Primal Journal - NourishedEm page 89

[marcadav]

I then proceeded to have the worst fat day! I felt huge and frustrated by my inability to lose weight. I mean seriously, what else can I do? I've done low-fat, high-fat, low-carb, high-carb, low-cal, high cal, exercise, no exercise. There really aren't any options left to try! The paleo/primalsphere keeps changing it's damn mind about what's appropriate to eat, people who lost most of their weight using the old principles are now telling us that is the wrong way to do it! I tell you, I'm getting pissed off with it all!
I'm also frustrated that my body seems to be strangely put-together. I have lost the majority of my weight from my face, neck, chest and forearms! My upper arms, belly, arse, thighs and lower legs seem to be exactly the same as they've always been. WTF is going on?
I'm sure I'll wake up tomorrow and be fine, I'm just having a shitty day.

Em, you are doing beyond great. Losing anything while actively dealing with thyroid issues is a fantastic accomplishment--one you need to embrace and celebrate.

If I can give one piece of advice it's this-- Anyone dealing with thyroid issues MUST shift their focus away from weight/the scales. Focus needs to be on HEALTH. Health defined in terms of medical markers. Health defined by sense of well being, energy, mental/emotional acuity, day to day ability to function effectively, improvement in hypo symptoms, etc..

Being concerned about scale weight, IMO, hampers healing and sets one up for failure. It lead us to either eat too little, or not give a damn and eat whatever.

Finally, I know I feel HUGE in the last 7-10 days before my period. (And dont get me started on still having regular periods at 54+.) So, just a reminder to take a mental note of where you are hormonally/cycle wise when those "worst fat" days hit.

[NourishedEm]

I'll write a normal post and get back to all you lovely people later. I just had to share this quickly.

I'm on my way to have my photograph taken for an article in The Sunday Times on me and another student from Uni about doing tertiary study through social and financial hardship! I had my interview this morning, what a trip!!

[marcadav]

I'll write a normal post and get back to all you lovely people later. I just had to share this quickly.

I'm on my way to have my photograph taken for an article in The Sunday Times on me and another student from Uni about doing tertiary study through social and financial hardship! I had my interview this morning, what a trip!!

WTG!! That's fantastic!!!

My sister received her LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) pin last night. She will finish her RN program next year. She, too, did it under social (being 49/obese, family doubts/issues, ) and financial (working 2 jobs)hardship. We (her 5 sisters) were there for her pinning ceremony and are VERY proud of her tenacity and accomplishment.

[unsuperb]

Awesomesauce!!

[NourishedEm]

I know its important to you, but you really can't focus on the weight. Fixing a broken metabolism will take time. You will always get lots of conflicting advice on losing weight but not so much on getting healthy, because we have our individual ways of being unhealthy. Its why a good physician is so valuable. Hang in there and keep working on your thyroid

If I can give one piece of advice it's this-- Anyone dealing with thyroid issues MUST shift their focus away from weight/the scales. Focus needs to be on HEALTH. Health defined in terms of medical markers. Health defined by sense of well being, energy, mental/emotional acuity, day to day ability to function effectively, improvement in hypo symptoms, etc..

Being concerned about scale weight, IMO, hampers healing and sets one up for failure. It lead us to either eat too little, or not give a damn and eat whatever.

Thanks for the advice. I guess the problem is that, as far as I'm concerned, my thyroid is stabilised. My energy levels are great, I have no hypo symptoms and my blood levels of free T4 and T3 are perfect with TSH in the low range. I don't have any problems related to my thyroid anymore, in fact I had to have my dose reduced last time I saw my Dr because I was starting to get a little hyper.
I'm not convinced that my thyroid is the issue.

Em, of course you are fucking awesome! Stop worrying about the number on the scale, how fab you fit into your jeans. If I could find the motivation to go back a 100 pages, I would quote you yourself where you said you werent going to worry about the weight and that you wanted to concentrate on your health. Yes, see, I do read what you say! Gawd there is nothing worse than people that spit your own words right back at you eh?

Nope, nothing. If you remember though, I was saying that in self-preservation because worrying about weight-loss drives me nuts.... Well, I'm worrying now and (surprise!) it's driving me nuts!

I'd go with either negatives or Aussie pull-ups. The latter is probably better. Those engage almost the exact same muscles as regular pull-ups. Just make sure you pull yourself right up, chest almost touching the bar, bringing your shoulder-blades together. A lot of people can't do pull-ups because they think it's all in the arms. It's not. A lot of it is engaging muscles in the back.

Ok, thanks, I'm convinced. I've got a set of low rings in the backyard on the kids swing set. Aussie pull-ups on those are hard work!! I'm gonna switch over and just use my pullup bar for negatives and static hang practice.

My sister received her LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) pin last night. She will finish her RN program next year. She, too, did it under social (being 49/obese, family doubts/issues, ) and financial (working 2 jobs)hardship. We (her 5 sisters) were there for her pinning ceremony and are VERY proud of her tenacity and accomplishment.

I bet you were! I guess that an LPN is similar to what an Enrolled Nurse is here (that's what I am). Good luck to your sister with her RN program.


The photo session was kinda weird. It was just me and another young boy who is from the Engineering department. We'd never met before but had to pretend to be studying and laughing together. Was odd, but ok. The photographer had no idea when the story is going to run but I'll be sure to post a link or scan the piece if it's going to be hard copy only.

I finally caught up on some sleep last night, my wonderful kids got up quietly and went down the other end of the house. I woke up at 9:40! Awesome! Because I've been studying every night this week, I've been going to bed late and only getting about 6 hours of sleep. I could tell yesterday that I was in sleep deficit because I was really hungry all day. Whenever I get really tired, my body craves carbs, trying to make up for the energy deficit I imagine? I also gained another coupla hundred grams this week, no doubt due to the same issue, who knows, god knows I don't have a fucking clue!

Pete and I are taking the kids indoor rock climbing this afternoon. I'm really looking forward to having a go too, I've always wanted to try it. The kids are with their Dad from tonight, so the rest of the weekend will be focussed on study. My major crit care exam is at 8:30 on Monday, then I've got a medication calculation exam on Thursday and then I'm done.

Have a great weekend everyone.

[marcadav]

Thanks for the advice. I guess the problem is that, as far as I'm concerned, my thyroid is stabilised. My energy levels are great, I have no hypo symptoms and my blood levels of free T4 and T3 are perfect with TSH in the low range. I don't have any problems related to my thyroid anymore, in fact I had to have my dose reduced last time I saw my Dr because I was starting to get a little hyper.
I'm not convinced that my thyroid is the issue.

My experience has shown me that there's a big difference between stabilized and healed. It took over a year on a stable/optimal dose of thyroid meds before my weight started to decrease. Even then it took dedication to food choices and exercise.

[NourishedEm]

My experience has shown me that there's a big difference between stabilized and healed. It took over a year on a stable/optimal dose of thyroid meds before my weight started to decrease. Even then it took dedication to food choices and exercise.

I understand where you're coming from Marcadav, but I don't think my situation is as severe as yours. I don't have hashimotos, I still have a prerfectly good, functioning thyroid gland. I just had/have some problems converting T4 to T3 due to, I'm sure, a combination of factors, the most important of which were (imo) my seriously low ferritin levels and the very low-carb diet I had been on for the previous few years.

I am fixing my ferritin levels (they are increasing) and I no longer restrict carbs the way I used to. The fact that I had to drop my Armour dose tells me that my body is fixing itself and maybe even one day, I won't need to supplement thyroid hormone at all, who knows.

What I don't like doing is using my thyroid issues to blame things on (please don't think that I'm passing this judgement onto you or anyone else, I don't think you are doing this at all), I don't think I'm 'broken' and I don't want to accept victim status and just blame my thyroid disorder for being fat. Sure it doesn't help, but I'm not prepared to throw in the towel.

So, I will keep trying different ways of losing weight. Right now, I'm thinking that I just need to eat less. If my metabolism is a little slower than the next person's, well then I need to eat less to maintain it. Paleobird's example of keeping primal but just with a little portion control shows me that it can be done healthily and works surprisingly well. So that's what I'm going to do, eat Primal foods, have a good amount of fruit and veg, maybe cut the added fats somewhat and up the protein.

If that doesn't work, maybe then I'll give up, probably not though. I'm a tenacious so-and-so.

[NourishedEm]

Ok, I've downloaded the photos from climbing today. I have always wanted to try climbing and I'm so glad I finally did, it was SO MUCH FUN!!!!

It is fucking hard work and I was very grateful for all the squats and pull-ups I've been doing but I can see this turning into my new hobby.

My kids loved it too, my daughter particularly was a natural, she's like a little monkey!

Anyway, here's me on my first go, I'm going to try very hard not to say anything about the size of my arse... ooops too late!



This one is on a slightly harder wall....



Sorry for the pic quality, my son had the camera.

Here's my kids...







They were such a contrast to Pete's kids who didn't even want to try it once they realised it involved physical exercise. They were whining so much that eventually I lost the plot and asked Pete to take them home. He gets really embarrassed when they behave like this and it always happens when we get outdoors and do something physical. Of course at home with their incredibly unfit mother (she apparently cannot climb more than 3 stairs because her feet are stuffed from being obese) they're allowed to sit around all day and activity is not encouraged. It's really kind of sad.

Anyway, I'm focussing on the negative which was minor. Overall an excellent day, I think we'll go back next week.

[Patrick]

Looks awesome, Em! Size of your arse my arse. Don't make me go find Coconut Girl to back-hand ya.

If you go climbing there every week, pull-ups won't be a problem for long! Look for those wide grips on the wall, place both hands and pull yourself up, assisting with your feet as needed. Climbing is awesome all-round resistance training -- it works everything! Wish I had the money to hit up the place here called Vertical Reality. It's supposedly pretty kickass.

Too bad about Pete's kids. Glad you put your foot down, though! At least your kids had a blast!

[canio6]

Looks awesome, Em! Size of your arse my arse. Don't make me go find Coconut Girl to back-hand ya.

^This.