I found this affirming. I have Hashimoto's (hypo-thyroid) and went undiagnosed for decades. I got fat in high school and was shamed into starving myself by my step-father. As a result, I was fat off and on all my adult life. I'd gain weight, then I'd starve to take it off.

Now I can stay reasonably thin eating between 1,200 and 1,500 calories a day (if I also row at least 30 minutes a day and walk my 10,000 steps.) But I will never have a normal metabolism, despite thyroid levels that are corrected by daily medication.

When I saw a nutritionist to help me find the right diet, her only advice was "eat less; exercise more." When I asked if other factors might be contributing to my weight, she got a disgusted look on her face and said "If I told you not to have a latte every morning I'd never see you again."

If I knew then what I know now, I'd have reported her as incompetent.

But she was right about one thing: I never saw her again.