Diet Community

Hi kimno.
Normally, when there is a topic I know ABSOLUTELY nothing about, I don't respond. I'm afraid to give advise that will fail and be thought of as ill intentioned. But, you initially asked for help almost a week ago, and got no responses and I feel it's necessary to answer as best I can and give some advice that , btw , should be researched and brought up with your doctor, but it may help......I really just don't want you to think noone here cares. Because most of us really do.
So, here goes. I googled your RAI treatment, with weightgain and found severa articles, but I can see your point, nothing really points to WHAT to do.
I scanned several , though, and for the most part, they say that once the thyroid is rendered inactive, it's up to you to stay RIGHT ON TOP of any weightgain as soon as it starts. Obviously, you didn't and are in a bad situation now. I'm not putting you down , hon, I'm obese and I like food and it tends to like me so much it stays for the long term on me, lol.
That said read this, the DR's third answer, points to hyperthyroidism as acting alot like Type II diabetes....
http://thyroid.about.com/od/loseweightsuccessfully/a/weight-loss-diet.htm .
I'm wondering if you followed a STRICT diet for Diabetes sufferers , cutting your daily intake by 500 calories and making sure ALL your intake is from good HEALTHY caloric choices,AND did (3) 20-30 min sets of cardio every day if that would put you on the path to losing some weight.
The cardio can me stationary bike, a quick walk, dancing in your living room , whatever, it doesn't require a gym membership or lots of time and money.
Again, I don't know for sure, but many of us on the 50-100 diet community site are focusing on eating less "frozen" , boxed, or canned preprepared foods and are trying to eat FRESH meats, veggies and fruits , less or NO breads, rices and cereals , unless they are whole grain and kept within written suggested serving size as grains are carbs and carbs break down into simple sugars in our systems, these are used in very very small proportion to the veggies, meats and fruits intake.
Read the sample menus for the American Diabetic Assoc. and see if this sounds appropriate for your needs, then fill out a Food and Fitness Plan here on WebMD with your beginning exercise output stated as the LOWEST possible that they list. This will give you an idea how much you should eat vs how much exercise you must do. Then chart EVERYTHING you eat and see if it starts to make sense and to help. My guess is , it will.
Huggs
Kim

Thanks so much for answering!!!! I already walk 4 miles a day 5 days a week and keep a food journal. So I guess the next step is a deep discussion with my doctor!!

Just a thought....if you walked 4 miles/5 days a week B4 ur treatment....then you would HAVE TO INCREASE that amount to offset the effects of the treatment. I do agree that this is a question you should tt ur DR. about, before it gets out of control. I have a friend that had thyroid cancer & had it removed, with all nodules, a couple years back. Thank God she's beat it & is healthy, although her efforts to lose weight have been for naught. She is a weight watchers member, but refuses to increase her activity, so although she's maintaining her weight, she's not losing the 40#s she NEEDS to lose for her health. Just a thought....but definitely talk to your DR.!!!! Good Luck!

I tend to agree with tcb108lady. If you have been doing the walking for quite some time and all it's really doing is maintaining your weight, it's time to throw your body for a bit of a loop. Walking is good all around exercise, but NOT cardio per se. If you are healthy and in pretty good physical shape without ailments like Arthritis to slow you down, You should maybe decrease your walking to 2 miles per day, then use the extra time that you have left for cardio.
I'm in no shape to do this yet, but there is a woman who walks the same trail as I do in the am. At a bench , after every mile walked, she lies down and does 100 fast crunches , then flips over and does "sissy" pushups. Then she gets up and walks another mile, then before she leaves she does the crunches and pushups again. These "bursts" of quick cardio not only switch up her routine but it changes her heartrate for that time, in effect revving her metabolism.
It's the burn you are aiming for to raise your metabolism, not just regular exercise in general. You need to maintain a raised heartbeat, then let is slow then raise it again. This keeps your body guessing the same way as daily cycling of caloric intake does. Your metabolism is kept in constant flux and I think that is what you'll need to aim for.
kim