“I can’t lose weight, is it because of my thyroid?”

Today, we are going to talk about our thyroid, the gland, the hormones, and how it affects our weight.

This week, we’ll be answering the question, “I can’t lose weight, is it because of my thyroid?”

This is a big question and an important one since 1 in 8 women will experience a thyroid issue in their lifetime.

And the answer is: maybe, but probably not.

What an answer right!?

Hang with me here because if you focus all your attention on your thyroid, you may be distracted enough that you miss out on what may be really going on, and that is metabolic damage.

So let’s unravel the thyroid ball of yarn so you can see if you have a thyroid problem or a metabolic problem.

Let’s start with a quick rundown of what your thyroid is and what it does… and doesn’t do.

Your thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland that sits in your throat.  Your thyroid takes the iodine you eat in foods like iodized salt, seafood, and dairy and makes two important hormones called T3 and T4. 

T4 is responsible for your mood, your metabolism, and body temperature.  T3 is responsible for other aspects of your metabolism, your digestion, and your bone health.  

T3 and T4 need to be balanced in our blood streams for us to feel our best, not go too low or too high.  To help make sure they stay in the perfect range, your hypothalamus and pituitary glands in your brain, sense your blood levels and communicate with your thyroid to maintain perfect T3 and T4 balance.

If you don’t naturally produce enough T3 or T4 you may experience weight gain, memory issues, tiredness, fatigue, constipation, brain fog, hair loss and dry skin. We call this hypothyroidism and an example of this is called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. 

If you naturally produce a little too much T3 or T4 you may experience anxiety, irritation, hyperactivity, hair loss (again), tremors and sweating. We call this hyperthyroidism, or Grave’s Disease.

Now, these symptoms also overlap quite a bit with perimenopausal symptoms and metabolic damage symptoms.  So you can see why so many women believe that they are suffering from a thyroid issue, especially as we get older.  We usually have symptoms of both!

But when we come up against weight gain that seems to not respond to our low calorie diets and exercise, we usually end up blaming our thyroids.  Because, what else could it be!?

So what should you do?  Luckily, this is actually very straightforward. You go to your doctor and have your TSH checked.

Your TSH is your thyroid stimulating hormone. It tells your thyroid gland to release more T3 and T4 into your bloodstream.

If it comes back abnormal, your doctor will do more tests to figure out where the breakdown is.

Most cases are fairly straightforward, and if you are, in fact, hypothyroid, it is easily corrected by taking T4 replacement medication. T4 turns into the active T3 that your body uses. No matter if you have hypothyroid, or Hashimoto’s. 

The confusing part is when your thyroid comes back normal, but you still feel bad. It may be something we call subclinical hypothyroidism or you may just have a normal thyroid and your symptoms are not a thyroid problem, they are due to something else.

And here’s where we circle back to the answer for the question, “I can’t lose weight, is it because of my thyroid?” and I answered, maybe but probably not.

If you have a normal TSH or are taking thyroid medication, it’s more likely that your weight gain, your sluggishness, your dry skin and hair are not due to a thyroid issue. It’s more likely that the reason you feel bad is because you have metabolic damage and for some of us, you are also going through menopause at the same time.

Your weight gain is probably due to metabolic damage and the hormone insulin, not the thyroid hormones.  

Thyroid is not the only hormone that controls metabolism.  

I have had many, many, many clients who thought their issue was a thyroid problem, only to realize their real issue was a broken metabolism.  

And when you fix that, with diet and smart eating habits, your weight drops easily, your hair returns to normal, your skin is nice and supple, and you have plenty of energy.

Symptoms of metabolic damage closely mimic that of thyroid problems.  

Get your TSH checked.  If it’s low, take the medication to get it back to the right levels.  

Now, be prepared, if it’s low and you replace it, you probably won’t lose any weight.  This is another layer of evidence that your excess fat accumulation problem is not a thyroid issue, but a metabolic issue. So, go ahead and treat your hypothyroid, but understand that metabolic repair is still needed to burn excess body fat.

If your TSH is normal, you are very likely dealing with metabolic damage and need to look at the bigger, more powerful hormone at play and that’s insulin.

And that’s what we do in the Freese Method.  We repair your metabolism, rebalance your insulin, and help you restore that hormonal balance so that you can burn fat by changing what and when you eat.

The Freese Method is the medication-free, supplement-free, long term healthy eating fix to stubborn weight gain and low energy.

Remember, you absolutely have what it takes to lose weight, achieve glowing health, and stop dieting forever, you just need to repair your metabolism first!