I watched a video by JJ Virgin, nutrition expert and best-selling author, last week, and she said something that resonated with me:
You got to get healthy to lose the fat.
Or in other words of JJ: “A healthy body easily loses weight”.
Now, I too have been struggling for months and years to get this thyroid weight gain to stop, and then to lose the excess weight. I have tried just about every diet
So, when I heard this, it really got me thinking: get healthy first. There are a lot of factors that can cause you to gain weight. So what does that mean if you are struggling with an underactive thyroid or Hashimoto’s?
Here’s what I am looking at:
Optimal Thyroid Hormone Levels
Having a full panel of thyroid labs done (that means TSH, free T4, free T3, TGab, TPOab and perhaps also reverse T3), and then ensuring that my thyroid hormone levels are optimal AND my hypo thyroid symptoms are minimal. It is of no use of your labs are “normal” and you still feel horrid.
Stable Blood Sugar
This has to do with insulin resistance, and that we want our body’s to respond to insulin like it should. Insulin helps to turn food into energy and controls your blood sugar levels. Diet has a huge part to play in how insulin sensitive our body’s cells are.
This also includes stress management, as cortisol can also contribute to making you insulin resistant.
A key thing is to build muscle, as JJ stated, muscle is a “metabolic sponge” for sugar. So resistance training and weight training is key to help keep and build muscle.
A Good Night's Sleep
Sleep is so important, and I know that when I am not sleeping my 7 to 8 hours a night, then something is off. And one night of poor sleep can cause you to be hungrier the next day, which also contributes to insulin resistance.
Lower Toxin Exposure
I focus a lot on trying to reduce my exposure to toxins, so that my liver can work more effectively to help detox my body and help with my thyroid hormone conversion.
Toxins can cause inflammation, so I use natural skin care products, use an air purifier in my house, changed my cooking utensils and drink filtered water. All these things to help reduce the toxin load on my body.
Addressing Nutrient Deficiencies
Being healthy also means that you don’t have any nutrient deficiencies. Being hypothyroid, there are a couple of key nutrients that we need to ensure are optimal. These are iron, ferritin, vitamin D, selenium, magnesium, zinc, to name a few. Please don’t must start drinking supplements – you have to know which ones you are deficient in, and then take action. And off course, it starts with eating good food first, then adding supplements.
Balanced Sex Hormones
This can be so tricky! Those estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels. These hormones has a HUGE impact on the levels of our thyroid hormones, so it is also vital to have these levels checked and optimised. Estrogen helps you burn fat, so it is vital to have it at the right levels.
The essence of it all
I hope this helpful to you. Get healthy first.
Here’s the link to JJ’s video if you would like to watch it.
- How to know if you have an underactive thyroid - November 27, 2023
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- Boost Your Thyroid Health with the Power of Selenium: Why this Trace Mineral is Essential for a Healthy Thyroid - October 24, 2023