Losing weight with thyroid issues


(Debbie McCallum ) #1

Hi, I am finding it difficult to lose weight on keto and am wondering if it is because I have thyroid issues. I am on thyroxine. Has anyone else experienced this and does anyone have any tips to solve this problem please? Thank you for considering this for me. Debbie


#2

Can you offer a bit more info: presumably you are hypothyroid, on medication? How long have you been keto? What do you eat? Do you track carbs? What is your height/weight and what have you lost (or gained) on keto?

I have been hypothyroid for 20+ years and take levothyroxine. Keto since March of this year and have successfully lost substantial weight and inches. We are all different of course but I don’t think that you should immediately assume that your “thyroid issues” are preventing your desired weight loss before eliminating more obvious reasons.

This forum forum is a great place to help you find the answer.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

Welcome to the Ketogenic Forums!

If you are still in your first weeks and haven’t lost fat yet, it may simply be that your body is still re-regulating its hormones. Many women find that took them several weeks, and then they started to lose. So don’t give up just yet.

Another issue can be how much you are eating. If you’re restricting your calories, that can prevent the body from losing easily. We find that when we eat in a way that works with our body’s hormones, rather than against them, restricting calories can actually be counter-productive. A number of our members have reported that their fat loss didn’t start until they began eating more, not less, paradoxical as that sounds.

So eat enough to satisfy your hunger. At first, that may feel like a lot of food, but once insulin stops interfering with your appetite hormones you are likely to experience a real drop in appetite. If you don’t, we’ll help you deal with it at that point, but for now, just be sure to eat well.

Lastly, the scale number is not the only marker of progress. Your body can add lean mass, even while shedding fat, which confuses your scale. So keep track of the fit of your clothing, too. If your clothes get looser, then you are shedding fat, no matter what your scale is telling you. Gaining stronger muscles and bones is a good thing, even if it prevents you from seeing the number you want to see on your scale.


(Debbie McCallum ) #4

Hi, I stayed strictly keto for 5 months tracking food the whole time and followed the keto dudes recommendations. I originally lost 4kgs but this is always the case it seems and is fluid according to the duds podcasts. My hubby and I both did it, with him eating identical meals to me, all be it slightly more food to satisfy his appetite. The weight fell off him but not me. I was hyperthyroid but my thyroid was radiated therefore I’m now on thyroxine. I’ve changed the time I now take this medicine to 4 hrs after eating dinner as I was told this may help?


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #6

This sounds odd. It would be nice to see supporting data. Do you have a link to a study?

It is true that a number of people on keto show lower thyroid readings, but there is some evidence to suggest that it’s because the body uses thy thyroid hormones more efficiently, and therefore the level doesn’t need to be so high. This at least seems to be the impression of several clinicians, based on their experience with patients. But thyroid is a tricky subject, and I’m not sure how much we really have right, so far.

I have run across speculations that the same might also be true of certain other vitamins, minerals, and hormones, but of course that assertion is not well-documented.


(Michael) #8

And that is why it is a bad idea for carnivores/keto to eat many small meals. The insulin response is needed to tell the body there is enough food to propagate the species. There is a current fad to do this, which will cause problems for them later.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

The advice to eat many times a day was devised as a way to cope with the constant hunger of a high-carb diet.

The older pattern was to eat three times a day, and to avoid snacking between meals. Most carnivores who’ve been on the diet for any length of time recommend that pattern. They don’t seem to be big on fasting, time-restricted eating, or any of the other patterns that people who eat carbohydrates find useful.

My own belief is that the human body evolved over a long enough period for us to be able to trust if to handle most circumstances, so long as we give it the food it evolved to eat. Thinking we know better than our body is part of the mindset inculcated by Western medicine, in which the body is an animal to be tamed and ruled, not part of us to be listened to.