
The 4x 100 Formula for Thyroid Weight Loss
If you feel like your thyroid is preventing you from losing weight, try this formula:
It’s called the 4x 100 formula for thyroid weight loss and it’s an easy-to-remember formula that is not only incredibly effective but also thyroid-safe.
And it’s designed to provide your thyroid with the exact amount of calories and macronutrients to ensure you can maintain thyroid function while simultaneously losing weight.
Here’s what it is:
Here’s why it works:
Why 100 grams of protein per day?
Your muscle mass is one of the main drivers of how many calories you burn at rest.
And your muscle mass is determined, in large part, by how much protein you consume.
People, in general, have a hard time reaching their required protein intake for maintaining muscle mass and thyroid patients are no exception.
But to take it a step further, you also have to realize that muscle mass is one of the largest sites of thyroid hormone action (1).
So not only does more muscle mass mean more calories burned at rest, it also means better thyroid function.
And eating 100 grams of protein is enough to ensure that you:
- Have enough to create more muscle mass
- Have enough to maintain what is already there
- Have enough to prevent muscle wasting while using some of the other treatments we are about to discuss
As far as protein sources go, look for lean meats and/or protein powder because these are, by far, the most calorie-efficient sources.
This would include things like:
- Ground beef with a fat/protein composition of 88:12 or leaner
- Ground turkey
- Chicken breast
- Pea protein powder
- And fish like salmon and tuna
Why 100 grams of carbohydrates per day?
The protein is probably an easy one to chew on but this one is going to be a stumbling block for a lot of you, especially those that are more carnivore-oriented but hear me out:
While carbohydrates are definitely not considered ESSENTIAL, you should consider them vital for thyroid health.
And reducing your carbohydrate intake below a certain threshold will absolutely increase your chances of making your thyroid function worse (2).
And there’s nothing worse than reducing thyroid hormone if you are trying to lose weight, considering it’s the most important regulator of your metabolism.

This is a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people, especially those who believe that all carbohydrates are ultimately bad because, in their minds, they all turn into sugar once consumed.
While that may be technically true, the impact that various sources of carbohydrates have on blood sugar, insulin, and thyroid function differ quite dramatically.
For instance, drinking 100% fruit juice will not have a negative impact on your insulin and weight once calories are accounted for.
But this is not true for sugar-sweetened beverages or even zero-calorie sweetened beverages which ARE both associated with weight gain (3).
Even though both contain sugar, how your body processes that sugar and how it interacts with your hormones is different in both cases.
To reach your 100 grams of carbohydrates per day goal, you need to pay close attention to the types of carbs that you are eating.
Here’s what’s approved:
- Whole food sources only
- fruit and 100% fruit juice
- Starches including potatoes, rice, brown rice, and quinoa
- And ancient grains in moderation
Here’s what’s not approved:
- Sugar-sweetened fruit juice or fruit juice from concentrate
- Processed fruit of any kind
- Sugar-sweetened beverages
- Added refined or processed sugar to any recipe or processed food
- Processed grains, wheat, corn, etc.
By the way, this 100-gram threshold will allow you to hit your 3-5 servings of fruit each day, so you can use that as a rough measurement to assess whether or not you are eating enough carbs without having to actually count them.
Why 100 minutes of zone 2 exercise each week?
If you want to lose weight, you’re going to have to exercise, but how you exercise matters, especially if you have a thyroid problem.
Why?
Two reasons:
The first is that exercise provides a source of caloric burn, which is always needed for weight loss.
But the second is probably more important, and that is that it provides a boost to thyroid function.
Research shows that thyroid function increases at all levels of exercise, with the exception of very high-intensity levels.
But the highest and most consistent boost occurs with exercise that puts your heart rate into the 60-70th percentile range (4).
This, by the way, also happens to be the intensity that provides the most sustained benefit to fat burning (5).
It also happens to be more gentle on adrenal function, easier to sustain long-term and doesn’t require any fancy equipment to maintain.
100 minutes per day translates to 4, 20 minute cardio sessions each week or 3, 33 minute sessions.
If you’re unfamiliar with zone-2 exercise, it’s pretty simple.
Zone 2 is considered moderate-intensity exercise and includes any exercise that brings your heart rate into the 60-70th percentile range.
One of the easiest ways to get there is to just walk on a treadmill at 3 miles per hour at some incline, but you can do pretty much anything else as well.
If you aren’t sure how to calculate your maximum heart rate, here’s how to do it:
Take the number 220 and subtract it from your age. This will give your maximum heart rate.
Then if you want to calculate what your zone 2 range is, you just multiply that number by .6.
So if you are a 40-year-old woman, your maximum heart rate is 180 and your zone 2 range is 108 beats per minute.
Why 100 hours of fasting each month?
If you’re aim is to lose weight, you’re going to have to cut calories one way or the other.
But how you restrict those calories matters.
Daily caloric restriction is one of the worst ways to do this because it causes a compensatory decline in your metabolism which translates to reduced thyroid function.
Which is where fasting steps in:
Fasting provides an episodic form of caloric restriction that doesn’t send the same signal to your brain to reduce your metabolism.
In effect, it allows you to reduce your calories while PRESERVING thyroid function.
But there’s a balance that still must be maintained.
If you don’t fast enough, you won’t get any benefit, and if you overfast, you may end up sending the wrong signal to your brain.
This is where 100 hours of fasting per month steps in.
This equates to roughly 1, 24 hour period every single week, which provides you with a 1,500 to 2,000 calorie deficit each week.
This is sufficient to provide weight loss but insufficient to cause thyroid problems, making it the perfect amount for thyroid patients.
If you’re serious about weight loss, try this 4x 100 formula. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to lose weight as you keep thyroid function in mind.
By the way, certain supplements can be an effective way to enhance your fat-burning capabilities.
If you want to see a list of the most powerful fat burners for thyroid patients, check out this article next.
Scientific References
#1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4037849/
#2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9165850/
#3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3210834/
#4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16380698/
#5. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10048683/

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