Primal Journal - NourishedEm page 142

[NourishedEm]

Hi ladies, good to see you too.

I weighed myself this morning and not surprisingly, I've already lost nearly 3 kilos since Wednesday morning. Mostly fluid of course, but it's nice to feel trimmer and flatter all the same.

I bought a new bed today - king size!! So I spent the day clearing out my bedroom and throwing away bags full of toiletries and make up that I haven't used for ages. I was brutal, I'm learning that my house is too small to hang onto stuff in the hope that I 'may' use it one day. I just need to do this in the rest of the house now....

[Jac]

3kg - that's a lot of fluid! I love that feeling of letting it go.

We've just done a huge renovation, which involved piling all the bedroom, spare rooms, office and lounge furniture into the sun porch. Now I'm putting it back very slowly and being ruthless with what goes in and what stays out. So far most of the rooms are done, and there's an awful lot of crap to throw out! Chairs, a filing cabinet, pictures, stationery, a table, a desk - someone will practically be able to furnish a flat from that stuff!

What's the thinking behind the carb-up at the weekend??

[NourishedEm]

3kg - that's a lot of fluid! I love that feeling of letting it go.

What's the thinking behind the carb-up at the weekend??

Trying to prevent thyroid downregulation. It's inevitable on low-carb, but I'm hoping that the carb-up will minimise it. The idea is not mine of course, there's lots of info out there about carb-loading, carb-cycling, etc.

I don't know if it will work, it's an experiment. What I do know is that my thyroid health truly sucked before, even at the high end of Mark's 'safe' carb recommendations (150g). I'm not willing to go back to that, even if it means I have to stay a bit fatter than I'd prefer.

[marcadav]

Trying to prevent thyroid downregulation. It's inevitable on low-carb, but I'm hoping that the carb-up will minimise it. The idea is not mine of course, there's lots of info out there about carb-loading, carb-cycling, etc.

I don't know if it will work, it's an experiment. What I do know is that my thyroid health truly sucked before, even at the high end of Mark's 'safe' carb recommendations (150g). I'm not willing to go back to that, even if it means I have to stay a bit fatter than I'd prefer.

Hi Em, good to "see" you. Are you still on thyroid meds or has upping carbs allowed you to stop taking them?

[NourishedEm]

Hi Em, good to "see" you. Are you still on thyroid meds or has upping carbs allowed you to stop taking them?

Hi marcadav!! Good to 'see' you too!

I managed to stop all thyroid meds once I had been high-carbing it for a few months. For a while there I was on 1 1/2 grains of Armour in the AM and 50mcg of cytomel taken in bits throughout the day. That's a lot of thyroid! Once I got to eating nearly 50% of my calories as carbs (mostly starchy from potatoes and masa corn tortillas/porridge/corn chips with the occasional bit of white rice and lots of fruit) I was like a furnace and had to taper off the meds until finally I was free of them and able to maintain temps in the 36.5 - 37.2 range via diet alone.

As I posted earlier though, I also gained back a bit of weight. Not all of it fat I don't think, I seem to have gained a fair bit of lean mass too. Either way, I can't get my jeans on anymore and I want to be able to avoid buying a new wardrobe. So, I'm trying this.

How are you?

[Jac]

Ah-ha, the evil thyroid!! That's a complicated little sucker. Great that you could get off the meds, and I can see the method in your plan to balance low and high carb for a while.

I watched a TV programme about 'medical tourism' tonight - the usual docs being all doom and gloom, and the patients being really satisfied. They also included dental work, which I hadn't heard of before. Great deals - heaps cheaper than going private at home! Made me think of you

[NourishedEm]

I watched a TV programme about 'medical tourism' tonight - the usual docs being all doom and gloom, and the patients being really satisfied. They also included dental work, which I hadn't heard of before. Great deals - heaps cheaper than going private at home! Made me think of you

All the cases that docs in Australia/NZ/US see are the ones that need 'fixing' so obviously they have a bias in how good the work is. IMO the odds of getting a good or bad job are just the same as when you take a punt on your local surgeon. Also there's the obvious sour grapes about them losing business to a deal that they just can't match, understandable but not the concern of the person who wants the surgery.

Everything is going well in that department in case you were interested. It's very nice to have perky boobs again and being able to wear pants and skirts without long tops to hide the overhanging belly is pretty damn awesome. I'm healing well too and my scarring is looking like it will be fairly minimal and pale which is great!

[marcadav]

That's great news on the thyroid front.

I continue to plug along. I, too, have gained a few pounds back. I've had issues with my SI joint and that has affected my level of exercise.

[NourishedEm]

My mum arrived in town yesterday for her final diagnosis and treatment plan. She has (here goes) Multiple Extra-medullary Plasmacytosis. Her treatment is chemo, steroids and thalidamide! Yikes!
However her haematologist is hopeful that the treatment will work and apparently if it doesn't, then she is still looking at 10-15 years before it may become fatal (mum's 58). I'm not sure I'd put myself through that drug therapy (which in itself is carcinogenic) if I were suffering from a condition which a) didn't make me feel ill at all and b) would not necessarily shorten my life all that much, although I guess early 70s isn't that old these days. Still, that's a mighty nasty drug combination and it makes me worry. I suggested bringing up with the heaematologist what would happen if they did nothing, but mum is still very much of the school of 'doctor knows best' - Of course I work with them everyday so I know how fallible they can be and that they are only human, but she needs to trust in someone and that's her decision. I'll just have to support her through it.

Anyway, I worked late yesterday so we got a Chinese takeaway for dinner. I got a king prawn omelette which, while delicious, woke me up with searing heartburn around midnight and I could not get back to sleep properly after treating it (a bit of bicarb in water did the trick). I've got a 6:30 start this morning (it's 5:25 now) so today is going to be a bit of a struggle - bring on the caffeine!!

It's day 7 of my return to ultra-low-carb today and my first carb-up will be on Friday night. I'm not particularly excited yet as I'm still eating pretty well (I know I'm preaching to the choir here). I'm thinking about making Friday Mexican night and having some tortillas, of course there will be ice-cream too. I can't really think of anything else to get excited about yet......?

[NourishedEm]

Day 9 of ultra-low-carb and I'm feeling so much leaner already! I am definitely colder although my core temps remain the same, but I'm suffering a little with cold hands and feet. I find that eating something salty really helps when that happens, so obviously my adrenals need a little help supporting my thyroid function right now.

I'm having carb night on Saturday after all. I've invited some friends round for dinner and figured that it would be a great opportunity to enjoy some pasta (rice of course) and dessert and wine without worrying about carb intake. Food is always better when shared with company anyway, so this will be nice.

I haven't weighed again since Saturday, I think I'll keep Saturday as my weigh-in day from now on, especially if that's going to be my carb night. No doubt I'll gain a kilo overnight once my glycogen storage is refilled - I don't need the worry of weighing after that!

Managed to score 2 days off this week. Today is usually my day off in this week of the roster, but one of our orthopaedic surgeons who usually books 2 theatres on Fridays has cancelled his list this week leading to massive over-staffing - hence the offer of an extra day off. So I have a four day weekend - most excellent. The sun has come out specially for my long weekend which is great, I see much lounging with a book in my bikini over the next few days.

Anyway, must move my lazy butt, I have a massage booked for 11 and I need to get going. Ciao!