Tag Archives: hypothyroidism

Thyroid, Nutrition And Next Steps

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The last year has been a work in progress where my hypothyroidism is concerned and these last few months have been about food experimentation.

Read all the articles you like but it isn’t until you begin playing with your food that you comprehend how food can help or hurt your body.

Regular readers are familiar with my Whole 30 journey which ended after 43 days of whole foods and no sweeteners, dairy, soy or grains. Then I took a break for most of June when it seemed to be a parade of meals outside my control.

I used this time to stretch boundaries and learned that they don’t stretch very far. When I ate Whole 30 for those 43 days, I felt great and had tons of energy. Since stopping, my energy has gradually waned and some of the pain has come back.

So I started a new round on Saturday. Only, this time will be different. This time, I’m working to make the Whole 30 way of eating the norm rather than something that has a beginning and an end. This time, I’m allowing vanilla yogurt with a small amount of sweetener because I like yogurt and life with plain yogurt is just too basic.

There normally is no room for mistakes when you do Whole 30. Make a mistake today and you’ll start again tomorrow. This time, if I need to go off script for a meal, I will just keep going with the next meal.

You can lie to yourself about all manner of things but your body will never lie to you when it is feeling abused or neglected.

I really haven’t eaten that badly until the last few days of my break when I developed a “last supper” complex, eating fried food, popcorn and Oreos.

I didn’t feel good about it at all. Three days in and it feels like I’m detoxing a bit and am looking forward to feeling good again in a few days.

One other thing to note – I had fallen into the habit of blaming my thyroid and having negative thoughts toward this small gland that is basically command central for the human body. It’s a big responsibility. But it isn’t my thyroid’s fault that it is under siege. So I am flipping the narrative to speak with words of support rather than contempt. No more calling it “my stupid thyroid!”

Thyroid disease is life altering for most patients but I refuse to give in and just live with it for the sake of a cookie. So today, I will double down on nutrition, rest and water consumption.

It’s the first day of the rest of my life and I’m dedicated to making it count. I hope you do the same in whatever way is good for you.

The Experiment Continues

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Yesterday I told you about my food fears as I begin to navigate better eating habits to support my ailing thyroid. After a 43 day round of the Whole 30, this week I will begin to loosen some rules for when dining out is necessary.

Yesterday went fine. I ate a great whole foods breakfast and dinner. We had a busy day at work and the bank bought lunch so we wouldn’t have to break from our project for too long. I could have chosen a salad but decided to give myself something I used to love from this restaurant – a grilled cheese on gluten free bread, some sea salt kettle chips and fruit.

The fruit was delicious.

The rest of it was ok but I would have been happy with the salad. Plus, I was tired within the hour. So I came home to a delicious vegetarian dinner and felt good again.

Lesson learned. Honestly, I was a little relieved when my reaction was “meh.” At least I won’t be craving that stuff.

It’s another new day and so the experiment continues!

A New Day

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Today is a new day and I’m absolutely terrified of what it will bring.

You see, I ended my official Whole 30 round yesterday. After 43 days of eating whole foods and avoiding food groups that I know my thyroid can’t handle, I feel amazing.

I’m full of energy and nothing hurts.

The new rules are that I comply with the Whole 30 rules at home and as much as I can otherwise. So I’ll continue to pack my lunch when I go to the office and will pack snacks for road trips. However, I have permission to eat what I need when I’m in situations where I need to eat out.

Restaurants are hard when you’re trying to eat real food and avoid sweeteners, dairy, grains, corn and soy. I have eaten a ton of sad iceberg lettuce salads with a little shredded carrot a single cherry tomato. That’s what most restaurants around here offer as a garden salad and it’s pitiful.

In other words, I have more or less gone hungry on those days. Although, I do pack some snacks like an apple, nuts and an RX Bar which basically acts as a meal replacement.

Now, I can just try to choose wisely and the very thought is terrifying.

I cannot go back to feeling tired and sore and I fear undoing all my hard work with just a few bad choices.

For the next three days, at least one meal a day will be eaten out. That just means I need to be smart and double down on the nutritious stuff for the other meals. And if you see me with a Diet Coke in my hands, please smack it away and remind me that water is what my body needs to function best.

Stress is no excuse for poor choices!

Friends, some lessons must be learned and relearned many times before they actually stick. Or maybe they never really stick and you just have to keep reminding yourself. For me, one of those lessons is that food can be medicine or it can be poison.

Life so full of choices and it feels like the American diet steers us in the wrong direction. According to a study by Northeastern University’s Network Science, 73 percent of the US food supply is defined as ultra processed.

The healthier options don’t have exciting packaging or ultra sweet flavors but they sure do make you feel better! My ailing thyroid is grateful for the support.

So, if you don’t mind, send me some good vibes today. I may need the help!

Whole 30 And Thyroid Health

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When you’re diagnosed with a thyroid problem, there aren’t many reputable resources to explain exactly how to eat to support this ailing gland.

I have read a lot about what you can’t eat and that tends to be discouraging. Gluten and sugar are not your friend with hypothyroidism and there are lots of inflammatory foods to be avoided as well.

Unfortunately, the American diet is built around gluten and sugar.

I discovered something called the Whole 30 several years ago and decided to revisit this eating plan as it aligns well with thyroid needs. Essentially, it’s a 30 day eating plan that eliminates foods that are traditionally inflammatory and many that commonly cause digestive issues.

That means you can’t have any kind of grains, dairy or sweeteners so there’s no rice, quinoa, corn, yogurt or most processed foods. Fast food is almost completely off the table as is the Diet Coke that I so often turn to in times of exhaustion.

You’re meant to eat meals of vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats. There’s no measuring or counting calories. No one cares how many carbs are in a banana. You just eat whole foods and you eat till you’re full. If you’re hungry on the Whole 30 you’re doing it wrong.

I actually finished day 30 earlier this week and intend to keep going for a while longer.

So, how did it go?

I feel amazing.

The first couple of weeks were rough but life suddenly became wonderful when I hit my stride.

For the first time in a couple of years I have zero pain in my body. My joints and muscles feel great. Getting out of bed is no longer a crisis. The fluid in my ears is gone. The weight gain has stalled and the brain fog is still there but not nearly so bad.

Since last Friday, I have accomplished a bunch of yard work, some stuff inside, run errands, hiked and have been busy at work. A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do even a fraction of this stuff.

It feels like a miracle.

I know that nutrition is important to the human body but my entire life feels transformed. After thirty days, you’re supposed to start reintroducing foods to see how your body responds but I don’t feel ready. So I’m going on for a couple more weeks before deciding what happens next.

There’s some soul searching to do.

Truth is, eating Whole 30 at home is easy if you know how to cook. Eating in public is hard. Try going to a family reunion, a work lunch or a fast food restaurant and find food that meets the rules. I have made a meal out of deviled eggs with the filling scraped out and plain veggies without dip. The only fast food option has been a Wendy’s baked potato and a plain salad. Even sit down restaurants are hard to navigate.

So I pack food as much as possible but trouble begins when that’s not an option. Luckily, going hungry for a day seems like a fair swap for a life without muscle pain.

So, the question on the table is what am I willing to live with? What can I live without? Is dessert worth the foot pain tomorrow morning?

I am inclined to say that I’ll continue with Whole 30 at home. In public, I can just do my best. At lunch with coworkers I can have the cauliflower crust pizza but not worry about the sugar in the pizza sauce. All those great mom and pop diners are still within reach if I know the fish and chips are a treat but that I’ll be back to baked fish and steamed veggies tomorrow.

Food can be medicine or it can be poison. Some foods will help support my thyroid and move me forward while others will send me backward. I need to think of foods in this way. How do I want to feel tomorrow?

That’s the question.

Best Served Warm

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You’ve probably heard the phrase “revenge is a dish best served cold.” Well, gluten free bread is best served warm. That goes for the English muffins and wraps too!

I have been working at reducing my gluten intake since learning that it can help with thyroid symptoms. At this point, I avoid gluten at home but simply do what I can other places.

I don’t eat a ton of bread but sometimes enjoy an egg sandwich, peanut butter and jelly on a toasted English muffin or the occasional veggie burger on a bun.

The good news is that there are a number of gluten free bread products in the frozen food case. So, even though the price for gluten free products is always exorbitant higher, there’s no waste like if I buy a fresh product that I forget is sitting on the counter. It probably all balances out in the end.

There are a couple of products from Kroger that are quite good. One is a thin bun and the other is an English muffin that has nice flavor when toasted.

This week, I needed something quick for lunches and picked up some gluten free wraps from the fresh bread shelf. One day, I made a breakfast burrito and was able to heat the wrap in a skillet while my eggs cooked. The next day it was just a regular cold wrap that reminded me of rolling up my veggies and avocado sauce in a piece of college ruled paper.

It’s incredible what a little heat can do to change the flavor and composition of food!

In case you are wondering, I do notice a difference when I eat gluten. The brain fog is real and I tend to feel more tired and sluggish, a gloomy reminder that a random piece of cake or family reunion light roll really isn’t worth the sacrifice.

If you have hypothyroidism, I would recommend experimenting with gluten to learn if or how it stresses your body and mind. Just remember to warm it up first!

A New Day

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The last few months have been challenging for me personally. The first quarter is always my hardest because of a project at work but this quarter has been marked by a number of other difficulties.

In my personal life, I have been battling a issue with my health. The symptoms didn’t just start this year but it was only recently diagnosed as hypothyroidism. This isn’t life threatening but is life altering and it explains a lot of seemingly isolated problems that have been going on for a long time.

Everyone complains about weight gain and exhaustion. These are certainly the headlines when it comes to my complaints but there’s a lot more to it. My muscles and joints hurt, my voice gets raspy and my skin itches for no reason at all. Nighttime is often defined by violent cold chills while morning is defined by grogginess and the sensation I spent my night running a marathon.

I tell you all this, not for your sympathy, but because I wish more people would talk about this stuff. Had I known more about the symptoms I might have been a better advocate for myself. Maybe you or someone you know is struggling and you don’t know why. This problem often comes with a litany of other things I haven’t mentioned here. Sometimes my hands and arms go numb for no reason. It’s ridiculous, the weird stuff that has been going on.

The cause can be genetic but it can also involve nutritional deficiencies like Vitamin D, Iron and Magnesium. We caught mine because my cholesterol was creeping up there and your thyroid controls cholesterol. Who knew?

I’m now on the path to finding the right dosage of a little white pill I take every day. This can be a real chore and it can be ever changing.

The more meaningful journey for me is using food as medicine. In the interest of boosting my magnesium, I now eat banana a day whether I want it or not. I never want the banana but see value in it as those bad muscle aches and pains are starting to subside. I’m reducing gluten at home. While this isn’t a fix for everyone, it does seem to be helping with my brain fog.

I have a list of things to try adding or removing from my diet. As I feel better, I can be more active. It would be nice to take off the extra pounds and to feel healthy and strong again but I have read and heard horror stories about the thyroid and why it’s often a lifelong battle.

I put that big work project to bed yesterday. It’s in the hands of my printer now and some other things at work should improve soon as well. I am hopeful that life will get easier. You can have stress at home or stress at work but it’s crippling to experience stress everywhere you go.

I celebrated in my own way yesterday. At lunch, I treated myself to some really nice books at an Ollie’s. This included one about the artist Monet and will help me prepare for an upcoming adventure. Near the cash register, a display of bare root roses presented one called “New Day.” It is yellow and happy and you can bet it will soon grace the flower bed outside my home office window.

It is a new day.

After work, I strolled the bike path, logging two miles and stopping once to admire a nice patch of wildflowers. There’s one area where you’ll find several varieties. While there are a couple that are large and obvious, they’re mostly small and delicate. You have to look for them, and the more you see, the more you see. It’s a quiet reminder that great gifts often come in small packages and that you sometimes have to slow down and go looking to find the beauty.

It’s there. You just have to try to find it.

This blog is written as an exercise in daily creativity. That means, instead of keeping a queue of future posts ready to go, I usually have just a list of ideas and start fresh every day. The exception is when I’m planning vacation or know that there will be no time for writing one day.

That has worked great until recently as exhaustion has started to win. That’s why I took a break.

I woke up this morning still tired but not as tired as a week ago and certainly far better than a month ago. I trust that I’m headed in the right direction and that I can get back to storytelling here. This is something that I enjoy immensely. The writing is close to my heart but I also enjoy hearing from all of you virtually and in real life.

If you’re interested in an overview of hypothyroidism, the Mayo Clinic provides a basic overview here. Talk to your doctor if some of the symptoms sound familiar. Advocate for yourself.

Happy Saturday, friends. It’s a new day.