Weight Loss and Hypothyroidism

Most of us with normal thyroid function tend to think it’s pretty hard to lose weight. Imagine how people with a slow thyroid feel. People with a slow thyroid, or with hypothyroidism, have a really hard time losing weight and often times have a hard time trying to maintain a normal healthy weight because of this problem.

Your thyroid gland is actually a seemingly inconsequential gland that is located in the neck, which helps to regulate your metabolism. It does this by essentially converting oxygen into energy.  When the thyroid is under active, it can slow the metabolism to such a point that the body is just not as efficient of a calorie burning machine.

Weight therefore, gets held on to more easily and people who have a hypothyroidism problem tend to have problems maintaining a good weight.  Many times people with this issue need to see an endocrine (hormone) specialist, since this is essentially considered a glandular function.

The opposit of hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, is where the gland actually speeds the metabolism up too much, and causes a person to have trouble holding on to body weight and body fat.  Sounds like a problem we’d all dream of having, but it’s not such a cakewalk for these people either as it often comes with other unsavory health issues.

If you have an under active thyroid gland, then you will most likely have to cut calories and exercise more than a person with an average performing thyroid, simply to make up for the gap that exists between the two.

There may be some medications that can help as well, but often times it depends on the patient’s discipline and drive to do it.  Medications may help, but often times it takes a lot of lifestyle changes to make it happen as well.