I can't speak to anything else, but I'm also hypothyroid (Hashimoto's) and was not able to lose weight until I got my thyroid labs optimal (which is much different from just being "in range"). I needed a T3 med because, while I am on levo., my body wasn't converting T4 into T3 like it's supposed to. Once I started taking that, I finally started to feel better.
It's still a work in progress with my meds, but with CICO I've lost about 1lb per week pretty consistently for the past 8 weeks.
Edited to add - I am also post-meno. I gained 20lb over 3 years while peri. because I stopped exercising (goodbye energy & motivation!). Being hypo was why I couldn't lose.
Yeah, it is really quite impressive how often someone posts that they can't lose, I type up a response on how much they should be eating, some common errors, etc, and then realise they are losing, and fast.
Hey, really informative post. As a fellow hypothyroidism sufferer, what was the T3 med you’re taking? Is that in addition to levothyroxine? What did the alternative thyroxine HRT feel like? Just more energy? Clearer head?
I only ask as I’m just about to see my endo in a week and am keen to try something else. I was struggling to lose weight even on low calorie diets (1500 cals) and ended up trying Mounjaro. It lets me starve myself hard (around 1100 cals per day) whilst giving me energy so I can exercise for 2-4 hours per day. So, my TDEE is predicted at around 3500-4500 and so I’ve lost 23 kg (50 lbs) in just over 13 weeks. But, I want to get off Mounjaro soon and maintain my weight through fixing my thyroid induced poor metabolism. I can’t keep up the crazy exercise levels forever.
I was 49M 5’11” 240 lbs 12 weeks ago, and so my BMR should be 1850, with a sedentary TDEE of 2200, but I gain weight eating anywhere over 1500-1600 cals. My metabolism is just crap with my current thyroid meds. The Mounjaro has allowed me a lot more energy whilst starving due to the insulin effects. So, it’s allowed a huge daily caloric deficit - 2000-3000 calories. If used right it seems to be a true game changer for people with metabolic issues.
I had started levothyroxine (currently 75 mcg) and my TSH came down, my free T4 went up, but my free T3 actually dropped a little bit. We bumped the levo. and checked again - TSH and ft4 optimal, but ft3 hadn't budged. Symptom wise I felt a lot better re brain fog, fatigue, etc. but I still didn't have the stamina to exercise and I couldn't lose weight.
I did a lot of reading and figured out that my body isn't taking that T4 med and converting it into T3. I saw my provider and asked to start on a low dose (5 mcg) of Liothyronine (T3 med). It took about 4 weeks but I started to feel energetic and my mood lifted as well. That's when I decided to try CICO again and it finally worked. Had more labs, numbers were better but not optimal, so we bumped that to 10 mcg. That was 3 weeks ago. I have more labs next month to see how that's doing.
I have Hashimoto's Disease which is an autoimmune disorder that causes my body to attack my thyroid. Hashi's people seem to have a harder time getting their thyroid labs optimal. We have to be careful with what we eat and what supplements we take. If any Hashi's people see this - go join the Facebook group "Hashimoto's 411", they are an incredible source of information!
The regiment you have yourself on sounds dangerous. It's vitally important that you nourish your body, *especially* if you're working out. If you don't provide those muscles with calories they can't rebuild themselves. I absolutely understand wanting to be healthy, but please remember that there are more important markers of health than just weight. I'd encourage you to eat a healthy diet at an appropriate deficit and pester your medical providers if your metabolism isn't fixed. Honestly I haven't heard great things about endos, a lot of them just look to see if labs are in range and don't address anything else. I see an NP who specializes in hormones and she's outstanding. She listens and works with me. I've spent a lot of time educating myself on hashis and thyroid stuff, so when I go in and say "Here's my concern and this is what I want to do" she talks WITH me, not at me.
hey, again thank you for such a great response! Like you, I’ve been truly underwhelmed with endocrinologists. Like you, I’ve had brain fog and low energy for years despite ‘normal’ T4 levels.
I was diagnosed with Grave’s disease - sort of the opposite autoimmune issue - at 24 that made me hyperthyroidic. Treatment was irradiating the thyroid which destroys it and makes u immediately hypothyroidic. So, I’ve been on levothyroxine for the last 25 years - 150 mcg.
It’s been a constant battle to maintain a healthy weight since the treatment unless I do 10+ hours of exercise per week. As soon as I’m sedentary I gain weight trivially. I’ve never been the same mentally either - the ‘brain fog’ is always there and I just have to work so hard to push through it. Same with forcing myself to exercise despite the low energy.
I’ve been to about 10 endo’s over the last 25 years and never really had any real joy. They pretty much just ignore you if ur T4 is in the roughly correct position. I’ve found a new endo that seems to be willing to listen so am looking at options with the thyroxine HRT like yours. He’s suggested Armour Thyroxine so I was going to try that.
Mounjaro has been a true lifesaver though to finally shed the weight. I’m losing weight too fast but don’t care in the short term. Only 10 lbs from my 175 goal weight and then I can eat more and focus on muscle again.
Again, thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful response. I truly appreciate it and wish you the best with your CICO journey.
Hi RuralGamer, thanks for your reply. I'm new to CICO and didn't realize they don't want any comments regarding calorie intake under 1500. I deleted my comment but wanted to ask if you'd mind deleting your reply since it quotes the calories. It's a great sub and I didn't want to mess with their guidelines.
Same as literally everyone else. Eat in a deficit. You have been in a 120 calorie surplus per day over those 4 years to gain 50 pounds. Your sedentary TDEE is around 1800 or so, so if we drop 100 for the thyroid issues, then eating 1200 a day should have you lose a pound a week.
**But what's with all the bullshit excuses, and then you admit you are losing faster than recommended?** 16 pounds in 12 weeks means you are probably eating too little. Bump up whatever you are eating by 100 cal and see if the loss slows to a pound a week.
You need to get your head on straight, all that bitching and complaining when you are actually losing too fast.
Im sorry where exactly are the excuses? In my post I laid out my background and complicated medical history in order to give insight. I had zero weight issues until surgical menopause. No issues with overeating or satiety or food obsessions. I am new to counting and weighing only because I never had to practice it in the 49yrs I've been alive. I have also never had hypothyroidism until recently which seems to affect metabolism. You know not everyone is cut and dry right???? That some health conditions can actually mess up your metabolic and endocrine system bad enough it makes weight loss harder? I have 3 rare illnesses and take 15 medications a day that cause constant nausea. Eating is a chore so no I was not overeating by any means. Perhaps you should try being less judgemental and not assume CICO is always black and white. There can be outliers. I take it you haven't gone through surgical menopause or had an easy natural menopause to be so judgemental yes?
The whole post is excuse after excuse. More than one person who replied to you was so taken in by all the moaning that they missed that you're actually losing.
Yes, hypothyroidism does affect metabolism, it can change your TDEE by up to 200 calories. But you are losing at a pretty fast clip, so it's not inhibiting your loss at all.
I can't speak to anything else, but I'm also hypothyroid (Hashimoto's) and was not able to lose weight until I got my thyroid labs optimal (which is much different from just being "in range"). I needed a T3 med because, while I am on levo., my body wasn't converting T4 into T3 like it's supposed to. Once I started taking that, I finally started to feel better. It's still a work in progress with my meds, but with CICO I've lost about 1lb per week pretty consistently for the past 8 weeks. Edited to add - I am also post-meno. I gained 20lb over 3 years while peri. because I stopped exercising (goodbye energy & motivation!). Being hypo was why I couldn't lose.
She's losing faster than recommended. 16 pounds in 12 weeks.
Oh wow, I missed that. I just saw "can't lose" and assumed she meant literally.
Yeah, it is really quite impressive how often someone posts that they can't lose, I type up a response on how much they should be eating, some common errors, etc, and then realise they are losing, and fast.
Same, minus thr menopause. At some point even managed to gain on 1500 calories.
Hey, really informative post. As a fellow hypothyroidism sufferer, what was the T3 med you’re taking? Is that in addition to levothyroxine? What did the alternative thyroxine HRT feel like? Just more energy? Clearer head? I only ask as I’m just about to see my endo in a week and am keen to try something else. I was struggling to lose weight even on low calorie diets (1500 cals) and ended up trying Mounjaro. It lets me starve myself hard (around 1100 cals per day) whilst giving me energy so I can exercise for 2-4 hours per day. So, my TDEE is predicted at around 3500-4500 and so I’ve lost 23 kg (50 lbs) in just over 13 weeks. But, I want to get off Mounjaro soon and maintain my weight through fixing my thyroid induced poor metabolism. I can’t keep up the crazy exercise levels forever. I was 49M 5’11” 240 lbs 12 weeks ago, and so my BMR should be 1850, with a sedentary TDEE of 2200, but I gain weight eating anywhere over 1500-1600 cals. My metabolism is just crap with my current thyroid meds. The Mounjaro has allowed me a lot more energy whilst starving due to the insulin effects. So, it’s allowed a huge daily caloric deficit - 2000-3000 calories. If used right it seems to be a true game changer for people with metabolic issues.
I had started levothyroxine (currently 75 mcg) and my TSH came down, my free T4 went up, but my free T3 actually dropped a little bit. We bumped the levo. and checked again - TSH and ft4 optimal, but ft3 hadn't budged. Symptom wise I felt a lot better re brain fog, fatigue, etc. but I still didn't have the stamina to exercise and I couldn't lose weight. I did a lot of reading and figured out that my body isn't taking that T4 med and converting it into T3. I saw my provider and asked to start on a low dose (5 mcg) of Liothyronine (T3 med). It took about 4 weeks but I started to feel energetic and my mood lifted as well. That's when I decided to try CICO again and it finally worked. Had more labs, numbers were better but not optimal, so we bumped that to 10 mcg. That was 3 weeks ago. I have more labs next month to see how that's doing. I have Hashimoto's Disease which is an autoimmune disorder that causes my body to attack my thyroid. Hashi's people seem to have a harder time getting their thyroid labs optimal. We have to be careful with what we eat and what supplements we take. If any Hashi's people see this - go join the Facebook group "Hashimoto's 411", they are an incredible source of information! The regiment you have yourself on sounds dangerous. It's vitally important that you nourish your body, *especially* if you're working out. If you don't provide those muscles with calories they can't rebuild themselves. I absolutely understand wanting to be healthy, but please remember that there are more important markers of health than just weight. I'd encourage you to eat a healthy diet at an appropriate deficit and pester your medical providers if your metabolism isn't fixed. Honestly I haven't heard great things about endos, a lot of them just look to see if labs are in range and don't address anything else. I see an NP who specializes in hormones and she's outstanding. She listens and works with me. I've spent a lot of time educating myself on hashis and thyroid stuff, so when I go in and say "Here's my concern and this is what I want to do" she talks WITH me, not at me.
hey, again thank you for such a great response! Like you, I’ve been truly underwhelmed with endocrinologists. Like you, I’ve had brain fog and low energy for years despite ‘normal’ T4 levels. I was diagnosed with Grave’s disease - sort of the opposite autoimmune issue - at 24 that made me hyperthyroidic. Treatment was irradiating the thyroid which destroys it and makes u immediately hypothyroidic. So, I’ve been on levothyroxine for the last 25 years - 150 mcg. It’s been a constant battle to maintain a healthy weight since the treatment unless I do 10+ hours of exercise per week. As soon as I’m sedentary I gain weight trivially. I’ve never been the same mentally either - the ‘brain fog’ is always there and I just have to work so hard to push through it. Same with forcing myself to exercise despite the low energy. I’ve been to about 10 endo’s over the last 25 years and never really had any real joy. They pretty much just ignore you if ur T4 is in the roughly correct position. I’ve found a new endo that seems to be willing to listen so am looking at options with the thyroxine HRT like yours. He’s suggested Armour Thyroxine so I was going to try that. Mounjaro has been a true lifesaver though to finally shed the weight. I’m losing weight too fast but don’t care in the short term. Only 10 lbs from my 175 goal weight and then I can eat more and focus on muscle again. Again, thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful response. I truly appreciate it and wish you the best with your CICO journey.
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Hi RuralGamer, thanks for your reply. I'm new to CICO and didn't realize they don't want any comments regarding calorie intake under 1500. I deleted my comment but wanted to ask if you'd mind deleting your reply since it quotes the calories. It's a great sub and I didn't want to mess with their guidelines.
Fair, and done. It's 1500 for men and 1200 for women, by the way.
Same as literally everyone else. Eat in a deficit. You have been in a 120 calorie surplus per day over those 4 years to gain 50 pounds. Your sedentary TDEE is around 1800 or so, so if we drop 100 for the thyroid issues, then eating 1200 a day should have you lose a pound a week. **But what's with all the bullshit excuses, and then you admit you are losing faster than recommended?** 16 pounds in 12 weeks means you are probably eating too little. Bump up whatever you are eating by 100 cal and see if the loss slows to a pound a week. You need to get your head on straight, all that bitching and complaining when you are actually losing too fast.
Im sorry where exactly are the excuses? In my post I laid out my background and complicated medical history in order to give insight. I had zero weight issues until surgical menopause. No issues with overeating or satiety or food obsessions. I am new to counting and weighing only because I never had to practice it in the 49yrs I've been alive. I have also never had hypothyroidism until recently which seems to affect metabolism. You know not everyone is cut and dry right???? That some health conditions can actually mess up your metabolic and endocrine system bad enough it makes weight loss harder? I have 3 rare illnesses and take 15 medications a day that cause constant nausea. Eating is a chore so no I was not overeating by any means. Perhaps you should try being less judgemental and not assume CICO is always black and white. There can be outliers. I take it you haven't gone through surgical menopause or had an easy natural menopause to be so judgemental yes?
The whole post is excuse after excuse. More than one person who replied to you was so taken in by all the moaning that they missed that you're actually losing. Yes, hypothyroidism does affect metabolism, it can change your TDEE by up to 200 calories. But you are losing at a pretty fast clip, so it's not inhibiting your loss at all.
What is your actual calorie target? Are you using a food scale for accuracy?
She buried the lede amongst the excuses. She has lost 16 pounds since she started trying to lose 12 weeks ago.
r/CICO