Episode 235: What Your Stubborn Thyroid Weight Is Trying to Tell You

 If you're hypothyroid, standard weight loss advice probably pisses you off...

Some gym bro on the Internet is telling you to just eat less, workout harder, track your macros, and only eat during x hours.

Been there, done that. It isn’t. fucking. working.

In fact, if you're following that advice, it's probably pushing you deeper into your plateau. But we'll get to that in a minute.

This is why I decided to create my ‘Why Can’t I Lose Weight Nutrition Intensive’. To not only give clarity as to why everything you’ve tried hasn’t worked. But to give you a path forward that will.

That path forward is not going to include pulling out a calculator or food scale every time you eat.  

Instead, we’re directing our energy towards your gut, adrenals, and liver. Here’s why…  

The Gut: 

• When we eat, we aren’t the only one processing our calories. The trillions of bacteria in our gut are. And when they’re out of balance (more bad bugs than good) they can cause us to hold onto those calories and gain weight. 
• Use of antibiotics causes changes in the gut microbiome associated with weight gain, increased LDL cholesterol, and multiple inflammatory disorders (inflammation is one driving force behind visceral fat, the dangerous kind that situates itself around your organs). And antibiotic use before the age of 2 even increases the likelihood of developing obesity later in life. -National Library of Medicine
• Despite a reduced food intake, a fecal transplant from normal mice into germ-free mice (mice without their own microbiome) increased body fat by 60%, increased insulin resistance within 14 days, and increased triglyceride levels. -National Library of Medicine
• When the beneficial bacteria in our gut consume our fiber and protein, they produce a byproduct called short chain fatty acids (SCFA's) which impacts our metabolism. Thus consuming enough different types of plants (different types of fiber feed different strains of these important bacteria) and protein is essential for ample SCFA production which plays a role not only in weight management via metabolism, but also through insulin sensitivity, glucose balance, reduction of inflammation, regulation of satiety, and reduction of appetite. -National Library of Medicine
• "A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the effect of probiotics on body weight and glycemic control in overweight or obese adults. Adults who received probiotics had significant reductions in body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and fat mass percentage compared with adults in the control group (Wang et al., 2019b). A greater reduction in fat mass was observed with 1) use of high versus low doses of probiotics, 2) probiotics of a single strain versus multiple strains, and 3) probiotics administered in the form of foods compared with capsules or powder. In addition, when compared with the control group, individuals in the probiotic groups had reduced insulin levels. Overall, Wang et al. (2019b) and Koutnikova et al. (2019) claim that use of probiotics both has a positive effect on weight loss and improves other metabolic parameters." -National Library of Medicine
• And finally, if you have hypothyroidism your gut is a major contributor to thyroid symptoms like weight gain. Your gut impacts the absorption of minerals essential for thyroid health like iodine, zine, selenium, and iron, leaky gut can cause widespread inflammation and trigger an immune response that exacerbates destruction of thyroid cells, and our gut can directly affect thyroid levels via inhibition of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). 

The Liver: 

• Our liver plays a big role in carb metabolism due to its significant role in balancing blood sugar (if Ozempic has taught us anything it’s how vital that is for weight loss). Think about your liver like a glucose reservoir; when blood sugar rises some of it gets sent to the liver to be stored as glycogen which is then broken down and released as glucose when blood sugar is low. 
• The liver directly impacts how we process and utilize our thyroid hormone medication. 
• The liver is responsible for detoxifying and eliminating excess estrogen. If it's congested and estrogen gets released back into the blood it can contribute to estrogen dominance (one of the most common hormonal imbalances) which leads to stubborn weight. And yes you can have estrogen dominance even when you're menopausal because it isn't about how much estrogen you have, but its ratio to progesterone. 
• It impacts fat metabolism due to its role in bile production.
• Our liver is where we convert 80% of our inactive thyroid hormone to active thyroid hormone (the gas pedal to our metabolism).
• And finally, when the liver is overburdened from the pesticides and preservatives in our food, pollution in the air, toxins in our cleaning products, personal care products, and water, and of course alcohol, toxins are bound to get backed up and overflow into the bloodstream. When this happens our body will store the toxins in our fat cells to keep us safe from damage, leading to resistant weight loss (our body doesn't want to burn fat and release those toxins back into the body. 

The Adrenals: 

• When stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are chronically released, they can damage our gut and liver which we've already deemed essential for maintaining a healthy weight. 
• Cortisol can directly reduce thyroid production by inhibiting the pituitary gland from releasing thyroid stimulating hormone, inhibiting the activity of an enzyme essential for thyroid conversion, and reducing cellular sensitivity to thyroid hormone leading to reduce absorption. 
• When cortisol is released it raises blood sugar to prepare your body to fight or run from the perceived threat and makes it harder for insulin to do its job of pulling sugar our of the blood.
• Because cortisol causes a rapid increase in blood sugar and pulls glucose from our cells to mobilize us, it also leads to a blood sugar crash. This is why we tend to crave carbs and sugar when we're stressed - to replenish those stores. 

This is why eating fewer and fewer calories, exercising harder and harder, skipping meals, and fasting for 16+ hours is likely not working for you - you're stressing the crap out of your adrenals, gut, and liver and are creating an environment where weight loss is damn near impossible. 

If you're ready to steer away from this approach and want to know how to optimize your gut, liver, adrenals and other important systems to increase your metabolism and lose weight with ease, I highly recommend my 'Why Can't I Lose Weight Nutrition Intensive'.

This is not one of my 'regular programs' which require a 3, 6, or 12 month commitment. In fact, I just launched this as a special Memorial Day offer and while I did close the doors publicly, I've decided to leave them open for my podcast listeners/blog readers like you! 

This program is amazing if you want a taste of working with me without as much of a financial/time investment, if you want clarity on why your weight is stuck, and if you want a simple, clear plan forward that will actually work long term. 

Here's how it works:

We'll start with a lifestyle/habits audit where for one week you'll send me your food, sleep habits, fitness habits, and stress levels which I'll go over with a fine tooth comb to figure out what habits may be sabotaging you and what habits you're missing that could finally push the scale over the edge.

Then I'll have you fill out a questionnaire that will help me identify which body systems are struggling and inhibiting your weight loss (ie your adrenals, liver, gut, hormones, etc). 

Using your lifestyle audit and questionnaire I'll put together a customized plan for you that will walk you through what changes you need to make to your diet, rest, exercise, stress management, and supplementation in order to finally reach your goals. We'll go over this plan and answer any and all questions you have on an hour long intensive call. 

Finally you'll get a week of follow-up messenger support for accountability as you begin implementing your new lifestyle. 

Click here to sign up or email me at [email protected] with your questions! 

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Products and Programs!

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Embrace the diet rebel within as I reveal the secrets to losing weight without counting calories, giving up your favorite foods, or following fad diets in the jam-packed 1-hour video masterclass! Click here to learn more and buy!

Follow Your Gut Course: 2 payments of $150

My 60-day signature course where we optimize your gut to help you lose weight, reduce cravings, and tackle emotional eating. Click here to learn more and apply!

1:1 Functional Nutrition Coaching: $150-250/session

Finally get to the root of your health issues and experience relief from stubborn symptoms with functional lab work and customized protocols designed to optimize your gut, hormones, and metabolism. Click here to learn more and apply!

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