Bad and Buffy~
I empathize with you. I have had a thyroidectomy and have autoimmune thyroid disease and it can be no fun at times.
I would recommend discussing your T3 levels with your physician. Is it routinely checked along with your T4 and TSH? If not, find a doctor who is knowledgeable about checking T3 and giving T3 supplements on top of Levothyroxine. If your doc says, “don’t need to check T3 because your TSH is enough”, then switch doctors. Giving T3 is a bit controversial, and many old school doctors won’t deal with it, and if this describes your doctor, you may not improve under his/her care.
Big, my TSH and T4 levels were similar to yours, but I was still VERY symptomatic for hypothyroidism after four or so years of this. So I switched to another doctor, who started me on T3 (Cytomel) and things DRASTICALLY improved. The new doc was the first to test the T3 levels, which were low, even though the T4 and TSH were “normal”.
It truly is more difficult to lose and keep off body fat when you have Thyroid disorder, even when you are “balanced” on Thyroid medications, the “rules and guidelines” for diet, caloric intake and thermogenesis don’t always apply to you. Part of this is just accepting the fact that your metabolism is going to be permanently slower than normal and living and adjusting your life accordingly.
One thing I realized is that even though there are “rules” to dieting and exercise, you sometimes have to break some of these rules. For example, to lose weight, I cut my calories moderately, but I also have to slightly overtrain with really heavy weights, utlizing really good supplements for recovery…this breaks the “rules” but it works for me; without the slightly overtraining aspect, I will not lose any weight and have even gained weight, even with the “proper” caloric intake and nutrient timing.
Other “tricks” that have worked for me include avoiding all white carbohydrates, eating 1/4 the amount of “recommended” carbohydrates, avoiding processed foods, walking a LOT, caloric cycling. And sometimes, you have to change things up a lot in order to see any results.
Anyway, good luck and I hope this helps.