How To Lose Weight When You Have A Thyroid Problem

If you suffer from hypothyroidism - an underactive thyroid
chances are that you have inexperienced many of the following symptoms:

• weight gain
• feelings of exhaustion
• hair breakage and hair loss
• mood swings
• foggy brain and forgetfulness
• feelings of depression or just feeling low
• achy limbs - especially in the morning
• bad skin - spots, oiliness etc.
• bloating
• brittle, weak nails
• infertility

The thyroid is an endocrine gland which sits in front of your larynx in your
throat. It secretes two different hormones, T4 (thyroxine) and T3
(triiodothyronine) which are responsible for regulating your body’s metabolism and
controlling how quickly reactions in your body happen. They are the nerve centre
you could say. It’s from these hormones that your body gets the messages to burn
energy and regulate your metabolism. So the thyroid, as small as it is, is
responsible for how efficiently your body burns fat, for how much you weigh and
for how much you sleep. When this stops functioning as 'normal', your metabolism
slows down, the weight gain starts and the other symptoms of hypothyroidism start
to reveal themselves. This can be a slow process and some people will suffer from
hypothyroidism without even knowing it. However, once diagnosed via blood tests,
medication can be prescribed which will help the thyroid to function properly.
The damage to the way your metabolism functions can be far reaching however, and
this is why a low calorie diet does not necessarily get the same result as it
would have done in the past.

There are many diets on the internet - each offering to help thyroid sufferers get
their figure back by following a simple diet. It's an easy market because it's a
desperate market but unfortunately, many of these so-called 'magic cures' and
instant solutions turn out to be ineffective and costly.

However, the way to stop the weight gain and lose the weight could be much more
straightforward.

The answer could lie in what you are eating and not how much you are eating. And
it's about how you are working out and not how often. If anything, many people
aren't eating enough. And they aren't taking the right supplements to give their
thyroid a helping hand.

Common Dietary Mistakes

Iodine is essential to make thyroid hormones and so when taking medication for
your thyroid, you should always assist rather than hamper its effectiveness.
Try reducing foods that suppress iodine like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower,
sprouts and spinach. Also, avoid peanuts, pine nuts and dried fruit. Also avoid
caffeine drinks like coffee and cola. They can worsen the symptoms of an
underactive thyroid. Give up smoking and limit alcohol intake too. You don't have
to remove these foods from your diet but they do not help your thyroid so it's
best to severely limit your intake of them. Foods that are rich in iodine and
therefore helpful to your thyroid are oily fish, nuts and seeds, seaweed / kelp -
sushi is a great source of this rather than the fried seaweed you sometimes get in
Chinese restaurants.

Common Exercise Mistakes

With thryoid problems comes a slower metabolism and even after the thyroid starts
to function more efficiently again, the metabolism doesn't always just just speed
up again. It's important to amend not just the approach to diet but the approach
to exercise in order to lose any weight. Previously, three sessions of exercise
a week may have been sufficient to lose weight and tone up but with thyroid disease,
the harsh reality is that the body will not respond as well to just this amount of exercise.
At least 4/5 exercises sessions a week will get the results desired with plenty
of emphasis on cardio vascular exercises. Ultimately, exercise and a low-fat
and low-calorie diet will have an impact but they will take longer than they
would on someone with a normal thyroid function.

For more information and diet plans and exercise programs, visit
www.ThyroidWeight.com

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