B: Balance your fats.Don’t avoid them, unless they’re bad.
Eat sufficient amounts of good fats.C: Build your aerobic system through easy exercise.For
most people, walking is sufficient.By focusing on improving health and aerobic fitness, there is
almost always an appropriate loss of body fat.
Thyroid Troubles
Thyroid dysfunction may be a problem in some people who
have difficulty losing body fat. Low thyroid function leads to
symptoms that include mental and physical fatigue, increased
body fat, depression and skin problems (especially cracking
around the heels and on the hands). Hair loss is also common,
especially thinning of the lateral one-third of the eyebrow.
The first step is to evaluate thyroid function through blood tests;
free T3 and T4, and TSH levels. If these are not normal, thyroid
antibodies should be measured. But blood tests don’t always
show the relatively minor functional thyroid problems. Saliva
tests may be more important for detecting subclinical thyroid
dysfunction. You can also take your temperature — those with
low thyroid function usually have low temperatures. Below-
normal temperatures — less than about 98.6 ̊ Fahrenheit or 37 ̊
Celcius — may indicate thyroid dysfunction. (Note that
NSAIDS — nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — including
aspirin, ibuprofen and others, can also disturb metabolism and
decrease body temperature.)
As you improve the quality of your diet and build the aerobic
system, and fat-burning begins to increase, thyroid function
will improve too. This will be reflected in more normal body
temperature and improvements in any other abnormal blood or
saliva tests.308 • IN FITNESS AND IN HEALTH