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May 13, 2024 · For folks with hypothyroidism who have a slowed metabolism, weight training can be a game changer for your health. Plus, you only need to do weight training twice weekly to reap the benefits. 4. Eat 5 Servings of Fruits and Vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are packed with minerals and vitamins that help you feel your best.
- Overview
- Ginny on shifting away from calorie-counting
- Danna on focusing on health choices that are in her control
- Charlene on focusing on day-to-day decisions, not the scale
- Tips for losing weight while dealing with hypothyroidism
How we see the world shapes who we choose to be — and sharing compelling experiences can frame the way we treat each other, for the better. This is a powerful perspective.
If you have hypothyroidism, you might deal with daily symptoms like nausea, fatigue, weight gain, constipation, feeling cold, and depression.
While the symptoms that accompany hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid), can disrupt several parts of your life, weight gain seems to be one area that causes significant distress and frustration.
When your thyroid is underactive, your metabolism slows down, which can lead to weight gain.
Hypothyroidism is typically diagnosed in adulthood, but many people will tell you they remember struggling with their weight and other symptoms for years.
Hypothyroidism becomes more pronounced with age and is far more common in women than men. In fact, 20 percent of women in the United States will develop the condition by age 60.
On being diagnosed
For three years, Mahar followed her doctor’s advice. “I used a popular weight loss program and tracked my food consumption and exercise religiously,” she shares with Healthline. At first, she was able to drop some weight, but after six months, her body refused to budge. And in spite of her calorie-restricted diet, she started gaining weight. As far as thyroid medication, in 2011 her doctor started her out on levothyroxine (she’s now taking the brand Tirosint). While treatment can lead to losing any weight gained from an underactive thyroid, that’s often not the case. Mahar says she’s had to come to a deeper acceptance of her body. “With an underactive thyroid, calorie restriction doesn’t work the way it does for people with normal thyroid function,” she explains. Because of this, she’s had to shift her mindset from an attitude of opposition to her body to an attitude of love and care for her body. Mahar says she’s been able to maintain what feels like a healthy, acceptable size, and most importantly, a level of strength and energy that enables her to pursue her dreams and be the person she wants to be. “Sure, I’d love to lose 10 pounds, but with hypothyroidism, sometimes not gaining more weight can be as much of a victory as losing it,” she says. Mahar feels that message is important for other thyroid patients to hear so that they don’t give up when the scale doesn’t reflect their efforts.
Making changes for the future
Mahar ditched calorie restriction as a form of weight loss, and now aims for high-nutrient, anti-inflammatory meals composed of organic produce, healthy fats, high-quality animal protein, and some gluten-free grains. “I no longer count calories, but I keep an eye on my weight, and most importantly, I listen to my body,” she says. By changing her dieting mentality, Mahar says she’s restored her health. “It feels like someone turned the lights back on inside me, after four years of being in the dark,” she says. In fact, since making this shift in 2015, her Hashimoto’s antibodies have gone down by half and continue to drop. “I feel so much better and rarely get sick — It’s not an overstatement to say that I got my life back.”
Danna Bowman, co-founder of Thyroid Refresh, always assumed that the weight fluctuations she experienced as a teen were a normal part of life. In fact, she blamed herself, thinking she wasn’t eating right or exercising enough.
As a teen, she says the amount she wanted to lose was never more than 10 pounds, but it always seemed like a monumental task. Weight was easy to put on and difficult to take off, thanks to her hormones.
Charlene Bazarian was 19 years old when she noticed her weight start to climb. In an effort to drop what she thought was the “Freshman 15,” Bazarian cleaned up her eating and exercised more. Yet her weight continued to climb. “I went to several doctors, who each said I was fine,” says Bazarian.
It wasn’t until her mother, who also has hypothyroidism, suggested that she see her endocrinologist, that things made sense.
Achieving healthy weight loss starts with finding the right doctor that understands your situation and is willing to look beyond calorie restriction. Additionally, there are lifestyle changes you can make. Mahar and Bowman share four tips for losing weight while dealing with hypothyroidism.
1.Listen to your
body. Being mindful of what your body is
telling you is one of the most important steps you can take, Bowman says. “What
works for one person may or may NOT work for you,” she explains. Learn to pay
attention to the signals your body is giving you and adjust based on those
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Feb 7, 2024 · Vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 is obtained through food and made in the body after sun exposure, says Papanos. Research indicates that low levels of the nutrient are linked with autoimmune hypothyroidism ...
- Diet for hypothyroidism. Whether you’re trying to lose a few or 20-plus pounds, the best diet for hypothyroidism weight loss is one that provides your thyroid gland with the nourishment it needs to bring balance back to your thyroid hormones.
- Exercise and well-being. Exercise is important for weight loss, but it’s also a key part of naturally supporting improved thyroid function. There’s just one problem: hypothyroidism can sometimes lead to a vicious cycle where exercise seems next to impossible.
- Supplements and vitamins. Hypothyroidism is often a sign that you are deficient in certain key compounds your thyroid needs for healthy function. Thanks to ample research in this area, we know which vitamins, minerals and other natural supplements help the thyroid return to a balanced state.
- Can Hypothyroidism Medication Cause Weight Gain? Are you taking prescription thyroid medication and still gaining weight? In some cases, a common side effect of medication for low thyroid, including Synthroid, is an increase to your appetite, which may result in overeating (and weight gain).
Weight loss with hypothyroidism can be a lot harder—and it makes some people want to give up altogether. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) includes the calories your body burns to keep you alive: powering your heart beat, growing and repairing cells, adjusting hormones, and breathing.
Jun 11, 2019 · Dr. Apovian agrees: " [People with hypothyroidism] can lose weight, but they have to do more resistance and cardio than the average person." Shoot for about 30 minutes to an hour of activity five ...
Oct 13, 2023 · Obesity, lack of exercise, insulin resistance, declining progesterone, and hypothyroidism can all lead to excess estrogen. Estrogen dominance tends to occur in 3 different ways (and each is important for understanding how to treat it): 1. Too much estrogen with “normal” progesterone levels. 2.
