After my second child was born in 2011, my hormones had a terrible time settling back into a normal, healthy rhythm. At about 5 months postpartum, I started getting sick with flu-like symptoms that never went away. I was absolutely exhausted, I had terrible body aches, severe gastric problems, a constant sinus infection and extreme fatigue. I had gone from a fairly normal, functioning 22 year old to someone who could barely function day to day. I was 22, but I felt 82. I finally decided to see a Doctor, who agreed to do my initial blood work panel and provide a referral to Gastroenterology for the digestive problems. Via the initial blood work panel, it was discovered that I had mononucleosis, cytomegalovirus, and hypothyroidism, and the GI diagnosed me with severe IBS (yikes!). It's hard to say what came first, but I suspect that my second pregnancy "broke" my thyroid, which caused a "thyroid storm" five months postpartum.
If you don't already know, the thyroid is a muscular gland in your throat that's primary responsibility is to convert iodine to thyroid hormones t3 and t4. These hormones affect almost every other system in your body, metabolism being one of the most severely affected. The symptoms include fatigue, unexplained weight gain, low metabolism, low energy, brittle nails, digestive issues, irregular periods, fertility problems, anxiety, irritability, depression, cold intolerance, high cholesterol, dry skin, decreased sex drive, just to name a few. Around the time that I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, I was seeing a GI who said "hey, you're having stomach problems, eat more carbs! That'll fix it!" I didn't realize at the time what terrible medical advice this was, paired with my preexisting thyroid disease and tendency to overeat. Over a period of 18 months, I ballooned up from 190 lbs to 265. I was not only chronically ill, exhausted and depressed, I was gaining weight like CRAZY and still couldn't figure out why. My general practitioner started me on a basic thyroid medication, but referred me to an ENT to continue treatment, where the poor medical advice continued. You see, this Doctor didn't believe in performing a "complete thyroid panel," which unfortunately I didn't know to insist upon yet, instead ONLY tested my t4. I will give him this, he did discover that my Thyroid Disease was not only low thyroid, it was Hashimotos Thyroiditis, an autoimmune "version" of hypothyroidism. He slightly raised my thyroid meds, but because he wasn't doing the full panel, we couldn't treat the full problem. I continued to not be able to lose weight, and when I complained that I still felt crummy, he said "well, you feel crappy because you are overweight. You need to eat less." He wasn't wrong, but he also wasn't right. I got this response for him for several years while I continued eating a high carb diet and never being able to get my weight down below 240. He never once asked me about my diet, any of my other symptoms, my activity levels etc. Not once! He simply told me to put down my fork and get off the couch (no, I'm not exaggerating, he called me a "fatty" multiple times).
Around the time that I started getting FED UP with my Doctor harassing me and never changing my meds, I got pregnant with my third child (2016). He offered to monitor my thyroid levels throughout my pregnancy over the phone, without making me come into the office once a month. I knew keeping a watchful eye on my thyroid during pregnancy was important, so I remained his patient for those nine months, but started asking around for recommendations of Endocrinologists. I had read all the books, blogs and discussion boards on Hashimoto's, and it was clear to me that I needed someone to take me seriously and actually help me feel better. I called one Doctor in my area and waited six months for a new patient appointment. To my pleasant surprise, I walked in the exam room and was not rushed through my appointment. I wasn't talked over or interrupted once. I had finally found a Doctor who wanted to LISTEN to my symptoms and help me work towards fixing them. It was a stark change for me (it shouldn't have been, but it was).
Six years after my initial diagnosis, Dr. Paquin (my endocrinologist) heard my complaints, FINALLY ran a full thyroid and hormone panel (I think it was about 6 vials of blood, but worth it) and helped me get to the root of my issues. She addressed my estrogen/testosterone balance. She addressed my t3 AND t4 and supplemented my t3 for the first time ever. And, she more than doubled the medication my last Doctor had me on, because my thyroid levels had not been correct maybe ever since beginning treatment. It was then that I started discussing a Ketogenic diet with her. She had offered to get me started on a prescription appetite suppressant, which I used the trial of for one month, but my insurance wouldn't cover it moving forward. I knew I needed something to help me eat LESS, because I had become so conditioned to eating two and three portions per meal that it was incredibly difficult to eat a sensible portion of food. If you've ever watched My 600 Lb Life, you know that obese people's stomachs actually have stretched to 4-5x the size of a normal stomach, and it's impossible for them to feel full on reasonable portions. Now, I was never 600 lbs and my stomach wasn't stretched out that much, but it was stretched out and conditioned to taking in WAY more than what was appropriate or necessary for fat loss. The more research I did, the more I realized that my eating had to be completely, radically changed, and that led me to keto.
If you are struggling with your thyroid disease, please, please, PLEASE find a Doctor like my endocrinologist. Weight loss with thyroid disease will be nearly impossible until you are diagnosed and treated. I am not a "make excuses for myself" kind of person, but weight loss efforts will be fairly useless if your thyroid and metabolism isn't working, it's just the way it is. A full set of thyroid labs should look like the following list, and may even include more than this depending on your personal medical history:
If you have not been diagnosed with thyroid problems but the list of symptoms and struggles sound familiar to you, PLEASE bring your concerns to your primary care doctor! Millions of people in the US are living with undiagnosed thyroid disease. Also, it's important to note that thyroid disease effects both men and women, but is more frequently found in women (hormones and stress). Again, if this sounds familiar, call your Doctor, make an appointment, get your blood drawn. You do not have to live with symptoms!
In order to begin a weight loss journey with thyroid disease, it is essential that your illness is properly and extensively treated. If you feel like your medications aren't helping, ask if a change of medication or dosage is in order. If your Doctor is not listening to your concerns or helping you, and you still don't feel right, LEAVE. Ask around for endocrinology recommendations. Call your insurance for a list of covered endocrinology physicians in your area. Don't waste six years of your life with a Doctor who talks over you and calls you a fatty like my first Doctor did (side note, he was later arrested for soliciting prostitution, so.... I'm better off in every way).
Once you feel like your thyroid illness has been properly attended to, I truly believe that a Ketogenic diet is the absolute best solution for thyroid problems. Whether you begin a Ketogenic diet or not, it is best for people with thyroid disease to abstain from grains, gluten, processed food and sugar. It is best to "eat like a diabetic," because thyroid disease and metabolic problems can often manifest like a diabetes blood sugar roller coasted. All of these recommendations point to one diet clearly, and that's the Ketogenic diet.
Keto is the best diet for regulating blood sugar and reducing inflammation within the body (something that thyroid patients have quite a bit of). It is also the best diet to increase satiation with eating and to enable your body to burn fat regardless of a "broken" metabolism. In a ketogenic state, your body is burning fat as it's primary fuel source instead of burning glucose. So, your metabolism, or lack thereof, becomes a less essential element to weight loss. Furthermore, it has been shown that foods high in healthy fats such as coconut oil, nuts, eggs and avocados are excellent for improving thyroid health. Sound familiar yet? Keto was the turning point for me in my weight loss journey. I went from struggling to get ANY lower than 240-245, to not weighing 203 and I'm still losing weight on a weekly basis!
For more information on how to kick-start your weight loss journey, boost your energy, and reduce inflammation with a Ketogenic diet, purchase my ebook for $11.99 here!
If you don't already know, the thyroid is a muscular gland in your throat that's primary responsibility is to convert iodine to thyroid hormones t3 and t4. These hormones affect almost every other system in your body, metabolism being one of the most severely affected. The symptoms include fatigue, unexplained weight gain, low metabolism, low energy, brittle nails, digestive issues, irregular periods, fertility problems, anxiety, irritability, depression, cold intolerance, high cholesterol, dry skin, decreased sex drive, just to name a few. Around the time that I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, I was seeing a GI who said "hey, you're having stomach problems, eat more carbs! That'll fix it!" I didn't realize at the time what terrible medical advice this was, paired with my preexisting thyroid disease and tendency to overeat. Over a period of 18 months, I ballooned up from 190 lbs to 265. I was not only chronically ill, exhausted and depressed, I was gaining weight like CRAZY and still couldn't figure out why. My general practitioner started me on a basic thyroid medication, but referred me to an ENT to continue treatment, where the poor medical advice continued. You see, this Doctor didn't believe in performing a "complete thyroid panel," which unfortunately I didn't know to insist upon yet, instead ONLY tested my t4. I will give him this, he did discover that my Thyroid Disease was not only low thyroid, it was Hashimotos Thyroiditis, an autoimmune "version" of hypothyroidism. He slightly raised my thyroid meds, but because he wasn't doing the full panel, we couldn't treat the full problem. I continued to not be able to lose weight, and when I complained that I still felt crummy, he said "well, you feel crappy because you are overweight. You need to eat less." He wasn't wrong, but he also wasn't right. I got this response for him for several years while I continued eating a high carb diet and never being able to get my weight down below 240. He never once asked me about my diet, any of my other symptoms, my activity levels etc. Not once! He simply told me to put down my fork and get off the couch (no, I'm not exaggerating, he called me a "fatty" multiple times).
Around the time that I started getting FED UP with my Doctor harassing me and never changing my meds, I got pregnant with my third child (2016). He offered to monitor my thyroid levels throughout my pregnancy over the phone, without making me come into the office once a month. I knew keeping a watchful eye on my thyroid during pregnancy was important, so I remained his patient for those nine months, but started asking around for recommendations of Endocrinologists. I had read all the books, blogs and discussion boards on Hashimoto's, and it was clear to me that I needed someone to take me seriously and actually help me feel better. I called one Doctor in my area and waited six months for a new patient appointment. To my pleasant surprise, I walked in the exam room and was not rushed through my appointment. I wasn't talked over or interrupted once. I had finally found a Doctor who wanted to LISTEN to my symptoms and help me work towards fixing them. It was a stark change for me (it shouldn't have been, but it was).
Six years after my initial diagnosis, Dr. Paquin (my endocrinologist) heard my complaints, FINALLY ran a full thyroid and hormone panel (I think it was about 6 vials of blood, but worth it) and helped me get to the root of my issues. She addressed my estrogen/testosterone balance. She addressed my t3 AND t4 and supplemented my t3 for the first time ever. And, she more than doubled the medication my last Doctor had me on, because my thyroid levels had not been correct maybe ever since beginning treatment. It was then that I started discussing a Ketogenic diet with her. She had offered to get me started on a prescription appetite suppressant, which I used the trial of for one month, but my insurance wouldn't cover it moving forward. I knew I needed something to help me eat LESS, because I had become so conditioned to eating two and three portions per meal that it was incredibly difficult to eat a sensible portion of food. If you've ever watched My 600 Lb Life, you know that obese people's stomachs actually have stretched to 4-5x the size of a normal stomach, and it's impossible for them to feel full on reasonable portions. Now, I was never 600 lbs and my stomach wasn't stretched out that much, but it was stretched out and conditioned to taking in WAY more than what was appropriate or necessary for fat loss. The more research I did, the more I realized that my eating had to be completely, radically changed, and that led me to keto.
If you are struggling with your thyroid disease, please, please, PLEASE find a Doctor like my endocrinologist. Weight loss with thyroid disease will be nearly impossible until you are diagnosed and treated. I am not a "make excuses for myself" kind of person, but weight loss efforts will be fairly useless if your thyroid and metabolism isn't working, it's just the way it is. A full set of thyroid labs should look like the following list, and may even include more than this depending on your personal medical history:
If you have not been diagnosed with thyroid problems but the list of symptoms and struggles sound familiar to you, PLEASE bring your concerns to your primary care doctor! Millions of people in the US are living with undiagnosed thyroid disease. Also, it's important to note that thyroid disease effects both men and women, but is more frequently found in women (hormones and stress). Again, if this sounds familiar, call your Doctor, make an appointment, get your blood drawn. You do not have to live with symptoms!
In order to begin a weight loss journey with thyroid disease, it is essential that your illness is properly and extensively treated. If you feel like your medications aren't helping, ask if a change of medication or dosage is in order. If your Doctor is not listening to your concerns or helping you, and you still don't feel right, LEAVE. Ask around for endocrinology recommendations. Call your insurance for a list of covered endocrinology physicians in your area. Don't waste six years of your life with a Doctor who talks over you and calls you a fatty like my first Doctor did (side note, he was later arrested for soliciting prostitution, so.... I'm better off in every way).
Once you feel like your thyroid illness has been properly attended to, I truly believe that a Ketogenic diet is the absolute best solution for thyroid problems. Whether you begin a Ketogenic diet or not, it is best for people with thyroid disease to abstain from grains, gluten, processed food and sugar. It is best to "eat like a diabetic," because thyroid disease and metabolic problems can often manifest like a diabetes blood sugar roller coasted. All of these recommendations point to one diet clearly, and that's the Ketogenic diet.
Keto is the best diet for regulating blood sugar and reducing inflammation within the body (something that thyroid patients have quite a bit of). It is also the best diet to increase satiation with eating and to enable your body to burn fat regardless of a "broken" metabolism. In a ketogenic state, your body is burning fat as it's primary fuel source instead of burning glucose. So, your metabolism, or lack thereof, becomes a less essential element to weight loss. Furthermore, it has been shown that foods high in healthy fats such as coconut oil, nuts, eggs and avocados are excellent for improving thyroid health. Sound familiar yet? Keto was the turning point for me in my weight loss journey. I went from struggling to get ANY lower than 240-245, to not weighing 203 and I'm still losing weight on a weekly basis!
For more information on how to kick-start your weight loss journey, boost your energy, and reduce inflammation with a Ketogenic diet, purchase my ebook for $11.99 here!
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