Not losing

[shirlene29]

you have to be careful with iodine and thyroid problems..the american diet usually has plenty of iodine but isn't so hot on selenium but zygla is 100% right...a "normal" lab range does not mean optimal and it is only a brief snapshot of what is going on when blood was drawn

when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer ..my doctor got profoundly curious and ran labs on me several days apart. It was eye opening. Some days I was euthyroid (normal) other days I was hyper, mainly I came back hypo but only slightly but because of all the crazy fluctuations I had a full range of thyroid symptoms that were really off the hook.

 

[Zyglamail]

you have to be careful with iodine and thyroid problems..the american diet usually has plenty of iodine but isn't so hot on selenium but zygla is 100% right...a "normal" lab range does not mean optimal and it is only a brief snapshot of what is going on when blood was drawn

the american diet is actually poorly inadequate in iodine. The average japanese consumes 5-13mg of iodine and they have fewer thyroid, prostate and breast cancer issues than we do.

The american FDA is telling us the upper recommended safe dose of iodine is 400mcg (thats micrograms folks).

The american medical community is by and large afraid of iodine because of the bad effects produced by some of its iodine based products such as Amiodarone which is medication for arrhythmias and is based on a toxic form of iodine. If you do some digging you will find that the majority of thyroid medications are actually based on iodine.

Supplementing iodine (the proper form) is perfectly safe BUT does force toxins out of the body which can have unpleasant effects. Toxic halides get stored in the body (in the iodine receptor) when there is an iodine deficiency and taking iodine floods the systems with these other toxic halides such as fluoride and bromide which can cause unpleasant detoxification sympotoms.

Iodine supplementation also usually causes a temporary increase in TSH which causes doctors to panic but TSH values are a poor way (at best) of trying to determine proper thyroid function. In actuality TSH rises to increase thyroglobulin which binds to the increased Iodine in the blood stream to create thyroid hormones T4 and T3.

It is very important to supplement selenium when Iodine is used and higher doses of some B vitamins and boron and magnesium is recommended as well.

Ive been taking 50mg (thats 50,000mcg or 125 times what the US government says is safe) for some time now and feel more alert and awake than I have in some time. I was always told my thyroid function was fine as well but always had a little fat on my core I just couldnt lose no matter how I dieted or worked out. In 4 weeks (without any diet or exercise changes) my core caliper fat readings decreased between 5 and 15% and my total bodyweight increased by 5 lbs.

I do agree with much of what has been said and that the OP likely needs to eat a bit more but I also wanted to let her know that there may be also more going on.

These fitness forums are generally full of 2 types of people. The super healthy who drop fat no problem and those that no matter what they try just cant seem to lose the fat. Those that cant seem to lose fat are often simply told they arent really following good fat loss practices (and many arent) or steered towards various drugs and fat burners.

I simply wanted to point out that the OP may actually be doing things right and her inability to lose weight could all be due to other reasons (ie pathogens and/or deficiencies). Its estimated that 50% of the population over the age of 50 has intestinal pathogens and your risks increase if you have spent any time in poorer countries. Its estimated as much as 90% of the world population is deficient in iodine.

Here is a good link to some decent iodine data. http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml

 

[stevesmi]

seaweed is a great way to get iodine.

they sell them at all health food stores.

also Medivin sold at mr supps has ample selenium and iodine. its a great multi and i will recommend it everytime

 

[Zyglamail]

seaweed is a great way to get iodine.

they sell them at all health food stores.

also Medivin sold at mr supps has ample selenium and iodine. its a great multi and i will recommend it everytime

From my research, I disagree that kelp is a good source. Studies indicate an inorganic, non-radioactive iodine/iodide is most beneficial. The amounts of iodine found in most supplements is no where near ideal and due to a lifetime of deficiency one needs to undergo a "loading phase" to restore optimal levels of iodone to the human body.

most supplements offer 150mcg which is the RDA and is a far cry from the scientifically hypothesized daily need of 6-13mg.

While I do take a multi and I recommend them, one needs to be careful with them. For example, Manganese competes with magnesium in the heart. 20mg of manganese will almost certainly force out enough magnesium to cause irregular heart beats.

While I clearly advocate for very large doses of some nutrients others need to be clearly controlled.

Im not trying to be argumentative Steve so please dont take it that way. Also dont take my word on it, your a smart guy, read all the papers at the above and I bet you will change your mind about 150mcg iodine being adequate. I was once snowed like everyone else about many nutrients but hundreds of hours of research has shined the light on many aspects of nutrition we have all been taught/heard and learned.

 

[shirlene29]

actually, the average public usually tests out very poor for selenium which is vital for iodine utilization..its an overlooked micronutrient

and I dont disagree with you as far as the OP may have something else underlying going on ...any number of which may not be related to thyroid at all
look, I had thyroid cancer..I talked my team of dr's into a lobe-ectomy and watchful waiting avoiding radioactive idodine. I'm usually the first person to scream thyroid, and think almost all of the testing for it is flawed but without other clues and blood work its impossible to know.
and massively dosing iodine is a bad idea when the avg diet is loaded with iodized salt..iodine in excess can cause a lot of problems with thyroid nodes

she could very well be through the roof with cortisol, in the toilet with progesterone, simply yo-yo dieted for far too long..any number of things
its responsible to look at ALL micronutrients because otherwise its just as bad as saying here, take clen..it'll melt right off.

the easiest way to look at it is to log food into a calculator, look at where you're deficient and try to fix it with whole foods rather than a pill of any kind. Next thing I would do is have a meta-analysis done (breath into a tube for resting metabolic rate)..third would be find a bod pod and see what you're actually working with for fat/lean mass ratio and go from there.

 

[Zyglamail]

actually, the average public usually tests out very poor for selenium which is vital for iodine utilization..its an overlooked micronutrient

I totally agree, dont believe I said otherwise.

and massively dosing iodine is a bad idea when the avg diet is loaded with iodized salt..iodine in excess can cause a lot of problems with thyroid nodes

Actually some recent tests have shown that a vast majority of salt processors are no longer adding iodine and even if they were and you were consuming large amounts of salt you still wouldnt get close to enough.

While there isnt any long term studies on what the FDA would consider "large doses" of iodine there are many docs who treat many ailments with iodine and have accumulated thousands of case studies. Once again, go back and read all the papers on the link I provided and you will see when the proper form of iodine is used WITH supporting supplements there are very few sides.

the easiest way to look at it is to log food into a calculator, look at where you're deficient and try to fix it with whole foods rather than a pill of any kind.

Whole foods are always a given starting point but even so many elements you simply arent going to get enough from diet alone. Especially if you are on some named diet that restricts whole food choices (ie paleo, adtkins etc).

Our food sources are so shitty that they dont contain the same nutrients they did a hundred years ago. We are also inundated with more toxins and in turn require a significantly larger amount of antioxidant nutrients. I would go so far as to say optimal health, especially as we get older, depends on supplementation.

At the end of the day I just wanted RebeLee to know that she isnt going crazy. That many people get stuck and cant lose excess fat and that there is likely a very good explanation for it, it can just be time consuming and tricky to find.

 

[shirlene29]

I can agree with all of that to a degree.

I hesitated to comment on whole food choices because of the very things you mentioned too...
It can be time consuming and difficult

I went through something similar..and still fight with it to a degree
I spent three months trying to convince a coach I wasn't lying about my food intake or workout logs. She just couldnt wrap her head around the fact that my thyroid and accompanying hormonal challenges are what really give me problems..
its NOT as simple as calories in and calories out in the simplest context as some would suggest.

 

[Zyglamail]

I spent three months trying to convince a coach I wasn't lying about my food intake or workout logs. She just couldnt wrap her head around the fact that my thyroid and accompanying hormonal challenges are what really give me problems..
its NOT as simple as calories in and calories out in the simplest context as some would suggest.

I think those that havent had to battle hormone issues dont understand the frustration. There are a lot of people out there that DO measure, count cals, eat clean etc yet just cant lose the weight and its disheartening when you encounter a coach or worse yet a loved one who questions your resolve.

Thats really why I chimed in, just wanted to let the OP know that if she truly thinks she is doing all the right things then there is likely another reason why she isnt losing and perhaps give her some ideas on where to start.

P.S. Judging by your avatar, youve got things dialed in, your looking great!

 

[musclemom]

O/P never logged back on after creating this thread (I checked her profile) so most of what anybody has to say is sort of academic.

That being said there's one point she mentioned I'd like to address that basically echos Zyglamail's points ... whenever I see that someone is on a medication like Zantac and suffers weight loss issues a bell goes off in my head. When I developed gluten intolerance I first had the classic symptoms -- e.g., weight started falling off despite no change in activity or diet, gut pains and chronic diarrhea. After a month or two of this everything changed: Now I was gaining weight and had what seemed like constant heartburn. Took me a long, long, long time to figure out the reflux came on whenever I ate anything that contained gluten -- and since I was a vegetarian at the time I consumed whole grains with most meals (I actually was a healthy eating vegetarian).

My point is that doctors are so damned quick to prescribe proton pump inhibitors instead of recommending the patient try allergy elimination diets. IMHO, if you keep consuming a food that your body cannot tolerate (you don't have to be fully allergic just intolerant) even if you suppress the obvious symptoms you can still create a situation of inflammation and set yourself up for leaky gut and a host of other autoimmune problems which can potentially make weight loss virtually impossible.

Also the OP never mentioned her age but if she's over 30 I'd be curious to see what her full hormone panel looks like.

 

[shirlene29]

I think those that havent had to battle hormone issues dont understand the frustration. There are a lot of people out there that DO measure, count cals, eat clean etc yet just cant lose the weight and its disheartening when you encounter a coach or worse yet a loved one who questions your resolve.

Thats really why I chimed in, just wanted to let the OP know that if she truly thinks she is doing all the right things then there is likely another reason why she isnt losing and perhaps give her some ideas on where to start.

P.S. Judging by your avatar, youve got things dialed in, your looking great!

Thanks, Im a shockingly big girl though..if I used the scale for anything other then watching weight fluctuations Id lose my mind..lol