Simple Steps to Lose Weight with Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism and weight gain go hand in hand because when thyroid function is low, metabolism slows down as well. While not all people with hypothyroidism gain weight, it is very often one of the symptoms of the condition. Thyroid hormones not only play a significant role in metabolism, which in turn affects weight, but insufficient thyroid function can result in fluid retention, further contributing to weight gain. Another reason why hypothyroidism and weight gain are connected is that the condition usually causes fatigue and lethargy, which can result in a decrease in activity that contributes to weight gain.

Further, losing weight with hypothyroidism can be especially challenging if not done correctly because excessive dieting can lower metabolism even further. It is very important, therefore, to follow a healthy weight loss regimen if you are trying to lose weight with hypothyroidism.

\"Losing Weight With Hypothyroidism\"

A diagnosis of hypothyroidism is made using a simple blood test for thyroid hormones. If levels of the hormone T4 are low or if levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) are high, the test is considered positive for hypothyroidism. However, even when blood levels of thyroid hormones fall within normal range, some practitioners still attribute symptoms like fatigue and weight gain to thyroid function, believing the symptoms may be caused by sub-clinical hypothyroidism (sometimes called "sluggish thyroid").

Simple Steps to Lose Weight with Hypothyroidism

For several reasons, women are especially prone to hypothyroidism and weight gain, though the condition does exist in men as well. Women are more likely to diet, and when they do, they are more likely to "feast and then fast" too often. This yo-yo pattern of dieting interferes with metabolism, especially during perimenopause, the years leading up to menopause that are characterized by hormonal fluctuations.

Even women with regular menstrual cycles are subject to natural hormonal fluctuations that contribute to the challenge of losing weight with hypothyroidism. Further, women tend to internalize stress more than men, which can affect the function of both the adrenal gland and the thyroid gland.

The good news is that, even with the inherent challenges of losing weight with hypothyroidism, there are a number of things that can be done about hypothyroidism and weight gain.

How to Boost Your Metabolism?

Nutritional supplements, regular vigorous exercise and, a healthy eating plan can help regulate metabolism so that it will be easier to lose weight. For instance, since eating actually stimulates metabolism, people who want to lose weight with hypothyroidism may benefit from eating six small meals at regular intervals throughout the day. To learn more about supplements and foods that help you increase your metabolism and lose weight visit: hypothyroidism and weight gain [http://www.lowthyroidhelp.com/hypothyroidism_and_weight_gain.html]

Simple Steps to Lose Weight with Hypothyroidism

Written by Nicole Francis. For more information on losing weight with hypothyroidism visit: hypothyroidism and weight problems [http://www.lowthyroidhelp.com/hypothyroidism_and_weight_gain.html]. To learn about hypothyroidism, symptoms, natural remedies, diet, tips, and claim a FREE report that teaches you about Tasty Fat Burners, visit: low thyroid symptoms and treatments.

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Hypothyroidism Diet - 3 Steps to Weight Loss

If you've gained weight as a result of your hypothyroidism don't panic. There are changes you can implement NOW in order to, not only help you lose weight, but also keep you energized and feeling great. If you follow my 3 step hypothyroidism diet guidelines you WILL see a massive difference! So just relax and read on.

Do any of the following symptoms sounds familiar?

\"Losing Weight With Hypothyroidism\"

o Feeling weak
o Tiredness / Sleepiness
o Dry and coarseness of the skin
o Hair loss / brittle hair
o Poor memory and Concentration
o Constipation
o Depression
o Weight Gain
o Difficulty swallowing
o Puffy face and hands
o Stiff and aching muscles

Hypothyroidism Diet - 3 Steps to Weight Loss

If so then follow my five step hypothyroidism diet guidelines below:

1.The foods to Eat: You want to go for foods which are rich in the amino acid tyrosine. This is because tyrosine combined with Iodine (more Iodine later) create thyroxin. This is an essential hormone produced by the thyroid gland.

The foods below contain tyrosine and having plenty of these in your diet for hypothyroidism will have you feeling much better as well as dropping those unwanted pounds.

Chicken breast
Fish
Turkey
Low fat milk
Yoghurt
Avocados
Lentils
Bananas
Pumpkin & Sesame seeds
Almonds

Plus I would also strongly urge you to include foods which are a good source of Iodine such as salt water fish, sushi, sea kelp. OK some of these things might sound strange but you can use supplements like Thyromine to get around this. You can find more information on Thyromine on my Hypothyroidism Help blog (link at the bottom of the page).

Please also keep your intake of fibre in your diet high. This will not only make you feel better, but alleviate constipation, which is a very common side effect of hypothyroidism.

2.The foods to avoid: This is essential because what we're really saying is that having these foods in your hypothyroidism diet will hinder your already sluggish thyroid. These foods are those low in natural goitrogens, for example:

Sweet Potatoes
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Spinach
Cauliflower
Peanuts
Peaches

These foods can interfere with the absorption of iodine into your body. This can often result in the enlargement of your thyroid gland. There have been many studies linking iodine deficiency inn diet to hypothyroidism so it's important to know which foods to avoid when putting together your hypothyroidism diet.

3. Speed up your metabolism: There are a number of ways you can do this but I recommend eating MORE healthy meals. E.g. 6-8 small healthy meals per day rather than 3 big ones. Yep you heard me right! This will speed up your metabolism and turn your body into a fat burning machine.

Just remember to keep you calorie intake low for each meal. This can make planning your meals a bit difficult but there are online diets available to help you do this (you can see my blog for recommendations) and the results will far out weigh the trouble this takes to accomplish.

Conclusion: I hope this has given you some helpful insights into how you can create a hypothyroidism diet to suit your needs, make you feel fantastic once again whilst losing a stack of unsightly weight!

Hypothyroidism Diet - 3 Steps to Weight Loss

Author Bio:

Hello from James Wight! For more information on losing weight with a great Hypothyroidism Diet please visit my blog.

You can also grab your FREE Hypothyroidism Diet e-course.

If you found this article helpful you'll just love everything else we have to offer!

Exercise and Yoga for Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is the disease that affects metabolism and so the entire bodily systems. This is because the hormone called thyroxin plays major role in metabolism of the body and this hormone is secreted, stored and released in the body by the gland called thyroid.

As the name suggest, hypothyroidism means underactive thyroid as hypo means low, less, under or little. In this condition, the thyroid gland produces less thyroxin hormone that is not sufficient to the body's requirement and therefore, the body lacks the hormone and ends up into metabolism complications.

\"Losing Weight With Hypothyroidism\"

However, hypothyroidism is well treated and controlled by the supplementation of thyroxin hormone but there are certain methods that can help you to live with the disease very happily and without any complications. Exercise and Yoga are two of the best techniques by which, one can easily keep thyroid gland in its normal state.

Exercise and Yoga for Hypothyroidism

Light exercises like brisk walking, treadmill and aerobics are very useful. They improve the blood circulation in your body and therefore very helpful in thyroid hormone production. Here one should remember that heavy exercises like weight lifting, dumbles and other muscle-developing exercises are not required. You should better do not do that. All you need is light exercises on the regular basis with proper timing.

You can include various sports instead. Sports are both; fun and exercise. Since hypothyroidism brings weight gaining also, sports that burns the calories will be the preferred one. You can go for playing squash as it is one of the highest calorie burning sports. Other sports include lawn tennis, basketball, football and simply running.

Swimming is another best way to keep your body fit and to keep you hormones in level. You need not go for different kinds of strokes in swimming like butterfly etc. but you should swim at least for ½ - 1 hour early in the morning with the water that does not contain any chlorine. Some of the naturopaths suggest taking bath in natural spring will be excellent idea to keep your body fit and to boost your metabolism that has come down.

Yoga like Hatha Yoga, Pranayama (the breathing techniques), Shavasana (the dead posture), simhasana (the lion posture) and kapalbhanti (another type of breathing technique) help not only keeping thyroid healthy, but they also boost your health keeping you hale and hearty. Latest researches also support Yoga and breathing technique (Pranayama) to be two of the best methods to control your any type of diseases.

Some of the Yoga gurus suggest that meditation plays an important role in keeping your hormonal level normal. We know very well that hormones get disturbed during various human emotions such as anger and love. Meditation helps controlling brain chemicals and neurotransmission. There are various types of meditations and you can perform any of one that gives you peace of mind. Meditation along with Yoga brings stability in the mind, body and soul.

These techniques are off the main treatment for hypothyroidism and should not be considered as first line treatment.

Related Article:

Holistic treatment for hypothyroidism with yoga

Exercise and Yoga for Hypothyroidism

Please visit Thyroid Guide for more information.

Hypothyroidism Weight Loss - 6 Tips For Success

If you are one of the 10 million plus people suffering from an under active thyroid you've probably wondered if there is a hypothyroidism weight loss strategy that actually works. Sufferers of this condition have a slower metabolism, which makes it much easier to put weight on and harder to take it off. While there are no "instant" hypothyroidism weight loss fixes, there are long-term strategies to help you lose weight and keep it off.

Here are six hypothyroidism weight loss tips to help you on your journey...

\"Losing Weight With Hypothyroidism\"

Tip #1 - Avoid high fat - high carb foods

Hypothyroidism Weight Loss - 6 Tips For Success

While you don't want to cut carbs and fats out of your diet completely, it's important that you limit your intake of certain foods. Since hypothyroidism sufferers put on weight so easily, it doesn't take that many bad diet decisions to pack on extra pounds. The important thing is to keep your diet for hypothyroidism balanced, focus on the good things like fiber rich foods and eliminate the over processed junk that is so prevalent in our society today.

Tip #2 - Be consistent with your meals

You will want to increase the number of times that you eat each day to around 6 small portion meals. Set yourself up with a meal schedule and stick to it. This will help keep your metabolism moving which will assist in your hypothyroidism weight loss goals. Of course this might sound complicated at first (6 meals seems like a lot) but if you plan it out ahead of time you will find that it's really not that hard.

Tip #3 - Stay moving

Being inactive is bad for everyone's health but its extremely brutal for people with symptoms of hypothyroidism. When you get up in the morning, go for a quick walk to stimulate your metabolism. You should also find little things you can do throughout the day to raise your heart rate a bit and get your body moving.

Tip #4 - Stay hydrated

Most people simply do not drink enough water on a daily basis. This is a tricky one because many hypothyroidism weight loss seekers are drinking plenty of fluids but they consist of high caloric juices and sodas. Try cutting out these high sugar concoctions and replace them with at least 12 glasses of water throughout the day.

Tip #5 - Create a Plan

One important aspect of learning how to lose weight with hypothyroidism is to create a proper diet plan. Planning does wonders and will increase your weight loss results exponentially. Be consistent and don't fall for the old yo-yo diet problems that most people face. These are doubly harmful for under active thyroid patients and can actually slow down the metabolism even more. Just remember that doing the right things over and over is the best strategy for long-term hypothyroidism weight loss.

Tip #6 - Detox your body

As we age, toxins and sludge build up inside our body slowing down the ability to live a healthy life. The best way to combat this is to detox your body every so often. There are several all natural detox programs available that can get you cleaned out and make the weight loss process much easier to accomplish.

In closing, hypothyroidism weight loss might seem like an uphill battle at first but the important thing is to not lose faith or give up. Avoid crash diets because they will end up hurting more than helping. Slow and steady wins the race and overall health and wellness needs to be to be a lifestyle change instead of a short-term diet.

Hypothyroidism Weight Loss - 6 Tips For Success

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Visit HypothyroidismExposed.com for this information PLUS many more natural hypothyroidism solutions.

11 Vegetables That Help You Lose Weight Effectively

How do vegetables help you lose weight? To answer this, we should consider what cooking methods you choose.

Apparently, deep-fried, fried, or stir-fried methods will definitely make vegetables taste better, but at the same time, adding more oil and calories to the vegetables. The best cooking options for a fat loss diet would be steaming and boiling. Only then can you reap greater weight loss benefits out of cooking.

\"Losing Weight With Hypothyroidism\"

Let's see how these 11 super vegetables help you lose weight and improve your health.

11 Vegetables That Help You Lose Weight Effectively

Kelp

How does kelp help you lose weight? Besides being low in cholesterol, kelp is also a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, pantothenic acid, calcium and minerals such as iodine.

Iodine in kelp helps your thyroid to function properly. It stimulates a hormone produced by the thyroid gland that's responsible for boosting metabolism, so you'll burn more calories. If your weight gain is related to thyroid disorder, kelp can help you lose weight. It has also been shown to lower the blood cholesterol levels. However, too much iodine can have a negative effect on your thyroid. Therefore, moderate consumption is the key to losing fat with kelp.

Celery

An 8-inch stalk of celery contains approximately 6 calories. But the mere act of digesting this stalk burns more than 6 calories, resulting in a calorie deficit. In other words, you'll use up more calories from your energy reserve (fat stores and glycogen) to break down celery, achieving fat loss. Not only that, celery provides a good source of vitamin C and fiber (as in Kelp), and fiber is one key ingredient to help you detox and lose weight more effectively. It contains a unique oil that helps to relax your muscles, thereby improving blood flow and regulating blood pressure. It's especially good for you if you're having hypertension.

Chinese Chives

This vegetable is rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus, glucose, protein, vitamin A & C, carotene and fiber. It stimulates the digestive tract and prevents constipation by moving along unwanted nutrients, including fats to be passed out of the body.

Spinach

Spinach carries lots of fiber which helps you stay full longer and reduce the overall number of calories that you consume each day. You can also benefit from its rich content of vitamin K and calcium which help to prevent or treat osteoporosis and the loss of bone density.

Mushroom

Mushrooms can also reduce high levels of blood lipids (or "triglyceride") and bad cholesterol, while increasing the good cholesterol or HDLs.

Winter Melon

Winter melon has the ability to break down and flush out excess fat and water (your weight gain may be caused by water retention sometimes) from your body. It's also a wonderful constipation inhibitor. Frequent consumption of it will help to detoxify your system and trim up your shape.

Cucumber

Cucumber contains sterols which have the ability to lower cholesterol and prevent carbohydrates from converting to fats. Filling yet low in calories, they're a great choice in salads. They aid in digestion and have a cleansing effect on your bowel.

Radish

As radish is rich in vitamin C but low in calories, fats and stimulates metabolism, it's popular as a snack. However, eating too much radish is very "cooling" for the body, especially if you already have a "cool" constitution, defined in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) terms. This means that your immunity to cold and cough could be affected, especially during winter. Thus, eat them in moderation.

Bean Sprouts

These refer to sprouting from mung beans, alfalfa, lentils, chickpeas and soy beans. Sprouting actually helps to turn the starches, oils and other nutrients in beans to vitamins, enzymes and other forms of proteins, minerals and sugars. A single helping of fresh sprouted mung beans contains about three quarters of the daily requirement of vitamin C. Sprouting increases the vitamin B present in beans, including thiamin, folate, B6 and biotin and produces less intestinal wind when consumed. Being low in calories and packed with vitamins, they're also affordable at cheap prices.

Pulses

Dried peas, beans and lentils all contain protein though they do not contain the ideal amounts of amino acids necessary for growth and maintaining healthy muscle tissue and organs. Soy beans are the exception as they contain a wholesome balance of amino acids. They also carry unsaturated fat that metabolizes your cholesterol and body fat, preventing fat buildup. Since soybeans are made into several soy products such as tofu, tempeh, soymilk, miso, you have more choices.

Broccoli

Most vegetables carry lots of fiber that helps you feel full and satisfied easily and sustain your activity over longer period of time, but I highly recommend broccoli here due to its high nutritional value - rich in vitamin C and carotenoids, and also contains protein, all-important B vitamins, phosphorus, potassium, chromium and calcium etc. You'll lose weight with broccoli when it stops you from eating more food, but you'll also gain health with its antioxidant properties and anticarcinogenic powers. Hence, it is a must-add ingredient in your weight loss diet.

No doubt these 11 vegetables can help you lose weight effectively, you should also include other varieties of plant-based foods to achieve a balance between weight loss and health.

11 Vegetables That Help You Lose Weight Effectively

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