What do you eat?

[mtbdarby]

Squeky, how long have you been on your meds? Are you hypo or hyper? I'd guess hypo since it's more common. It's gonna be a moving target until your thyroid stabilzes because that regulates your metabolism. Too hypo or hyper and you're extremely tired and sluggish.

Get plenty of rest. I found I had more energy in the morning. Nap before, nap after if you have too. Most important is to listen to what your body is telling you. The nutrition advice already given is great so you'll have to find what works for you. You may have to rest more at stops or take little power naps (I used to be able to do that, can't seem to anymore).

Keep checking in with your endo or whoever is regulating your meds. Make sure to keep your own chart on what dosage your at, the lab results and how you feel. The "normal" range is all relative. I'm hyper and feel best at the very high part of the range. Good luck and keep us posted.

[han-grrl]

i ate differently than i did for my 24 hour solo race...

My long rides i bring along - bananas, dried fruit, fig newtons and pop tarts...i bring gels as an emergency. I think gels and specialty bars are too expensive, and IMO real food is better. bars are more convenient i guess....i eat every hour starting after the first hour. i also bring a bottle or two of eload.

during my race i ate snacks every lap (roughly every 1:30): powdered donuts, fig newtons and chips and granola bars (the harvest crunch salty sweet ones). every 3rd lap i ate a meal: plain pasta with oil and cheese, or perogies with chicken bacon. every lap i had a good couple of cups of either eload or this new stuff called exelerate (they had it at the race, i had tried it before, it was quite good for me).

this seemed to work for me. every tummy is different. no fruit for me while i race. of any kind. nerves make fruit in me nasty.



H

[Squeaky]

I'm hypo and have been on the meds for about 6 months. Generally I feel okay except that I always seem hungry, and lower doses bring on the sluggishness and (more than usual) migraines. I guess it'll take some time to get it all dialed in. I need to lose about 15 pounds, so I try to watch what I eat, but I definitely get enough calories. Maybe I'm not getting enough of the "right" calories, i.e., boring food .

[Steph]

I'm hypo too. One problem with that is your adrenal glands which affect endurance. You can read up on what you can do to strenghthen them, but I am trying just sea salt in the morning and vit c. I have also been taking something called Adreset by Metagenics. One other thing is to check your ferritin level. It is your iron stores. If those are low, your energy will suffer for sure. I have been on iron to get mine up.

[Squeaky]

I'm hypo too. One problem with that is your adrenal glands which affect endurance. You can read up on what you can do to strenghthen them, but I am trying just sea salt in the morning and vit c. I have also been taking something called Adreset by Metagenics. One other thing is to check your ferritin level. It is your iron stores. If those are low, your energy will suffer for sure. I have been on iron to get mine up.

So the Synthroid doesn't take care of the effects hypo has on your endurance? Oy, this is news to me. I'll check into the things you've listed. Thanks for the info.

[velogirl]

I had thyca. Pre-surgery I was very, very hypo. I'm now stabilized to a nice hyper level of supression (which is what you do with thyca patients). I've dropped back into hypo a couple of times, but mostly hyper-hyper!!!

When I first became hyper, I realized that I needed many more calories on the bike than I did when I was hypo. I just couldn't seem to get enough calories in me. I also found that the increase in body temp. caused me to sweat like crazy (even when it's freezing cold out) and so I seem to get dehydrated more than I did before.

It's a very fine balance. Be patient. Keep good notes in your journal. If you're hypo and on meds, you're probably actually a bit hyper now (or at least more hyper than you were before). That means your metabolic needs are increased, thus the hunger. However, this can be a double-edged sword. Many hyper folks actually gain weight even though their metabolism is revved, because they feed the hunger instinct.

[Steph]

So the Synthroid doesn't take care of the effects hypo has on your endurance?

In my experience no. I take Armour now. You can read some about it on stopthethyroidmadness.com. If Synthroid is working great for you, I'm not saying you should stop taking it. Just pay attantion to those adrenals and ferritin levels.