I had been on diet and exercise programs that worked well in my younger years. It didn’t really matter whether it was a fad diet or just cutting calories, I always lost the extra weight when I wanted to. So, I let things go slack for a while and decided I needed to do some weight maintenance. There I was, doing what I do to lose weight… 1 month goes by and I’m not losing anything. 2 months go by and I am still not. 3 months pass and I gained! I didn’t know what was going on because I was doing all the right things, the things I normally do. Why all of a sudden could I not lose weight? Sure enough, after being checked out, I had an underactive thyroid and needed to go on a hypothyroidism diet. (meal plans and diet info at that link)
A hypothyroidism diet is the only thing that finally worked for me. Not only with losing weight, but with balancing out my thyroid gland. I have already covered underactive thyroid basics here, if you want to read about it.
Let me tell you bit about what was going on with me while I was following a regular diet plan. I would normally take in about 1000 to 1200 calories a day when I was dieting and exercising. The thyroid gland itself regulates the conversion of food into energy for your body. The problem is that when you have hypothyroidism and you drop the calories too low, your thyroid panics and releases even less hormones for this conversion of energy. This is why I gained weight when following a “normal” diet plan.
So, I went on a hypothyroidism diet, cutting out certain foods like broccoli and kale while taking in more lean meats, and low glycemic foods. I also spread my meals out to 6 a day rather than 3 and made them around 300 calories each.
Taking supplements, and making sure I have enough iodine is also integral to maintaining the thyroid on a hypothyroidism diet. I can say that when I began the routine of this diet, within a couple of weeks I started to lose weight!
If you’re following regular diet plans and cannot lose any weight, go see a doctor to have your TSH levels tested. You could have a thyroid problem and not even know about it (I didn’t). If you don’t balance out and support your thyroid gland, it could get worse. Following a hypothyroidism diet will not only be integral to the balance, but if you have any of the other symptoms related to an underactive thyroid, like: hair loss, swollen joints, depression, etc… those will subside on a hypothyroidism diet.
