How can I lose weight with an under active thyroid? What foods should I avoid?

[Ren95]

I currently take 100mcg of levothyroxine and looking for some advice

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

The very first thing is to have optimal thyroid levels for you. What are your latest results?

[Clutter]

Ren95,

If you post your recent thyroid results and ranges members will advise whether you are optimally dosed on 100mcg. If you are undermedicated that will make it difficult to shift weight.

The only foods you need to avoid are unfermented soy/soya which is bad for everyone, and if you have Hashimoto's 100% gluten-free diet may be helpful in reducing antibodies eventually.

[geegee888]

Hi, I'm hypothyroid and taking levothyroxine 100mcg,

I struggle to lose weight but have found that lifting weights and floor exercise has dramatically paid off for me

It seems that aerobic exercise doesn't cut the mustard like it used to

Also eat unprocessed food

Quality fuel for a struggling thyroid is the way to go.

Start small and slowly work your way to a strong body

For me it's not about weight loss,that's an added bonus

Strength is key. 🌻

[TeresaNewOrleans in reply to geegee888]

I've been on 50mcg of levothyroxine for a couple months. I do weights now as well. I found the ole treadmill is USELESS now that my thyroid is caput. I was doing 45 mins of treadmill EVERYDAY and not a pound lost!!. Got a cheap weight set, started doing light "weight work" nothing OLYMPIC LEVEL haha, and I started losing weight finally. You just have tp be consistent with it. Cardio USED to be all I had to do...but alas.....

[DeeD123]

Cut down on your carbs. As said above what are your thyroid results. If your not optimal you will struggle to lose anything.Aerobics are not always good as you use a lot of t3 . If your not a good converter it will leave you feeling pretty exhausted for a few days afterward

[Caesard]

Unless you are optimally dosed the metabolism is unlikely to cooperate. Lifestyle is very important as well but I can tell what possible traps could be:

- suboptimal hormone replacement, testing, tweaking, retesting, driven by both test results AND symptom relief

- deficiency on vits and minerals

- aggressive fasting (it made me worse and slowed me even further, I wouldn't recommend such approach)

- intensive training, extended over long periods of time (patience is needed, a slower build-up worked much better for me compared to "let's do it all now" approach)

- inconsistency in lifestyle and structure. Not a trap but a never-ending story of picking it up again and again. My case...but this is how my life is. If someone could avoid it...would spare a lot of energy

And, yes...patience! Maturity and discipline are difficult without patience.

Good luck!

[TeresaNewOrleans in reply to Caesard]

Very good advice. True all of it!

[SCJGL in reply to TeresaNewOrleans]

Hi! The diet that has always worked best for me is low carb diet. I have hypothyroidism hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), & hypotension (low BP). This diet gives you energy & maintains blood sugar. Make sure you get at least 30 carbs a day to prevent dry hair, nails & skin. It will take about 2 weeks to see a change. Also when you workout & gain muscle, you may weigh the same but lose inches. Muscle weighs more than fat. Don't get discouraged.

[Chocolates]

Hi I had a thyroid removed 16 years ago , now taking 100 mcg levothyroxine

Life never going back 16 years so never going to be fixed with meds for us,

I'm currently trying the Keto way of life ( no sugar , full fats limited carbs !

The author is Eric Berg on utube amazing how you can lose weight lower cholesterol, feel healthy works for metabolism check it out.

[SCJGL in reply to Chocolates]

That is a good diet too but not for most thyroid disease & not for hypoglycemia. As long as your in ketosis, you are losing.

[Hidden]

I stopped eating gluten & casein and took probiotics, omega 3 and coq10 multivitamin supplement , I feel so much better, after 6 weeks my CRP level is now normal after being too high for years, more energy, less aching, no brain fog. Have a look at Dr Josh Axe autoimmune protocol diet on youtube.

[Ren95]

Thank you for your replies, my latest levels from September 2017 are:

TSH 0.18

T4 17.1

T3 5.1

and my B12 is 324

[Marz in reply to Ren95]

Do you have ranges ? Labs vary. I have lost well recently on The Whole 30 Eating plan - as the name suggests only for 30 days before re-introducing problem foods. It is a very sustainable way of eating for longer ....

[Ren95 in reply to Ren95]

My last test was in November

TSH 0.18 mu/L (0.35 - 5.50)

T4 17.1 pmol/L (10.3 - 22.7)

T3 5.1 pmol/L (3.5 - 6.5)