Help navigating weight loss with under active thyroid

[JAA431]

Hi all, I’m looking for help and advice with hypothyroidism and hopefully weight loss.

I have recently been told within the last 5 weeks that I have hypothyroidism.
i have started with a low dose of 25 mg with a blood test to review this in the next few weeks.

I have felt a slight difference in the last week with the tiredness however some days are better than others.

my main issue is the trying to loose weight and any advice is welcome or will I just need to admit defeat.

I am not awful however I am not comfortable in myself. I am 5 ft 6 and bounce between 73 to 75 kilos. I would love to loose 10 kilos ideally.

I try to eat as healthy as I can and I do a boot camp type workout once a week and try to work out when I can but with two children under 5 and the exhaustion I’m finding it quite hard.
The doctor has recommended fasting 8/16 however I also find this quite hard as due to kids clubs we don’t tend to eat until half 6/7 so starving myself all morning I find really hard and get quite irritable.

any advice welcome on having an under active thyroid as I just want to feel better in myself!

Give yourself time to get on the right dose of thyroxine. I’m on 125.
I calorie count, eat higher protein and lower carbs. The fatigue for me is the worse part and it does affect what you can do. As your levels become more normal you will notice a difference.

Firstly do not admit defeat this is what I did when I was diagnosed and gained a significant amount of weight from having that attitude I just thought I won't be able to lose weight so what's the point. I won't lie to you its significantly harder to lose weight and maintain weight but it absolutely is possible. Although I had to do a stricter diet then iv done before. I now have a protein shake for breakfast and lunch and then a healthy evening meal.

I take 100mg thyroxine and it hasn’t stopped weight loss. It’s not a quick process and I loose less then I used to but it does come off all be it slowly. Give yourself time to get to the right dose but once that happens weight loss is entirely possible.

Thank you for your replies everyone.
good to know I just have to be patient and get on the right dose I’m guessing this will just take time and many blood tests. The joys!

Definitely struggling with the tiredness but I’m guessing that will get better when the dose is right.

can I ask roughly how many calories you try and stick too.
thanks again 😊

Don't admit defeat because for all you know it might not even affect your weight/loss.

Mine was 'very underactive' according to the doctor when it was discovered 3 years ago, yet it never affected my weight.

I've been on 100mg of Levothyroxine for 2.5 years and my weight is still unaffected.

For weight loss I stick to 1500 cals. I’m 5 foot 5 and quite active (15000 steps a day). Everyone is different though and will depend on your current weight, height etc. There are lots of on line calculators you can use to get an idea. My age (52) and being post menopause prob has an impact too but I generally loose about 0.5kg a fortnight when on a deficit. I can’t tolerate any lower calories though so just need to make it work. Good luck

Another one who is hypo (on 125) and has lost 25lbs this year.

Meds will sort tiredness so you aren’t reaching for sugar.

I’d work out your TDEE, minus 500 cals a day and aim for that. If you’re struggling with hunger make a big batch of a filling low calorie veg soup and have more of that. Plus apples, carrots.

Good luck getting it sorted. 25 is a very low dose. When I started meds (50) I did a combination of IF and cutting out a lot of the processed stuff I relied on to give me energy through the day.

I kept that weight off for over 2 years, then my dose needed adjusting, but took ages and life was stressful, so now I'm back on a good dose for me and trying to turn things around.

For me IF works because it cuts out the evening snacking, but my eating window is roughly 9:30-530.

Do not try to lose weight until your thyroxine dose is optimised (you need a TSH around 1 and FT4 and FT3 toward s the top of the ranges and you should feel well). Dieting reduces your thyroid hormone, and do not only make you feel more unwell, but obviously lower your metabolism further and ca no therefore be completely counterproductive. Strenuous exercise also does the same thing so anything more than gentle.walking and swimming should be avoided until your thyroid hormone optimised. Definitely do not try to reduce carbs as thyroid needs carbs to function. I tried to do this before I was diagnosed as was putting on weight and made myself really unwell.

It would be a good idea if you can to not overeat of course and as above keep up gentle exercise.

25 mcg is a very low staring dose usually reserved for the elderly or those with a heart condition. Why has the doctor started so low?

Either way, your boss should be refine every 6-8 weeks until your thyroid hormone is optimal and you feel well. At that point you can start looking at diet and harder exercise.

I take 100mcg and have done for over 20 years. My endocrinologist said that TSH should stablise between 0.5 and 2. Keep on pushing until you feel
totally normal.

Hello all thank you all for all the advice I appreciate it all.
my dose has increased to 50 with another blood test soon.
im assuming my doctors want to start slow and increase after seeing every blood test.
im not seeing improvements yet but I’m sure I’ll get there.

i wanted to ask as so many of you have experienced this for advice other than weight loss.

im experiencing quite abit of hair loss and also sad moods where I just cry. I couldn’t even tell you what I’m crying about. It seems my mood is very up and down. I’m just wondering if this is normal and hormones adjusting.
I wish doctors would give you a manual on this rather than here’s some tablets, good bye.
many thanks!

I found I was deficient in Vit D, B12, folate and iron... but only because I asked them to test everything and then interpreted the results myself by joining the Iron protocol group on FB and learning what optimal scores are e.g. your ferritin should be at 100 in order for your body to be able to convert your Levo properly. Mind blown. Much better since I got it all under control but weight a big issue!

So in short yes you'll need to do research yourself, work out what to do because they either don't know or don't care!