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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>saratc</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7955444"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I would go to a holistic endocrinologist to get a second opinion about your thyroid. Look for one that uses natural ways to treat like with Armour instead of with synthetic hormones. Also ask what types of tests they use. TSH alone is not a good indicator of thyroid function and should be done in conjunction with a T4 or T3 test.<br><br>
I don't know your current weight or height, but it sounds like 1400-1500 calories a day is very aggressive. If you lose too much weight all at once, you can mess up your metabolism. Your body needs at least 2/3 in calories to maintain your weight daily. Anything less than that will make your body think you are in starvation mode and trigger you to start storing energy and shift your metabolism to use up less energy. There are some calculators online that will show you what your maintenance calories based on your age, activities and current weight is. But assume the calories for maintaining your weight is 2400, you don't want to go below 1600 calories a day. Losing weight too fast often also results in muscle loss, which you don't want.<br><br>
An interesting book to read is Eat Fat Lose Fat. Mainstream ways to lose weight just simply don't work for me. I have found myself losing a lot more weight by cutting out most grains and eating more fat. If you are trying to maintain a lowfat diet, it may work a bit for a little while, but ultimately you end up starving and very tired.</div>
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Thank you. I am 5'7 and 155, 24 years old. My doctor looked up my calories per day and to maintain i should be eating 1900, and to lose 1 lb per week I want a deficit of 350-400 calories per day, so that is where she got the 1400-1500 number from. I don't want to starve myself that is for sure, but her calculations seem reasonable?<br><br>
How do I find a holistic endocrinologist? My Free T4, T3 numbers have always been within reason and the TSH is the only thing that is slightly off. I was never dx with anything like Graves, Hashi's, etc, just a slightly underactive thyroid for awhile.<br><br>
I do not strive for any special kind of diet (low fat, low carb, whatever) I just try to eat a wide variety of healthy foods. I don't deny myself a cookie if I want one (maybe 1x/week) or a small bowl of ice cream, etc.. I don't *want* a diet where I have to do these sorts of things. I like to enjoy food, I like to cook, I like to try new things - I'm really hoping I can get things in control just through portion control for these reasons. I've been at a healthy weight for part of my adult life eating worse crap than I am now so I know it is possible.<br><br>
The Fitday website is really super, I put in my food for Tues & Wed (messed up and put them for Wed & Thurs though, so I am going to go back and put today's food on Tuesday and then keep going normally) and my exercise, and I only have a deficit of 200 calories per day (approx) so it seems reasonable that if I watch what I'm eating a little more carefully I can do this.<br><br>
Thanks for your help!!<br><br>
(MTA: I don't mean to sound argumentative or like I don't want advice - I do! I will listen and investigate anything that is recommended to me. However, at this point, I really am trying to avoid a low-carb or a low-fat or a "special" diet of any sort. I cook for myself and my boyfriend and I just do not have it in me to either make two meals per night or to argue with him to get him to eat things I can eat.)
