Gained 7 lbs that won't come off no matter what I do, please advise me page 2

[helpmelose7lbs]

I am hypothyroid female 5´4 weight 130 pounds(41 years old) been well over 35 years in weight hell(very heavy) til this last year. I think you are eating too LITTLE. I get my thyroid tested every two months right now and have lowered my medication but i consume at least 2000 calories daily. I find the more I eat the more I loose but becareful with the carb amounts . I eat normally 1 to 2 protein per body mass. My suggestion is to eat lots of protein and only if you feel like it to eat vegetables. I did not eat hardly any fruit but recently trying to put it in. I am trying out spirulina and chorella (2 day in) to help with vitamin and bowel problems (constipation at times). I will say I took spirulina in powder with a fruit shake and i immediately felt energized from it. I also noticed my appetite seem to be better controlled as well. You may want to see about these but research them first. As far as I can tell if i consume high amounts of protein and fat but keep my carbs in Mark's recommended carbs consumption zone.
How to Succeed with the Primal Blueprint | Mark's Daily Apple
You may want to cut the dairy as well to see if you are having some aftereffects from this.

Hi Tarna. Thank you so much for the info regarding spirulina and chorella. I am very irregular. And for the tip regarding 1-2 protein per body mass.
I'm glad that you have escaped weight hell. It sounds like you are in a good place now. Thanks for helping me.

[Nady]

Hi SBHikes. I read conflicting opinions regarding the effect of fasting on metabolism. I am so afraid of doing anything to make my already slow metabolism even slower. Does anyone who has fasted have an opinion on this? Does it lower your metabolism because you think you are in a famine?

Thanks.

Oh yeah~ for me, fasting is the human equivalent of rebooting the computer! It gives the body a chance to houseclean and get rid of the 'junk'. Look at it this way~ do you think cavemen had a constant supply of food? Metabolism doesn't slow down because you miss a meal or two~ it takes longer term famine to trigger 'conservation' mode and even then, metabolism returns to normal when food intake becomes regular again.

Personally, I think all these *ruins your metabolism* warnings comes from the USDA, because it sure doesn't jive with our evolution!

[helpmelose7lbs]

Nady, what you say makes sense.

Here is the mystery: why have I gained one pound per month over the past 7 months with absolutely no change in diet and exercise or any other lifestyle change that would be impactful upon metabolism? I know that metabolism slows with age, but this seems like a steep drop.

The T4 component of my thyroid medication was increased twice during this past 7 month period, and I wonder if T4 somehow effects insulin levels, and if increased insulin levels may have caused this? Although let me stress that I have never been diabetic.

[dkd2001]

Thyroid problems are often tied up with leptin and insulin -- they do all interact. How in your case, is the question. You may also want to check on reverse T-3, a marker for leptin resistance (see Jack Krause's blog.) At least your doc is open to bio-identical hormones, so is probably more open-minded than the average MD. Keep looking and you will find the key. (At least you are better off than my 41 year old niece -- she was gaining a pound a week -- and it did turn out to be a hormone imbalance.)

[Nady]

I can't advise you on any medication you take, but i can tell you that doing IF (intermittent fasting) or something like Fast-5 might give your body the time it needs to balance itself~ Many medications address one issue but have a side effect that unbalances something else ~ everyone's different, even if this isn't a common side effect, it still may be true for you~ might be something you want to discuss with your doctor~

[Honey Crisp]

Hi Honey Crisp. So sorry that you are having this same weight struggle. If you have an underactive thyroid, do not let them restrict you to T4 only. I take a combo of T4 and T3 and feel much better with the addition of the T3. Although it has not helped my metabolism...

This is exactly what my new doc said to me.....

[sbhikes]

Hi SBHikes. I read conflicting opinions regarding the effect of fasting on metabolism. I am so afraid of doing anything to make my already slow metabolism even slower. Does anyone who has fasted have an opinion on this? Does it lower your metabolism because you think you are in a famine?

Thanks.

The first thing to understand is that your body responds to food metabolically. A short fast is also responded to metabolically. We're not talking starvation. 15 hours without food is all it may take and you can be asleep for part of that. Don't do it unless it's easy and pleasurable to do it. You have to be ready. It helps if your body is adapted enough that it can handle long periods of time in a state of ketosis, or that it can go in and out of ketosis easily, because that's what the fast will do. Put you in ketosis.

As an example of how easy it should be, I had an all meat breakfast today and it is my plan not to eat until breakfast tomorrow. So far I have had absolutely no hunger. I feel totally calm and normal. If I feel ravenous tonight I'll eat dinner, but I'm expecting that I won't feel hungry even later tonight.

The time off from eating will rev up my metabolism because hormones that don't normally get a chance to fire while I'm regularly fed get a chance to do their thing. I learned a lot of Dr. Eade's website here, especially reading the comments:

The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. » Fast way to better health

One thing I was really impressed with reading the comments was how many women, especially older ones like me, had great success with this kind of fasting. Whereas almost everywhere you read from older women having trouble losing weight on primal diets, you read lots of reports of success in losing weight and improved health on topics regarding intermittent fasting.

It's my plan to do this on purpose only once a week. Not every day. Not grit my teeth through it. If I'm hungry I will break the fast. The point is to feel great, not suffer.

Mark's got some stuff on it too but I haven't read it all yet.
Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy? | Mark's Daily Apple