One thing is dawning on me 2 years into a controlled programme of exercise, resistance and diet support with an exercise nutritionist about weight control.
As I gain more lean muscle and improve metabolic health, I am actually gaining and not losing weight. So on a measuring device lean muscle body weight kgs is way up and body fat percentage now down from approximately 27% to under 14% which is getting closer to an area that should minimise inflammation from the fat stores around the body.
This in theory should really help my hashi situation - accrording to all the research,
So it feels like a conundrum, gaining a much healthier body with success on certain metrics and a much leaner shape but the highest weight kgs wise in my entire life.
Perhaps I may have to accept that this is a long term situation of carrying a much more muscular frame than I have done for much of my life.
I write this as we tend to talk a lot about successful weight loss and some of us like me have not lost an ounce, despite 5 plus years of trying. In such circumstances there is a need to explain and understand that the goals may need to be set slightly differently given the important priority to build more lean muscle that is heavier for the body.
Happy as with all my posts to take feedback and comments and promote some discussion and improve my general understand....
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Danielj1
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Muscle weighs more than fat i.e. the same volume of muscle will take up less space than the same volume of fat. When you build muscle you will gain weight but be smaller, healthier and look better. Ignore weight and focus on how your clothes fit, your measurements with a measuring tape and your body fat %.
When I learned that the weight chart we all believe is what we should aspire to was actually prepared in the 1950s by a statistician in an insurance company let looking into death by age and weight and has no clinical background at all, I concentrated on health instead of size and weight.
Learning how the gut microbiome plays a big role in our health and determining whether we are fat or thin has been interesting too.
Danielj1 - We all have our own goals. For me, more healthy years is more important than a particular weight or size. To that end, the bit from your original post that is key is "which is getting closer to an area that should minimise inflammation from the fat stores around the body". For more healthy years, the (unfortunately) hidden visceral fat around the organs is what we want to minimise (according to Zoe). For those of us with a thicker wallet than me, scans can be done to measure that. In the absence of scans, the waist-to-hip ratio is considered a better indicator than BMI or weight alone.
Having said that, I do also try to keep my weight around a certain level, to avoid stressing the body (bones, cardiovascular etc).
In general, I try to follow the various recommendations from the Zoe podcasts, including avoiding (nearly) all Ultra Processed Foods, only eating in a time-restricted window (10 hours most days, 12 when giving in to temptation), aiming for a Mediterranean style diet, replacing snacks by seeds and nuts (that bit was actually really easy), and when I really need chocolate eating just a couple of cubes of "artisan" chocolate (contains fibre and polyphenols) rather than an entire bar of the stuff in UK shops that contains horrendous amounts of sugar instead. I also exercise multiple times per week, although still need to vary the exercise more.
Just to say that I paid quite a lot for a dexa scan and it turned out to give me very similar stats to the Renpho scales/app- body fat, muscle etc all about the same. So Renpho might be a good purchase if you ard interested in seeing stats outside of just body weight
Thanks london81 . Similarly, I have Withings scales that somehow do the same sort of thing. Pretty good, although the app is a bit rubbish and I really don't need my scales to tell me the weather forecast The good thing about Withings is that they integrate with my home automation system, so I can use the resulting data any way that I want rather than rely on the Withings app.
Muscle is much heavier than fat, hence if you are building muscle mass you would not lose that much weight, but your body composition changes. Athletes sometimes have a higher BMI, which would indicate that they are overweight, however BMI is not always a good indicator of fitness, the percentage body fat is much more important. For example, you could have a healthy BMI of 22, but your body fat could be quite high, hence your metabolic health would be not so good.
The good thing about building muscle mass is that it can increase your metabolic rate, which means that you naturally burn a bit more energy. The best thing with exercise is doing something you really enjoy, so you can do it regularly. And as thyroid sufferers, you do need to take your thyroid health into account as well. Gentle and persistent does the job, as is listening to your body. Yes, you can do some strenuous exercises, but it is important not to over-exert yourself, as this will be counterproductive for your body as well as your mind.
14% seems very low. I guess you must feel comfortable at that though. I was always advised (before being hypothyroid) that some ‘covering’ was essential so there was some ‘backup’ should you be ill with a NonThyroid Disease. Old woman’s tale perhaps.
A male close to me is 20% (19% considered too low) and its very unattractive IMO. He looks like something from a concentration camp. I hope your muscles are more attractive and fill out your skin adequately.
Hi Danielj1, I think the extra lean muscle is great. Why worry about a number on a scale when if you're slim, healthy and eat well - life is good. Enjoy and stop worrying about a number.
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The good thing about Withings is that they integrate with my home automation system, so I can use the resulting data any way that I want rather than rely on the Withings app.
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Intermittent fasting (daily 16:8) while taking Levothyroxine - to control weight. Your thoughts please, Is this ok or not advisable?
