Since my first post about 10 days ago about my Hashimoto's diagnosis, I've taken a lot of action. Having some sort of physical explanation for my extreme fatigue, brain fog, increased depression and anxiety, swelling, and scale stagnancy has given me hope. I honestly am approaching this as a way to change my daily life and how I feel: the focus on the scale is non-existent at this point. Of course long term, I hope these changes will result in dropping weight, but right now my primary motivation is how I feel. I think that's a huge reason why these changes have been easy so far.
Progress:
- Started on Armour thyroid medication
- Had Mirena IUD removed to eliminate any extra hormones – wasn't nearly as painful as it was going in. Really hormonal (crying during episodes of Shark Tank) the first 5 days, but seems to be stabled out now. Only experienced light cramping and bleeding (sorry, TMI)
- Started Whole30 (today is day 9): no grains, gluten, sugar, fake sugar, dairy, legumes, alcohol
- Started supplementation of probiotics, B-12, Vitamin D, tumeric (anti-inflammatory), and some things for gut inflammation (a mix that tastes like ass, frankly.)
I am a former super-low-carber (I dropped weight doing this before I could physically exercise), and have dabbled in spells of paleo, so I knew quite a bit of what to expect. After day 3, flu-like symptoms and the feeling of “I would cut a b*tch for some sugar” came roaring in. I just kept repeating to myself, “how would you feel if you ate sugar?” I knew I'd feel horrible both physically and emotionally, so it was easy to pass up. I've gone to the grocery store about 3 times in the past 7 days, picking up more meat and veggies each time. I've tried a few recipes that were friggin' awesome.
Favorite Whole30 recipes this week:
- Barbacoa Beef from Skinnytaste – ate with sauteed onions and peppers, topped with avocado slices
- Pressure Cooker Braised Kale and Carrots from Nom Nom Paleo – ate with chicken drumsticks I cooked in the rotisserie
- Chocolate Chili from The Clothes Make The Girl (as seen in the Well Fed cookbook) – ate with garlic sautéed chopped Brussels sprouts
I'm happy to report that I've noticed I'm waking up earlier each day without feeling like a complete zombie. I'll never be a morning person, but I actually feel some level of refreshment when I wake up in the morning. My skin seems to be happier with me as some of my cystic acne has cleared up. My moods are still fluctuating, but that's to be expected. All-in-all, I'm actually feeling a little better! I know it will be a long process, but the better I feel, the more inclined I am to be motivated at sticking to it. I did have a huge psoriasis flare up overnight and have zero idea what caused it as I prepared all my food and there wasn't anything in it that should have triggered it. Thankfully as the day has gone on, it's calmed down a little.
I just came back from a family dinner where I had my first real temptation – chocolate cake and ice cream. I kept saying to myself, “I'll get sick if I eat that…” and it worked. I brought my own dinner as I couldn't eat what was made. No biggie.
With ankle surgery Tuesday, hubs has signed up for cooking duty. Just in case I get in a bind though, I'm going to spend part of Monday doing food prep so I can freeze some and eat the leftovers throughout the week.
Here's to continued improvement!
