I love to watch some of the programmes such as Obese a Year to Save my Life and Secret Eaters etc but I watch them because they annoy me too. I am 18 stone (was always 9 stone) and this weight increase happened gradually after a car accident and becoming hypothyroid.
However, I have tried every kind of diet and none of them really work. With Slimming World I lost 21bs over 18 months! You can imagine how frustrated I am when nothing works
I have cut out gluten, dairy, etc etc and none of those methods work. My Daughter is type 1 and we have nothing in the house sugary other than what would be normal sugars in foods naturally. Milk is one I believe. I try to exercise but Im in alot of pain from the accident so I will do one day and suffer for a few after. I do not and never have ate between meals, we do not munch after dinner round the tv as some of the people on these programmes do.
In desperate need I have finally resorted to the Exante Diet. I lost a stone in a month. Then we had Christmas, put some of it back on but was straight on it after. I just can't lose anymore weight though. Surely this can't be my normal body weight as somebody suggested.
It is very hard to deprive myself of alot of things with no results. Before going on the Exante diet, I questioned it with my Doctor and all he said was "have smaller portions"!!!!!!! Because of my Daughter we only have very healthy lean low fat, low sugar meals and suggesting smaller portions was an insult. My husband doesn't like chocolate so we never have that in the house either. I have a slim family. I am not although nobody can believe Im the weight I am ie I seem to carry the weight well.
I realise that VLCD diets aren't good so far as body holding on to weight so every now and then I add some protein such as chicken breast or white fish. However, I also know that being overweight is not good for cardiovascular things and lots of other issues. How on earth am I going to lose any of this weight and is there anything atall I could point to being the reason I am not losing.
It is very depressing to cut so many things I enjoy out both in personal pleasure, family things and socially.
I take T3 only and at one time the T3 levels were 4 times the top of the range and I still wasn't losing any weight! Levo made me gain weight. This is seriously compromising my life and making me very depressed and sad.
Susan
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Numberone1
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Low fat causes issues. We need proper fat to produce hormones and build up. Plus recent studies suggest that low fat diets does not work in the long run.
Low fat and low sugar, I wonder if you eat enough. You need energy to burn fat.
Losing weight with broken metabolism can be a trouble.
Those programs annoy me too, people losing weight after they stop the take out, soda and chocolate.
I follow a low carb diet but it only stops me gaining it doesn't help me loose. I have 2 young kids to run after and walk at least 20 miles a week but exercise makes no difference either! When I took my boys to Thomas Land I had to come off my diet for the 2 days we were there and promptly gained 14lbs!
I know I don't have a problem with portion size as I only eat my 2 meals a day out of a standard size cereal bowl. I don't snack or eat sugar, cook all my meals from scratch, etc.
I am well medicated on NDT as I have to self medicate due to useless GP's.
If you ever find the answer please let me know because it really is soul destroying to be so disciplined and get no results.
It actually makes me feel worst to know Im not the only one....I feel like I want a magic formula! That Im the only one it happens to. I know that if I could lose some weight my injuries would be less painful. Somebody once said to me that they can see I like eating donuts!!!!!
I have never achieved a decent TSH. You are right about mine being 9 but when I raised the T3, I ended up with an horrendously high FT3 so dropped it back. Not sure what to do now.
You may well be someone for whom the FT3 reading is meaningless because your T3 receptors are resistant to T3 (bit like Type 2 diabetes where the cells are resistant to insulin).
There are folk here who know lots more about T3 than me - Shaws, Greygoose etc. Might be worth starting a new thread and asking about T3 resistance. Your brain is shouting that it hasn't got enough T3, so is screaming at your thyroid to make T4 ( the high TSH reading is the scream) but it can't make enough or can't convert enough to T3, and even when there is some T3 sloshing about the cells don't seem to know.
With a TSH of 9 in the presence of high FT3 you've either got a TSH-secreting tumour somewhere (possible but unlikely) or the Liothyronine you're taking isn't getting through to the cells but is staying in your blood stream and showing as high in your blood test results.
In the meantime, your cells are all tired and jaded because they haven't got access to T3, can't be bothered to do much metabolising and hold on to more and more fat.
Weight loss on all diets is likely to be next to impossible (without starving - and no one can keep that going for long ) until you've got your thyroid hormone levels where they need to be.
Dr Lowe used to say that blood results were pointless after a patient was put on T3 - they're not capable of reading how much T3 a body is utilising in the cells where it's needed.
If that is the case, then no point having blood tests? Surely if I hadn't had a blood test, I wouldn't see that my FT3 was so high, nor that my TSH is still high and then nobody would be able to diagnose a TSH secreting tumour or that T3 isn't getting to the cells? I just don't get it anymore.
I'll be following this but yes it baffles me. I like reading greygoose posts and others here. Fat for sure is important so I'm trying to eat more avocados, olives and coconut oil. I've followed every sound diet out there. I can't do fad diets. I exercise very often spinning twice a week, yoga 3 times and due to work can walk an average of 8k a day (according to my Fitbit) and yes doc just asked me to eat less. I'm pescatarian, gluten, soya, sugar free.
Could be that you're shooting yourself in the foot with all that exercise. Although, to be honest, I've no idea what 'spinning' is! lol What exactly do you do? Sounds as if it's going to give you vertigo!
But you do know that exercise uses up your T3, don't you? So, if you haven't got enough to begin with, best to make the exercise very light.
I was looking forward to your comments here GG. I've started eating healthy fats because of you and actually should have written that I used to do spinning ( cycling classes with loud music and an instructor shouting at you) I've stopped it after you wrote in one of my posts about t3. I can't lessen my walking, but just go using on yoga now. I'll read your other comments here. In this diet thing your knowledge is extensive!!
So, it's just riding a stationary bicycle? Good lord! Someone's making a fortune! I had thought it might be those elaborate Chinese dances where they spîn long scarves. lol That would be Worth doing. But, no. I Don't think that spinning is good for hypos who aren't on their optimal dose.
I know! I used to enjoy it to be honest, I think mostly would be the sensation of doing my duty eating less and exercising more to lose weigh *sighs*. Walking for me is unavoidable though. Check this video out spinning and yes no sticky insects in the class. So once more your point proven . m.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFJv...
My god! That looks like some devilish form of torture! There aren't even any seats on the bikes! Really doesn't look like something I could enjoy. Or even do!
I believed them for so long GG. I've lived a half life for most of it :-(. Slowly living a proper life now. I will never have enough words to thank the selfless people in this site.
Ive tried all the diets going for the last 40 years and dieting has made me fat and caused joint problems. I was recently referred to obesity clinic by GP who doesn't want to know about high TSH, symptoms of hypothyroidism. Obesity clinic was useless as all they talked about for 4 months was bariatric surgery and what skin would be left after weight loss with surgery. They didn't want to listen to my concerns. Dieticians don't have any answers other than I don't eat enough or regularly. I dont eat chocolate, cheese etc and am a real fruit bat. So if anyone has any ideas I too would be interested. Joolz.x
I think you'll find that slowly the ideas that animal fat etc are bad for us and low fat are good is being turned on its head. Carbohydrates are what is causing the obesity epidemic and that includes most low fat foods, even fruit and veg have carbs. Google: wahls Tedex talk. I, like you, have been dairy, sugar and gluten free for 8 months, looked like I was losing for first month then nothing. I have m.e and have started wahls paleo to try to get better as advised by an m.e dietician specialist ( private of course, the NHS hasn't got a clue) , I also have a fatty liver since getting ill and know this needs to clear - and yes I have always eaten healthily it's a mechanism going wrong as part of my m.e - this diet feels like it is going to shift the fat.
But watch the video anyway, she is a medical doctor who has recovered from disability due to multiple sceloris. It's inspirational and fascinating. Good luck.
1) You've tried diet and exercise, and it didn't work. So, you know it's got nothing to do with calories. However, if I were you, I would give up trying to exercise until things are better, because you could injure yourself. You know it doesn't agree with you!
And, maybe, you should try eating more. We need calories, you know, they're what keep us going. We need them to be able to digest, and breath, and think, even! And, a lot of hypos find they lose more weight when they eat more.
2) You eat a clean diet so it's nothing to do with WHAT you eat. Except that... you haven't been eating fat. They do say that those that eat the most fat, lose the most weight. I haven't tested that for myself, because I never gave up eating fat. However, I do know that eating fat doesn't make you fat.
3) You're taking T3 but your TSH is still high. How much T3 are you taking? Why are you on T3 only? Did T4 not agree with you?
You said that when you increase the T3, the level goes sky-high, but the TSH remains high. I agree with Jazzw about that. You may have some T3 resistance. How long have you been on T3 only? Did you take T4 to begin with?
However, has your pituitary been investigated to make sure it's not some anomally with that gland? If your pituitary isn't working properly, you might be deficient in some other hormone that will make you gain weight. A lot of hormones can affect weight.
4) So, the only other things left to take into consideration are... other things. lol
a) Have you had your cortisol tested? Do you feel, perhaps you have low cortisol? Or high cortisol? Either can affect your weight.
b) How are your nutrients? Have you had tested :
vit D
vit B12
folate
iron
ferritin?
If so, what were the results? Are you supplementing? What are you taking?
c) are you taking any other medication?
Just ignore what your doctor says. He knows nothing about it! He'll just Parrot the received myths about weight gain and loss, but won't have any real solutions.
I've been glancing at the Exante Diet. It really is low calorie, isn't it. Processed food! Not good. And I couldn't find any ingrédients anywhere, which always makes me suspicious. However, I have heard it relies heavily on soy, which is like swallowing a loaded gun! I really Don't think it's a good idea at all. Best stay off that for several reasons.
Because it is affecting the absorption of your T3 by the cells!!! It could even be the reason why you're hypo, because it also stops the thyroid gland up-loading iodine, therefore making it difficult to make thyroid hormone.
Soy also has a lot of other unpleasant effects. Like cancer. And blocking nutrients. I think you ought to do a bit of research on the subject.
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) until you've got your thyroid hormone levels where they need to be.
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