u/ThisIsAThrowawayy7

32M. My mom was diagnosed with hypothyroidism around my age, and my endo thinks I may have early Hashimoto’s.

Recent labs:

TPO antibodies: 20.6 (ref ≤9)
Thyroglobulin antibodies: <0.9, ref range 0-4
TSH: 2.439, ref range .35 to 5
Free T4: 0.6, ref range .8 to 1.5
Free T3: 1.7, ref range 2.2 to 4

I’m not on any thyroid meds. I’ve also had fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, and other hypo-type symptoms.

For context: I’ve been on TRT for 7 years, 200 mg/week split into 2 injections, with labs in range. I have sleep apnea, but it’s well controlled. I’ve been on Zepbound 5 mg weekly since 4/18/26. No biotin supplementation, and ferritin/iron are normal.

My endo said TRT, sleep apnea, or Zepbound could also be contributing to the fatigue.

Has anyone had a similar pattern of low FT4/FT3 with normal TSH and positive TPO antibodies? Did it end up being Hashimoto’s or something else?

What are the best local ethnic stores for groceries? Just moved here and looking for rec’s.

A lot of items can be found at cheaper prices at these locations, but I’m unaware of any in the area outside of Tenuta’s, which was disappointing with its selections; was able to find cheaper food items at Aldi.

I’m looking for things like spices, seasonings, saucess, fresh fruit/produce, bulk grains, and specific cuts of meat.

I’m curious what the consensus is on protein quality vs. total protein intake for someone at the higher end of strength and muscle development.

For context, I’m an elite powerlifter with a 530+ DOTS across multiple weight classes. I’m pretty close to filling out my current weight class, have a relatively high fat-free mass, and I do use PEDs/anabolics as part of my meet preparation. My primary goals are maximizing strength, maintaining/building muscle, and recovering well from training.

For years, I ate around 1.3-1.35 g of protein per pound of bodyweight, with at least 1 g/lb coming from complete protein sources (meat, dairy, eggs, whey, etc.).

Recently, I switched things up; I’m now eating closer to 1 g/lb total protein, but only about 0.5 to 0.8 g/lb is coming from complete protein sources. The rest comes from foods like rice, lentils, beans, peanuts, oats, etc., with an effort to combine complementary proteins throughout the day.

The reasons for the change were:

- To free up calories for more carbohydrates to better fuel training.

- To reduce my grocery bill, since high quality protein sources have gotten pretty expensive.

My question is whether someone at my level of muscularity and performance is potentially doing themselves a disservice by relying more heavily on complementary plant proteins, even if total protein intake is still around 1 g/lb.

Most of the research I’ve seen suggests that 1.6-2.2 g/kg is plenty for resistance trained athletes, but a lot of those studies aren’t looking at athletes who are already carrying a lot of lean mass or competing at a high level. I’m wondering if there’s a point where protein quality starts to matter more than it does for the average lifter.

Has anyone seen research on this, or worked with high-level strength athletes who have made a similar shift? If you were in my position, would you keep things as they are, increase complete protein intake again, or just keep monitoring performance, body composition, and recovery?

I’m working with a coach and overall, training is going well; im getting stronger and the results are there.
The challenge is that communication has felt inconsistent at times. Earlier on there were definitely some late replies and missed messages, though that’s improved after we discussed it.

The bigger issue now is that I’m not always sure what communication standards actually are. For example, some messages/check-ins get responses while others don’t & sometimes I have to reach out about projections or programming details before a session because things aren’t updated in terms of goal weights, percentages/RPE’s, etc

None of this is catastrophic, and I don’t think my coach is doing a bad job per se, But I sometimes feel like I’m putting effort into managing the process rather than just executing it from an athlete perspective

For athletes and coaches: how much follow-up is reasonable before it starts defeating the purpose of hiring a coach & becomes a dealbreaker