July/August Weight Loss Challenge

[Catrin]

Have you been religious about taking your thyroid medicine and have you had your levels checked lately?

It does get checked regularly, but it is also true that sometimes I've trouble remembering to take it - that has got to be it! You would think after not having a thyroid for over 20 years that I wouldn't forget, but things have been busy...I will make certain I take it properly for awhile - if that is all it is then my levels will adjust properly. No point having them check the levels if I've not been taking it right - for then they will raise the dose for the wrong reason which only serves to cause further problems. Thanks for mentioning it!

[indysteel]

It does get checked regularly, but it is also true that sometimes I've trouble remembering to take it - that has got to be it! You would think after not having a thyroid for over 20 years that I wouldn't forget, but things have been busy...I will make certain I take it properly for awhile - if that is all it is then my levels will adjust properly. No point having them check the levels if I've not been taking it right - for then they will raise the dose for the wrong reason which only serves to cause further problems. Thanks for mentioning it!

Can you set a daily reminder on your iPhone. That's what I do with my BCP.

[limewave]

Catrin, I'm in a similar boat. I've been having issues too. Finally got checked and my adrenals are under stress and my liver is clogged. Which is causing anxiety, toxic build-up and other issues. And I haven't been good about taking my thyroid meds. My hair has been falling out, I haven't been sleeping well at night, my blood pressure drops when I stand up . . .

Anywho, I'm on a liver cleanse and am taking something to support my adrenals. Things should be looking up soon.

I get so irritated with people that say losing weight is easy--calories in, calories out. Obviously they've never had thryoid, hormone, or adrenal issues.

[Catrin]

Catrin, I'm in a similar boat. I've been having issues too. Finally got checked and my adrenals are under stress and my liver is clogged. Which is causing anxiety, toxic build-up and other issues. And I haven't been good about taking my thyroid meds. My hair has been falling out, I haven't been sleeping well at night, my blood pressure drops when I stand up . . .

Anywho, I'm on a liver cleanse and am taking something to support my adrenals. Things should be looking up soon.

I get so irritated with people that say losing weight is easy--calories in, calories out. Obviously they've never had thryoid, hormone, or adrenal issues.

Yep - and my not having a reproductive system doesn't help either...haven't slept well since I can't remember when That isn't thyroid though - probably need to start getting strict about not having coffee after 10:00 am or so... I've very minor hot flashes at night, but am not about to go on HRT.

[emily_in_nc]

Yep - and my not having a reproductive system doesn't help either...haven't slept well since I can't remember when That isn't thyroid though - probably need to start getting strict about not having coffee after 10:00 am or so... I've very minor hot flashes at night, but am not about to go on HRT.

My doc said that not sleeping well can be entirely attributed to peri-menopause, all other things being equal. I slept MUCH better on our two week vacation in early July than I've slept since, so it's probably a bit of hormones and a bit of stress. I fall asleep just fine, and sleep great the first 4-5 hours of the night, but after that, I wake up off and on until time to get up, sometimes staying awake for quite some time. Frustrating!

[Catrin]

I have problems falling asleep, then staying there. I wake up every couple of hours. Am on vacation now so I should be able to determine if it is stress like I think it is...

[Crankin]

Catrin, I have nothing to add about the thyroid, etc., but could you try maybe cutting out the beer or wine? I know that's what I do if I have a couple of intransigent pounds. I know it kind of sucks, as you and I are not huge drinkers, but basically it's empty calories and beer, especially, has a lot of carbs.
And, you can't exercise 24 hours a day. Your diet looks pretty good to me, so tweaking small things might work instead of trying to do more.

[indysteel]

Just to add a thought to the thyroid issue. When I was freaking out about possibly having Graves', I ran across a bunch of discussions on a thyroid message board about hypothyroid people whose TSH levels were normal but who were having problems with weight gain. If I remember correctly, their bodies were having a hard time converting T4 to T3 (or maybe it was the reverse). Adding a different drug, whose name I can't remember, helped in most cases with the conversion. I'm sorry this is rather vague, but I wanted to throw it out there as something to look for in your numbers. The sense I got from some of the discussions is that many hypos find it frustrating if they're working with docs who are only looking at their TSH levels. I'm not sure what tests your doc runs....

To be honest, your diet and exercise look really sound. You shouldn't have to ride 500 miles a month to maintain or lose weight. In fact, with that type of activity, it almost becomes hard to lose because that level of exercise really stimulates the appetite and takes a fair amount of food to sustain.

[Juliegoddess]

I'm going in for an ultrasound this month to test for that. Think I have the same. Including bleeding.

Good luck.

Wow, so many ladies with this issue! It makes me wonder about the reasons for it. The doc says it's "genetic"...but I think about my boys with their autism, and I KNOW that there are environmental causes for the disorder. Good luck to you...and I'm glad, too that there are alternatives to hysterectomies now. I'm just not ready to give up my girly goods!

[Juliegoddess]

That is SO good to hear! The bleeding has been a nuisance, yes, and it's great to hear that the ablations are working for some women. My doc is one of those that "poo-poo's" the ablation, thinking I should just "get a hysterectomy and get it over with"...but I just DISAGREE with that thought. But, he did agree that I could have the ablation, and if in a few months things are right back to the same way, then we could think about a hysterectomy. Sounds like a much more sensible plan to me!

[snowtulip]

Good luck Julie, I have friends that had ablations and it worked out great for them in the long run. I had it done a few years ago, but I turned out to be one of those that it didn't work long-term, so I had a hysterectomy eariler this year. The best decision I ever made, the extreme anemia had me acting like a different person, so tired and weak. Been feeling great since surgery


My weight this week is 123; been trying to get back on the ball!

[Catrin]

Catrin, I have nothing to add about the thyroid, etc., but could you try maybe cutting out the beer or wine? I know that's what I do if I have a couple of intransigent pounds. I know it kind of sucks, as you and I are not huge drinkers, but basically it's empty calories and beer, especially, has a lot of carbs.
And, you can't exercise 24 hours a day. Your diet looks pretty good to me, so tweaking small things might work instead of trying to do more.

I average 2 beers a week, 3 at most - and I do not ever drink wine (my body hates it). Also from what I can tell, beer doesn't appear to have as many carbs as many people seem to think. For example, one bottle of Bell's Oberon has only 14 grams of carbs - and I do factor that and the calories into my daily allotment. Basically that is as many carbs as one slice of bread - though certainly more calories...

Good point though, and there may be a few favorite snacks I have that isn't getting recorded that isn't helping. I suspect that getting back on track with my medication will go far - and today I am actually down a pound - which doesn't mean much. My nutritionist recommended 200 grams of carbs for me, will knock that down to 150 to see what that does for me. I like bread overly-much anyway

Indy - good point! I've learned over the years to really press for the full thyroid series of tests - they are expensive so they tend to only want to do one of them and they really are all needed to get a good snapshot. I will give it 4-6 weeks of taking my meds every single day, and if I don't see any movement will ask them to do the tests. It takes some time to get the levels to balance back out once they get out of balance for whatever reason.

I agree, I shouldn't HAVE to ride 500 miles a week for proper weight control. I am also, probably, being unfair to myself to compare my weight to what it was last August - I was WAY overdoing it at that time. I do want my weight to get back to 129, I felt great at that weight, but I need to remember how I got it there and to do it more wisely this time.

Thanks!

[ny biker]

That is SO good to hear! The bleeding has been a nuisance, yes, and it's great to hear that the ablations are working for some women. My doc is one of those that "poo-poo's" the ablation, thinking I should just "get a hysterectomy and get it over with"...but I just DISAGREE with that thought. But, he did agree that I could have the ablation, and if in a few months things are right back to the same way, then we could think about a hysterectomy. Sounds like a much more sensible plan to me!

I don't think I would be comfortable with a doctor who is so cavalier about a hysterectomy. It is not not a minor procedure.

My mother had a hysterectomy back in the mid '80s because of fibroids. A few years later when I mentioned it to an OB/GYN, she said fibroids were so common that they're no longer considered hereditary. About 10-15 years later I had a co-worker with heavy bleeding and really bad cramps due to fibroids, and I got the impression from talking to her that a hysterectomy is no longer the first line of treatment. FWIW, the NIH seems to agree.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001912/

If the fibroids are large enough, I could see how a hysterectomy might be the best option right off the bat. But I would definitely get a second opinion (or more) before proceeding.

[Catrin]

Good to hear that a hysterectomy isn't the first treatment these days. I had a full hysterectomy including ovaries a couple of years back, but it was due to an ovarian cancer scare (I didn't have it).

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Today:

B: steel cut oats with berries and almonds, skim milk, egg whites, coffee

27 mile bike ride - 2 shot blocs during and a banana afterwards

L: roasted chicken breast and one slice of Trader Joe's sprouted whole wheat bread

S: 4 almonds

D: Quinoa, chicken/apple sausage, cottage cheese, apple

Will probably have a beer later after I get home from a trip to the store.

[klesko]

I did not weigh myself yesterday, as I was on a plane rushing to visit my sister on the other side of the country. She was told she only has a few weeks to live earlier this week and I have been stress eating ever since I got the call from my nephew. I have not been feeling well either, so I am going to try hard to eat healthy food at least, and worry about the quantity in a week or two. It will probably be two more weeks until I am at home and can weigh on my scale. On a bright note, I have my post shoulder surgery doctor appointment coming up and hope I get released to start riding my bike again.