Gonna do a little vent here...

The last year I've been trying desperately to shed weight, I thought it might help my dysphoria- I'd have less of a chest and maybe my curves wouldn't look visible and I'd look more masculine in baggy clothing. So I cut down unhealthy food, take away at Uni, and started walking, but I didn't lose anything, and exercising was hard because my body was constantly in pain for some, strange reason.

Cut forward to two months back and I got diagnosed with an Underactive Thyroid; got put on a low dosage of medication, suddenly everything made sense, why I couldn't lose weight, why I was constantly tired, why I was constantly in pain...

Two months on and my weight is the same as it ever was, even with more exercise, even healthier eating, and medication that's meant to help out.
I was planning on joining a gym when I get back to Uni in a week or two, but my chronic pain hasn't improved much either- my doctor, physiotherapist and family all think I have fibromyalgia as well as an Underactive Thyroid...

Usually people get pretty shook up about having one or two life-long medical conditions (understandably!!) but I'm more shook up and mad that I just can't seem to lose weight no matter what I do.
The weight really isn't helping my dysphoria either. I'm classed as obese and I really feel like my weight lessening my ability to pass as a dude- it makes my figure and face look way more feminine.

I just wish there was something I could do, even losing a little bit of weight, but honestly I only ever seem to gain it. Damn broken thyroid and damn dysphoria D|

I was diagnosed with an over active thyroid and on top of that I have a goiter. I was prescribed Synthroid so I have to take that every night. So you aren't alone with thyroid issues!!

I was reading a little article about this and it said to avoid over eating any Goitrogens which would be:   

    African cassava
    Babassu (a palm-tree coconut fruit found in Brazil and Africa)
    Bok choy
    Broccoli
    Broccolini
    Brussels sprouts
    Cabbage
    Cauliflower
    Chinese Broccoli
    Collards
    Daikon
    Kale
    Kohlrabi
    Millet
    Mustard
    Peaches
    Peanuts
    Pine nuts
    Radishes
    Red Radish
    Rutabaga
    Spinach
    Strawberries
    Turnips
    Watercress
These foods can actually SLOW down your thyroid causing it to be underactive. So maybe cutting down on these will help you shed a bit of the weight. Also maybe try a supplement that doesn't have iodine in it. Continue to exercise and do your best to push through the pains you have. Don't let your pain stop you from working out.

I did not hear you mention anything about T in your post. The effects of cross hormones are well documented, wear as cis females are at the definite advantage Just about improved everything & weight loss. If your child bearing, that's a different story. Most transmen are so not interested in kids, more like histo & gym.
Anyway, OA may help. Same as AA. They say you gotta have a bottom before you change?. I did. Four months of prison & hrt has put a beer belly on me I can't burn off. @ 52 yrs, I mtn bike 6+ miles a day in the so=cal desert heat, eat like a rabbit & 5'10" 190lbs never changes lol, I feel your pain. 25% more body fat & 20% loss in muscle mass, lowered sex drive ETC is what cis males face, Another case of it's not whats wrong its whats right. Make your dr do there part "is anything really wrong & is so how do I fix it". Then do yours ! make the commitment to the gym! You can't stop addiction, but you can stop whats causing it. . . "ME"

Good luck! YOU CAN DO THIS. Clear

Quote from: RaptorChops on September 19, 2015, 09:54:33 AM
I was diagnosed with an over active thyroid and on top of that I have a goiter. I was prescribed Synthroid so I have to take that every night. So you aren't alone with thyroid issues!!

I was reading a little article about this and it said to avoid over eating any Goitrogens which would be:   

    African cassava
    Babassu (a palm-tree coconut fruit found in Brazil and Africa)
    Bok choy
    Broccoli
    Broccolini
    Brussels sprouts
    Cabbage
    Cauliflower
    Chinese Broccoli
    Collards
    Daikon
    Kale
    Kohlrabi
    Millet
    Mustard
    Peaches
    Peanuts
    Pine nuts
    Radishes
    Red Radish
    Rutabaga
    Spinach
    Strawberries
    Turnips
    Watercress
These foods can actually SLOW down your thyroid causing it to be underactive. So maybe cutting down on these will help you shed a bit of the weight. Also maybe try a supplement that doesn't have iodine in it. Continue to exercise and do your best to push through the pains you have. Don't let your pain stop you from working out.

Sorry to hear you're also having thyroid problems D|
I've stopped eating Brocolli and Spinach, they were pretty big in my diet up until I got diagnosed. I've also stopped eating soy-related products which apparently also slow down thyroid functions. My diet used to contain a lot of soy (soy sauce, tofu, edamame). I didn't know about strawberries and peaches though so I'll cut down on them too/stick to other fruits, thanks !!

Ahh right now I'm taking levothyroxine and an iodine supplement (sea kelp based), so I will look into other supplements not iodine related!

Quote from: clearleeraines on September 19, 2015, 10:25:03 AM
I did not hear you mention anything about T in your post. The effects of cross hormones are well documented, wear as cis females are at the definite advantage Just about improved everything & weight loss. If your child bearing, that's a different story. Most transmen are so not interested in kids, more like histo & gym.
Anyway, OA may help. Same as AA. They say you gotta have a bottom before you change?. I did. Four months of prison & hrt has put a beer belly on me I can't burn off. @ 52 yrs, I mtn bike 6+ miles a day in the so=cal desert heat, eat like a rabbit & 5'10" 190lbs never changes lol, I feel your pain. 25% more body fat & 20% loss in muscle mass, lowered sex drive ETC is what cis males face, Another case of it's not whats wrong its whats right. Make your dr do there part "is anything really wrong & is so how do I fix it". Then do yours ! make the commitment to the gym! You can't stop addiction, but you can stop whats causing it. . . "ME"

Good luck! YOU CAN DO THIS. Clear

Mmm my partner and I are planning on adopting rather than trying to biologically have kids. She's a cis-female and I'm a transman so we're not worrying about it yet and just gonna see what happens ahaha

What is OA and AA stand for in this context? o:

And I will continue trying. When I get back to Uni I'll definitely join the gym. It helps that the gym is pretty much next door to my usual Uni building, so It'll be really convenient for me to go there/I won't have an excuse not to go lol so I can kick myself into going as much as possible

I have two suggestions and you might have tried both, Talk to your doctor as your thyroid levels may still need to be higher. As I age, I have gone from two full plates of food to less that a plate of food because my body just needs less as it gets older. It's possible your thyroid levels may not be high enough for your age.

Second thing is to keep a food diary. Calories can be hidden and carefully tracking your food will find them. My sister couldn't lose weight and we found the problem to be the no fat potato chips she had in the car to munch on. It turned out they were worst than the regular brand. Healthy food isn't always low calorie. One of my favorites is avocados. Good for you and taste good as well but high in healthy fats. It is also easy to take a bigger serving than you want so measuring food is very important until you get your eye trained to the real portion size. I often eat double or triple the portion size because I don't have other foods to go with it. 

I struggled with my weight all my life. At 14 I was obese and got worse from there. I only lost weight thanks to a severe illness and a long hot summer of hard physical labor and little food. Even with these I was barely below 200 lbs.

Today I know if take in more then 1 Kcal a day I slowly gain weight. I gain it fast if it's the wrong type of calories like fat, sugar, or alcohol. BTW- my thyroid tests are always fine. I live on mainly a salad, a smoothie, and a little meat now and then. Without my daily 5-6 mile walk the weight comes back

This is the best I've got: https://www.susans.org/2015/02/28/suzis-seven-surefire-weight-control-tips/

I really hope it helps.

I would also second the seeing your doctor again comment, thyroid things can really mess you up!

I've started eating from plates and bowls half the size of my normal platterware and avoiding all processed food, sugar and heavy carbs like bread, wheat products and potatoes.  Sometimes cutting the doughy flours and starchy things can help a lot! That is hard to do with removing other food items like spinach. 
Forcing yourself to get on a schedule and good habit of going to gym, asin,never skipping a session is the best way to keep consitant. 

best of luck!

Were/are you taking birth control medications, estrogens or combine estrogen/progesterone pill? Because apparently taking those long term interferes with your thyroid function.

I took them long term because a) the thought of pregnancy freaks me the hell out and b) to reduce bleeding. But what doctors don't tell you is how long term use has major effects. When I realized I was on the road to transition - one year ago - I quit BCPs. I couldn't quit them outright - the pain from withdrawal of estrogens is too much, I had to slowly decrease the dose until I was taking nothing at all, over the course of 8 months. After that though, an unexpected effect kicked in - hypothyroidism. I suspected that I had it, thanks to its horrible side effects, got blood tested and I was borderline. They made me wait 3 months to be sure, but within that 3 months my body got its normal levels back up and the second tests came back normal, I also started to feel normal. But I empathize fully with how horrible it feels to suffer low thyroid function and I'm glad I figured out what it was before they put me on lifelong meds. If I had to describe it, I'd say it feels like dying slowly.

If you are taking BCPs look into whether or not they may be affecting you. My GP doesn't believe there is a link but there's plenty of people asking the questions out there and some specialists acknowledge it.

As for losing the weight, I also am still in the process of shedding the weight that nearly a year of borderline hypothyroidism forced on me. I have a low metabolism, so for me the only thing that works is being exceptionally strict with my diet and dieting. Occasionally I'll have days where I don't eat a thing, and this gives my body a chance to flush itself out and shed a few pounds quickly, because the more common methods of "eat healthy and exercise" do not really work for me. What works are the more radical approaches of calorie counting and varying the amount taken in over each day of the week - this keeps the body guessing rather than adapting to a routine and then deciding to gain weight again. Pretty much any method you try will be adapted to sooner or later by your body so I find the only method that truly works is to vary methods and avoid routines. Many things do work - such as Atkins foods and Atkins diet, SLD diet, 2468 diet etc. but you cannot stick to them for long because your body will figure it out.

rive been working on weight loss for nearly 4 yrs.  my biggest difficulty is i cant throw away food.  i have never thrown out food.  even now i have stuff i want to throw out but cant bring myself to do it.

and what helps me best is not eating at all.  its easy to lose 2-3lbs in 2 days if i dont eat at all.