Tag Archives: nutrition

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.

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.

When Your Body Asks For A Break

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There are some lessons that bear repeating.

1. The emotionally unavailable man will never change, not even for you.

2. It is impossible to open a package of Oreos and eat just one. You have to do an entire row or none at all.

3. Your body deserves better than you likely give it in an average day.

There are more but these are the big three.

I seem to swing between being ultra aware and responsive to what my body needs or I tune it out altogether. For the last couple of weeks, I have ignored my body as it has screamed for more rest, less stress, better food and much needed quiet.

I have this inner voice that’s constantly pushing me to keep going when I don’t want to, that tricks me into not hopping on the treadmill when I know exercise would be invigorating, and that tells me to eat the fries because that’s what I really want even though I know I’ll be sluggish tomorrow.

Meanwhile, my body is asking for a break, begging for good nutrition, movement and rest. And I ignore it.

I rely on my body to get me through the day. It takes me everywhere I need to go even when I’m mean to it. It has never failed me but I fail it all the time.

How to do better? That’s the $64,000 question.

This week has been stressful and tiring. Healthy eating, exercise and stress management are really just a pipe dream, something to be put off until the weekend when I undoubtedly will crash.

We all go through times like this and the best we can do is the best we can do. I’m trying hard to remember that good choices breed more good choices and that what I do to my body today will effect how I feel tomorrow.

I know that I’m approaching a breaking point when I simultaneously want to run away on a trip and also hide in my quiet house with a package of cookies.

A trip may be in my future but the cookies will not.

For today, I’ll just keep pushing forward and make the best decisions possible. And then tomorrow, I’ll wake up and do it again.

Things will be better soon.

Crisis Averted

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So the headline is a little melodramatic but I was beginning to think a crisis was on the horizon.

You see, since starting the Whole 30 last year, I have become dependent on RX Bars as meal replacements on the go. Even when I’m not following the Whole 30 (like right now), it’s a great way to avoid fast food when there’s no opportunity to eat a decent meal. They also make terrific pre-workout fuel because they taste good but are made with just a few ingredients you can pronounce.

Sadly, a recall due to possible peanut dust exposure left the shelves bare of almost every RX Bar flavor sold in southern Ohio. My supply has been dwindling and I was starting to worry.

Finally, though, I was able to lay my hands on a box yesterday! I also grabbed a new flavor of Bubly because I evidently am an impulse shopper. Doesn’t Blackberry sound yummy?

Isn’t it funny the habits we fall into and how challenging it is to face the prospects of changing even if just for a short time? Is there a product you use that would feel like a catastrophe if you couldn’t get it? Tell me about it!