Why is it I know I should exercise but I don’t do it? Willpower, motivation and the hypothyroid.
Is willpower and the motivation to exercise missing from the hypothyroid brain?
Hypothyroidism may cause fatigue, low mood, weight gain and muscle weakness. Even when adequately medicated or thyroid hormone levels are said to be normal (medically referred to as euthyroid), often those with Hashimoto’s still experience symptoms.
It’s this tragedy of the thyroid medication not leaving me feeling better that personally spiralled me into a dark cesspit of depression. Whilst I appreciate and recognise thyroid medication was keeping me alive, it didn’t improve my brain fog, fatigue, weight, muscle aches and pains nor tummy issues.
If you have been prescribed thyroid hormone but continue to suffer the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism please start with thorough thyroid testing and matching your medication needs.
Once I learnt that Hashimoto’s itself may cause the same symptoms of hypothyroidism despite normal thyroid lab tests, and, that medication for some people does not relieve, remove or reduce the debilitating sensations of exhaustion, teariness and pain - I felt profoundly relieved. Realising I wasn’t crazy, knowing I wasn’t alone in missing the miracle medication promised to provide, helped me move into solution mode.
I was eager to try anything and everything scientists said might just help.
Turmeric latte? Got my curry on in a hurry.
Herbs, vitamins, minerals? Ka-ching I bought them all & swallowed them all.
Gluten-free? No problem - I’ll nosh on cardboard if it promised to return my quality of life!
And the outcome was miraculous for me. By the time I finished learning how to take control of my health via a 4 year triple qualification in nutritional medicine, herbal medicine and naturopathy I was bounding with energy and back working full time hours after previously barely coping with 2 days a week. It was like someone had pulled back the curtains of fog clouding my brain with fatigue and pain to let in the sunshine and ease of a life worth living.
So when I discovered the ocean of research on the healing power of movement I was swept up by the power of a king tide for the potential for further improvements. I joined a gym, dusted off my sneakers and thought I’d soon be in the running for a gold medal so keen was I to add this recovery strategy to my tool kit of solutions for my remaining thyroid symptoms.
Exercise has been found to have significant impacts on helping with depression, chronic fatigue, muscle weakness and even constipation - all common Hashimoto’s and hypothyroid symptoms.
But the reality was I found it almost impossible to stay disciplined after the first week of excitement waned. Getting off my comfy couch to “feel the burn” was a monumental task requiring a team of stevedores and a heavy lifting crane. My inner Jane Fonda circa 1980 had apparently retired her lycra g-string and leg warmers for good.
I had hit the frustrating point where I knew what I needed to do, but, I could not make myself do it.
Cue extensive mental berating and self-flagellation. Stop being so lazy! You’re a failure! What sort of naturopath doesn’t love yoga? You’re the only herbalist alive who isn’t jonesing for a hike in the wilderness!
It wasn’t until I read the research on the motivation to exercise and learnt as humans we may be wired to sit on the couch as much as possible that I gave myself a time-out on the blame-game.
It seems our brain may be trying to protect us from burning energy and calories by avoiding movement. Even when people knew exercise was good for them AND they were genuinely planning to exercise their brains short-circuited the impulse nudging them to be inactive.
As Dr Matthieu Boisgontier, the lead researcher on the study said:
“Conserving energy was necessary for us as a species in our early days…. The fewer calories that (…) humans burned, the fewer they had to replace at a time when food was not readily available”.
Sitting quietly on a comfy couch is a survival mechanism and may be built into the architecture of our brains as humans!
Implications for Hashimoto’s hypothyroid heroes
This started me pondering… could the desire to not move or exercise be exacerbated and worsened when hormones are hijacking our energy levels?
Considering a sluggish thyroid means our body struggles already to burn calories and produce energy, could Hashimoto’s and/or hypothyroidism worsen and magnify the human tendency to inactivity?
Are men and women with sluggish thyroids losing out on the boosting impact of moving their body because their brain is shouting at them to stay couch-side in energy conservation mode?
For me it was like finding the vital missing piece of jigsaw puzzle in terms of learning why I was not acting on my knowledge of the benefits of exercise.
The way I transfer the learnings of this study into my life personally is when the ‘sluggish stay in bed sleep-ins’ or 'parking my posterior on the couch for posterity’ feelings start talking to me I deliberately and consciously don’t listen.
I’ve learnt I am not a failure because I am not motivated. I now recognise and realise it may be futile to rely on willpower to get me up and moving ‘cause, just like the elusive cleaning fairy, willpower may never visit my home no matter how hard I wish upon a star.
It’s very common for my Hashimoto’s and hypothyroid clients to share with me their experience with heart breaking negative emotions like guilt, disappointment and a sense of hopelessness around exercise.
These incredible men and women successfully make many tough and unpalatable changes in their pursuit of energy and vitality, yet they feel like failures, because they are not motivated to move. Could they be experiencing a double dose of energy conservation mode and their brain is forcing inactivity in an effort to falsely protect their survival?
Bottom line:
Step 1 Test it
Make sure you know if your hypothyroidism is caused by Hashimoto’s antibodies. How? Request a Thyroid antibody pathology test. These are written on lab request forms as either Thyroid antibodies or Anti-TPOs & TgABs.
Step 2 Check it
If you are returning to movement after injury, illness or an extended leave of absence please always get a thorough physical and medical check up to make sure you know what your body can and should be doing.
I strongly recommend engaging with an exercise physiologist and/or physiotherapist to tailor a personalised return to movement strategy for you. Please. The last thing you want to happen is to compound the fatigue of hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s with a physical injury!
Step 3 Schedule it
My own personal perspective as a Hashimoto’s hypothyroid woman is my body / my mind may never experience the urge to exercise. And that is normal and ok. Yet knowing the real benefits to my health from regular movement I need to lock activity into my daily and weekly schedule as an unbreakable date with myself. Whilst I literally may never, ever, ever feel like moving I’ve got to just do it.
Step 4 Move it
Whether it is dancing to your favourite soundtrack, walking your neighbourhood or simply pumping your arms at your desk you’ve gotta move it, move it.
I’d love to hear what you think. How have you managed the urge to stay couch-side?
In health and hormone happiness,
Sonia x
References:
Cheval, B., Tipura, E., Burra, N., Frossard, J., Chanal, J., Orsholits, D., ... & Boisgontier, M. P. (2018). Avoiding sedentary behaviors requires more cortical resources than avoiding physical activity: An EEG study. Neuropsychologia, 119, 68-80. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.07.029 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30056055
Watt, T., Hegedüs, L., Bjorner, J. B., Groenvold, M., Bonnema, S. J., Rasmussen, Å. K., & Feldt-Rasmussen, U. (2012). Is thyroid autoimmunity per se a determinant of quality of life in patients with autoimmune hypothyroidism? European Thyroid Journal, 1(3), 186-192. doi: 10.1159/000342623 https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/342623