Recently i found nutritionist on line, who seemed to know what she was talking about- that HYPOTHYROID, is a whole body thing, but she wanted £2400, for 6 months, with no guarantee that her treatment would work, i thought that this was rather extortionate, for £100 a week ,
I wasn't sure that i was going to pay out that amount of my savings, for no guarantees or for someone to tell me - how to eat, and waffle on about calories, i don't even eat 1000 calories a day , i did an experiment for a week as my GP waffles on about calorie defects and exercise- which he knows im hypothyroid, and he knows i have hip pain even after the replacements - muscle collapsed,- he knows all my ailment and he keep s spouting this rubbish - he actually told me that he couldn't help me lose weight recently !That made me give up on him, almost completely ! i only have a small bowl of porridge sugar free, or two toast for breakfast, and then i will have a small fish or veg meal at night , i rarely have lunch and i don't really snack - but what ever i eat put on weight- even if its supposedly anti inflammatory- i actually deliberately didn't eat more than 500 calories per day for a week, and i didn't lose a pound ! Even when i had a mastectomy - my boob must have weighed at least 4lb- my body put back the weight .i had lost my boob and weighed more after the op- needless to say i hadn't eaten much hospital food , and wasnt feeling up to eating much more than soup at the time, and i don't consume gallons of that - My gp also wont give me a full blood test - as he keeps telling me im optimally medicated !- i take 100 mg levothyroxine !
More unhappy i re read some things on this site- i think my problem may be converting t4 to t3- so i would like some advice on what i need more of to persuade my difficult body to convert this - is it more iron or some supplement please could someone give me advice on what i need to make myu body convert t4 to t3 please ,
Astro
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Astro16
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Having had a look at your last post, you were given great advice a couple of months ago about focusing on your thyroid health/ key vitamins, rather than reducing calories further.
If your GP is unable/ unwilling to complete a full thyroid panel of TSH, FT4 and FT3 (eg if TSH is within range, some surgeries may not be able to access FT4 and FT3 tests), and key vitamins (folate, ferritin, B12 and vit D) you could look to do this privately, as many forum members do, for a better picture of your thyroid health:
I understand that there are costs to private tests, but this will be a fraction of the costs that you are currently exploring re dietary advice. Once you have these test results, members can then advise on how to optimise your thyroid levels, assess how well you convert and give advice on vitamin supplements (if needed)
i know what you're saying, and don't know how to find my previous posts and advice,? Thankyou, - i remember reading it, but i don't remember all of it, i am aware i have to focus on key vitamins, rather than reducing calories, and i am concerned that gps who are suppose to look to curing these things - don't and just want to keep people ill by keeping their salaries paid by the drug companies, i am still looking into where i can get a private proper blood test done , locally as my mobility isn't great, i am still under a main hospital that isn't local for my c,,,,r- that im now in remission from after the op , for the next ten years, - where can i find a printable list of the vitamins i need to be taking to improve my thyroid health and what could help my body convert t4-t3, and how do i find my previous posts on this site please ?
I’m sorry you had to have a mastectomy that is quite some trauma to go through. It’s difficult to loose weight with hypothyroidism that’s the nature of the illness. That sounds far too much money I would avoid.
You say you have porridge for breakfast and I like many others used to think it was healthy but it’s high in carbs. I’m not diabetic but I did experiment with my blood sugars after eating porridge and they were high. I stopped it and followed the Glucose Goddess savoury breakfast with sourdough toast and my blood sugars became more stable and my HBa1c test reduced. It’s just a thought. You could get her book from the library.
I have used Medichecks for bloods but it’s costly.
Do you always get same brand of levothyroxine at each prescription
When were vitamin levels last tested
Exactly what vitamin supplements are you taking
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested
Also both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once to see if your hypothyroidism is autoimmune
Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum
Recommended that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Essential to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Lower vitamin levels more common as we get older
For good conversion of Ft4 (levothyroxine) to Ft3 (active hormone) we must maintain GOOD vitamin levels
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins
That could be your problem. You should be eating more like 2000 calories a day. You need calories to convert. Not getting enough calories means that you don't convert well, meaning that you make yourself more hypo, so you put on even more weight.
But hypo-weight probably isn't even fat (stored calories), it's far more likely to be water-weight. So, under-eating isn't going to get rid of it. Being optimally medicated is more likely to get rid of it, but even so, it's not easy.
Just ignore your doctor's waffle about calories. Doctor's know absolutely nothing about nutrition. But because they're doctors they think they know everything. And they have some very strange ideas! Don't listen to him - especially if he starts talking about cutting out far or salt! Some of their ideas are very dangerous.
I was going to just post this article but rereading the comments I see you've already read it. So, this is just a reminder:
I'm 100% with greygoose 500-1000 calories per day is severely undereating, so, your body will be trying to conserve energy and build fat to stave off what it thinks starvation. NHS calorie deficit advice is just wrong. The best thing is to eat to your height/weight in whole foods, nothing processed, reducing carbs/sugars some so that the focus is on whole food protein, fat, veg, berries. a sharp change of diet may or may not work, it all depends on the individual, but I'd expect 1800-2000 to be an average target for women. I need 1900-2000 depending on how active I am. It will take 'a few' weeks while your body gets used to having enough to eat, then you you may well start to lose weight, or you can adjust a target to be just a teeny bit less than your current weight. there's a website that allows you to calculate your TDEE tdeecalculator.net (total daily energy expenditure). They have some strange protein/ fat/ carb ratios but the important thing to start with is eating enough. Also, exercise doesn't really lead weight loss, it just means you need to eat more to keep enough energy.
(sorry, in re-reading this I sounded a bit fierce. That really wasn't my intention, I was more horrified that a GP would encourage such a poor diet. Deep deep sigh for all the poor GP info/advice)
I agree with you except that the OP is hypo. So her weight-gain probably has little to do with eating - apart from lack of calories. So, whilst the regime that you suggest might do wonders for her general health, there is no guarantee that it will help her lose weght.
Yes, agree with that too, but but if it's fluid weight then that should be reduced with a less stressful diet ... (I lost a lot of fluid weight once I started to eat enough of the right food, with sufficient salt/electrolytes etc). Also, metabolism, headspace, etc should improve - yes, the hypo component adds a deep layer, but enough of the right food should make a foundational difference.
We’ve lived through an age of near total misinformation about which foods are good and which are bad for us. The drive to have us all go “low fat” was probably the worst thing that could ever happen—and yet it’s still spoken about as though it’s a good thing. The only people it was good for were the shareholders of “Big Food” companies, those food manufacturers who’ve got very rich by piling cheap-to-produce frankenfoods high in supermarkets
But if you eat low fat, you simply won’t get or absorb fat soluble vitamins. That in itself causes a domino effect—for example, we need Vitamin D, not just for strong bones but for good mental health too. We need Vitamin A and E and K too!
If you’re eating at the calorie levels you mention, you are by default eating a low fat diet. It’s not going to do you any favours. It’ll just make you feel utterly rubbish.
Time to eat more. I know you’ll fear gaining weight—and you might to start with—but it won’t be much if you start concentrating on the quality rather than the quantity of your meals. Enjoy what you eat. Life is genuinely too short to do otherwise. You’ll feel more satisfied and over time you’ll naturally eat the right amounts. Your body will start to function much better and then it’ll make better use of replacement thyroid hormones. And throw any low fat versions of things, like spreads and salad dressings, in the bin where they belong.
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Lose Weight with Hypothyroid!!
i can’t lose weight & blood results. Advice please?
Confused and fed up.
Help with Weight Loss
