BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Low Carb and losing weight with hypothyroidism

I have found the only way to lose weight with hypothyroidism is to go low carb. I try to eat just two small servings of whole grains a day and 1 or 2 servings of fruit. It's hard to stick with, that's why I'm entering the weight loss challenge. I also have multiple food allergies to gluten, dairy, eggs and legumes .I'll be glad to offer any low carb, gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, legume-free recipes to anyone with those food allergies.

Hi Sheree

I, too, have hypothyroidism. I am interested in finding out any low carb cracker type foods you have found that are flour free and taste decent. Good luck in the challenge. Betty

I have a blog http://catsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/ where I post lots of allergen-free recipes I've tried. You're welcome to look at it. I'd also look at a blog called Karina's Kitchen. Try the recipe there for Savory Flourless Crackers. Main ingredient is almond meal. I haven't tried it because I can't eat nuts but it sounds delicious and easy to make. I'm sorry it's a long web address: http://websearch.cs.com/gw/boomframe.jsp?query=sunbutter&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3D38328ec8c0a24762%26clickedItemRank%3D7%26userQuery%3Dsunbutter%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fglutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com%252F2007%252F09%252Fsunbutter-cookies.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DGWYTop%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fglutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fsunbutter-cookies.html
Thanks for your encouragement. Good luck to you too.

Thanks, I will check them out!

I've been hypothyroid for years and have always taken my medication. I was on Armour. The depression and lack of energy I felt (and I didn't notice at the time, but thinning hair too---now that it's growing back, I'm noticing!) I attributed to age and other health issues. As far as I was concerned, I was doing what I was supposed to do for the thyroid. Wrong!

I went to a new doc and got new blood work. Wow! Where the normal levels for the thyroid test were .5 to 5, my test was 120. In the past six months, my thyroid medication, now Synthroid, has been increased gradually to 225 mg. a day (a lot), and I am near the norm, with a new test yesterday showing me at 11. A far cry from 120.

During this time, I have lost 50 lbs., mostly sticking to low carb and low fat. The "old-style" Atkins, that permitted foods of high calorie values as long as they were low carb, stopped working for me. (I kept trying it, though, until I was over 300 pounds.<G>)

I'm sure your milage will vary, but I've found that I really do have to keep an eye on the caloric weight of food, not just the absence or presence of carbs. Oh, I have to watch carbs too, because of diabetes, but the days of bacon and eggs every day because I'm low-carbing and trying to keep my blood sugars stable are in the past. Where they belong.

If you're hypothyroid and overweight and maybe diabetic and hypertensive, and if you aren't improving in spite of your own genuine best efforts, consider switching doctors. They do differ in skill and concern for their patients. The new doc is very careful when he says I've been "mismanaged," but he, and I, are working very hard to get me where I'm meant to be.

Part of what makes this new guy's approach so effective is that he does not assume that we will fail. Contrary, he has given me a goal weight that other people would consider overweight (200), but that I would be delighted to be, and a daily calorie intake that seems high, 2400 calories. But it works. He doesn't harangue me in any way, nor have I ever dreaded stepping on the scale. Even though he probably weighs half of what I do, I'm not embarrassed. (I've visited M.D.s and refused to be weighed, as I felt it wasn't pertinent to the visit. You should see the faces of staff when I do this!!!)

When I went there first, last June, my numbers were horrible. Yesterday, except for the still-low thyroid, every one of them was "perfect!" Shock, amazement, and delight. So many years of feeling like poop. What a waste. So please, make sure your doctor is qualified to treat your conditions, and that s/he has your best interests at heart. I always thought I'd be able to tell, but I guess not. I just know I've been very lucky to find a practitioner who's not just practicing and really knows what to do.

Thanks for listening,
Mrylln

Wow...great to hear that you are happy with your medical care!!! You said you were on Armour...are you no longer on Armour? I was diagnosed hypothyroid about 6-7 yrs ago. I doctor at the VA and they dont carry Armour. I am on Synthroid. My last TSH showed I was above 3 but I have read that now anything over 3 is considered to be high? I would like to get that number closer to 1 and will talk to my dr about it the next time that I see him. I am also diabetic (type II) and after eleven yrs on oral meds I have begun injecting insulin last week. I am finding that the amount of insulin my dr. prescribed isnt doing the job and I am slowly increasing it. I am hoping to get this figured out by the end of Feb.

Keep in touch. It is always great to hear from someone who is happy with their medical care instead of someone complaining about it.

I agree you have to pay attention to more than just low carb and high protein. At least for me, I definitely have to keep my daily caloric intake around 1,300 in order to shed pounds. I've also found that adding at least 1 T. of healthy fat to each meal or snack can be beneficial. I rotate around with olive oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, avocado, olive tapenade, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds as I am not able to eat nuts. I know these foods are high in calories but they help keep you full longer and your body needs the healthy omega fats. Just stick with the proper portions. And don't forget exercise. Thirty minutes a day of moderate exercise can make a world of difference.

Yikes. I can only attribute my horribly low thyroid to the Armour, because I took it faithfully.

Now that my thyroid is improving on Synthroid, everything is going better.

I was having terrible trouble controlling by sugar, but the new doctor increased the oral meds and now it's just great. My last H1AC was 6. Last June it was 11.5, which is rotten scary.

The test I have done has normal values between .5 and 5. My reading was originally 120. Now it's 11. Still not perfect, but a heck of a lot better than 120!

Hang in there and keep working on your meds until it's right.

Flax crackers are brilliant! I forgot the brand name I used to get, but they're wonderful.

I definitely agree that low carb should never be about downing huge quantities of cheese and bacon That was never the intent of low carb. Low carb is more of a "shorthand" way of saying to avoid sugars and starches that are unnecessary. You are still supposed to VERY much be eating a balanced meal all the time - so *lots* of veggies!!

I have a lot of advice on the low carb site about finding veggies that are good for you