Monday, July 26, 2010
I have been taking Synthroid for over a year now. In addition to that I had a hysterectomy 4 years ago. So mix the Synthroid with the Estrogen and turning forty and the recipe is a flop. It has taken me 18 months to lose 10 pounds. I have 40 more to lose, but at this rate it will take me 6 years to lose it. I have taken the nutrition classes, exercise classes, and follow a strict diet. I exercise 45-85 minutes 5 days a week. The time is split between muscle training and cardio. But now I am getting depressed about the whole situation. I don't know where to turn to or do now.
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Hi RedHawaii,
Welcome. I can understand your frustration. Although I am not very physically active (due to the nature of my chronic illnesses), I have had difficulty losing weight before. Actually for years I never even seriously tried and had ballooned up to 283 lbs last spring (my highest ever that I know of). Even then it took a year before I was ready to face it.
You are ahead already with the desire and drive to try to do something about it. I don't know how much you weigh or where you want to be, but let me share something I read this spring on an NIH website.
"Medically significant weight loss can be as modest as five percent of initial body weight. The vast majority of patients with a percent body fat or BMI that puts them in the top three health risk categories do not lose more than 10-20 percent of initial body weight. Most of these patients, however, want to lose 20-30 percent of initial body weight. These patients feel discouraged when they fail to achieve (or maintain) this loss."
When I arrived at a 5% weight loss, I acknowledged it to myself and others. It felt tiny to me, but I kept reminding myself that even 5% makes a difference in my health. So far I'm at 12% loss by tracking what I eat (with calorie counts and nutrition make-up) and limiting that total to close to my body's Resting Metabolic Rate. So far it has been far more successful than I would have expected without any increase in exercise really.
Also, how are you tracking your synthroid needs? Be sure to have your thyroids levels checked to make sure that treatment is sufficient. Talk to your doctor about this one.
Anyways, I hope that this helps some. And I'll watch this space for updates.