Confessions of a Hyperthyroid, SUCCESS, and Back On Track

As you all know, I was having a rough month.
I know it's nice to see others in the same position you are in so you don't feel so alone, so my setbacks are kinda good for you all!
But I feel I have wayyyy too many slip ups under my belt now... So sorry if I've ever let any of you down with how many times I've messed up!

So I got my results back from the blood test the other day and was told to up my hyperthyroid medication [tapazole, which is supposed to make my thyroid less hyper] to 3 pills a day.

Now here's the confession part....

Even when I was told to take 2 pills a day.... I did not.
I didn't take any pills.

Secretly... I wanted to stay hyper, and not go into hypo. I wanted to keep my firing metabolism. I didn't want to have the horror stories of those with Hypothyroidism who say it's impossible to lose weight.

Unfortunately, I didn't think of all the other negative side effects that comes with hyperthyroidism. Along with a speedy metabolism, comes increasing hunger and the feeling of never being satisfied with food.
I didn't realize this until I started up again with the 3 pill dosage a few days ago.

When I took the recommended dose in the morning,  

I felt like a brand new person!

I DIDN'T FEEL HUNGRY ALL THE TIME
I DIDN'T FEEL STARVING THROUGHOUT THE DAY
And most importantly
I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE BINGING AT ALL

I was so angry at myself....
All this time I was trying to FIGHT my body, keep it out of whack and not in a normal state by keeping it in the hyper stage. Why?! Just to help me along to get my fit body!?!
Turns out I was doing more harm than good! I feel like THIS is part of the reason why I started binging.... when the hyper symptoms came back.. all these overwhelming hunger pangs and never feeling satisfied with food feelings flooded and overwhelmed me...

Now that I'm back on the recommended dosage, I actually feel NORMAL.
I can't believe I wasted so many months fighting it, when I should have just done it all along: Listened to the doctors, took my medication, and maybe if I had done that I wouldn't be in this position I am now! Ah beating myself in the head as I type this... but no mistakes without lessons learned, and boy did I learn the hard way.

Anyway, that's my confession! I was secretly trying to rev up my body to get the body I wanted, and ended up doing the exact opposite. I made my body go too crazy, hungry all the time, and didn't treat it like I should have, BUT NOW I KNOW BETTER. So if any of you hyperthyroids are out there trying to do what I did.. DON'T!

Learn from my mistakes. Listen to the docs, and get to a normal level! <3

Now I'm excited to get my levels down to a NORMAL person's levels, eat like a normal person, live a fit and healthy lifestyle, and not let myself fall back again!

And sooooo I've kinda had the past 3 weeks to relax, rest, and really think about this lifestyle journey of mine. And I wanted to share with you all what I've come up with.

First off, I may end up quitting my part time job in my Mexi- Italian restaurant... Just to not shove temptation in my face every weekend and set myself up for failure. I'm going to try and find another job that's not revolved around food! This way I can focus on the end of the semester and school work.. but then again I dooo need the money for healthy groceries... ah college budget... this is just a "maybe thought" as of now....

Next, the "clean eating" aspect. I've kinda changed my whole view on how I'll be eating now.
One of the reasons for my binging in the first place, besides making myself super hungry from letting my thyroid go super hyper, was because of restriction.

After a while of eating crap the past few weeks, I found myself not even wanting that much bad food anymore! I was able to say "no" to a burrito, froyo, cereal, and other food vices of mine, which was a HUGE step for me!

Granted I'm not "cured" or "recovered" and I can't guarantee I won't binge again in the future, but this baby step was like a giant step for me, and I'm happy about that.

So because of this revelation, I have made some changes to how I'm going to eat:

• I will NOT always be eating clean all the time. 
• I won't freak out about extra carbs or fats etc. 
• I'm just going to eat "most of the time [80-90%]" healthy and if I find myself needing a small treat, then I'll have it! I'll have an extra scoop of peanut butter, I'll have a little piece of chocolate, I'll have an Oreo or a piece of not so clean bread or some hot chocolate! 
• I'll no longer say "I can't have...". 
• I CAN have it, and maybe telling myself I CAN have it, will make me be able to say, "Nah, I don't really want it". Does that make any sense? If it's not seen as off limits to me, then maybe I won't crave it so much!

 

And guess what?! I had this bad boy up here! It was a burger stuffed with a hotdog in the middle, CRAZY right?! And a side of sweet potato fries! Also had a fried oreo afterwards OH MY LAWDDDD. So good.

And in the past this is how it normally would have went:

Eat bad junk meal

Go home

Raid Cupboard

Eat 10 peanut butter banana sandwiches

+ protein bars

+ nature valley bars

+ anything else I could find in my kitchen at that time

Then go to bed feeling guilty as ever

But guess what happened today?

Eat bad junk meal

Went for a walk

Worked on my ebook

Ate a little sampling of one of my new recipes

Walked the dog

Baked tilapia

Finished ebook!

Walked the dog again [he pooped in the house URGH]

Working on this blog post

YES. That's right. NO BINGING. BABY STEPS! 

SUCCESS!

Oh my gosh and I can NOT tell you how proud I am of myself! 

To be able to have a cheat meal, and then NOT go home and binge.... 

I could literally cry tears of joy.... You don't know how many times in the past I would have done the usual routine above.... Go home and binge on everything in site.. 

I can't remember a time I DIDN'T do that! But now I can, and that night is TONIGHT! And I hope for MANY MANY MANY more nights like these! Where I can go out, and eat a not so healthy food, and come back and get back on track!

And man, does it feel GOOOOOOD.

Next thing I'm working on are: Goals. Making clear goals for myself is what I need for motivation.
If you're lacking motivation, that really means you don't have anything you're STRIVING for! Go BEYOND aesthetics like "I wanna look good" but go more for the inner goals, "I want to be stronger, I want my mind to be stronger, I want to start being healthy now so in the future it won't be so hard..." Etc. Find your own goals and reasons to keep to this fit healthy lifestyle!

Or even do the OPPOSITE, think of what'll happen if you DON'T DO ANYTHING.
Like the quote I posted the other day on Instagram:

What'll happen if you DON'T change! Think of the negative views! "I have no control, I don't feel confident, I need to buy new clothes..." Etc etc.... Sad but sometimes the negative reasons push us to act as well!

And next thing I thought about were WORKOUTS. I have to remember to DO my workouts, lift heavy, train dirty, do cardio, and GET FIT! BUTTTT if I miss workouts, it's not the end of the world. A lifestyle journey should be enjoyable for life, not a chore! I'm not going to do things I absolutely despise! If I am just going to be doing things I hate, why would I even WANT to get up and do them? NO, my workouts will be fun, enjoyable, and make me HYPED to get to the gym!

WELLPPPPPP this blog post was kinda everywhere... sorry for my spasticness :P BUT overall I've learned to trust doctors :P, keep up with my medicine, I've gotten a new perspective on this healthy lifestyle, I've had a SUCCESSFUL day, and I'll have many more to come.

Peace out #fitfam <3 <3

My Thyroid

Hello beautiful people! 

Here's a post about the Thyroid.

Some posts to look out for in the future:

Tis the Season to be Jolly Post on Secret Santas 

More Quest Product Reviews + Total Body Workout

My General Outline of My 2013 Fit Semester Plan

Stubborn Fat Burning Cardio

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Thyroid

Here's some background on the thyroid: 

Your thyroid is a gland located at the base of your neck, just below your Adam’s apple. It is shaped like a butterfly – each wing, or lobe of your thyroid lies on either side of your windpipe.

The purpose of your thyroid gland is to make, store, and release thyroid hormones into your blood. These hormones, which are also referred to as T3 (liothyronine) and T4 (levothyroxine), affect almost every cell in your body, and help control your body’s functions. If you have too little thyroid hormone in your blood, your body slows down. This condition is called hypothyroidism. If you have too much thyroid hormone in your blood, your body speeds up. This condition is called hyperthyroidism.

What controls the amount of thyroid hormone produced?
The amount of thyroid hormone made by your thyroid gland is adjusted by a gland in the brain called the pituitary. Another part of your brain, the hypothalamus, helps the pituitary. The hypothalamus sends information to the pituitary gland, the pituitary in turn controls the thyroid gland.
The thyroid gland, pituitary gland, and hypothalamus all work together to control the amount of thyroid hormone in your body. With the pituitary controlling most of the action, these organs work similarly to the way a thermostat controls temperature in a room.
For example, just as the thermometer in a thermostat senses the temperature of a room, your pituitary gland constantly senses the amount of thyroid hormone in your blood. If there is not enough thyroid hormone, your pituitary senses the need to “turn on the heat”. It does this by releasing more thyroid-stimulating hormone (or TSH), which signals your thyroid to make more thyroid hormone. Your thyroid gland then makes and releases the hormone directly into your bloodstream.
Your pituitary gland then senses that there is just the right amount of thyroid hormone in your body. With your thyroid hormone levels now restored to a normal level, your pituitary slows its production of TSH back down to normal.

Tests
While there are a wide variety of blood tests that can be used in the evaluation of thyroid disease, thyroid function testing usually refers to measurement of both TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and thyroid hormone (usually T4) in the blood stream. If the thyroid is functioning normally, the T4 and the TSH are in the normal range. If the thyroid becomes underactive (hypothyroidism) the T4 declines and the TSH rises in an attempt to make the thyroid gland make some more T4. Conversely, if the thyroid gland is overactive (hyperthyroidism), the elevated T4 is sensed by the pituitary and TSH production is decreased in an effort to try to slow down the thyroid.

What can go wrong?
Diseases of the thyroid are often classified into problems primarily involving the structure of the thyroid gland (changes in size or the development of thyroid nodules) or function of the thyroid gland (over active or underactive).
Structural problems can include an enlarged thyroid gland (goiter), a small thyroid gland (atrophic) or the development of either single nodules (solitary thyroid nodule) or multiple thyroid nodules (multinodular gland). The evaluation of structural problems of the thyroid is usually done with a thyroid ultrasound.
Functional problems of the thyroid are initially evaluated with thyroid function tests which are used to determine if the thyroid is functioning normally, over active or underactive. Often times a thyroid gland can have both a structural problem and a functional problem at the same time. So the evaluation of a thyroid condition includes careful evaluation of both the structure and function of the thyroid gland

http://www.checkyourneck.com/about-thyroid-cancer/about-the-thyroid-gland

So why am I talking to you about the thyroid? Because a few years ago I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism [or Graves Disease]. My symptoms were the usual for those with hyperthyroidism:

• increased appetite & increased food intake with steady weight
• rapid heartbeat [tachycardia] and irregular heartbeat with palpitations
• tremors of the hands
• sweating and hot all the time
• sensitive to heat
• irregular menstrual patterns
• frequent bowel movements [sorry, tmi??]
• enlarged thyroid - goiter 
• fatigue and muscle weakness
• difficulty in sleep
• brittle hair and hair loss
• discomfort in the eyes, light sensitivity, blurred vision, inflammation

Basically my body was on full throttle ALL the time. Everything full speed, hyper hyper active. Well this winter break, yesterday to be more precise, the 21st of December, I got radioactive iodine treatment to kill off my thyroid. The radioactive iodine is going to gradually shrink my thyroid over time and then ultimately destroy the gland, which will make me then hypothyroid. Here are the symptoms I've read for that:

• fatigue
• increased sensitivity to cold
• constipation
• dry skin
• unexplained weight gain ---- D:
• puffy face
• hoarseness
• muscle weakness
• elevated blood cholesterol levels
• muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
• pain, stiffness or swelling of joints
• heavier than normal/ irregular menstrual periods
• thinning hair
• slow heart rate
• depression
• impaired memory and forgetfulness
• poor muscle tone
• excessive sleepiness

Dunno if you could tell from my instagram post today asking for advice on post radioactive iodine/hypothyroid tips, I'm a bit freaked out by all of this. Everyone keeps saying as long as I take the meds, the synthetic hormones, then I should be able to function like everyone else and not experience these symptoms so badly. 

I'm most scared about the weight gain part! And I've heard it's SOOOO difficult to lose! That some have gained between 15 - 30 pounds, and now it's harder than ever to lose weight, even with restricted calories to 1300 and exercise 6x a week! Eek.... :O... But even though everyone says I should be fine once I find the right dosage of synthetic hormones and level out, I hear it takes a while for that to happen. It's not automatic. It might take a few months, if not years, to find the "perfect" level for my body. Ahhh this is giving me such bad anxiety!

The best thing I can do as of now though is keep monitoring it closely, listen to my body, keep getting my blood checked to find out my current levels so that my endocrinologist can prescribe me the right medication! As long as I continue to eat well and exercise, I'm seriously hoping for the best, and trying to stay positive!   

If any of you are experiencing the above symptoms, I highlyyy suggest you go get a blood test to see where your thyroid hormone levels are! Better safe than sorry in the long run!