Thyroid Disease, Diet, Going Mad and Cottages in Scotland!

THYROID DISEASE, DIET, GOING MAD AND COTTAGES IN SCOTLAND

Hashimotos Thyroiditis Thyroid Disease Hypothroidism

Well, I had kind of forgotten about my thyroid blog - have been renovating an old cottage in the North of Scotland for the last couple of years
( it's finished, hurray! If I ever get a website set up for it I'll post the link on here) so hypothroidism had gone on the back burner.
So....update!
By mid 2010 I was feeling pretty unwell - had convinced myself that I had some sort of early onset dementia as my brain wasn't working in the slightest; was forgetting everything, struggling at work to write anything coherent - it was awful thinking back in retrospect. I honestly thought I was going mad, which struck me as rather ironic as I work at a mental health day service!!
Plus I'd become a right moody so-and-so (my poor husband & kids putting up with me). Eventually after yet another temper fit I agreed it would be a good idea to go and see the doc. Asked her to test my bloods, even though I wasn't due a test. Lo & behold, severely hypothyroid, increased from 175mg to 225mg.
Felt like I was getting my brain back - but, alas, was at my utter fattest ever (not counting when I was pregnant, but was almost as heavy!!) which was really depressing :( as I'd put on weight because the levothyroxine doseage wasn't high enough. What most folk don't realise though is that when your drugs are increased all that does is put you back on an even keel so to speak, you don't actually lose any weight, you just don't put any more on!
It was good to get my head back together though & I think everyone around me appreciated the new, improved me without the terrible mood swings!
Well, at this point I was already going to the gym 3 times a week around work & everything else. How could I do more exercise? I also didn't really want to diet as I'm absolutely hopeless at it & just end up in a real grump & usually manage to last until Wednesday afternoon when I'll then scoff a packet of biscuits because I've been denying myself everything all week! I never manage to lose any weight on diets & I also honestly believe that when you're hypothyroid it's soooo much harder than for the normal person in the street.
I'd been doing a wee bit of running on the treadmill as part of my gym sessions & looking at calorie indicators online I decided that increasing the exercise was the only way I could lose a few pounds.
And do you know what? I went running outside along an old railway track nearby (I am very lucky living in the country) & it was really enjoyable.
I do jog very slowly (I make Eddie Izzard look like a sprinter!) but after a couple of weeks I found I could jog along for miles.
It worked! No change to diet - still drank wine & ate chocolate - and lost about 12 pounds without even trying.
It's really made me rethink the whole dieting weight loss malarkey. I now really think that the secret to weight loss if you're hypothyroid is seriously increasing your exercise, and I don't mean going for a wee walk one a week for half an hour as that'll never help, but really upping your level of exercise; if you can't run, then go for a walk every day, but walk quickly, make yourself work at it.
I'm not running intensively at the moment (it's winter here in Scotland...brrr...) but have maintained running on the treadmill as part of my gym routine so my weight has stayed the same.
I feel mentally much better & happy with the weight loss. I think the exercise helps with your mental wellbeing too - it really helps lift my mood & bizarrely gives me energy.
I am having no heart palpitations now and my sleep pattern is a lot better.
I don't know how much of it is related to exercise & how much is related to my drugs being the right level, but whatever the reason, life is good at the moment....:)
All I need now is this Friday winning Euromillions ticket.......!

THYROID DISEASE, DIET, GOING MAD AND COTTAGES IN SCOTLAND

Hashimotos Thyroiditis Thyroid Disease Hypothroidism