After being diagnosed with Hypothyroidism thirteen years ago, putting on an extra 25 pounds on my 5’6, 120 pound frame became a nightmare. I had no idea what Hypothyroidism was. I couldn’t even prounouce the name correctly. My doctor rambled that it had to do with the metabolism and infection of the thyroid and on and on he went with his incredibly boring and long medical definition. I don’t think I truly heard a word he said after he said Hypothyroidism. I should have listened but it was okay, I could lose the extra 25 pounds once I was on the “miracle pill” he so eloquently called it. It would help my thyroid thrive again and I would automatically lose the unwanted weight.
Weeks went by, months went by and after picking up that little pink pill my physcian prescribed and the Pharmacuetical companies call Synthroid, I began to notice some changes and they weren’t good either. My hair started falling out, my fatigue became overpowering more than ever, and I started to bloat everywhere. I didn’t lose weight, I gained weight and years later I was up to 175 pounds! I tried every single diet known to man, every pill, every starvation method but to no avail the weight still came on like a fire breathing dragon ready to devour me. There was no stopping it. I ate the same as I always had and didn’t gorge on junk food like many of my co-workers and friends. I couldn’t afford food at the time either, I was a single mom and there was no going out for “treats.” It was staple items for us at the time. A lot of pasta and a lot of beans.
By the time I reached my late thirties, depression hit me like crazy and the fatigue and muscle aches still remained. I had one useful tool though, the internet. I started doing tons of research on Hypothryoidism and noticed I wasn’t the only one going through this incredibly debilitating disease. There were others out there just like me with Hypothyroidism and I wasn’t alone. In fact, I found out it was a common disease among many and there were those who hadn’t been diagnosed with it yet. As I began to gather my research, I would go to different doctors and each one of them would tell me the same thing, it’s not your thyroid that’s making you fat, it’s hormones, getting older, genetics and blah blah blah. I can tell you I wasn’t thrilled with any one of those diagnosis. It got to a point when I never wanted to go to the doctors again. I figured they’d all give me the same song and dance and I wasn’t too hip on hearing it again and again. I researched every day on the computer and every day I’d come up with some useful and life changing information.
When I found out about a few simple things that would help my thyroid work for me, I almost felt foolish for not noticing it before. It was simple, it was easy, how could I have not seen this before or figured it out for myself? The very first website I came across was Mary Shoman’s Hypothyroidism help guide and let me tell you it was extremely helpful. It took information that I had aquired over the years, and made it ready to read and easy to understand. After reading her information on the website front to back and back to front, I knew that I could breath much easier. Here was a patient advocate who had suffered from the same symptoms and knew others that did as well and who wanted to make a difference in the lives of those who continued to suffer with symptoms of Hypothyroidism.
This by no means is a miracle pill, this is a life changing way of living that can work for those with Hypothyroidism and those with other diseases as well. It starts off by teaching us how to get rid of that stubborn weight by taking plenty of life sustaining enzymes and vitamins that the body so desperately requires but those with Hypothyroidism can not seem to get enough of. The food that we eat doesn’t have enough of it because the land in which it was grown has been stripped of the many nutrients and enzymes our bodies need to sustain life, to help make us feel good. I found out that Mary Shoman had written a book at the time, “Is your Thyroid making you fat, living well with Hypothryoidism.” I went out right away, bought the book and read it cover to back and I learned more in that day than I had in the last 13 years.
I kept searching for the answers to living a clean life regarding the foods that my family and I ate and one day I happened on a book called the Maker’s Diet, written by Jordan Rubin. The book is amazing and is a plus to the Hypothryoid patients medical home library because it explains that the foods that we eat should come from organic farms and natural sources. Jordan Rubin suffered from a life threatening disease which was so debilitating, it had him in bed most of the time and he lost so much weight he looked like someone who might have walked out of a concentration camp. He was inspired to write his book, The Makers Diet, to help others with their ailments and it certainly has helped me out. He too, found that it was necessary for the body to have the proper nutrition but from foods that were not pesticide laden. He also tells us that the meats that we have been eating have hormones and antibiotics added to them and that is a big issue. He also writes in his book about certain cereal grasses that are very high in antioxidants and how we should be getting enough of them. Americans don’t get enough of the life sustaining nutrients and vitamins that green vegetables have and those greens we do eat are substandard because they are stripped of most, if not all, the enzymes that the body needs.
Thirteen year ago doesn’t seem that long ago but when you are suffering from the effects of a disease like Hypothyroidism, regardless of whether you are taking Synthroid or not, it can seem like a lifetime of misery.
If you are suffering from Hypothryoidism and the effects of it such as weight gain and an inability to lose the weight, try doing some research of your own or visit Mary Shoman and Jordan Rubin online. In the meantime, get rid of all those processed foods you have hanging around the house, you know the ones (chips, pretzels, cookies, cake ect ect), then go to your nearest health food store and stock up on those organic veggies and fruits your body is craving. The cost will be a bit higher than that of the grocery store but look what you’re giving up in exchange. In the end your grocery bill will even out and you’ll be taking on a healthier lifestyle too. By staing away from anything that isn’t in it’s “natural” state, you’ll be amazed
at how awesome you feel and how the weight will come off and stay off.
