Ooh, I like the idea of that, Janet 1973, I will make myself one, I have no mint teabags but I do have some fresh mint growing in the greenhouse, thanks for the tip 🙂

Thanks for reporting Bill. More trash.

Hi Hashimoto, yes its a good one to have in the evening if you are craving a cocktail!

Hi Janet1973, what trash have I missed?? I’m agog!

Agog! What a great word! I need to use that somewhere soon. It was just a link to a ‘miracle cure’ for hypothyroid. If only! …Bill had it removed, god bless him!

Hi janet1973, thanks. Bill is amazing, we are so lucky to have him. He was right when be said we will get a lot more of that as the site has more of us posting. Im having your minty drink in a mo 🙂

Hi janet, just drinking my mocktail! Delicious! My son loves mint teas so I’m passing on your idea to him 🙂

Very pleased to be of service 😉

Hi Hashimoto
Well done.
Penny

Thanks Penny 🙂

I’m interested to know if anyone has any views on soya milk? I know there is an ongoing debate about the safety of soya products, particularly for thyroid sufferers. I have always liked soya milk but am now having a lot more with tea and coffee as it is less carbs than cow’s milk.

I use almond milk which is really nice and quite low calorie. Of course it should be the unsweetened one which is not quite so nice!

A general question for hypothyroid people. Would having a couple of glasses of red wine with one’s meal completely sabotage any weight loss?

Michael mentions in his book that if you are going to drink it’s better to have spirits in small amounts but preferably not at all! I have always found that it stimulates my appetite. If you are asking from a thyroid point of view I have not found it a prob but I hardly drink at all. The inspiring Hashimoto mentions she had a few glasses while doing this and she has had great success.
Good luck 🙃

Thanks Purplepenguin. I have been doing the LSD for 5 days but no weight loss. I can only think that it must be the wine.

Hi carommartin
Oh that is disappointing. I have also been on it for a short time day six today but am only going to weigh myself once a week. Are you drinking all that water? There was also some chat about ketosis I think it was Bill1954 ( hope I got that year right!) and are using one of the many apps for calorie counting? Keep at it you can do it 🙃

Yes Purplepenguin, I saw the chat about ketosis too but I don’t really understand it. I wasn’t sure if it just applied to diabetics which I am not. No I haven’t been using an app this time for calorie counting. Can you recommend one? Also I don’t think I’m drinking enough water really and am trying to address that. I weigh myself every day. I don’t really believe I can do it as I’ve tried before since being hypo and nothing seems to work except starvation!

Ketosis is essential to anyone wanting to lose weight, not just diabetics. When our bodies are in ketosis we know it is fat we are burning and not other things like muscle, glycogen or just water loss. We achieve ketosis by restricting carbs but keeping fats high.

That’s interesting Janet1973. So if I cut down on carbs only, that won’t work? It’s quite difficult to get out of the habit of eating low fat. I don’t even like full fat milk any more. I shall have to read up on ketosis.

Yes that’s it exactly, carommartin. Have a look at a website called diet doctor and search on there for ketosis, there is some really good stuff there. I don’t have full fat milk as there are still a lot of carbs but I have greek yoghurt, olive oil, butter, avocados and especially coconut flour and oil. Also seeds like linseeds. It’s made a real difference to my weight loss this week.

Hi carommartin
Here is a link re ketosis
http://www.m.webmd.com/diabetes/what-is-ketosis
So one of the most important things is the fluids you must drink (I think it’s two to three litres, )it’s a lot but it flushes your system through especially when you do achieve ketosis.
I use myfitnesspal but watch out for some of its suggestions as it told me that cinnamon sticks were over three hundred calories and cayenne pepper six hundred.!!! But that was me entering a recipe from the web.
I know how difficult thyroid problems are, I only have had a prob for three years with my thyroid and I have struggled loads but I was already very overweight and a diabetic.
You can do it really you can x

Thank you Purplepenguin and Janet 1973. There is so much info out there re diets and in the past I’ve read about Atkins and how it’s not good for you so I worry about the fats. Added to which there are lots of calories in them so it’s difficult to reconcile a high fat/low calorie diet. It’s just something I have to get over.

I am only slightly overweight so I think that also makes it less easy to lose it. I would love to be able to lose half a stone in a week like some do.

Someone (carommartin?) asked about calorie apps. A nutritionist friend recommended Easy Diet Diary free for iPhones and iPads which I have downloaded yesterday and started using. Makes calorie counting and keeping a record of food eaten very easy. See http://easydietdiary.com/
There is a huge range of brands for each food you select! Great detail. You can send your data to your nutritionist too https://connect.easydietdiary.com/ I think there is a similar one for Android.
Warning: It can become addictive calorie counting down to the last quarter gram! LOL

Hi Janet
As I have dairy intolerance, my partner also uses soya milk. It doesn’t seem to have made any difference. Still takes the same amount if thyroxin.
I think the juries out.
Penny

Hi Carommartin
Take heart from Hashimoto, who is hypo and has lost 2 stone.
We ve all struggled with letting ourselves eat fat even tho we can all see where low fat has got us!
If you cut down on carbs, there is only protein and fat you can increase. increasing protein has various problems associated with it, including bad breath! And the fact you can store it as fat. But once you’re in fat burning mode ( ketosis) the fat you eat will stop you being hungry, and on 800 cals you ll be burning fat, rather than burning the carbs you eat which is what we normally do.
Eventually we seem to be able to accept that fat is good, not evil as we ve been told. And it’s sugar spikes caused by carbs that has made us all overweight.
Good luck
Penny

Just to give a little hope to fellow hypo dieters..I am on 150 levothyroxin and starting week 5 tomorrow and so far have lost 21 pounds. small fanfare as I blow my own trumpet !! Seriously though..it is working and I have never lost weight this quickly since my diagnosis. Prior to that i could lose weight at a reasoable pace with diet and exercise but after hypo diagnosis it has been sooooo hard to lose and taken soooo long. Frankly I could kiss Dr M I am o grateful ! Good luck all !

Thanks everyone for the comments on soya milk. I’m going to avoid it for a while as I think it might be making my own symptoms worse.

How are you doing carommartin? Just thought I’d check in to see how its going.

Well Purplepenguin, a bit mixed really. I start the day full of enthusiasm and have a good low calorie breakfast and lunch but then it goes to pot. 800 calories is not much and I find it almost impossible to finish the day with a very low calorie meal and stay sane.

Oh dear I know what you mean about 800 not being very much. What sort of thing are you having for breakfast and lunch? I try for soup for lunch filling and few calories then I have plenty of leafy veg or salad in the evening with protein.

Purplepenguin I have had porridge for breakfast mostly and today for lunch I had scrambled egg and a microwaved large mushroom followed by a pear. Dinner was the chilli from the website (hashimoto’s recipe) with veg. The thing is that if I added all those up calorie wise it would def come to more than 800 and I don’t think I could exist on less. Oh and I forgot the stewed gooseberries with yogurt for dessert. When you say you had soup for lunch, was that all? Nothing else?

Hi Carommartin
Maybe a bit too much carbs? If you’re in fat burning mode that feeling should have gone. A lot of people feel their appetite really diminishes. But with the porridge, plus fruit it might be difficult to stay low carb enough so going in and out of fat burning. Then you feel hungry etc.
Hope it helps
Penny

Hi Carommartin
Yes soup only will give you further info later am off to work

Hi Carommartin,
looking at your days food there doesn’t seem to be a lot of fat in there.
I know it can be a scary word but fat really does help, it helps make you feel full as your digestive system is too busy working on it to let you feel hungry and boosts your body into ketosis (fat burning mode)
I know it’s not easy to get much of it into 800 calories but it is a major help, maybe substitute the porridge for full fat yoghurt with berries ?

Carommartin
Are you weighing things? Also drinking the water I have bought a litre bottle of water and now fill it up from the tap,just to help me measure out the three litres. So I am also having oats for breakfast and apple, which i am weighing out. At the moment can’t get on with berries and full fat yoghurt for breakfast and I have a physical job. I am not eating any other fruit at the moment if i really need to I have another apple but thats it. Lunch is soup but for instance today it was tomato,chilli and green lentil which was 182 calories then tonight tandoori chicken with stir fried okra. I am not fanatical about calorie counting as I said use myfitnesspal, as Michael mentions in his book sometimes you go over not by much sometimes I’m under. I have struggled for years with weight probs and am also a diabetic as well as under active thyroid I have alot of weight to lose and I mean alot. I think really with this way of eating its what works for you, I know that some are more strict than others regarding carbs I am following what Michael says in the book not eating bread pasta etc but am eating pulses so there are carbs there. I have lost 5kg in a week and will weigh again next Monday. I also eat alot of thai broth type suppers lots of lovely greens and small amount of chicken. I hope some of my ramblings have helped, maybe if you feel the 800 is too severe you could do the the 5:2 approach he talks about in his book, so doing 800 for two days and just low carb med eating for the others. Keep in touch and let me know how you get on. Good Luck.

Yes Purplepenguin I have been weighing everything and drinking water and it’s surprising how little food makes a lot of calories. So much so that today I felt quite faint and had to have a piece of toast! I have about a stone to lose and am re-thinking how to go about it. I don’t think this semi starvation diet is doable for me but I like the low carb approach. Maybe I will go for the Mediterranean diet Michael talks about (and you mentioned) instead. I also have My Fitness Pal which is very useful for counting calories so perhaps I’ll just allow myself more than 800 and see what happens. Being hypo does make it more difficult and I don’t want my weight to keep going up and up. You have done brilliantly to lose 5kg. I wish I had been able to but at the end of the day it shouldn’t have to make one feel unwell. You said you counted calories – do you count carbs as well? Do you keep under 40 or whatever is recommended? And fat – how many grams would be right I wonder? Good luck to you as well and I hope you maintain your progress.

No Carommartin I’m not slavish at the moment about carb count I have averaged 64 g this week as you will see on myfitnesspal under nutrition you can look at it on a daily basis or weekly I like you like my oats in the morning and that with an apple adds up to 28.6 and if then have lentils or some other pulse it goes up. At the moment I am not hungry so again averaging less fat at the moment, I love love veg so I just slice everything really thin it makes it look more and more chewing involved. Celery spinach,shredded cabbage, lettuce, peppers either in a broth or a salad with a tsp olive oil mustard and vinegar. Thanks re weight loss pleased as punch. You can do it you know I would go with the 5:2 if you are suffering. I also had emptied everything from fridge cupboards etc but so far no great desire for toast etc. I was fond of that but hey all seems good. 🙃