Reflections Part I

I've got several books on weight loss and such.  I'm going to take some time to read some of these (or at least skim the important parts) and reflect upon what I'm reading.  I'll start with this one:

Jillian Michaels' Mastering Your Metabolism
"Mastering Hypothyroid" pages 219-221

"The most common cause of hypothyroid is Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune condition i which the immune system attacks and damages the thyroid, impairing your ability to make thyroid hormones."

"Follow the Master diet -- with a few modifications."  Cook goitrogenic cruciferous veggies (cabbage, broccoli, and the like.  No raw broccoli!)  No multivitamins with iron or any cholesterol-lowering medications or eat anything with iron, calcium, soy, or high fiber close to when you take your thyroid medication.  (Knew all this already, though.)

Exercise and relax daily because cortisol (stress hormone) interferes with converting T4 to T3.

No iodine supplements.

Supplement with vitamin D, zinc, and fish oil.  (Everyone should take fish oil.)  40 mg zinc, 200 mg selenium.  Get vitamin D by being outside at least 10 minutes outside per day.

Take Levothyroid and Cytomel  together. 

{End book information...for the moment...}

Today at the GP, I asked about T3 and T4 and asked her to test everything.  (And send results to the endo!)  That way I can (maybe) discuss this (taking Cytomel [T3 replacement] with Lovethyroid [T4 replacement)] as an option (with the endo!)

I need to check the multivitamin I usually take (when I take one) for zinc and selenium.  And, per the GP, I bought some B-12.

Jillian's Master Plan Diet (meant to get you working out the kinks in your metabolism) has a sort of a cheat sheet -- for each of 4 meals per day (breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner) where you pick 1 item from list A and one item from list B.  She has a two week meal plan with recipes included, but she also has eggs for most of the breakfasts.  Eggs (which I don't eat) will make me turn away from most diet plans.  Why do diet plans include eggs as the main breakfast choice.  However, I should be able to swap out those breakfast choices for an A/B choice. 

The one thing I really hated at the GP is that I told her that I chose healthier options (like fresh veggies with hummus), and she automatically assumed that I'm eating fresh veggies with half the tub of hummus instead of the two tablespoons you're supposed to eat.  It's like, hell, chick.  You're fat.  You're eating healthier but still gaining weight; therefore, you must still be overeating.  I know I overeat sometimes, but I didn't get fat from overeating.  I got fat because my metabolism quit.  That's what thyroid problems do to you.  Just because you are on thyroid hormone replacement therapy does not mean that, when your thyroid hormones are at a "normal" level, you will automatically shed pounds.  There are some of us who gain weight (for whatever reason) because of the medication.  There are some of us whose metabolisms are so bad that we could virtually quit eating and still gain weight.  (You want to talk depressing?  Drop to a 1200-1500 calorie "diet" and either lose no weight or gain weight.  Go on a "diet" that everyone hypes only to start immediately gaining weight.  Change nothing, and gain weight.  And then, to go talk to a doctor and ask to be helped and be told to eat less.  Depressing beyond all belief.)  It's at that point that you just stop talking because you know that you aren't going to be believed and you're being patronized -- hey, she's not fat...she's probably never had a weight problem in her life.  *sigh*

I should also note that Jillian says there are a lot of other things you should do to help balance out your metabolism.

• Eat organic whenever possible
• No artificial sweeteners, including Splenda (get rid of the diet sodas!)
• Processed (white) grains (even whole grains; read the ingredient list to make sure it says 100% whole [insert name of grain here])
• Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup (read labels carefully because it's in everything!) and be aware that they are trying to change the name of HFCS to "Corn Sugar".
• Avoid artificial colors and preservatives (there are some good articles about this on fooducate.com.  Note that the FDA has decided that there are no problems with some artificial colorings, but many of them are banned in the European Union.)
• Avoid added glutamates, such as MSG.
• Less than stellar food choices include: starchy root vegetables, tropical or dried or canned fruits (no more than one serving per day), excess soy (bad for thyroid, too, even if some people think it's a wonder food), excess alcohol (drink red wine), full fat dairy and fatty meats, canned foods (because cans are lined with BPAs), and caffeine.