Girlfriend not losing weight. (vegetables, Synthroid, doctors, workouts)
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My girlfriend had been told by her doctor that she needs to lose 40lbs. She is fairly active...walking daily, bike riding, kayaking, she is a vegetarian and she wants to move to vegan. She is very careful about what she eats. She has tried workouts at home and has seen little results. She has celiac and she can't have gluten. She has been to her doctor and had multiple blood tests for thyroid etc. Everything comes back fine. We are at a loss trying to find out what could be happening. Would love any advice anyone could offer. Thank you.
My girlfriend had been told by her doctor that she needs to lose 40lbs. She is fairly active...walking daily, bike riding, kayaking, she is a vegetarian and she wants to move to vegan. She is very careful about what she eats. She has tried workouts at home and has seen little results. She has celiac and she can't have gluten. She has been to her doctor and had multiple blood tests for thyroid etc. Everything comes back fine. We are at a loss trying to find out what could be happening. Would love any advice anyone could offer. Thank you.
She might be sneak-eating or just regularly consuming too many calories as part of
her daily eating-plan.
Has she tried keeping a detailed food diary? I used to measure, weigh, etc. until I could judge how much I was really consuming. Count a piece of candy, stick of chewing gum, etc. Now with smaller portions I’ve lost significant weight.
What kind of food is she actually eating? Vegetarian/vegan doesn't necessarily mean low-calorie or healthy. Is she eating mostly fresh vegetables with a small amount of fruits, nuts and grains, or mostly processed foods that just happen to be vegetarian?
Tell her to find a different doctor. The standard thyroid test doesn't tell you squat, but it's the only one most docs use. Have her find a doc who will do a thorough thyroid panel, including antibodies. The basic thyroid test only checks TSH and T4. I had no less than 6 doctors tell me my thyroid was fine, even though I knew it wasn't. All of them (4 were endocrinologists) refused to even order the other tests. One told me that they could tell just by looking at me that my thyroid was fine (I wonder if they use that same test to find out whether people have heart disease).
I finally found a doctor who ran all the tests. When the results came back, half the page was red because almost all of the numbers were out of range. I started taking a prescription thyroid med (NP Thyroid - much better for most people than Synthroid, which only addresses T4 levels). It has made all the difference.
Note that the doctor I found was NOT an endocrinologist. He's a family med MD that just happens to be very well versed in thyroid conditions. Here's a good article:
Also, I will say that although I think vegan diets can be very healthy, it's not a guarantee. A lot of people think vegan - it must be good for you! But french fries are vegan. So are Oreos. You get the picture. Vegan is great, but like any other diet, it can be healthy or not healthy.
How many calories is she eating every day? Does she use an app to count them? There are lots of free apps to do that. It's very easy to take in more calories than you think you're eating.
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