I am 32, 5'3" tall, 128 lbs. I've been feeling light-headed and nauseated lately and have been suffering from constipation. I have a bowel movement maybe every three days, and that's with encouragement from prunes or an herbal laxative tea. I also have a very slow metabolism - I consume on the order of 1500-1800 calories a day (I keep a food diary for 2 weeks about every 6 months to make sure I'm on track), but I work out 10-15 hours a week. Hard. Here's my history:

I have hypothyroidism and am on synthroid (50 ug). I'm a Manager/Scientist during the day, but I teach fitness classes as a second job. I exercise quite a bit: I teach kickboxing, sports conditioning, and weighlifting. I'm starting up a bootcamp (once a week) next month. I also race triathlons, so I swim (2500 yds 3 times a week on average), run (6-10 miles 2 times a week on average) and bike (40-60 miles in the Spring-Fall 1.5 times a week; Spin 1+ hours 3 times a week in the Winter). My diet is very healthy. I make most of my meals at home. On a typical day, I eat a hard boiled egg and an orange for breakfast. I have hot organic apple cider with apple cider vinegar (a naturopathic treatment for hypothyroidism) in the morning. I'll have a cup of coffee or a cup of tea later in the day, maybe a second but not usually. I have a yogurt (Activia), usually as a mid-morning snack. Lunch is usually a vegetable - today I had 2 cups of cabbage sauteed in cajun seasoning and coconut oil (another naturopathic remedy for hypothyroidism). I have a piece of fruit in the afternoon, usually an apple. I keep nuts, dried fruit and lean beef jerkey in my cabinet in case I get hungry during the day. I usually do. Dinner is usually 4 oz of protein (fish, chicken or lean beef), at least 2 cups of vegetables, and some fruit for dessert. I cook all of my food in coconut oil. I make my own sugar-free dark chocolate with nuts or organic almond butter, and I'll have one of those for dessert. Some nights, I'll add a spoonful (or two) of almond or cashew butter. Sometimes I'll sneak in a cookie or some nuts. I'm not much of a drinker, maybe 2-3 glasses of wine or beers a week. I drink at least 56 oz of water a day, in addition to the coffee/tea, and what I drink when I work out. I recently lost about 10 lbs on the HCG diet - 10 lbs I'd been trying to lose for the last 10 years. I have a very difficult time maintaining my weight. I thought that the synthroid would solve that, but it hasn't. I don't understand why I'm constipated. The constipation seems to be worse now than ever before. I strain to go, and when I do, it's usually dense, dark, and very hard to pass. Once every three days can't be right. I used to be pretty regular (1x a day). I get a lot of fiber, I exercise, I drink a lot of water. I don't like resorting to the herbal laxative tea. The only other medication I'm on is a very low dose birth control pill, but I've been on oral contraceptives since I was 18, and on this particular one for 2 years. The rest of my medical history is pretty boring - I've had a few athletic injuries and appropriate surgeries, a concussion or two, and I have fibroids that the GYN keeps an eye on. Oh, and I tend to skip menstrual cycles. So what's with the constipation and slow metabolism?