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Progress picture

The 8 weeks are over!

I successfully lost 18 pounds in 8 weeks! 
It has been so doable.  So happy with the results. Tapering your calories really seems to be the way for me to continue losing. I've started a new 8 weeks.  :)

Starting my 4th week

I have lost 8.5 lb.s in the past 3 weeks! 
I could not be more thrilled.  I have hope.  Just a little success spurs me on to keep on going. If you are struggling get to the point where you feel like what you are doing is working because success breeds success. It really is true! I am eating 1200 calories a day and the hardest part is that dinner consist of around 250 calories. The only thing I know it is working! & this is the only thing that has worked for me in a long time. No alcohol and no real fatty foods. Yes, I am going to get hungry and I am still grateful for the results. I have been working out four to five times a week and just started doing Pilates. I am very hopeful that the weight loss will continue at the same pace which is around 2 pounds a week

1 week finished

I'm down 5 lb.s and so excited!  I'm on my way. Here are a few things i ate:

This plan is 600 calorie breakfasts

360 calorie lunches

240 calorie dinners

Day 1 on weightloss research

I did the first day of the timed eating research project today. I ate less than 1200 calories with 570 calories being consumed at breakfast. 370 at lunch and 259 at dinner. This is right on with what they are wanting me to do over the next 8 weeks. 

Sitting on my deck (preparing mentally)

Finally well

It has been a rough 3 weeks. I had step throat and was really unable to eat right and exercise up until this past week.
I also have something that could be good but probably isn't good going on-- my tsh levels were normal but my T4s were low.  So,  I was disappointed that my doctor is keeping my dosage the same.  But it could be good enough to lose some weight.  I'm starting the weightloss study this week on Thursday.  I'll be getting all the specifics on Wednesday.  This weekend I will try to eat less. I have hurt my foot  and feel like i need to rest it today. I am at the highest weight I have been at in 3 years. To end on a positive note : this weightloss study is a great opportunity and i am grateful for my health. 

Almost a month -

I have been taking nature throid for almost 1 mI still feel very tired and have more hair falling out than ever. I have to admit I am discouraged, but I will go next week to get my blood work done at the endocrinologist office. I'm also starting a timed meal research project at the University of Tennessee on Wednesday. It's in HEAL (lab). I am going to be a subject in this study and participate by keeping up with all sorts of information and wear a monitor and report answers on several questions while eating every 5 hours except when sleeping of course.  This kind of thing motivates me so this ought to be very good. I will update on all the parameters and specifics of the study. :)

Take care

Not doing to well

Well, I can honestly say that I have very little energy. I really do believe that it took awhile for the levothyroxine to work its way out of my system, and now I'm experiencing the after effects of too little T3s & T4s in my body.  :( I'm struggling a little bit because I have been so hopeful. I'm going to try to take the very best care of myself otherwise and get my blood work done again in approximately two weeks. This was my first full week of teaching again with the kids there for full days and I did not work out like a should've.  Next week will be better :)

1st day

This is my first day of taking a higher dosage of nature throid. I hope that this next 3 months is my turn around point. I am very excited to start a new , fresh, plan which includes 1500 calories and lots of water while trying to eat mostly gluten free. I also plan to get back to solid work out schedule (5 days a week). I believe I can turn this thing around.

Still too low

After a checkup and lab work I have discovered that I  still have extremely low numbers for TSH T3 and T4 levels.  I am waiting on a call from the Dr.  To see what i should do next.  I felt better taken Nature-throid I tought. My #s seemed to be better with Levothyroxine.  I'm confused and apprehensive about what the Dr.  will tell me to try next. I have been on Nature-Throid for almost 3 months.

New goal

By November twenty first I will be at or below 140 pounds. Good goal  for me because it will mean that I am out  the overweight category: also means I will lose approximately 40 pounds.
I'm hoping that this change for my goal well help me remotivate.

2 months on Nature-Throid

It has been two months of taking the natural hormone replacement Nature-throid and I feel so much better. I believe that it has affected almost everything:how I sleep, my appetite, my energy level, and apparently other hormones because that time of the month has not been nearly as bad emotionally. Overall I just feel healthier. But, I have really only lost a small amount of weight and I blame my eating habits. I definitely feel like it keeps me from gaining so much when I have over eaten.  I made out my meal plan for the week (this is so helpful), and I'm getting ready to go to the store to stock up on all kinds of great healthy foods! At least I lost back the pounds I gained at the beach. So ready to take some more weight off this week. My next weigh in will be next Tuesday.

Results

I gained 3 pounds on my vacation. This is not too bad however, I really wanted to gain 0 pounds. I will be content with this and start working from here. I am pretty sure that if I had not been on nature throid then I would have gained even more. I find being on vacation is a mental game and takes a lot of discipline to stay on track. Honestly, I was about half and half. Which, for being on vacation with three grown men who eat a lot and often I'm going to choose to feel pretty good about how I did. Positive begets positive.

Well... I'm back from vacay

I think it is reasonable to say that my eating plan on my vacation was a big fail! I have decided not to weigh until I have a few days of lower calorie and exercise under my belt. I really feel like I'm going through some emotional changes and I'm trying to make good choices but relying on food too much for comfort. I'm using MyFitnessPal again this week. The first few days I'm definitely eating 1500 calories or less. I will weigh myself at the end of this week and see if I'm at least where I was when I left for vacation. I'm not going to weigh until then I think it will I only get me upset :-(. When I went to the grocery store today, I got some great  choices for snacks and meals for the week.  I have a chicken salad recipe that is lean and delicious that I will be making. I have some whole grain sprouted bread and lots of natural peanut butter and wonderful vegetables to make a great salad with and light dressing. This ought to be a great week! But for now tonight I have to go to my dads house 4 a cookout ,okay , also have approximately 800 calories left. Fingers crossed-  that i will correctly calculate what i eat  and keep below my calorie goal. At this point it's one day at a time :-)

Goal for vacation

I'm heading to lovely Florida for a week. Lots of eating out and lazy days ahead. My goal is just not to gain weight this week. I want to come back within 2-4 lb.s of my current weight (176). So really what I mean is not gain any substantial weight. I do not want to back pedal so much that I create another obstacle to overcome. I would rather enjoy healthy fresh foods and some treats. I'm going to attempt 25/75 diet this upcoming week. That is make 75% of what I eat nutritious lean food --- then eat a treat or two. I also plan on being active as much as possible. Do not get me wrong I'm going to relax but I do want to keep in the back of my head the fact that I do not want to lose so much ground that it is a battle just to get back where I am now. Wish me luck. 

At 176 lb. :Down from 184lb.!

Well, I lost another pound. Being disciplined really does pay off. I have hope again!♡☆♡☆:-)

June 1st

Don't you just love a fresh new month? I am sitting on my deck enjoying a cup of coffee I am thinking about this little roller coaster ride that I am on. Also I'm thinking about my workout regime what's gone well and what hasn't.  First and foremost I want to say that my weight is still the same. That means I lost 0 pounds last week. I had good days and bad days I am realizing that summer is the most difficult time 2 stay disciplined. This can be overcome. I am working on my mental attitude about staying on track. To be honest, enjoying certain activities in the summertime with a few cold drinks is a big inhibitor to my weight loss.
    As far as my working out is concerned, I did Jillian Michaels 30 day shred 5 days in a row and then took a break for 2 days. I will get back to that today. But I do feel like it's doing something. I'm feeling firmer just from the first 5 days. I stayed on my normal workout regime which is spinning class twice a week, and Zumba twice a week. I'm pretty active but the area that I have been lacking in over the past 3 years is some toning using weights. I plan on sticking with this 30 day shred and not taking anymore breaks. I believe it will help a lot.
  So, here we are at the beginning of June, which means I am embarking on my second month of being on the thyroid medication Nature-Throid. Perhaps the first month was my body getting used to the medication and my mind getting used to letting go of certain foods and comforts. I am ready to begin anew and focus on my goals. I want to lose 50 pounds by Christmas break. I want to feel good in blue jeans and stop feeling so negative about my inability to complete this goal. I want to conquer this problem and I must remember that. I think I forget about how important these goals are  to me, because I focus on my weakness instead of my strength.

Memorial Day has been healthy

Well, I ordered the dress pictured below and some new yellow box flip flops. I also ordered some Bermuda shorts and a blue dolman sleeved shirt to have  new for my beach trip. I'm getting very excited about my beach trip that begins on June the 7th. I am NOT happy about the lack of weight loss as a whole. But I'm still excited to go and spend time walking on the beach for exercise and trying to have a healthy beach trip with my family. The past couple of days have been great and I did a Jillian Michaels workout yesterday and I am going to purchase the 30 day shred, in an  attempt to do it every morning until we go to the beach. It has been exactly one month since starting nature throid and I am down a total of eight pounds. However, I do know that I can do better so it is time to pick it up. Hopefully I will be able to report a good amount of weight loss for the upcoming month.

School is out for summertime

Honestly, it scares me a little bit. Because with more freedom of time there is more room 2 overindulge. But I am too excited today about having basically 60 days to refresh and refocus for the next school year. I'm going out for dinner and drinks tonight with friends and I'm going to try not to over do it ;-) it is a sense of happiness when you drive out of the school parking lot and you know you have all summer off !!! I have lost the weight I gained over field days! I really don't want to mess the momentum I've created up, but on the other hand I do wanna relax and have fun for one night. I don't want to lose ground though so balance is key :-) I am so excited that I worked hard for two weeks and I was able to have a loss show up on the  scales. I don't want to mess that up again so I must remember that tonight. Celebrating sensibly ---- that is what I will be doing.

Great day

I'm not going to waste another day...

thinking is the most powerful tool and the treacherous enemy

Starting to realize that getting this new medication is only part of the key to my success. The problem I have been having is between my ears. I want to start thinking differently about the food I eat, and my comforts. I have to create a different mindset toward health,  well-being and also i need to shift from seeing being disciplined as torture. When things got difficult over the past couple of weeks I turned to eating fattening food and filling up on it. I think that my success will be in gaining control of my thoughts and so begins the next chapter... 

20 days on Nature-throid

It has been 20 days since starting nature throid. I can tell a huge difference, and I know that it is helping my metabolism there is no doubt. I have more energy and the overeating I have done has not  amounted to much weight gain. I have blocked my success with stress eating :with all these things going on here at the end of the school year. But, I have been working out really great this week and I'm feeling so good- and isn't that really important? I think that the future for me is going to include a much fitter & thinner version of myself. I'm excited and l  must shift  my mentality in the area of freedom when it comes to eating or over eating or consuming more than one alcohol beverage with dinner.it is freedom to want to make healthy choices!  It is amazing how everything works together mind, body spirit, and I'm determined to strike a balance that I'm currently getting closer to. I plan on weighing on sunday and hopefully the goal is to be back to what I had lost down 2 in the first 10 days of taking nature throid. This week I ran and did a spin class ,I did Zumba on Tuesday. Today is my son's graduation and the best thing for me to do is try to consume under calorie goal. But isn't that just it? We must continue to set goals ----- for it is the small choices and consequences that add up to the life we lead. 

Back to it

1700 cal.  Today but I went to Groupride (spinning class) then ran a mile. So.... I got it done and it sucked! But so happy I did it !! My face when it was over says it all

Field days are over!!!!!!

Well, the hardest part of the school year is over.  Field day for me is a 3 day marathon that I dread for months. I slipped back into some comfort eating to soothe my nerves but im putting it behind me and moving forward.  I'm ready to get back to the disciplined way of eating that I had started with my new medication.  I believe i can achieve my goal of having a fit and thin body. BELIEVE & RECEIVE!  I CAN AND I WILL! Happy mother's day to any moms reading this blog :-)

Rough couple of days

I ate too much yesterday and today. But I'm still experiencing more energy. I have a lot on my plate figuratively as well. I am a physical educator and this week I have field days (3days) and I'm going to be preparing for them then running them. I will be like a new person when this week is over :-) I will not give up - I will try harder tomorrow. 

Successful Saturday

I woke up this morning and weighed - and yes! Im down another pound!  Im 5 pounds less than when i started taking Nature-throid.  I have been very careful to get healthy foods for the week ahead and I have given some food to my mother (which makes me feel good since she is living on a low fixed income).  When I got home I made crab salad :
Imitation crab cute up into little pieces,  cucumbers diced up very small,  1/4 cup ranch dressing,  1/2 cup light mayo and dill weed (teaspoon) --- proportions can change to your taste.  This it's a light snack or lunch.  low caloric and full of protein. 
Another thing to know is; I did not have any alcohol and the temptation was there for sure! Not only did I lay in the sun on my deck and listen to Hootie and The Blowfish on Pandora but my husband and I grilled out burgers --- well typically  this would be a  time we would hang out and have a few beers (talking,  chilling,  listening to music or a comedian). And on top of that my husband wanted tho have a beer really bad (Saturday wind down) for him.... but I remained strong and sipped a sparkling strawberry lemonade. While making this good choice today I was reminded about why I have started this journey.  I will see thin again!

Friday night

Friday slain! Boom - I took Groupride (spin class) & sweated buckets.  I resisted overeating and I'm feeling satisfied. I need to remember this feeling when I'm faced with temptation.  My plans for Saturday include  -;workout first thing - chores and grocery shopping mostly.  Only problem: when i get a chance to relax on my deck -- I will want a drink with alcohol -- old habit :-/  I'm going to get some light lemonade :-) - taking Nature-throid when i wake up,  avoiding calcium for 4 hours following dosage, drink plenty of water, stay active!  Got this! 

A little self sabotage - :-(

it has been a rough couple of days. I'm feeling kind of down about my own choices --- I chose to have 2 Shocktop (beer) wed. And 3 ultras on Thursday.  Both evenings I told myself I wanted to wind down and relax - this week is t-cap testing! ! But the truth is -- this is just an excuse - I didn't go overboard but I know it is contradictory to weightloss ---- weakness be banished !!--- determined to make this a great weekend.

work in progress

I want to suggest that we all realize that this is a process that takes a long time 2 get the it changes to become really authentic physical, mental and emotional changes. I'm down 3 pounds since starting Nature-throid.  I am feeling a lot of energy and I feel so positive about how I'm feeling since starting Nature-throid 6 days ago :-)

I

3rd day/ more energy/calcium free breakfast

This is the third day that I have taken nature-throid. I have to say, that I am feeling a little more energetic and wonder if it's not just all in my head. But if it is not ---this is very exciting! I cannot wait to see if I lose weight this week so coming up on Thursday I probably will weigh and update if there was any loss. Today my main concern was not having any calcium for 4 hours after taking the medication. Previously I was told that I can eat just about anything after an hour of taking the medicine. But I have been reading some things that indicate that you really don't want to have any calcium for the first 4 hours so I have been researching and coming up with non dairy breakfast. And another interesting thing, did you know that oranges have calcium.? I didn't! Here are some other non-dairy breakfast ideas

These pancakes are really just bananas and eggs and baking powder mixed upand then fried on a pan with cooking spray they look yummy I think I will try this tomorrow!

 

First dose

Around noon my son picked up my prescription. Nature - Throid 81.25 MG 
I took one at 4pm - even though the accompanying info said take in the morning on an empty stomach. 
I was like "let's get this goin'"  
It also said in bold print - 'this medication is not for weight loss'. 

well, anyway... We will see about that. 
 I'm going to my spin class :-) 
Later I will post notes on research of best time and way to take this new medication. 

Well,I got a new prescription called in today by my endocrinologist.I am so excited and hopeful about trying this new prescription! Officially i willbe taking a T3 replacement. Not just T4!.ironically, I have eaten way too much today but I am sure that the motivation will be there with this new found hope and new drug regime. :-) 

well 2 days ago I went to the endocrinologist. This is where my story begins...