fellow Pittsburgher! Woo hoo on moving up in weight – isn’t that a great feeling?
Increasing the intensity of a workout can definitely make you hungrier, in my opinion. I’m just like you, Ilene – I get hungry enough to gnaw my own arm off after doing legs (walking lunges, baby!)
. As soon as I get home from the gym, I HAVE to eat and better have something planned and prepared so I don’t get into trouble.
I second the ideas of eating more frequently and being sure to get enough protein to rebuild your muscles!
I’m hypothyroid too and don’t think that’s what’s making you hungrier. It’s true that
untreated hypothyroidism can slightly slow your metabolism but I’ve never heard of it affecting appetite. I assume your doctor has you on meds for it? As I lost weight, my Levoxyl doses had to be changed (but surprisingly, not by that much). If you haven’t had a TSH test since you’ve lost the 20 pounds, you might want to ask if you need a new test.
Keep in mind that the last ten or twenty pounds are always the hardest to lose (darn it). Even though you’ve been able to lose to date by just eating low-fat, you might just have to tweak what you’re doing to get the last pounds off. Do you count calories or use something like Fitday to journal what you eat? Journaling might give you a better idea of exactly where you are with calories – high or low – and whether you need to adjust what you’re eating.
Let us know how you're doing!