From September - December I lost 35 pounds. From December until now I've lose about 2-6 (it fluctuates). Granted my eating hasn't been as consistant as before but I'm staying under 2000 cals almost every day and between 1600 and 1800 (my goal) on say 4 out of 7 days. I also still exercise every day for about 60 minutes. The only thing I can think of is my doctor recently diagnosed me with thyroid problems. It's already been about a month since he discovered it but I've had to go back for several visits and now he's getting appoval for me to see an endocrinologist. I know these things take time and I should be happy that they are being so thorough but... I'm getting REALLY frustrated with the lack of weight loss.

Any thoughts? Could this be my problem?

I guess I should also note that when I was losing weight I was exercising an obsene amount. I think if the thyroid is the issue I've had it the whole time. I don't think anyone should have to exercise 2-3 hours a day to lose weight.

Depending on what you weight you are probably eating to much. I bet if you wrote down everything on all 7 days, you'd probably average maintance weight-try to eat 1500 calories every day and see how you do.

It is possible you may have to cut your calories more. The less you weigh the less calories you consume. I tend to keep mine at about 1200, I am very happy if it comes in less than 1000
Kathy

I know you have been told this before, probably a million times, but I am going to tell you again - you HAVE TO EAT MORE THEN 1200 CALORIES!!! 1200 calories is the ABSOLUTE min a person should get in a day. A person laying in a hospital bed and not moving is given more then 1200 a day! And if you are exercising you need ever more!! And the more you way the more you need.... you have to eat more then 1200!

stacylambert - I am about your weight, and I try and stay around no more then 1600 (1700 is okay too, but I like 1600 better) - it doesn't always happen. I also get in an hour or so a day riding my exercising bike and I am losing. I would definatly try lower your calories a bit, but I wouldn't go any less then 1500.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but--you're eating the same amount of calories and exercising less? I agree that you may need to cut back on calories a bit--perhaps keep 1800 as your max instead of 2000? It doesn't always have to be a drastic change to make a difference. I COMPLETELY disagree with going all the way down to 1200 or even 1000...I know you know, stacy, but just as a reminder to others: you shouldn't regularly go below 1200 calories a day unless under the direction/supervision of a health professional.

But yeah, losing weight means your body is smaller and burns fewer calories. Also, your metabolism tends to decrease through dieting (the evil fact that someone who weighs 200 pounds and never weighed more may burn 2000 calories a day, but the person who weighs 200 pounds and dieted to get there from a higher weight actually burns fewer calories ). I agree that you're probably averaging more along the lines of maintenance than weight loss calories if you're already under 200 pounds and still eating nearly 2000 calories a day

I'm with Jill, while you're thyroid could be an issue, I suspect that you just need to drop your calories a bit. When I was your weight (just for example) I was taking in about 1500 calories a day and losing about 1 pound per week.

You also might try changing up your exercise routine or increasing the intensity of it, unless you're already going full tilt.

I wouldn't suggest lowering your calories too much either, it's just not the greatest for your body. What kinds of calories are you eating? How many grams of fat? Whats the %? Are you eating tons of carbs? And how's the rest of your diet? How's life? Stress will definitely keep you from losing weight.

On a side note, my mom's friend was on thyroid medication for YEARS and it never helped her lose weight. Unfortunately for her she had to work harder at weight loss, really watching the types of foods she was eating.

You will find what works, it can be REALLY hard, I know for me to lose weight I have to work harder than most people. Keep at it though! You must feel better, you've lost an amazing 44 pounds!! Congrats on that!

-Aimee

And then, my 2 cents:

What kind of exercise are you doing? If it's primarily/only cardio based, you might want to really think about adding more muscle-building workouts into your routine. Not only do you get the benefit of a very noticeable size difference as your muscles firm up, but by building muscle you can bring your metabolism back up to normal/above normal levels.

Are you counting your calories and monitoring your portions? Otherwise, you might be surprised to find that you really are eating more than you think. "A little bit here, a little bit there" might not be enough to make you gain all of your lost weight back, but it certainly might be responsible for causing you to stop losing.

How sedentary are you when you are not "exercising"? I, for one, have a very sedentary job and home life, so I have to counter-act with more hours of planned exercise than I might otherwise. For me, 1 hour a day just wouldn't cut it.

The good news is that you have found what looks to be a very balanced maintenance equillibrium, so it shouldn't take a drastic change to get things rolling again. Just tweak it a bit, and then give it a few weeks to see if there are any good changes, and then tweak again as needed. Good Luck!

Hi Stacy I'm hypothyroid too -- and was when I lost the weight in 2001 - 2002. Don't worry -- so long as your meds are adjusted properly, you should be able to lose just fine. My doctor explained to me that being hypo might account for maybe 10 - 15 pounds of weight gain, but not all of my 120 excess pounds (darn it - I really wanted to blame it on being hypo!! ) And she said that once my TSH was normal, that I should be able to lose like a normal person. Which turned out to be true.

Once I got serious about diet and exercise, I was able to lose 122 pounds in less than a year, so I don't think being hypo held me back at all. You've gotten some outstanding advice from the other posters about some other areas to focus on ...

Good luck with the endocrinologist!

The endocrinologist that I worked with used to give the patients T3 for hypothyroidism. But do consult your doctor before you try.

To answer some of the questions:

My calorie ratio tends to be right around 30% protein, 40% carb, 30% fat. Some days the protein is a little higher, sometimes a little lower.

I already do a significant amount of weight training. I was doing seperate cardio and weight training sessions, just recently I switched to intervals which is kicking my butt so it's not for a lack of intensity.

My lifestyle isn't sedentary at all. I'm a student so I spend a lot of time walking around campus. I also walk to the dog. We live at the beach so i boogie board and walk in the sand. We also regularly go to the zoo and have dirtbikes. When i say one hour of "exercise" I mean strict exercise, not activity.

Yes, I am very mindful of portions and log all my food. Even little bites of leftovers, samples, etc. I'm very honest when it comes to this because I'm only lying to myself.

Life is pretty stressful and I've thought that may be a problem, but i just don't see an end in sight to the stressful parts at the moment. I should work on ways to deal with that.

Meg, thank you! I knew about your weight loss but had no idea you had hypothyroidism. I didn't mean it to come across as if I was blaming my weight on my thyroid, if that's how it sounded. I was just wondering if it made it more difficult to lose.

Ok, the calories. I have cut back as I lost the weight. I've tried lower calorie in the past but didn't see any greater results. Maybe I'm at a point now where I need it. Doesn't hurt to try 1500-1600 calorie for awhile and see what happens. I'm a little apprehensive about already being in that low of a range at195 pounds because that doesn't leave me much room to adjust as I still have 45 - 60 pounds to lose. What do I have to lose though right

Oh no, Stacy, your post didn't come across like you were blaming your weight on your thyroid problems at all! I'm the one who always wanted to say that I was fat because of my metabolism or my thyroid - when it really was that I simply ate too much of the wrong foods and never exercised. Go figure!!

The important thing for you now is to get your meds properly regulated with the endocrinologist. Tiny changes in doses can have a big impact, so it may take a few weeks or months until you're right where you need to be. Once you are -- look out world!! I think it's all going to come together for you.

Thanks Meg I guess I'll just have to be patient and see what happens!

Hi there!
From your first post -- "Granted my eating hasn't been as consistant as before" -- I think that this is primarily the problem. I'll bet dollars to donuts (just send them right to my house, ladies!) that if you really, really, REALLY are strict with your eating - i.e. you account for EVERY SINGLE THING THAT YOU EAT every single day (not just 4 out of 7 days!) - and maintain your exercise, you will see results. Until your endocrinologist gives you more information, don't supplement your diet with any thyroid enhancers, as this will make his/her diagnosis that much more difficult. You also might have hit the dreaded plateau, so be super strict and exercise and give it two weeks. Then see what happens. And I mean STRICT!!!
Let us know what happens.