Belly Fat and Insulin Resistance

Did you know that stress can give you belly fat? Stress can cause high cortisol levels which in turn causes insulin resistance. Some other signs and symptoms of insulin resistance includes fatigue, sweet and caffeine cravings, headaches, migrating pains, elevated blood pressure and of course, elevated cortisol. Considering that all of that predisposes you to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and hormone-sensitive cancers, it's important to remove what is causing the stress where you can and learn to relax stress away when you can't remove the cause from your life.

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I've Lost 4.8 Pounds

Well, it WAS 5.7 pounds but it is the holidays. Give me a break. I lost that in the first four days of my "diet" too but by the fifth day, I couldn't stand it anymore and I cheated. That led to constant cheating. Thus, no more "diet" did I follow. I have managed to keep some of the weight I had lost off though the past few weeks, despite the holidays. Plus, I have to keep hiking up my pants so even that small amount of weight loss did make a small difference.

I have lost 1/4 of what I wanted to lose in total weight though so that isn't too bad. The diet the doctor gave me to follow just included too many foods that I could not eat without gagging (certain vegetables and fish). I think I am going to modify it a bit to include more foods (proteins) that I like with the veggies I like and cut out the foods that I couldn't stand, that discouraged me from this diet. Obviously, it was working (even if some of the foods was making me want to vomit). This diet isn't a "diet" so much as a different way of eating healthier foods, while cutting out oils, butter, and dairy. Definitely not a bad thing.

Here's hoping to more weight loss in my near future!

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I Have Thyroid Disease

Thyroid Information


I have an autoimmune thyroid disease - Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and am hypothyroid. I have been since my 3rd child was born. To give you an idea of what this is like (and to judge whether you are showing symptoms or somebody you love and want answers), here are some of the symptoms as shown at www.hotzehwc.com:

Physical Signs and Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

Fatigue, Weight gain, Cold extremities, Cold intolerance, Decreased sweating, Headaches, Muscle and joint pain, Enlarged thyroid gland, Menstrual irregularities, Infertility, Miscarriages, Loss of libido, Recurrent infections, Allergic disorders, Decreased mental sharpness "brain fog", Depression or mood swings, Hoarseness, Slow speech, Dry skin, Hair loss, Constipation, Fluid retention, Skin pallor, pastiness and puffiness, Enlarged tongue with teeth indentations, Brittle fingernails with ridging, Loss of hair on the outer edge of the eyebrows, Low blood pressure, Slow pulse rate, Low basal body temperature, Tingling and/or numbness in extremities, Elevated cholesterol and triglycerides

I was showing several of these symptoms when I was diagnosed. Almost seven years later, my bloodwork levels are within "normal" range but I am still having too many of these symptoms. That's not right.

I've been on synthetic hormones from the beginning, which I questioned several times but was always brushed off. Everytime I asked my endocrinologist about a natural med for it, I was shoo shoo'd away. It's always bugged me but I figured at the time she knew what she was talking about. Well, we've since moved so I no longer see her and I'm still having a lot of symptoms, I started looking up information. I bought a book Living Well with Hypothyroidism that is proving to be very interesting plus a web site was just recommended to me as having useful information:

http://www.hotzehwc.com/

I've been told that these two web sites below are supposed to be a good source of information and am looking forward to digging into them to find more information (and back up for when I go into my doctor insisting on a medication change):

http://thyroid.about.com

http://www.thyroid-info.com (this web site is the author's web site of the book I mentioned above).

I am going to insist to my new doctor that they switch me to a natural thyroid med to see if it helps. I'd love to get rid of as many of these symptoms that are hanging on that I can. I always attributed those symptoms to other things in life (like age) but I'm 36, not 86 or because of stress. I shouldn't be tired after sleeping all night. I shouldn't be so forgetful when my memory used to be sharp as a tack. I shouldn't still have four nodules sticking out of my thyroid, choking me if I laugh with my head turned the wrong way. That's not normal and it is time to insist on a trial medication change. If my insistence is met with denial, I will find another doctor. I want answers.

Anyway, I know thyroid issues are becoming quite common (like 1 in 8 women now) so I thought I'd put this info out there in case anybody else is showing symptoms that isn't being treated or know you have it and would like more reading material other than just the "synthetic - synthetic - synthetic" treatment some doctors will only use.

If you'd like to test yourself to see if you have symptoms of a problematic thyroid, among other things, try this:

http://www.hotzehwc.com/test/

Good Luck!

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Finding Willpower, Finding Time

OK. I want to get into shape. Lose some lbs. in some places, some more than others, lol. Firm up some places. Again, some more than others. My problem? Well, there's a few of them.

First, I have thyroid disease - Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and Hypothyroidism. Besides having several lovely nodules on my thyroid and the fear of cancer one day, it has slowed my metabolism down to about nothing. So, the days of eating what I want, when I want are over for me.

Second, I have asthma. A few minutes of exercise means puffing away at my rescue inhaler. I have my asthma under control for the most part the rest of the time, but exercise induced asthma gets me everytime.

Third, I have four young children. Where do I find the time to squeeze in exercise in between meal preparation, cleaning, homework, kids' activities, errands, husband activities, etc. etc. etc. Funny how the reason for the extra weight (baby weight that won't leave) is also part of the reason why I don't have time to get rid of it, lol.

Fourth, I have no willpower. Nada. Zilch. I never had to watch my weight before. I was always a size 2/4 no matter how many times I went thru the drive-thru at McDonalds (and believe me, that was OFTEN back when I was single). Yes, I was one of those snotty witches that could eat what I wanted, when I wanted, and never gain an ounce. So, having to figure out how to watch it now is difficult for me - difficult for me to think about and difficult for me to maintain thinking about.

Finally, I can't use "help" in the form of weight loss pills, shakes, etc. Medications tend to react badly with my thyroid meds (as in heart-racing nausea bad reaction feeling like I am going to die scenario). I have no clue how natural remedies would interact with my thyroid meds either so those are out. I can't even pop a cold pill when I get a cold.

I don't eat badly. I mean, there are times that I do. When Bryan brings me home chocolate, which he thoughtfully does because he knows how much I love it, how could I not eat some (he also thoughtfully eats it too, sometimes before I can get to it)? (Did I say he bought it for me? LOL) When I have my mother-in-law's company potatoes in front of me, that is a huge guarantee that I am going to eat too much but that's only a few times a year. Most of the time, I don't have time to eat properly, which is part of my problem. Not eating enough frequently enough slows my metabolism down. Guess I'm screwed everyway I go huh?

Fifth, everytime I try to exercise, a two-year old comes running to hang onto my leg. Mom can't have time to herself according to my two-year-old, lol. That is the way it is with everything though - mom gets on the computer, toddler wants me; mom answers the phone, toddler wants me.

That leaves me with exercise. Boring, asthma-inducing, hateful, muscle aching exercise. Something else about me - I hate to sweat. Hate it. Unless it is sweat induced by a lot of loving, I have NO interest in sweating ever. I hate sweating myself and find nothing sexy about a sweaty man. It stinks!

I took the first step today towards finding some willpower. I did it. I exercised today. I sweated. I increased my heart rate. Then after 14 minutes, I had to break for my inhaler. I did it though. My first step towards losing some lbs. and finding my waistline. It will make me happier about myself, thus better for my family. It will be healthier for me and that's not just better for me but better for my kids. I want to be around to see my grandkids. I am six years younger than my husband and he's in better shape than me. Can't have that! I have to catch up to the old man!

I am hoping this blog will give me some incentive to keep going. If I see it here, it will be a reminder that I have to haul my Turbo Jam DVD out and work my booty off more often and literally. Right? That's my hope anyway.

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