Can A Hypothyroid Person Become "fit"?

[walker_in_aus]

Broad question, but have been thinking a lot about this. When I was younger I was definitely fit and muscular. Puberty changed me a little into a pear shaped woman but I was still slim and had visible muscles. Looking back I can see the start of college/drinking/emotional trauma definately set me off down this path of chronic stress/hypothryroidism however I did keep relatively fit as a hobby until my mid 20s. At the time I was going to boot camps and training for mini triathlons. This was when I started noticing things going wrong. I had no energy and was always hungry and weak no matter what I ate etc etc.
I can recall training for a 5km fun run with work colleagues and smelling ammonia. Noticed it a few times. Never a good sign but I just thought running harder would be better for me.

Last three years I have significantly reduced exercise after slowly realizing it wasn't helping the many failing health issues I had. Here I am now finally getting warm and learning about my body more...

I'm fine with just walking/yoga now, but I want to know if I will can ever be a fit energetic person with good muscle tone again? Not from a purely aesthetic point of view, but so I can enjoy a social game of touch football, go skiing without struggling, feel strong, trust my body? Or once you have gone hypo, it's not a likely thing? I know several women who are in great health in the late 30s/40s and are happy, relaxed and fit without gym every day. I hope it's possible for people like me.

 

[Herbie]

Yeah just take it easy and work on recovering and the time will come when you will feel like working out and being more active and as the stress goes down and the diet is rich in everything you need the muscle will come easily, the figure will change, but it will be different, you will be more efficient, you'll be one of those people who goes down to the gym relaxed, enjoys a few sets and different movements and walks out of there feeling energised after just 20 mins looking great, listening to your body's needs, capabilities and limits and everyone else in there punishing themselves for 90 minutes looking and feeling terrible wondering how your doing it.

To aggressively force the body through tortuous lifestyle habits in attempt to look and feel the way we have been lead to believe living on adrenaline is self destruction.

I think all the energy and focus should be used to figure out how to recover from a stressful time and finding the problem areas and healing them and once that is achieved then the energy will be high and can be used on things exercise.

 

[walker_in_aus]

Thanks Ben, good to know it is possible. I have has a few great changes in a few months - mainly mood and temperature related, but I am looking forward to just not feeling so tired/weak/slow and in pain after activities I love!

 

[Lecarpetron]

I am 33/f, and came from the same background - tried to solve problems of chronic stress by adding more stress in the form of exercise (distance running) and "healthy" vegetable eating. I quit running cold turkey and have been working on increasing my weight and metabolism for over a year. I am now MUCH stronger, but don't have the stamina compared with my running self.

For example, I like playing beach volleyball. I was surprised at how much stronger my serve became when I started gaining weight, even though I wasn't lifting weights or playing often. However, I can't play 2 on 2 for hours on end anymore without ending up in a severe stress reaction - insomnia, pulse won't come down, etc.

 

[walker_in_aus]

I am 33/f, and came from the same background - tried to solve problems of chronic stress by adding more stress in the form of exercise (distance running) and "healthy" vegetable eating. I quit running cold turkey and have been working on increasing my weight and metabolism for over a year. I am now MUCH stronger, but don't have the stamina compared with my running self.

For example, I like playing beach volleyball. I was surprised at how much stronger my serve became when I started gaining weight, even though I wasn't lifting weights or playing often. However, I can't play 2 on 2 for hours on end anymore without ending up in a severe stress reaction - insomnia, pulse won't come down, etc.

Good to hear you are much stronger! I am still not very strong but hopefully it will happen for me. I wasn't particularly underweight but my weight gain from switching low carb to high carb seems to have stopped. I will keep on keeping on and just go for nice relaxing walks.

 

[Luckytype]

Definitely. Be patient though.

I threw myself into a stress induced hypo condition because of my love of beating the crap out of myself with weight training. Oddly i was able to get lean and add muscle. I was super happy with my physique and physical ability...

Then everything reached a point where I now feel groggy and im fighting some pretty nasty hair shedding. Had my hair not started to fall, in wouldve never had a clue and never come to figure it out.

 

[Progesterone]

Definitely. Be patient though.

I threw myself into a stress induced hypo condition because of my love of beating the crap out of myself with weight training. Oddly i was able to get lean and add muscle. I was super happy with my physique and physical ability...

Then everything reached a point where I now feel groggy and im fighting some pretty nasty hair shedding. Had my hair not started to fall, in wouldve never had a clue and never come to figure it out.

Can you please tell us more about your situation..

I believe I am in the same boat as you..

 

[Luckytype]

Yea sure, if you search my name I created a thread about it. Looking for all info because im hoping im onto a solution regarding it.

Im 32, Short story long i lived a life of excessive workaholic patterns, garbage nutrition(only macro hitting any way i could), and to shut my mind i was trying to build a physique i was happy with. Tons of volume, tons of intensity techniques etc. I was a drug free pump chaser and as soon as got a pump going I would stay until the pump left. For the body builder types here im talking like 50 sets of back per week, like 30-40 sets for rear delts on a chest day. Just insane volume for natural guys. It kinda got some good gains for me though so I continued it over the past 2 years.

Well during this past summer i cut out all junk and cleaned up the excessive calories to cleaner stuff(still poor nutrient density). Well one day i saw hair in the sink, next day and so on, then all of a sudden it turned to 40-50-60-70 a day. I panic of course because ive been blessed with fantastic genes and almost pull the trigger on finasteride. I decided no-way and started trying to figure out all the systems in play here.

Fast forward 6 months tons of research later and tons of panic im almost certain im coming down off a epinephrine/cortisol/prolactin/stress-estro dump. Ive been gym free for 5 weeks, just this week i did long walks, some shoulder mobility and a couple pullups and literally a few press reps. Didnt even get warm from it and walked out. I chose this because of the MAJOR reset by body needs from mechanical and chemical stessors related to high volume intense training.

I am almost certain i was in a high serotonin mega stress situation that eventually threw me hypo. I always just accepted i was cold in winter "6months of cold feet" because at that time i had a gorgeous thick head of tuggable hair. I never wanted to give up my gym addiction.

PM if you want - happy to elaborate more just dont wanna clog the thread

 

[tankasnowgod]

I came across this blog a while ago, by a woman who claimed to be in better shape at 42 than she was in her twenties after getting good treatment- My Success Story with Hypothyroidism, Adrenal Fatigue, and Weight Loss

 

[Iron Man]

Looks like I can chime in on this thread. I have been a long time natural bodybuilder and I think it would be safe to say I have hit the wall too. For the longest time I just kept pushing on with training and ignoring things like hypothyroid and low testosterone. Come to think of it, it is amazing the amount of muscle that I put on.

I am still working things out, but the steps I am taking to far are;

1. Getting more sleep
2. Working on increasing testosterone (naturally and with things like pregnenolone and natural progesterone)
3. I am about to get on to natural thyroid to help my thyroid along.
4. Taking about a month off from gym work.
5. Losing some extra body fat.

I wish you the best on this. It is a road where you will likely flounder with trial and error.

 

[Progesterone]

Looks like I can chime in on this thread. I have been a long time natural bodybuilder and I think it would be safe to say I have hit the wall too. For the longest time I just kept pushing on with training and ignoring things like hypothyroid and low testosterone. Come to think of it, it is amazing the amount of muscle that I put on.

I am still working things out, but the steps I am taking to far are;

1. Getting more sleep
2. Working on increasing testosterone (naturally and with things like pregnenolone and natural progesterone)
3. I am about to get on to natural thyroid to help my thyroid along.
4. Taking about a month off from gym work.
5. Losing some extra body fat.

I wish you the best on this. It is a road where you will likely flounder with trial and error.

You also had hair loss?

 

[Iron Man]

You also had hair loss?

Thinning hair... It does not appear to be the mpb type loss... I put it down to me smashing my adrenals, being hypothyroid and having low testosterone.

 

[walker_in_aus]

I came across this blog a while ago, by a woman who claimed to be in better shape at 42 than she was in her twenties after getting good treatment- My Success Story with Hypothyroidism, Adrenal Fatigue, and Weight Loss

I have actually read that before i ever even heard of ray peat - I'm 28 and hoping i can turn it all around like her. I think finding the right thyroid med is key - trying tyronene but just not getting it right. Next i;m trying NDT. I'm not saying i ever want to be a crossfitter or a gym junkie either, but just to feel strong and not always sore and tired and weak.

 

[Iron Man]

I have actually read that before i ever even heard of ray peat - I'm 28 and hoping i can turn it all around like her. I think finding the right thyroid med is key - trying tyronene but just not getting it right. Next i;m trying NDT. I'm not saying i ever want to be a crossfitter or a gym junkie either, but just to feel strong and not always sore and tired and weak.

Have you tried Natural Thyroid? I am about to give this a serious trial.

 

[walker_in_aus]

Have you tried Natural Thyroid? I am about to give this a serious trial.

Yep I'm just waiting on natural thyroid (Tyromax) from idealabs to arrive. I wish it was a simple thing where I could just find the right medication/supplements and very quickly feel better - you see so many stories like that and it makes me feel a bit desperate.

 

[walker_in_aus]

If anyone decides to read this I just want to write a quick update in that I have answered my own question/I'm definately on the way to answering it.

I have been following some "peaty" principals for about nine months since I was put out of my misery low-carbing and I have reached the tipping point. I gained weight as many of us do when switching from a keto diet/avoiding sugar. However I have noticed that despite my weight remaining the same for the last month I am now losing centimeters. I also feel so much stronger. When I'm moving around I can feel muscles, and I can feel the strength available to me now. I can now do a half days labor and not collapse for the rest of the day in a heap.

 

[James IV]

Most of the fitness competitors at my gym are in great shape, and most likely hypo. Caffeine is a hell of a drug.

 

[Regina]

I have actually read that before i ever even heard of ray peat - I'm 28 and hoping i can turn it all around like her. I think finding the right thyroid med is key - trying tyronene but just not getting it right. Next i;m trying NDT. I'm not saying i ever want to be a crossfitter or a gym junkie either, but just to feel strong and not always sore and tired and weak.

Hi walker -- what did you experience on tyronene?
I'm still tweaking myself...

 

[walker_in_aus]

Hi walker -- what did you experience on tyronene?
I'm still tweaking myself...

Hi Regina,

I found I didn't get much of a response to it, and the only way I did was if I ingested LOTS of sugar at the same time and then it was more of an anxiety feeling of increased heart rate and not really pleasant. Someone suggested to me that the thyroid might be degrading in the bottle so it might not have been working at all and I was literally just getting a sugar high.

NDT seems nice and gentle. It's not a sudden noticed feeling, its just like ten mins after I am warm and focused.

 

[Regina]

Hi Regina,

I found I didn't get much of a response to it, and the only way I did was if I ingested LOTS of sugar at the same time and then it was more of an anxiety feeling of increased heart rate and not really pleasant. Someone suggested to me that the thyroid might be degrading in the bottle so it might not have been working at all and I was literally just getting a sugar high.

NDT seems nice and gentle. It's not a sudden noticed feeling, its just like ten mins after I am warm and focused.

Thanks so much for your feedback!!!
My temps are usually a bit cold 97.6 fahreheit. OR I might throw the sheets off OR want to rip off my uniform in aikido class. Never a pleasant warm. But my heart rate is fast. I've been eating heaps of sugar lately (just listening to myself). I think things are shifting for the better?
I have both tyronene and tyromix. But I'll get tyromax next to compare.
Cheers