I have what feels like a strange situation. Having done ZOE last summer and then upped my Levothyroxine per the advice on the forum, I’ve lost about 5kg of my 10kg thyroid weight gain. Although I have more to lose, I’m now in a healthy BMI range. BUT my body fat percentage, according to my Withings scales, is 45% which according to Dr Google is obese.
Is this a thyroid thing? Do other people here have this?
I have had a little more energy of late to exercise etc as I guess resistance training might make a difference.
I also suspect I’m not yet quite at my “sweet spot” meds-wise and that years of damage might take a long time to sort themselves out
Any other thoughts?
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WaystarRoyco
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As a Zoe fan….what about your waist to hip ratio measurements? You will have heard podcasts where Zoe specialists talk about visceral fat hidden inside the body and how BMI gives the impression very muscular are overweight, so this ratio is regarded as better. … in range 0.8 ish or less. I find loosing weight very difficult ( even tho swim 5x a week, and 5 days a week do 16 hours a day intermittent fasting) but you’ve managed to loose weight, so well done. Did you do any fine tuning post Zoe gut biome report, I’d be interested to know what worked?
Hi Judithdalston . Good question. My waist to hip ratio is 0.86 so high, which I guess indicates I’ve more weight to lose. Guess I just need to keep plugging on.
I’m impressed with your swimming and IF! I don’t think I could do either of these as yet.
Yes, I did a lot of fine tuning post the microbiome report. Added things like lentils, apples, grapefruit, avocado, almonds and a whole host of things they indicated my gut bugs could benefit from. Cut down/out bacon, sausage and some ultra processed things they indicated were working against gut health. I actually did the retest and my gut score improved on their scale from 36 (poor) to 59 (good). My gut health does feel better for doing ZOE, I just wish the body fat thing would improve but perhaps I’m being impatient.
I was found to be in the amber region for visceral fat a couple of summers ago - this was despite the fact that I had a BMI of 20. At the moment I suspect I am what is referred to as sub clinical hypo.
My understanding is that one of the best way to help shift visceral fat after changes to diet is aerobic exercise. That doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be overly strenuous. A daily half hour walk should help.
Interesting. I know that I should walk but don’t. Part of my excuse is that I live in South Wales and it has been raining and blowing a gale since about October. But I need to find another solution and commit to it.
I don’t walk daily, but until September I did have a daily exercise routine (which included two walks during the course of a week). But I am used to exercise - I still do a weekly ballet class (I’m 62) and have to keep muscle strength up due to having Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. I upped how much exercise I did to counter the build up of visceral fat and I did get back into the green zone. At the moment walking is a bit of a non starter; I’m not in South Wales but we’re still getting a lot of wet weather at the moment.
That sounds wonderful! Well done on getting back to the green zone. I envy your ability to do ballet.
I used to be a regular exerciser and lifted weights but ended up stopping even before I got diagnosed with hypothyroidism because of pain and exhaustion. I’d love to get back there.
Yeah, I guess the weather has been pants in much of the country. Roll on spring.
I live in South Wales too 👍I hear you about the weather. I bought myself a treadmill so I can still get the walking done.....in in PJs. Lol. I do about 20-25 mins a day and switch to running mode for 15secs every 5 mins.
Great idea! Aren’t these things pricey though? And where in your house do you put it? I’m surrounded by countryside here and I tell myself I should just “man up” get the wet weather gear and get out, but so far have not.
Hi. I bought mine on Amazon for £204. I don't have a lot of money hanging around but I used money which I had in my savings, because of my appearance due to the underactive thyroid I became too self conscious to go out jogging etc. plus we have the pollen season about to arrive and I suffer with allergies . My treadmill is foldable, but I know If I fold it away I will not be bothered to keep setting it up lol so I keep it in front of my lounge window, it's not too big so it's not a monstrosity and I get to look out of the window whilst I'm walking 😉 I also have vibro plates in the corner and an under-desk peddler. My lounge is beginning to look like a gym haha.
Not of late because I'm currently suffering with some sort of chest issue and coughing on exertion. I've had a spirometry test taken and I'm waiting on the results. When I invested in the treadmill etc I was using them a quite frequently, sadly I didn't find they helped me to lose any weight, which was my reason for buying. However, I still use them as much as possible because I want to at least try to get some exercise in, to keep myself as healthy as possible and I guess I'm living in hope that perhaps it will pay off one day.
Sorry to hear about that Foxxyyh I hope you’re okay. I’m sure if you’re exercising regularly it has to benefit you somehow. I’m well impressed with your setup. Especially on a day like today when I open the curtains and it’s raining again 😩
Hey WaystarRoyco - just a couple of thoughts based on what you've said... body fat % scales that only measure through your feet are, typically, the least reliable measure of body fat %. They work by passing an electrical current between the parts of the body in contact with the scale - usually foot to foot - so they don't measure the fat distribution in the whole body. If you want to use body fat scales, it's better to use ones that have hand grips as well - at least, that way you get a better picture of your whole body. These types of scales are also sensitive to things as simple as how well hydrated you are, and even how sweaty your feet are, because they rely on water in the body to conduct electricity.
Ultimately, the only reliable way of knowing your body fat % is a DEXA scan (out of most people's reach, I know); following that, the next most reliable measure is probably skin fold measurements taken by a suitably qualified and experienced exercise professional - you might be able to get a one-off consultation with a personal trainer to get anthropometric measurements done if it's something that really want to know.
Having said all that... when you're hypothyroid, 'weight' is often not fat but stored water (which, incidentally, also skews body fat % values from conducting scales) and, as you suspect, getting your levothyroxine "sweet spot" is probably a big step towards being a bit lighter.
With regard to exercise, Emaych61 is right... comfortable aerobic exercise is really effective as it's so sustainable - but adding in muscle through classical weight-bearing exercise gives you a bigger "bang for your buck" - trying to cover both is usually the best approach (assuming that both are appropriate for any particular individual).
Sorry - that was a lot of waffle!!! 😑 Well done if you read this far.
That’s very interesting about the accuracy of these scales. I’d no idea.
when you're hypothyroid, 'weight' is often not fat but stored water
I did wonder about that. And, thanks for agreeing with me that getting my sweet spot right is an important factor.
On the exercise front, it’s perhaps time to see if I can step things up somewhat. Stop thinking of myself as an ill person and build it up. Scary thought!
Great reply ERIC. Mucin isn’t just water. As I understand, it contains sugars etc and probably fat too. A problem I think I have (and to further display the inaccuracy of these scales) is hypertrophy of muscles which happens to some hypothyroids. This means that everything is more tightly packed into the muscle tissue and the muscles become bigger rather than atrophying. I seriously doubt the scales can differentiate this issue.
This problem of the solidity of the skin tissue of those with mucin, I think, presents a similar problem providing an inaccurate measurement with skin fold testing.
The best measurement for hypothyroids I think, is simple weight measurement. Nothing fancy. You just have to know that your weight loss will be both fat and mucin until the mucin is disposed of. You may then find these type of scales more accurate.
Just doing this has unsurprisingly lowered my Type 2 diabetes back to not having diabetes, my cholesterol lowering a good bit. As I can’t get around all that well due to my muscle issues, it’s not through exercise these have improved. Not my non optimal thyroid hormones. Just intermittent fasting. Never thought I could do it.
However as with all things hypothyroid you never know what’s around the next corner to undermine you. So we will see.
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