This is part of a series based on loosing weight after a thyroidectomy.
Diet
Controlling your eating is essential for a
diet success. Basically, you should take your base calorie intake (figured
above) and cut 300-500 calories from it.
Not all food is created equal. A gram of
carbohydrate or protein is only 4 calories. But a gram of fat is 9 calories.
Not all carbohydrates and equal - those with sugar can generate up to
7 calories per gram.
There are some foods, such a food
containing high fiber, that can help to make you feel full. Fruits and
vegetables can be an excellent source of healthy low calorie fiber.
As you can imagine, a gram of sugar has an
incredible number of calories versus any other kind of food. White flour is one
step away from sugar because the human body is very efficient at converting
white flour into sugar. You should avoid foods made with white flour as much as
possible. Instead choose whole grains and other alternatives which are more
difficult for your body to break down.
Drink lots of water. When our bodies are
low on a nutrition it will give your body cravings. I bet you have never had a
craving for water! If you are dehydrated, your body will start craving foods so
it can draw water out of the foods. You can answer that problem by drinking
plenty of water all day long. Pay attention to the color of your pee - that is
a great indicator of hydration.
If you are someone who struggles to eat
fruit and vegetables then you can play a game with your diet. Allow yourself to
eat all the fruits and vegetables you want for "free" - don't count
those calories. For example, if you are hungry and don't have any calories
remaining? Grab some free celery sticks. The additional calories will be minor
compared to the health benefits.
No Calorie Reduction Diet
I mentioned earlier that generally,
cutting calories helps more for long term weight management while exercise
burns off the fat. I also recommend a combination of calorie reduction and
exercise. Lets dive a little deeper into these two.
If you simply switched your diet to
healthy whole foods, fruits and vegetables, lean meats, removed sugar and white
flour, kept your nutricians balanced, yet did not reduce your daily calories?
The health benefits would be incredible. Some people find that making this kind
of a diet change with no reduction in consumed calories is enough to produce
powerful work outs that lead to weight loss and positive long term results.
Whether or not it contributes to weight loss, such a diet would have positive
health benefits.
The important thing to remember is the
consumed calories should not be more than determined in your BMR estimate
above. If you put on some weight, it was likely due to consuming too many
calories and it may take a calorie reduction just to get back to a zero
deficit. In other words, you may have to eat less simply to eat the appropriate
amount each day.
Diet Confusion
I wrote about body confusion above. There
is also something called diet confusion. If you eat the same general things
every day, your body will get used to it and you may find that your reduced
calorie diet is becoming less effective. Part of the reason may be that you are
allowing calories to sneak back in. When you hit a rut, a great trick is to do
a one day diet confusion. Go off your diet for one day and eat foods you
normally don't. That doesn't mean you have permission to eat an entire
chocolate cake. Instead, you may want to go to a buffet and challenge yourself
to try foods that you don't like or normally don't choose, eat in quantities
(more or less food) that you don't normally eat. Often, this will wake up your
reduced calorie diet success.
Five Meals
Your body is a metabolic furnace. If you
want the furnace to keep burning, you must keep feeding it. Instead of 3 large
meals, do 5 smaller and well balanced meals. For example, between breakfast and
mid-morning snack, do 500 calories. Between lunch and mid-afternoon snack do
500 calories. Then, leave the rest of your calories for dinner. Try to have one
of those meals per day be a good leafy salad, very light on the dressing.
Avoid starvation
Weight loss can come to a grinding halt if
your body enters a starvation mode. If you don't eat enough, your body tells
itself that it must be in a time of meek living. It will actually slow your
metabolic rate to the lowest it can withstand so that calories can be stretched
further.
This is great if you become lost while
crossing the desert. It is not so great on a diet.
Starvation mode can also be very bad for
individuals with Thyroid conditions. Once starvation mode kicks in, it can
impact T3 and T4 levels. The bottom line? Keep your metabolic furnace burning
by eating, eat enough to stay out of the starvation zone, and eat the right
things to fuel your fitness goals.
Advice From Others/Fads
People with Thyroid issues will hear all
kinds of advice and all kinds of fads: gluten free, carb free, akins, and more.
None of those really matter, some of those are dangerous, and some will not
produce long term success. What matters is producing a calorie deficit. I think
this topic is like a religion for many people as they swear nothing else worked
for them until they tried a fad. My answer? Hey - whatever works for you is
fine - if this fad was the thing that kept your motivation? Then that is awesome.
Just know that a calorie deficit with a balanced diet is the healthiest answer
for long term success.
As people age they may develop
sensitivities to things like gluten or diary. If you never needed to pay
attention to your diet before, you might not have noticed it. There is research
that says individuals with thyroid problems have a higher chance of developing
problems with gluten. That doesn't mean you will develop a problem, it just
means you have a higher chance of it. Discuss your risks and symptoms with your
doctor.
Don't Eat Out Of The Box
It is a bad habit to sit down with a box
of crackers or cereal and start eating. Before you know it? You have eaten too
many! For best results, plan your eating day the night before. Fill storage
containers with what you plan to eat. Then stick to it - only eat the contents
of the storage containers.
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