Has anyone had any success with weight loss after being diagnosed with Hashimoto or Hypothyroidism?
I have gained quite a lot of weight over the last 3 years due to the condition (70lbs/5stone) and wanted to know if anyone has any tips or advice on how to shift the weight?
My main problem at the moment is lack of energy and my hope is that it increases the more my NDT medication gets raised and my vitamin levels are optimal.
I don't actually eat that much and only get hunger in the morning and evening. During the day I really struggle with hunger and the thought of eating a meal makes me feel really nauseous so I just eat some salty crisps to get the sick feeling away and it seems to work.
If I try to cut my calories then my nervous system goes crazy. Same if I try to cut down carbs or exercise. It's really frustrating.
If anyone can share their tips/advice and experience I would love to hear it 🙂
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Singinginthewind
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Eating healthily (and eating enough) including healthy fats, no low calorie/low fat diets, time and patience, plus being optimally medicated. It wont be quick but given time you should lose weight.
As you are taking NDT it's essential that when you do thyroid tests that TSH, FT4 and FT3 are done, FT3 is the most important test. Low T3 causes symptoms and makes weight loss difficult.
I definitely do feel better after having fats and carbs in my meal. It calms my system down. Then I keep reading bits on Instagram with PT's and health gurus advising to cut the fat right down if want to lose weight but it just makes me feel crazy and ravished!
I think once I am optimal with meds and have more energy it will give me a boost to do more.
Your brain contains a very large percentage of fat. It should never be an optional extra in the diet and it is essential for health. Without it you will die.
There are three macronutrients in the diet - carbohydrates, fats and protein. The only optional one is carbohydrates, you need the other two to live. But even with carbs many people feel better with at least some in the diet.
Anyone advocating for low fat diets is completely out of date!
There are a lot of interesting videos from this Youtube channel :
I piled on over 4st when I was under medicated. It crept on slowly over a year or so. The thyroid controls your metabolic rate so if you’re under medicated your metabolism will be low. As soon as I was finally given help when I went private I dropped 4st 4lbs without even trying. Suddenly I had energy. It is having the energy to move and do things as well as your metabolism working well that shifted my weight. I’m now full of energy and life being properly medicated and I’ve kept off all that weight even though I now actually eat more these days. It been 2 years or more now. My problem was I’m a very poor converter of Levothyroxine T4 to active T3 and I was tested for the faulty gene DIO2 which came back positive. I now take t3 medication Liothyronine along with Levothyroxine. Oh boy it’s made a huge difference to my life in the most positive way. Get your bloods tested to see if you are medicated correctly. Your TSH should be around 1.00. Anything over 2.5 and you are poorly medicated.
As McPammy has said, first thing is to get your meds sorted. Then what has worked for me over the years - use online calculators to calculate your TTEE (total daily energy expenditure) and from that what amount of calories you need to eat when in a small deficit - aiming to lose 1-2 lbs per week. Ignore Insta PTs and don’t cut out any food group. I feel rubbish if I don’t eat carbs with each meal and need some fat for satiety. Do try to eat plenty of good lean protein as that also helps satiety. Cook healthy food - stir fry/pasta/rice dishes/curries /chillis from scratch and don’t eat massive portions (but eat enough of the good stuff too!)
Add lots of walking and gradually add in strength training.
Get enough sleep - that will be the final piece of the puzzle.
I sympathise, same here. Tried “being good” but it had no effect. I did the Dukan diet (get the book or online on fb) and it works. You are never hungry and you force your body to lose the weight, it can’t not work. Several friends did it on my recommendation and say it’s the best thing they’ve ever done. Could be a challenge if vegetarian/vegan. I did it at same time as getting levo dose right and it is definitely easier to maintain loss now I’m dosed correctly (losing weight might mean you need lower dose anyway as is mcg per kg). When I look in mirror now I recognise myself which wasn’t the case before. The fb support pages (other fellow dieters) really helped with recipe ideas.
I’m going to preface my comment with this, in caps, so nobody misses it: THIS WAS MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND MAY NOT BE THE SAME FOR EVERYONE.
I piled on 3 stone in about 18 months whilst all the while trying to persuade my GP I had a thyroid problem. I’m mid 60’s, quite fit and have always eaten healthily.
My response to the weight gain, which, incidentally, didn’t change by even an ounce post-diagnosis and medication, was to start cycling and going to the gym. I was doing either or both at least 3 times a week ( 30km bike ride, an hour of weights and cardio at the gym) and……nothing. At times (don’t judge me) I was probably eating 800 calories a day. And….still nothing.
Then I began reading that many people with hypo, and specifically Hashimoto’s, can be gluten and/or dairy intolerant. I’ll be honest, I found it hard to believe. I felt no pain, discomfort or I’ll effects from eating either.
Here I am now, nearly 2 years gluten and dairy free, and nearly - but not quite - back to my old weight. The weight didn’t drop off, it slowly went down. I was able to eat exactly as before ( not the 800 calorie bit) minus dairy and gluten. I still very occasionally eat both, like the odd slice of cheddar or a biscuit once in a blue moon, but it’s made such a difference to me in general. I never feel bloated, and all the other rubbish symptoms of Hashimoto’s are long gone.
I was and still am quite the sceptic, so I’m not saying this lightly. I had to stick with it at the beginning for 3 months rigorously to be sure it was working, and for much longer to see a change. But FOR ME it was the thing that changed everything.
When it comes to diet, it's better to think more on the glycemic index of the foods or Glycemic load of the meal 55 or below is ideal, most vegetables, meat and fats are below 50 its the higher Glycemic foods to either keep low or not eat, the Glycemic index is the amount of sugar in the system and ultimately the insulin that'll get produced to keep us safe, and insulin is the fat storage hormone... fibre is also good too as it keeps levels of Leptin up the satiety hormone and Ghrelin in check the hunger hormone.
There's also BK1 to consider that I've just come across and cannot comment on yet really as just started reading up on it, you may also want to read up on that yourself also...
It is worth checking if you suffer from insulin resistance. It has nothing to do with being diabetic, so your sugar levels usually are normal. Unfortunately GPs don't request insulin blood tests here in the UK. Thyroid hormones have a significant effect on glucose metabolism and the development of insulin resistance. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/245...
For people with hypothyroidism only diet and exercise won't work if your insulin is sensitive or resistant.
My endocrinologist in Brazil prescribed me metformin slow release and it has been working really well, helping me not only to lose weight but to keep it stable. It also prevents type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular mortality.
There are recent tests also reporting that metformin treatment in late middle age improved cognitive function in old age, in other words it could prevent dementia!
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