hypothyroidism and weight gain

[omar105]

How to control your weight with hypothyroidism, I mean is there a special diet, or some food you should cut off?

[Red_Star]

It is impossible to store body fat without insulin. And once insulin is elevated you can't burn body fat. I had insulin resistance with chronically high insulin levels so I found that out the hard way. In fact, I didn't lose any body fat during my year of hyperthyroidism.

Excerpt from the article Reverse Insulin Resistance in 4 Easy Steps...

"Insulin resistance can be reversed. My patients do it all the time.

Step 1. Stop Eating Dessert. High-dose fructose impairs insulin sensitivity more profoundly than any other food [1].  That is why giving up dessert does more for insulin resistance than any other diet change.  No desserts. No cakes. No fruit juice. No sweetened yoghurts. No granola bars. No dried fruit. No dates. No agave. No honey. No ‘natural fruit sugar’ Paleo desserts.

You can have whole fresh fruit because low-dose fructose improves insulin sensitivity. You can have starch (Gentle Carbs) in moderation. In fact, you need some starch to maintain insulin sensitivity.

If you are frightened by the idea of giving up sugar, then it might be because you have sugar-addiction. I assure you: It IS possible to overcome sugar addiction. It is possible to give up desserts. Please reach out for help. Your body will thank you for it."

***

Excerpt from the article Hypothyroid and Weight Issues–how to tackle it...

"So I’ve asked other patients over and over ‘”what do you eat?” And I’ve compiled a resource of answers from an embarrassingly large compilation, and culled out all the “losers”. So with those patients who did lose and maintained the loss, whether they are optimal on thyroid meds or not, I found out what they are doing.

First, most of the people have lowered their carb intake–stopped the incoming sugar as well as most anything white. Surprisingly, the majority are eating about 40 to 50 net grams carb a day (ages: 35 to 75).

I see some success with those on Weight Watchers, too, but they don’t look as small as lowcarbers at a higher weight. Just my observation, please don’t take offense.

The following are common sentences I see over and over in answers to my question, and which we can all use to find successful weight loss:

I don’t eat wheat, or flour, or sugar anymore. At all. Not even a taste on a fingertip.

I don’t overeat at one sitting…and I’m less tempted to do so if I don’t eat anything white.

When I’m stressed and I want to eat anything and everything, I have a rule with myself…I say “Self, ya need to go and do something not centered around food for a half hour…and if you still feel you need to have something sweet or a food off the plan, take another 15 minutes to figure out which lowcarb/no sugar/no flour horrible thing you’re gonna eat!

I get on the scale, and I’m so hard-core fattie that if I lose a pound, I want the instant reward of eating something off plan arghhhh!! So…I make myself (or my DH, or DS or DD) hide the scale and I only bring it out once a week or so. I also plan ahead for the ‘Wow, I’m great…gimme chocolate cake’ feeling of losing weight. I have a bowl of sugar free jello and whipped real heavy cream ready”

I pick out a box of tea I’ve never tried before and I  sample it until it’s gone…every time I have time to chill out, I drink a cup.

I keep a list of what I eat from day to day–everyday–and I don’t lie about what I eat. Every week, I go look through it all again to see if I can make improvements.

I try and encourage myself when I have been SO good with food but haven’t lost a thing. I really tell myself: “Myself, you haven’t gained at ALL and you’re eating healthy! You’re not even hungry most the time…and that’s wonderful. So…holding the line another week…not gaining…you ROCK!”"

[gypsy_dancer]

I suggest you read The China Study.  This book opened my eyes!  I've known that meat and dairy are bad and vegetables are good, but it took getting diagnosed with RA and Graves to make me want to do something.  I was diagnosed with RA two weeks ago and Graves 6 months ago.

There is no magic food to lose weight or control weight.  There is no supplement that will do that either, except lots of diuretics to make you poop everything before your body absorbs the nutrients and fat (that's a type of eating disorder - bulimia).  The answer is less food, little or no animal products, lots of variety in veggies.  Processed foods are low in nutrients and high in calories so there isn't any reason to eat them - unless weight gain and disease are the goals!

There are recipes on the internet that make kale taste good!  I never would have believed it if I had not tried it.  It takes effort but I am happy to do it because it means less fatigue, less pain, and less self pity.  I am doing something to help myself.  

Supplement wise - I take Vitamin D because I live at a high latitude and have low blood levels.  I take B12 because some of my meds disrupt absorption and the sterile soil veggies are grown in don't have B12.  The only other way to get B12 is meat, and for me, the risks of eating meat are not worth taking.  I take biotin and folic acid to counteract side effects of some of my meds.  Hopefully I will be able to stop taking those meds, or at least lower the dosages.  I'll have to see how the labs turn out in a few weeks.

Please don't fall prey to self pity.  You can do something in addition to taking meds.  Help yourself.  Message me if you want to know about some recipes.  Good luck!!  

[gimel]

Weight gain can be related to a number of things, of course, diet and exercise being two that are very important, along with metabolism.  Obviously there is always some things we can do to improve our diet and the amount of exercise we get, but if your metabolism is too low because of low thyroid hormone levels then it becomes very difficult to lose weight and maintain the loss.  

So, since you mention hypothyroidism, we should have a look at your thyroid related test results and reference ranges shown on the lab report.  Also are you taking thyroid meds?  If so, what type and what daily dosage?  Symptoms are more important as an indicator than thyroid test results, so please tell us about symptoms you have.  If tested for Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin, please post those as well.