can anyone suggest a diet for me, all that i've tried this year have caused me to gain. i only need to lose 20 lbs this is the last of 50 i gained on meds. i hate cottage cheese, and buying a lot of veggies is hard for me since i only shop once a week (they go bad)this is my typical diet lately.
am: english muffin with 1 tbs. whipped butter (i really don't like to eat a lot in the morning, and i take thyroid meds so i really shouldn't eat anything)

lunch: salad with 4 olives, 2 tbs dressing (40 cals), sometimes feta cheese, and turkey sand with american cheese on rye

snack: 1 piece of fruit (whatever is in season)and or crackers with cheese either low fat cheddar or cream cheese.

dinner: 1 asian eggplant baked, white rice. or green curry with rice, or coconut chicken soup with rice.

snack: same as before or a handful of almonds

once a week i bake a chicken and have that for lunch, and use the leftovers on my salad the next day or have a piece as a snack.

i only eat out once a week, either pad thai or pho noodle soup. maybe once a month mcdonalds(big mac and fries diet coke), kentucky fried chicken(leg and biscuit, diet coke) or loco pollo(leg, salsa,2 tortillas, one jalapeno strawberry soda).

at home i drink water, orange juice 3 or 4 times a week.
i take vitamin b complex, e, and calcium supplements everyday. i take synthroid for my thyroid and birth control pills.

i exercise almost everyday, pilates and about 15 minutes of cardio (i'm working up to more)

i can't seem to get below 144 lbs. and i'd rather eat less than have to worry about cottage cheese, no bread/rice type stuff ( i have a husband to feed and cooking two meals is just too much, not to mention shopping for two meals)

i'm thinking of trying weight watchers, but am afraid i'll just gain more weight on it like i did the others...

any ideas for what i could do?

THANK YOU in advance!

Hi,

It doesn't look like you are getting enough fruits & vegetables. Have you tried having orange juice for breakfast every morning? Also maybe you could add protein to your breakfast by having low fat peanut butter instead of butter. I know you said you really don't like to eat breakfast, but it really is very important. Maybe you could work your way up to some high-fiber/low sugar cereal and add berries.

I don't mean to sound like I'm preaching, but having a good breakfast really sets you up for the day.

Also, it sounds like your exercise program was good enough to get you this far, but could use some tweaking. Once your body gets used to a program it will adapt and you won't see any progress. Plus 15 minutes of aerobic activity a day only works out to 1 & 1/2 hours a week. Could you switch to doing 45 - 60 minutes, three to five times a week?

Last but not least, try weight training. You can start slow. You don't have to give up pilates, but maybe you can do a full body weight training workout twice a week plus pilates once or twice a week?

Anyway, these are some of the things that work for me. You'll need to experiment to see what works for you.

thank you,
so, i'm going to change my breakfast, peanut butter on english muffin or maybe just an egg instead?
and i've decided that instead of doing either pilates or cardio each day i'm going to combine it to pilates than 15 min (or more) on the stair stepper with my 5 lb hand weights. that comes to at least 35 min of sweat for me http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif i just got an exercise ball to so i'll add that in before the cardio. does that sound good? i'm so confused by this stuff i never had to worry about it before and i'm so depressed about how i feel and look now...

It looks to me like there's a lack of calories in your overall diet (too little can often be as bad as too much). Not having much of a morning meal won't help, though if there's a medical condition that's the cause of it, it's something that may not be easily helped. If necessary, ask your doctor if there's something you can do to get a better breakfast.

Some more cardio and some weight training would be good.

Genuck,

Like you I am also hypothyroid. Many of the books on thyroid disease and info found on the web and this boards thyroid site have stated that you have to avoid all refined foods. This means no white breads, english muffins, you can have whole grain breads but not in large quanities. The same thing applies for white rice and crackers. You need to substitute those for whole grain and for brown rice types.

Also the thyroid experts do suggest avoiding store bought meats that have hormones and antibiotics. You can very easily purchase free range chickens and there are meats available without the hormones and antibiotics. If there is a Trader Joes or Whole Foods store near you, there you can find these types of products at very affordable prices. The thyroid experts do suggest an organic diet.

I do agree that you have to eat more. You should incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your diet. You need to eat a well balanced diet, forget that stupid food pyramid , that pyramid is causing people to think they are eating healthy and all they are doing is getting ready to stand in the diabetic line eating all those carbohydrates.

You should not be eating any less than 1200 calories a day. Take your weight and multiply it by 15, that is what it takes to maintain your current weight. To lose weight multiply your weight by 10, this is the amount to eat to lose weight in healthy manner (that is unless you fall under 1200 calories, then you must eat at least 1200.) Good Luck.

Well, I love my white rice, eat it at least 3 times a week Basmati and Jasmine, would love to eat brown rice but haven't found a brown rice yet that I liked. I like my rice gooey or at least not chewy. I eat rice crackers all the time!

[This message has been edited by NancyH (edited 09-23-2003).]

your body may be in a starvation mode - if you don't get enough calories, it hangs on to everything so you won't lose weight. I'm doing weight watchers (gained 50 lbs. on meds 8 years ago) - I'm down 25 pounds in 14 weeks. You have to eat the minimum recomended points for your weight and you will lose... it's proven.

I know it's hard to eat breakfast in the morning for a lot of people. I use to be one of them! I'm not even close to being a pro at this stuff (I'm trying to get fit myself). Anywho...I've tried the atkins diet, and all kinds of other things, but nothing would work. Either I'd constantly be craving or I'd just be plain hungry all day. I started to eat MORE than I use too with healthier choices. Since I have I've been losing weight (everybody comments and it's only been about a month).

The biggest thing is train your body to eat in the morning. It's easier to start of small but have variety! Once I started eating a large breakfast I started losing the weight! Typically I have a 2 egg omelot with ham, cheese, and broccolli. Or I have a scrambled egg, a small portion of meat, maybe a little bit of homefries, and a large piece of fruit. It varies depending on the morning (I have to go by what the college wants to feed me lol). I think the key to being successful is adding a lot of variety and keeping it healthy!

do you know how many calories u are eating? i think u are eating too many and that's why u aren't losing..from feta cheese, cream cheese, american cheese, the tablespoon of butter u eat daily,coconut curry, those saturated fats aren't good for you and they add up very fast. also, u said u eat at fast food places big macs and eat pad thai - those are highly fattening and not the best in nutrition. pad thai noodles is all starch. imo, u can definitely make better food choices.

the olives and nuts are also high in good fat (unsaturated), but because of the high calories though, these should be in moderation.

don't have to eat less, just eat smarter.

Hey chopstix,

What studies can you reference to support your claiming that eating cheeses, butter,coconut curry ect...are bad for you? On the contrary, it is eating margarines and most vegetable oils; corn,soy,canola,and cottonseed oils that are unhealthy for you. It's those manmade imitation foods that are so bad for you.Fake low-fat cheese is the real killer. A good rule to follow is that if it is fake it is bad. Cheese is wonderful for you (in moderation of course), butter is extremely nutritious (the more yellow the better).

Originally posted by girlygirly:
Hey chopstix,

What studies can you reference to support your claiming that eating cheeses, butter,coconut curry ect...are bad for you? On the contrary, it is eating margarines and most vegetable oils; corn,soy,canola,and cottonseed oils that are unhealthy for you. It's those manmade imitation foods that are so bad for you.Fake low-fat cheese is the real killer. A good rule to follow is that if it is fake it is bad. Cheese is wonderful for you (in moderation of course), butter is extremely nutritious (the more yellow the better).

the body needs some saturated fat to function, yes..but too much leads to problems. if u refer to any study re: heart disease, obesity, etc..the common element is saturated fat.

yes, oils that are hydronated (sp?) are bad, as in most margarines.

as for butter being nutritious, it's not. it contributes only 100% saturated fat only. the typical daily diet already has enough saturated fat coming from (meat, yogurt, milk, etc), adding butter on top of that is not "good" for you per se because your body doesn't "need" the extra fat.

are u saying that butter is better for you than vegetable/canola oil? so a diet that has 30% of their fat intake from saturated fat like butter, is this better than consuming 10% saturated and 20% unsaturated? no it's not, recently the study of the mediterrean diet has highlighted how much healthier those ppl are.


the original poster wants to know why s/he isn't losing wieght. even though it doesnt look like they are eating much, significant calories are coming from eating those sources of saturated fat (cheese, curries, etc). likely they are eating more calories than they think they are because of this. this was the point of my earlier post

[This message has been edited by chopstix_gal (edited 09-25-2003).]

Originally posted by chopstix_gal:
the body needs some saturated fat to function, yes..but too much leads to problems. if u refer to any study re: heart disease, obesity, etc..the common element is saturated fat.

yes, oils that are hydronated (sp?) are bad, as in most margarines.

as for butter being nutritious, it's not. it contributes only 100% saturated fat only. the typical daily diet already has enough saturated fat coming from (meat, yogurt, milk, etc), adding butter on top of that is not "good" for you per se because your body doesn't "need" the extra fat.

are u saying that butter is better for you than vegetable/canola oil? so a diet that has 30% of their fat intake from saturated fat like butter, is this better than consuming 10% saturated and 20% unsaturated? no it's not, recently the study of the mediterrean diet has highlighted how much healthier those ppl are, based on the fact that their fat is mainly from unsaturated fat.


the original poster wants to know why s/he isn't losing wieght. even though it doesnt look like they are eating much, significant calories are coming from eating those sources of saturated fat (cheese, curries, etc). likely they are eating more calories than they think they are because of this, this was really the point of my earlier post.

Yes I am saying that butter which is rich in nutrients is much better for you than than that poison canola. So what studies are being referenced saying that the above mentioned items are bad for you? It is those fat fats and the oils corn,cottonseed,canola, and soy that are bad for you. Those oils & fats are the ones that cause hardening of the arteries. Everything I am saying can be found at the Weston Price site. So I am telling you where I get my information. Please look it up, you might be surprised that what the food companies are telling us as fact is in fact very misleading.

Hello, Isn't olive oil even better for you than butter, since there is not as much sat. fat in it as there is in butter and there are no trans fats? Anyhow, the person seems to just want to loose the weight rather than worry about what fat is best to eat.

I have noticed the 2 tbls. of butter instead of one tbls. That means that the orignal poster is eating 2 servings of butter instead of one. One egg instead of the butter would be better, since the egg contains less fat and is lower in cals.

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Magpie

girlygirly,

looked up the weston price article and it is an interesting read, it should be noted that he wasn't comparing butter directly with vegetable oils.

what he compared was a whole foods/all natural diet with a processed diet, two extreme situations. using soley butter or vegetable oil as an example is out of context.

the other thing is, he made many health/diet conclusions based on the teeth of people. teeth is not a sole indicator of good health. lots of people who have a bad diet will still have good teeth, vice versa can be true.

eating whole and unprocessed is not bad, but sometimes not efficient depending on your diet/fitnes goals. for example, taking vitamins. there's no point for me to dig up my articles seeing that u aren't really aren't really trying to gather information.

thanks for your concern over my use of butter http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif as i said it's whipped butter, which is only 70 cal and 7 grams of fat per tablespoon, versus the brummel and brown spread i was using 45 cal and 5 fat. i try to go more natural whenever i can and butter just seems right in moderation opposed to unknown veg oils.

i switched to whole wheat bagels in the am. and maybe i'll just eat lunch sooner. i only have about 30 minutes to make breakfast and get my hubby to work, i'd rather spend time with him than cooking for myself.

and i do think it's too few calories, i just discovered today that my favorite coconut chicken soup has only about 650 cals in the whole pot! it usually lasts about 3 days. and i always eat the serving size on things like cheese and crackers, i count the crackers measure the cheese etc. and the rice i only eat about 1/4 cp a day and not everyday lately. my husband won't eat brown rice, and i only have one rice cooker http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif
anyways, i'm really not into 'fake' foods like american cheese non fat cheese etc. plus my thyroid gives me very dry skin. and coconut oil is good for my thyroid too, so i make a lot of curries.

the fast food is only like once a month, and if i do have a big mac for lunch that's it for the day i'm done. pad thai or noodles is on shopping days, we order that and an entree and just share everything, so i'm not eating a whole plate of it. i don't do instant anything at home, everything i make is from scratch. i never boil veggies, i cut the fat off any meat eat as many veggies as we can afford produce in CA is worth it's weight in gold apparently... and canned veggies are out too. i did get some dried fruit the other day for when i don't have fresh, but i had to soak half of it to get the sugar out uggh!

well, thanks for letting me vent and receiving some advice.

girlygirl, do you mind if i ask what your dosage is on your thyroid meds? i was at 50 mcg for almost 10 yrs and could never get my doctor to raise it even thought i was always tired, moody, my hair still falls out etc. then the pharmacy messed up and gave me 75 mcg so i went to a new doctor and had her test me an sribe the new dose, it was still in normal range http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif was there anything after you were diagnosed that you think helped you lose weight other than being medicated and counting calories? how much did you lose? all my weight is in my stomach and thighs, i can see and feel my ribs, my calves and arms are pretty well defined, even the outside of my thighs have very little fat...

thanks again everyone!

my weight this morning was 152, five minutes later it was 154 now at 5pm it's 151... i'm going to go insane!

[This message has been edited by genuck (edited 09-25-2003).]

Genuck

I was diagnosed in May. I was started off on Synthroid and I was on that until this last Monday. I asked my doctor if I could try Armour and now I am on 30mg. If you don't know much about Armour it is a natural med made from Porcine Pigs thyroid gland. I know it might sound gross but it has T3 & t4 along with T1 & T2. It has only been a few days but I feel more alert and I have even stayed up past 9:00 p.m. You may be still having symtoms because you aren't getting T3. I'm just guessing. Another thing I do is to take Supplements. I take a liquid multi vitamin that is made from whole foods, and I take selenium 200mcg (selenium helps you convert t4 INTO T3), along with vitamin E 400 i.e. and zinc 30 (i'm not sure if it is mcgs or mgs). These 3 work together. I do eat a whole food diet. I am still struggeling with my weight. I have 20 pounds to lose. Since being diagnosed I have lost 5 pounds. That isn't much, but compared to not losing anything for a year 1/2 dispite exercising 3 to 4 times a week, plus other activities like gardening and remodeling rooms (painting etc..), I'll take it. Hopefully the Armour will help me to lose again. I'll let you know. BTW, congrats on making some changes in your diet, that's soooo great. That in itself may make you lose weight.

Chopstix, I can reference studies, but so far you haven't given me any info that shows that butter or the other items you stated aren't good for you. I at least did give you one source. Perhaps you did not read enough to find the article on butter. So please give me some studies to support your claims, I am very open minded so if you can reference something I would be interested in reading it.

girlygirl,

thanks for the info on armour. this is awful, but i don't know anything about t-1234 etc... i've only ever been tested and they say, "oh you're ok". do you think i should go to an endocrinologist? i'm going to get the selenium and zinc today, i already take b complex, e , and calcium. sounds like you and i have about the same to lose http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif i'm going to look into the whole foods thing, that sounds a little bit like my current food philosopy maybe just a bit more extreme. thanks for youe help!

Genuck

It would be a great idea if you go to the thyroid board and read up. There is some wonderful information there. There are some very knowledgeable people who can help you to get answers. I learned alot from those wonderful people. Hope to see you there.

ok, i did 25 mins on the stairmaster!!! 2 days in a row!! today i had ww english muffin with egg&cheese, a ww pita with hummus and romaine, a carrot, some prunes and dates. now it's 9 pm and all that is only 800 and some calories http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif so now i need to go find another 400... but i've made it back to 150 lbs. i think i'm going to join weight watchers this week... any thoughts on that? thanks for all your input!! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif