British Thyroid Logo

Week 1

Welcome to week 1 of the BTF weight loss and wellbeing programme.

You can read our experts’ advice, tips and suggestions by following the links to this week’s articles below. You can also find the following to support you:

  • Expert advice - learn more about thyroid disease and weight management from our medical and other experts
  • Patient stories – find out how other thyroid patients have managed to successfully lose weight and improve their wellbeing
  • Webinars – if you would like to take part in our information webinars in week 3 and week 8 you can register free of charge now by clicking here
  • Community - share your weight loss journey with others taking part in our programme by joining our closed Facebook group

Healthy eating and thyroid

We know that an underactive thyroid is generally associated with weight gain. Significant weight gain is rarely associated with hypothyroidism. In general, individuals may see around 5-10 pounds of weight gain depending on the severity of hypothyroidism. Once hypothyroidism has been treated and thyroid hormone levels have returned to the normal range, the ability to gain or lose weight is the same as for individuals who do not have thyroid problems. That said, for a person with hypothyroidism, weight management can be complex and we’ll look at this further over the coming weeks.

Embarking on a weight loss programme means starting somewhere. Getting started usually requires motivation; a want to do something, a desire to make a change for yourself. The good news is you have started just by signing up and logging on. And if you feel your motivation starting to wane over the programme, remember that you have a made a start, which is often the biggest hurdle to overcome.

Motivation and willpower

So to start with, what is the difference between motivation and willpower? The terms are often used interchangeably but have different meanings. Motivation is the desire to want or do something. Willpower, on the other hand, is a desire not to do something. An example might be, I want to go for a walk (motivation), versus I want to resist the biscuits at work (willpower). We can go a bit further as there are two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation

is when you want to make a change for your sake and not because of an external reward, such as money.

Extrinsic motivation

is when you want to make a change because of an external reward, such as money.

Whilst it’s OK to have some external rewards, it’s good to have intrinsic motivation as well. Ultimately you’re not making these changes for anyone else except yourself.

Why do I want to lose weight?

A simple place to start is to think about why you want to lose weight. Let’s face it, weight loss is not easy. You could choose to continue living as you are or you can make a change. Take some time for yourself to figure out your reason(s). It is worth writing these down to revisit them each week. From experience many will say they’re making the changes for health reasons. But be specific as there are lots of aspects to health that could improve with weight loss. For example, you may wish to lose weight to improve your energy levels, which will make it easier for you to exercise.

If you’re struggling to identify why you want to lose weight, think about what is important to you now. Then look at how this aspect of your life would be changed if you lost weight. For example:

"If I lose weight… I may be able to do more activities that I want to do."


"If I don’t lose weight… I may not be able to do the activities I want to which are important to me."

Remember to pick out what’s important to you. You’re more likely to be successful when you feel the changes are very important to your life, and you feel confident about being able to achieve those changes.

Making changes

Write down all the things you think you could achieve if you lose weight, i.e. more energy, improved sleep, being better able to keep up with your children/grandchildren etc. To achieve these, you’ll need to make changes. Making changes can be hard so it can help to remind yourself of the benefits you may get. This is especially helpful when dealing with any challenges you encounter along the way.

It can help to think of any challenges as obstacles you need to find a way around. I sometimes like to think of a brick wall I need to get past. Do I go around the side, underneath, over the top or straight through it? The more benefits you can see, the easier it will be to find ways around the challenges when they arise. By thinking about each challenge before it happens, you’ll be able to find a solution (or more than one) to help you keep to your planned changes, even when things get tough.

Goals

Before you start, it’s a good idea to think about what you would like to achieve over the next few months and what expectations you have for yourself and this programme. It’s good to have an overall long-term goal, however, I would encourage you to write down a few small, achievable goals each fortnight as this will help you keep focused and motivated.

Your goals should be easy to manage and not too overwhelming. Don’t set yourself a weight-based goal. From experience people will often set unrealistic targets and get disheartened when they don’t achieve them. Instead focus on the parts of your lifestyle you want to improve on.

How to set your goals

When you are setting goals, try to make them SMART goals. SMART stands for:

  • Specific – are they specific to you? Focus on what matters to you, not what someone else is doing.
  • Measurable – can you measure them, e.g. I will go for a walk three times a week?
  • Achievable – can I achieve it? If you’ve relied on processed foods, do you have the skills to cook fresh meals?
  • Realistic – is it realistic for me? If you’ve not been to the gym for a few years are you going to be able to go back to the gym seven times a week?
  • Timely – have you set a time to start your goals and review them?

Here is an example of working out a SMART goal based on everything we have discussed so far:

"I want to make a change so I can increase my level of fitness and mobility. This will help me do sporting activities with my children. So I decided to set myself a goal relating to that. Thinking about my life, some of the challenges I have are time, money and accessibility. I have limited time due to work and family commitments. I can’t afford a gym even if I had the time to go, besides the cheaper ones are the other side of town and aren’t accessible to me as I rely on public transport."

Before we have set a goal we have identified our reasons for change, potential benefits and barriers/challenges.

‘Based on these factors, I could start walking more. I have the time to do it during my lunch break. It doesn’t cost me anything. It’s also something we could do as a family and it’s accessible because I don’t need to travel to start walking. Therefore my goal is to start walking during my lunch breaks for 15 minutes, three times a week for the next two weeks. I will review it as this point…’

Following the SMART model:

  1. it is specific to me;
  2. it’s measurable (three times per week)
  3. it’s achievable (it fits into my lunch break)
  4. it’s realistic (I’m reasonably fit as I do a little bit of walking already
  5. it’s also timely (I will review it in two weeks)

Finally, Don’t give yourself too many goals to start off with. We generally tend to have busy lives, so don’t set yourself up to fail before you’ve started. You can always set a few goals and once you’ve achieved them amend them or add some more. And, most importantly, remember why you are making these changes.

General benefits of more activity and exercise

By reaching the physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes per week of ‘moderate-to--vigorous’ physical activity, we can gain many short-term and long-term health benefits.

Firstly, the psychological benefits include:

  • reduced stress and improved ability to deal with stress
  • reduced anxiety and depression symptoms
  • increased self-esteem
  • improved mood.

Many of these benefits are brought about from achieving goals we have set ourself. Not only can this give us a sense of achievement, but also release endorphins.. Endorphins are the hormones released in our brains which reduce pain and increase a general feeling of wellbeing. There is also research which shows increased physical activity stimulates the production of a chemical known as BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor). This is like a building block in the brain that strengthens the brain and nerves, improving cognition and thinking skills.

Alongside the psychological benefits, exercise can also benefit our physical health in many ways. These include:

  • improvements in heart health
  • reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart attack due to reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol
  • improved bone and muscle strength, meaning a lower risk of fractures and bone diseases like osteoarthritis and osteoporosis
  • improved sleep health
  • reduced risk of developing certain cancers.

All these benefits, and in particular stronger muscles , a stronger heart and more efficient lungs mean day-to-day activity is less likely to put a strain on our health. We can also find usual activities easier and more enjoyable as a result.

Specific benefits of activity for thyroid patients

Hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can both cause many unpleasant symptoms, including fatigue, muscle aches and altered mood. Symptoms can vary from individual to individual and also vary according to severity of the disease. Whilst it is often difficult for us to even think about being active when we are struggling with the symptoms of thyroid disease, being more physically active is often a very positive and proven step towards improving our health and wellbeing.

Whilst the specific benefits for people with thyroid disease is sparse compared with other conditions such as diabetes, the evidence so far is very promising. Being more physically active has been shown to improve Health-Related Quality of Life in people affected by thyroid disease. This looks at many factors including both psychological and physical health.

Since thyroid disease can negatively impact on our health, it stands to reason that improving our activity levels will also improve those other areas we struggle with as we manage the symptoms of our thyroid disorder.

Physical activity or exercise

Physical activity is what is known as an ‘umbrella’ term. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines Physical Activity as ‘any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles requiring energy expenditure.’ Exercise falls within the ‘umbrella’ of physical activity and is anything involving an element of structure and planning. This could include a trip to the gym, a 5k jog or a spin class. Physical activity, on the other hand, is more general and can also include things like gardening, walking or even housework if it is at the correct intensity to bring about benefits.

Intensity of activity required to benefit health

An intensity of between 3-6 out of 10 is often enough for most people to improve their health. This difficulty generally signals an intensity at around 50-70% of our highest possible heart rate (or Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)). At this intensity we can keep up our efforts for a prolonged time-period so that we do not become too fatigued or injured, yet we can still work hard enough to benefit from the activity. Another simple method of identifying this intensity is to do the ‘talking not singing’ test. For example, if we are doing housework/gardening or walking and we can talk, yet we are too out of breath to sing, our heart rate is high enough to help improve our health long-term.

Watch

Chartered psychologist, Dr Sue Jackson, shares her tips for getting started on your weight loss programme, including:

  • Start small, work out what you are doing now and what are your habits
  • What does weight loss and improving wellbeing look like?
  • Everyone is different, it’s got to feel right for you.
  • How moving more will improve your wellbeing
Welcome Page Week 2 info