
Hi losing weight is tough - I know from my personal experience, I wanted to see results and when I didn't it was disheartening, but don't give up.
When I first started exercising, I was paying on a payg basis and it was more costly, then
I joined a gym on a trial basis via Groupon (many gyms now offer 3 month contracts), so it may be worth considering a short contract? I don't use the gym, but I tried all sorts of group classes, some I hated and couldn't do, some I enjoyed and have carried on doing - once you enjoy exercising, it becomes fun and you will want to do it.
However, over the past few months I noticed the weight started creeping back on - I was still exercising regularly and a friend suggested myfitnesspal.co.uk which has an online food diary. Using this app has been a revelation.
I credit myself with eating fairly healthily ( a veggie for over 20 years) but I didn't realise how many calories I was consuming on some days. Part of it was the quantity and the other were empty calories (alcohol, sweets, crisps). I would recommend trying this, its a good way of keeping track of your intake, exercise and weight.
Good luck with the exercise, keep up the good work - keep us posted on your progress
Low calorie/low fat WILL result in weight loss IF you are properly under good thyroid control, and if it IS controlled, then maybe the massive hangover is one BIG clue as to why you didn't lose weight, you can't get away with booze, it's full of calories - if it isn't controlled then losing anything at all will be a challenge, and you are going to have to do some *serious* starvation and heavy exercise to lose any at all
After a lifetime of weight issues, and that includes weight losses in that time which includes single weight drops equal to more than a small person, (biggest was 9.5stones!) been on every diet known to man, I now know low calorie/low fat is for mugs, and for me in common with many others, resulted in serious rebound weight gain, as well as metabolism issues, finally resulting in me after eating that for years I became a carb junkie, and pre-diabetic with reactive hypoglycaemia - low fat/low cal means HIGH carb, I was living like this for years, thinking it was healthy (as it was all high fibre complex carbs!) and boy, do I regret it now
To control that, I have eaten low carb (Low Glycaemic Load) for 3.5 years now, and I am 52kg lighter, without 10% of the starvation that low calorie/low fat means, and as I am now more disabled than I used to be, that was done without ANY of the exercise that i had needed in the past to lose weight. (I can even eat some carbs now, but don't eat many as the weight soon goes on again!)
Low carb is not cheap either, (carbs are the cheapest foods around), and I wish I could do more exercise, as I know that would produce far better results too, as well as look better, but the effect on my metabolism has been dramatic, and it even improves cholesterol, eating more fat that I ever ate at any point in my life!
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