Post: #1

In the Salon article on the Fridge Raider, I noticed that the subject blamed her thyroid for her weight problem. I have since seen several overweight women blame their thyroid or hypothyroidism for their problems with weight control.

Is a thyroid problem a valid reason for someone not being able to control their weight?

Post: #2

(07-03-2014 12:04 AM)Carlos100 Wrote:  In the Salon article on the Fridge Raider, I noticed that the subject blamed her thyroid for her weight problem. I have since seen several overweight women blame their thyroid or hypothyroidism for their problems with weight control.

Is a thyroid problem a valid reason for someone not being able to control their weight?

It's a valid reason to someone to give up trying to control their weight, sure. But I've known people with both over and under active thyroids who kept the weight under control through - as usual - a healthy diet and regular exercise.

The ones who were fat? As usual, they were complaining about how hard it was to lose weight whilst regularly pigging out on ice cream, cake, sweets, fancy coffees and donuts.

In previous articles, Fridge Raider blamed her weight problems on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I know this because she was the reason I first researched the disease, including the fascinating fact it affects 80% of Lesbian women. In that case, weight loss actually is recommended as a way to drastically-lessen the severity of the symptoms, which is why fat activism is toxic for the lesbians involved.

Since she can't keep her story straight, I suspect her of lying to generate sympathy with her audience, but don't really care either way. It's her stupid life.

EDIT: The American Thyroid Association says 5-10 pounds of a person's body weight gain can be attributed to an underactive thyroid, 10 pounds in the most severe cases.

Post: #3

All cases that I've known of fat women claiming to be fat because of thyroid problems or TCOS were marked by their absolute refusal to not only take it as a sign that they have to be extra vigilant about their diets, exercise and lifestyle, but also their utter refusal to make use of hormone therapy or one of the various medical measures that are known to fix or alleviate these problems.

Naturally, after seeing that, it's hard for me to believe in the claim that someone is fat because of a disease. Maybe 1% of the population, and I'm being fairly generous here.

Post: #4

The thyroid regulates the metabolism. It can make it much harder to lose weight, but it can also make it much easier, harder to gain weight and vise versa. Someone close to me got sick and their thyroid disappeared/died. It is now very hard for them to lose weight. Impossible? No. Very, very hard? Yes. They have to be extra stringent with caloric intake.

Post: #5

My thyroid is pretty much gone at this point. Which is not a problem because it's really easy to keep the hormones in check with medication, so no, from my experience it's not a valid reason.

Post: #6

This is different for women, I think. My mother and sister both suffer an autoimmune thyroid problem. Both struggle with their weight. I see what they eat on a daily basis and it really shouldn't be causing extra weight. It doesn't make either obese, just slightly chubby. It could easily be countered with a better diet and some workouts but then my sister was told to avoid excersise for a while due to heart problems. I'm not sure this is due to the thyroid problem. Obviously keeping their weight down has befome very hard for both of them. But this is definitely not an excuse. Suffering such problems is not an excuse to let your weight go. If anything, it's another reason to work on keeping your body healthy.

Post: #7

Simply not an excuse. If you have thyroid issues, there's the powerful T3 hormone Cytomel that you can take to regulate it to a normal level! Nice try though... fatties!!!

Post: #8

(07-03-2014 05:02 AM)Captain Gh Wrote:  Simply not an excuse. If you have thyroid issues, there's the powerful T3 hormone Cytomel that you can take to regulate it to a normal level! Nice try though... fatties!!!

From the American Thyroid Association again:

Quote:Once hypothyroidism has been treated and thyroid hormone levels have returned to the normal range of thyroid hormone, the ability to gain or lose weight is the same as in individuals who do not have thyroid problems.

Post: #9

Percentage of fatties who complain about having a thyroid problem: 82%.

Percentage of fatties that actually have a thyroid problem: 2%.

Percentage of fatties with a thyroid problem that could totally still look reasonably attractive if they wanted to: 100%.




If my totally made up stats don't convince you, I don't know what will.

Post: #10

Thank you. I now have some points I can use if someone on social media or elsewhere tries to blame their weight problems completely on their thyroid.

Post: #11

Don't know the answer to our question, but the easiest response to someone who claims that her weight problem is unrelated to the number of calories she eats is to propose this: Ask if she is prepared to spend just two weeks writing down absolutely everything she eats (aka a "food diary). Including weight of food. Of course she must be brutally honest in carrying this out. Then use a app to calculate total calories/day as well as the macro nutrient breakdowns.

99+% of the time the this analysis will reveal that she eats a number of calories in-line with her actual weight and activity level (i.e. She does not have genetic bad luck). More usefully, if she is ready to deal with her problem the analysis will also reveal that by far the bulk of her calories come from cheap and nasty carbs, and that it is these that will need to be brought under control if she is to have any hope of losing weight. Low-fat yogurt and such products are just a joke. If a fat person doesn't zero in on carbs their chances of losing weight are close to zero.

Post: #12

Post: #13

Some doctor from an obesity clinic wrote an article not too long ago (it was in the NY Times or Washington Post) and she said they test every obese patient for thyroid or other conditions, and they never get a positive. She said they are fat because they eat too much. Period.

I recently discovered from a blood test that I have hyperthyroidism. I was feeling sluggish, but did not get fat. I was prescribed thyroid medication, and my thyroid levels became normal. "Thyroid condition" is just an excuse fatties use to cover up that they are fat due to gluttony and sloth.

Post: #14

(07-03-2014 12:04 AM)Carlos100 Wrote:  In the Salon article on the Fridge Raider, I noticed that the subject blamed her thyroid for her weight problem. I have since seen several overweight women blame their thyroid or hypothyroidism for their problems with weight control.

Is a thyroid problem a valid reason for someone not being able to control their weight?

Some what it is one of the reason but may be there is a chance to get rid from it.

Post: #15

Nope. They just eat too much.

Post: #16

Thyroid problems are nothing new. Most human conditions are not new and have been around for centuries.

Broken leg? Weak bones? Out of breath easily? Thyroid? Liver? Kidneys? Etc etc. All of these have been around since humans could take a stick and wipe their ass with it.

The only difference now is that we have things such as ice cream, home freezers and expenditure. They are fat because of their environment. Remove them from this environment and watch the best magic trick in your loves. 300lbs>130lbs.

Post: #17

Using the thyroid as an excuse is just that: An excuse. I've got close relatives that managed to lose considerable amounts of weight while under thyroid medication. It doesn't require any adjustments, special diets or extra work just a tablet in the morning.

Post: #18

I have hypothyroidism. I was a fat guy.

Keto, jogging and lifting and I've dropped 60lbs since March 5th. 285-225. Its merely an excuse for fat people and not a real reason.

Post: #19

(07-03-2014 04:15 AM)nogamenick Wrote:  This is different for women, I think. My mother and sister both suffer an autoimmune thyroid problem. Both struggle with their weight. I see what they eat on a daily basis and it really shouldn't be causing extra weight. It doesn't make either obese, just slightly chubby.
- - -

Auto-immune caused hypothyroidism is called Hashimoto's disease, and it is the most common cause.

I also believe it does cause women more problems than men; their plumbing is more hormone sensitive than a man's.

PS I am hypothyroid (among a few other low hormones) - cause unknown.

Post: #20

I was listening to a Danger and Play podcast where they were talking about dieting down to a "four pack". Mike and Jay said you shouldn't need to go below 12xBW in calories to lose weight unless you have a thyroid issue.

I find that 12x is my maintenance caloric level, and I need to go down to 10x BW to see weight loss. Does that indicate a thyroid problem?

Post: #21

(02-17-2015 07:37 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  I was listening to a Danger and Play podcast where they were talking about dieting down to a "four pack". Mike and Jay said you shouldn't need to go below 12xBW in calories to lose weight unless you have a thyroid issue.

I find that 12x is my maintenance caloric level, and I need to go down to 10x BW to see weight loss. Does that indicate a thyroid problem?

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes down to an individual's body.

Everybody is different and mix of body types; I find I need drastic calorific deficits to lose weight.

Sure, you could have a thyroid problem...but I think it's unlikely.

Do whatever works for you; trial and error till you find it.

Post: #22

(02-17-2015 07:37 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  I was listening to a Danger and Play podcast where they were talking about dieting down to a "four pack". Mike and Jay said you shouldn't need to go below 12xBW in calories to lose weight unless you have a thyroid issue.

I find that 12x is my maintenance caloric level, and I need to go down to 10x BW to see weight loss. Does that indicate a thyroid problem?

Could be several things:
* You're not exercising enough - the 12xBW number is very close to my total daily energy expenditure if I'm only exercising twice a week.
* You're eating too much. If you're not weighing everything that goes into your mouth I bet you're overshooting be at least 200-300 Calories per day. Also if you eat a lot of process foods the nutritional data on the back of the box can be off by as much as 50%. If you're using nutritional data from restaurants there's even less certainty.
* Your body fat is high. If you have more than 20% body fat your TDEE is going to be lower than if you weighed the same amount but had 12% body fat.

But really, why worry about it? Just go to the doctor and get a quick thyroid workup done. Then you'll know for sure.