New Year, New Me

Happy New Year!  Can you believe it's 2016 already?  Time flies.  This year, I'm determined to make it a great one.  Since finding out I had hypothyroidism, I gained a few extra pounds despite going to the gym 4 or 5 days a week.  I tried to eat healthier but I still wasn't losing any weight.  At least I didn't really gain much, only 4 pounds over the holidays.  I lost inches from working out even though my weight stayed even.

This is crazy!  At least I only gained 4 pounds.

Over the holiday break, I decided that I was going to make a lifestyle change.  I've never weighed this much, so I need to make a change.  I've gained about 30 pounds in the last two years.  Thanks to working out, at least I lost some inches despite the scale not changing.  Well they said losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise.  I have the exercise down thanks to having a personal trainer for the last year.  My contract ran out the end of December but I know what I need to be doing in the gym now.  I'll just have to push myself harder than I normally would on my own.  Maybe I can find myself a gym buddy to keep me motivated!


I'm going to exercise at least 3 times a week, hopefully more than that.  I'm also going mostly paleo or some may say primal, at least for now.  I've done a lot of research about hypothyroidism and because it's also associated with autoimmune diseases, many people have felt better and lost weight on gluten-free diets.  I decided to go paleo to kick start my diet.  I'll eventually allow some gluten-free grains back into my diet, but I want to see some results before I do that.

I started my lifestyle change on January 4th, 2016.  So far I've lost some of my holiday weight gain and I've had no grains whatsoever.  I think I could have lost more, but I had many lattes from Starbucks last week (I know - not so healthy).  This week I'm cutting out all dairy products to see what the effects will be.  I had many salads last week from Salata, Chick-fil-a, and Chipotle.  I learned how to make seared Ahi Tuna at home - so good!  I had apples or banana chips as snacks....but I had quite a bit of peanut butter with my apple.  I know the peanut butter isn't paleo, but it was so good.  I'm cutting out the peanut butter this week too.  I'm kind of playing trial and error with this diet.  That's why I said I'm doing mostly paleo.  I want to see how my body responds to different foods and adjust accordingly.

Last week's menu (1/4/16)
Breakfast - apples and peanut butter OR Advocare White Chocolate Peppermint Shake (not paleo)
Lunch - salads from Salata, Chipotle, Chickfila (no cheese, no croutons, no sour cream) OR Chicken Protein Plate from Zoe's Kitchen (no slaw sub roasted veggies).
Dinner - Seared Ahi Tuna, arugula mix, avocado, and sweet potato fries.
Snacks - apples (sometimes with peanut butter), banana chips, lots of 2 pump whole milk Chestnut Praline Grande lattes no whip no topping from Starbucks
Dessert (if needed) - dark chocolate, Dibs (almond milk ice cream covered in chocolate)

This week's menu (1/11/16)
Breakfast - Cantaloupe, hard boiled egg, apples
Lunch - not sure yet.  probably similar to last week.
Dinner - Chicken, side of homemade bbq sauce (for light dipping only), green beans and sweet potatoes. OR soft boiled eggs, paleo granola with almond milk.
Snacks - Cantaloupe, apples, banana chips, carrots

I'm on a mission to be in the best shape of my life and I will find a way to make it happen.

So for those of you who may just be starting or looking into a paleo/primal lifestyle or gluten free lifestyle, here's some information that may help you.

http://primalpalate.com/menus/30-day-paleomeal-plan/

I found the following information on SavingDinner.com

• Similarities between paleo and primal lifestyles include:
• • Eating tons of veggies
• • Eating lots of protein
• • Avoiding grains
• • Eliminating gluten
• • Doing away with corn
• • Avoiding high fructose corn syrup
• • Avoiding sugar
• • Eliminating processed foods
• • Enjoying the occasional wine and beer
• • Exercising regularly

I am by no means an expert, nor am I strictly following any of these diets.  My purpose is to find a lifestyle in which I feel my best and I'm at my idea weight.  In December, before the holidays, my BMI was 32.8, which categorizes me as Obese.  Ugh.  Hate that word.  "Normal Weight" BMI is 18.5-24.9.  So my goal is to hit in between those numbers.

Hypothyroidism and the Weight Struggle

November 1st, 2015

Since my last post about getting back on track, I only half way got back on track.  We all do this sometimes, we say we will start tomorrow, then things come up, events happen, excuses come or we just plain get distracted by life and months later, we are still in the same place.  It's been a stressful few months.  I work full-time, I'm taking 3 college classes and I workout.  Sometimes it's difficult trying to juggle everything.  I signed up for a personal trainer in Jan 2015 because of that.  It forces me to go to the gym and get in a tough workout.  My trainer is great, I feel stronger, I'm lifting heavier, he gets my heart rate going.  My sessions end the end of December and to save money, I'm going to try working out on my own, or finding a gym partner to hold me accountable.  I love working out, but hate cardio.  Because of this, when I lift weights, I give myself little rest in between sets to keep my heart rate up.  Currently, I lift weights 3 times a week, but I want to step it up to 4 days a week.  I do at least 20 to 30 minutes of cardio when I'm at the gym.  I recently started doing the air stepper or stair machine.  They make me work harder than any of the other cardio machines.   Currently I don't last very long, but I'm working on getting better.  Even with all my working out, I haven't lost anything, in fact I've probably gained a few pounds.  Sometimes this can be very disheartening and discouraging.  Even after trying many different diets and still losing nothing, I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.

I made my yearly physical appointment in early September, not thinking anything of it, and I got a startling result from the bloodwork.  I had hypothyroidism.  I wasn't sure what this was, but I had heard about it.  My TSH number is a little over 6.  My doctor prescribed me 50 mg of Synthroid and told me to return in 6 to 8 weeks.  My follow up appointment is this coming Thursday.

So what is hypothyroidism?  It's a gland in your throat that isn't working probably.  When hypo, it makes you sleepy, gives you brain fog, you can gain weight unexpectedly because it slows your metabolism down.  When I read this, I was like wow! I wish I had figured this out sooner.  Two years ago, I gained 20 pounds in a month when I wasn't doing anything that different than what I normally did and I've been struggling to lose the weight since.  I've done research on this, but I can still do a lot more research.  From my readings, I would like my TSH level to be between 1 and 2.  I also read that autoimmune conditions like hashimoto's can cause hypothyroidism.  Once you have this condition, you will always have it.  Now I'm working on figuring out how to lose weight with this condition.  I've read that going gluten free has worked for many people.  I'm not opposed to trying that.

Tomorrow I put myself on a strict diet.  I need guidelines for myself so it will be easier to follow.  No grains except for small amounts of brown rice and oatmeal.  No soda.  No refined sugars.  No cake, candy or cookies.  No fried foods.  Limit dairy products.  So what can I have?  Meat, vegetables, fruits, oatmeal, brown rice, protein shakes, Spark, black coffee and water.  Sounds kinda bland, but I can use spices and Pinterest to make things more exciting.

Wish me luck!  I'll let you know how everything does.  I'm determined to get in better shape.