Primal for Life - my journal page 12

[GoJenGo]

Fair enough, I am sure there are some primal purists out there who wouldn't go off plan even for a 'last meal'

As for the metabolism - I dunno. Still no weight loss, so I guess not great!

Meanwhile, the holiday my husband and I had been planning to the UK in June fell through, as he can't get the time off, so we're going to go to Hawaii again in Sept instead. I have mixed feelings about this. While I LOVED Hawaii, and am so enthused to go back to Maui, and see Kauai for the first time, and do all the great snorkelling and hiking etc, part of me is worried that a) I'll still be the same size when I go , and b) I'll gain another 6kg over there! At least I have til Sept to keep trying to work this out. I'd be happy enough being the size I was when I went last time. Which was still uncomfortable for me, but just passable in shorts.

Hey, stranger! How've you been feeling? I haven't been on here much and have been ridiculously busy, but hopefully things are going to slow down at least temporarily after the year is officially over.

Sorry to hear about the UK holiday not working out. However, Maui sounds GREAT - as does Kauai, of course. I hope you'll be able to have a wonderful time no matter what size you are and how your clothes are fitting. I have a feeling you will have finally nailed down what combo works for you as far as adrenals, thyroid, diet and exercise by then - but I hope you'll be able to let that not be the determining factor in enjoying everything in life then or through all of the time in between! I swear, I think stressing about our weight is a MAJOR hindering factor and works strongly against our efforts to change it. I think we totally underestimate it.

What has been your regimen lately with your meds and has it been helpful with energy, mood, etc? What kind of exercise have you been able to do without paying for it afterward by feeling wiped out the next day or any other negatives?

[lucy1984]

Hey!
Yeah I have been realxing over christmas. My diet hasn't been great, but at least I have avoided christmas weight gain! Which is pretty good given I had two xmas lunches, a hen's night and an engagement party to contend with! As for the meds, feeling OK, but until I actually lose some weight I won't really know for sure. And it is unrealistic to expect to lose weight over xmas/new years (I have to keep reminding myself of this)...so I am going to try to not 'judge' the new meds till at least end of Jan. I would lover to lose 5kg by Easter, so setting myself a more realistic goal of 2.5kg by Easter.

As for the holiday, the problem with beach holidays is the requirement for shorts and bikini's! I'd enjoy the holiday anyway, but I don't want to feel uncomfortable the whole time.

Exercise wise, just walking daily, but today I did a 25min weights routine and 30min walk instead. Part of my new years resolution, which is

1. No more restrictive diets --> therefore minimal (hopefully zero) binging
2. Weights at least twice per week (I hate them!).

How was your xmas?
Any New Years resolutions?

[GoJenGo]

Hi there, and happy New Year to you! So glad to hear that the holidays have been nice and relaxing for you. You're going to have to fill me in on what a "hen's night" is! I've got all kinds of possible definitions floating around in my less-than-perfectly-sane head.

I do get what you're saying about the shorts and bikinis that make a Hawaii trip more stressful than it should be, believe me. I'm have a hunch you'll have a great time AND will have reached your goals by then. I love your resolutions and by now I'm not really surprised that mine are ridiculously similar. I think those reflect the healthy mental approach that will be necessary to get to where you want to be. I'm pretty convinced that DIETING is the culprit behind most of the issues so many of us have going on, including those of us with these damned thyroid issues - if nothing else, we probably just made an existing problem even worse. The weights sound great, too. I'm keeping those around and will focus more on them much more than cardio. I'm actually going attempt to combine strength and cardio as much as possible without overdoing it and ending up where I was before. My goals are only to build strength and keep the ol ticker in good shape.

What's been going on with your cortisol and T3 dosing/schedule lately? I have been feeling pretty great for the past few days and I'm really excited about a couple of things that I wanted to tell you about. I was starting to feel like my Armour just wasn't making much of a difference like it had initially when it seemed to make me feel "awake", so I started taking it sublingually as I had read that many find it to be more effective that way. This seems to have made a big difference in my energy and mood and I feel more awake again. I don't think I was breaking it down or absorbing it in my goofy gut.

Also, one that I may even be more excited about is that I realized that my foray back into the world of starchy carbs and fruit (out of desperation to fix what I now know was purely thyroid related) is over for now. For a while, I felt great after having added them back.....UNTIL I slowly started to see gut issues returning that had pretty much disappeared after my very long period of VLC. Those carbs were feeding something that I don't want in there! After a while, my whole body had started to rebel. I've been VLCing it since the day after Christmas and feel awesome again, like I used to before I hit that wall toward the end of 2011. This may be wishful thinking, but looking back, I think that the combo working nightshift+marathon training+ divorce stress+not enough calories was the perfect storm for my undoing and not just long-term ketosis itself. Going to see how I do with it now that we're finally treating my thyroid. My hope is that I won't have to take the Armour forever, too - if I can eventually convert on my own AND follow the diet on which I felt my best for so long, I'd be thrilled. We shall see.....part of the neverending n=1 saga that continues for all of us!

Enough about me! What have you been eating lately? Anything new and exciting in your life? (Besides the new year, of course!)

[lucy1984]

Well I certainly hope so - I have 9 months before Hawaii to try another zillion things to try and lose weight at any rate! The meds etc are going OK, still having trouble with the morning dose - around 10am I tend to have lower temps and high heart rate, but the rest of the day is fine. Today I took my second dose a half hour earlier, and my pulse came down earlier, so I am thinking perhaps I am using up more of the thyroid in the morning than the afternoon, so I just need to slowly adjust the timing till I get it right. It's hard to get an accurate reading of temp and pulse earlier though, as there is that 2-2.5 hour window where I walk, eat breakfast and shower, then have to wait at least 30mins for a reading.

I am glad to hear the armour is working for you - do you feel you have more energy? Or what other symptoms are improving? I have read that gut absoprtion issues can affect thyroid meds, so the sublingual approach may be your answer.

Ha, I forget that American's don't know what a hen's party is! I have been caught out with that before. It's the same thing as a bachelorette party. We call them buck's nights or stag's night (for the bachelor's party), and hen's night for the women.

Not much new to report other than that. I saw Les Mis at the movies a few days ago and it was awesome. Well, Russell Crowe wasn't very good, but the rest of the cast were fabulous. Anne Hathaway stole the show, in my opinion. Apart from that...um, just working on the phd. Oh, and I have a wedding next Thursday to attend.

[GoJenGo]

I like the name hen's party better than calling it a bachelorette party, like we do here. Sounds more innocent. Did you have a good time?

Any more progress with the med adjustment? I do wonder if it's common for our bodies to use more of the thyroid in the morning hours. Seems like it would go along with cortisol levels - or at least what those levels SHOULD be. Maybe the requirement for you is more because your body is having to compensate for the lack of your own cortisol. Speaking of cortisol, how have you been taking it lately?

Still feeling a little better since taking the Armour sublingually. The biggest difference of all is that the amount of hair I lose each time I shower has really decreased. That is a victory in itself! We'll probably add Cytomel and give that a run, but I do have a feeling that I'm going to continue to feel better even if we don't. Maybe wishful thinking, but it seems that as my t4 rises with the Armour, I feel the energy a little more consistently. I know it's gonna be a long road, but that's okay - just glad to be on what appears to be the right one. I'm hoping that is the case for you as well.

How's the PhD coming? I don't even know what you're studying and keep meaning to ask - nonetheless, I'm already impressed! That's great and I admire you for willingly enduring all of that schooling.

When I read that you had seen Les Mis, I had JUST finished talking to my daughter about it, who really surprised my with her non-stop raves about it since she's only 13. Of course, I had to see what all the fuss was about, so she got to see it again with a friend when my friend and I went to see it. I was shocked by how much I loved it. An almost-3 hour musical didn't sound too inviting until I heard all the buzz and got curious. I already thought Hugh Jackman was amazing in every way and I'm even more in awe of him now, and Anne Hathaway was incredible. I don't think they could have found anyone more suited for either role.

[lucy1984]

Hm, either way it's just a lot of women getting blind drunk and screeching a lot and wearing p***s shaped accessories...I actually skipped it in the end, I don't like the hen. For my hen's party (just over a year ago), we had cocktails and afternoon tea at my parent's place, and I organised beauty therapists to come to the house and everyone got pampered with manicures and pedicures etc. Then we went out for dinner, I think I called my husband to come pick me up at about 11pm!

Um, still just waiting out the current adjustment, giving it till end Jan to assess properly. Fingers crossed I lose some weight!

I have noticed since taking t3 my nails have improved. They used to be really brittle and peel and shatter at the ends, but know they are back to normal.

It's great isn't it, not pulling out great lumps of hair every time you comb your hair or wash it! When are you adding the cytomel? Have you lost any weight? (I am not sure if that was a goal or not...)

Hm, well I have what's called a 'confirmation' in two months. Basically after 1 year we have to present what we've done, and how we plan to finish the next two years, and basically prove that we are doing something worthwhile. Stressful! Especially since my supervisor seems to have no ideas about what my overall thesis should be, in spite of the fact that for the first half of the phd they are meant to lead us...Ah well. Oh, it's in statistics. I am looking at ways to deal with missing data in longitudinal analysis, when the data is not missing at random (i.e. ignoring it would lead to biased results). You'd be suprised how many studies still use outdated approaches that can lead to biased results.

[lucy1984]

I lost a kilo!!!!

[GoJenGo]

I lost a kilo!!!!

GOOD FOR YOU!! Has anything been different other than the meds? That is great news and has to be SO encouraging after being so frustrated for so long. I hope it's restored your hope!

Stay the course and you'll be able to hit your goal well before your trip later this year. The good thing is that you've got time and the slower losses seem to be the ones that stick.

Heading out soon for another night at work but I'm so glad I read this first! I started a response to your last post from my phone last night but lost it THREE times and gave up - I was ready to throw that sucker out the window. Maybe I can get one done successfully tonight.

Congrats and enjoy the positive momentum!

[lucy1984]

Hey cheers! Nothing different with the meds, I just needed a few days straight of being able to eat the right amount of calories to have a chance to lose. I didn't eat too badly over xmas-new years, but it was still too much food. I've been sticking to 1500cal net (i.e. I eat exercise calories if I'm hungry), and it seems as though if I can get 4-5 good days in a row I ca lose. Stalled a bit after the wedding Thursday, but seem to be back on track, I hope to report being 67kg soon! Hawaii bikini here I come haha.

In regards to calories, I think they are worth counting now that my hormones etc are getting in balance. I know it's not simply eating 1500 cal that''s allowing me to lose weight now, as I have tried everywhere between 900cal a day and 1800 cal a day, and never lost. But now that my body is getting back the ability to lose, I find that calories do count. So, in my opinion, calorie counting is necessary for weight loss, but not sufficient for weight loss (i.e. it needs to be done, but counting alone won't do it if your hormones are out of whack).


I'm not sure if you mentioned before, what do you do for work?

[lucy1984]

Jen I got your email

Anyway, updating journal wise. Not much to report, just sticking to what's working for now. Of course now am impatient for the scale to move below 68kg!