Thyroid Issues?

[kerse]

Hey guys, new member here. Hoping you have some avenues that I can research. I noticed that a lot of you are pretty well experienced in weight loss, better eating, etc, so I'm hoping that you might have some valid opinions.

I've been trying to lose about 50 pounds for a few years now. When I got my first desk job, I sky rocketed up to 225 lbs. For a 5'9" guy, that's no good. This was when I was about 21, so being young, I just cut my portions in half and went jogging, kept up my weights, and knocked it down to my svelt 175 with no problem. Then I got married, started cooking for two, and gained it all back.

Now I'm 30 and I can't seem to shed it. I jog, lift weights, eat mostly right, etc. I can drop a few pounds here or there, but overall I'm just maintaining a solid 225. I've been doing a lot of reading, and this (hope the link is ok) is saying that a lot of people are unable to lose weight because as their diet worsens and they get older, it adversely affects their thyroid and that bad thyroid function can make it hard to lose weight, even if they don't have any other real symptoms. Now I'm kind of worried that the diets that I did back in the day when I was heavy into lifting are causing me problems now.

Has anybody else heard this? I've got no other symptoms. I'm not fatigued, achy, sick, etc, I just can't lose the padding. Do you think it's a valid thing that I should have checked out? I mean, I always thought that a little diet and exercise would fix almost anything, but I cannot seem to shed this weight.

Any advice or other avenues of research would be awesome.

 

[Wardy257]

Have you seen a doctor about this?

The fact you are maintaining the same weight does not suggest there is too much wrong. It is more likely your diet and exercise regime is out of balance. Try keep a very strict food diary for a few weeks to calculate your exact calorie intake and let us know what exercise you currently take part in?

 

[CrazyOldMan]

Thyroid imbalance with noticable symptoms are usually only 5% effect maximum. Beyond that it's usually time for medication, and you would notice.
If you're getting no symptoms and there is an imbalance it will likely be making less than 2% difference which based on 2,500 calorie average intake would be 50 calories daily affect.
I am not saying that you aren't having an issue, but if you are it is not likely to be enough to stop you losing weight.
Metabolism slows as we age, but even this doesn't take much to account for. A 10% drop in diet would easily get you losing weight as a steady maintainable pace, and cutting everything you eat by 10% is not too difficult. The key is to stick at it and allow your body to adjust. If you can increas activity as well great, but if you are already training this may not be practical.

Wardy's idea of a food diary is a good one and there are apps that are great for calculating what your calories are, some with barcode scanner compatibility for accuracy. Remember that you need to record every bit of food and fluid that passes your lips if you do this.