This blog post took A LOT for me to write. I just kept going back and forth with it until I finally decided to sit down and write it. Still unsure if I’ll publish it, but I guess if you are reading it then I took the plunge.
Let’s rewind to my senior year, 2015. I had gained 30lbs + in months. I chalked it up to my birth control and never thought more of it. You will see later how this is relevant. I got the birth control removed and never really could lose weight but I also didn’t gain a ton. I just always felt bloated.
Well, 2017 came and J was deployed and I tried so hard to lose weight and couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I would eat healthy in an 80/20 fashion and only would lose 5-10lbs over a 6 month period. At the time, I was following a workout program my friend used.
When J got back, I fell back into some bad eating habits but truthfully not too bad. I always have loved healthy food. I would rather have a salad then a burger, however the weight just started piling on. I am in no shape or form saying I was overweight, however, I was unhealthy and unhappy.
Therefore January 2019 came around and I think Jarrett got tired of me complaining constantly about being “fat” (again I know I wasn’t fat, but I felt disgusted with myself and overall was unhappy) and if you know J, he’s brutally honest. Well, J told me flat out that I needed to either do something about it or stop complaining. This hit me hard. Was I complaining and really not trying?
Well in about 3 months, I was down 15lbs. I cut out every “bad” food I could think of and Starbucks. I limited myself to eating a certain amount of calories a day and I wouldn’t budge. I would do intermittent fasting some days which actually helped me a lot with bloating. I was probably working harder than most people have to work to lose weight and it still was difficult to get the weight off. I felt like giving up so many times because I felt like I was working my butt off and barely seeing results.
I’m just going to be brutally honest with y’all and tell you I didn’t really have a “cheat” meal until I was down 15lbs. I knew it would tempt me too much. I had Starbucks on clinical days though and that was a treat for me once or twice a week.
At this point, I was running 3 miles a day or doing an hour of cardio everyday. I actually enjoy cardio therefore, this was not torture to me.
Well 3 months in, I felt so blah. Really there is no other word for it but “blah,” you would think I would feel good and happy being 15 lbs lighter right? Well, I went to the doctor and he wanted to tell me I was depressed. In no reality would I say depression is not real, I know it’s real, I’ve felt it. However, I KNEW I wasn’t depressed. Like I said, I’ve felt it, I just KNEW that wasn’t it. I asked the doctor to please run all my labs. He assured me everything was 99.9% going to come back normal….
A few days later, I get a call saying everything in fact I was not 100% fine. My TSH level was 16.4 and the normal range is 0.4-4. That is 4 times the normal. If you do not know much about hypothyroidism, it has a lot of impact on your emotions, how you feel, your weight, and etc. I got diagnosed with hypothyroidism and was put on levothyroxine (Synthroid). They also may need to remove my thyroid because of possible cysts, that’s a longer story but I’ll keep you updated about that. Praying that is not the case. I had an ultrasound yesterday and will know the results soon.
My doctor basically told me right then that I would always have a problem with losing weight. In fact, he told me the medicine isn’t even linked to weight loss. Like what?? I though this was going to fix all my problems. He said I would always have to work harder because my metabolism is slower. Really??? There still isn’t a magic pill? However, instead of getting upset and feeling like there was nothing to do, I took this as a challenge. Yes, I have to work harder and eat better than most people to see a difference but it’s possible. I cannot say enough how hard I have worked. The diagnosis and medication didn’t cure me, but it showed me that if I wanted to lose weight and feel better than I would have to work twice as hard.
My doctor said I probably should try to go gluten and dairy free because of some other things we talked about along with the thyroid problem. I did so, and I lost about 5 more lbs. However, I was still working out and making sure my body was in a calorie deficit so I’m not really sure if you can chalk that up to being from cutting gluten and dairy. People want to tell me I lost more weight because of the levothyroxine and to an extent, I agree. I agree that maybe it helped my metabolism and energy. However, I lost 15lbs to hard work and dedication to my body. The other 10lbs I believe was the same thing, I started running 30 mins everyday and doing ab workouts 2 x a week. I felt overall so happy with my body and motivation and being gluten and dairy free gave me the energy I needed. I believe I do have a slight intolerance to both. I began to feel like myself again.
Then, Mississippi hit, I went to Mississippi for a month and at first I was doing so well, eating in, doing good. But, the food got the best of me and I fell back into old habits. No I don’t believe “cheat meals” are bad or necessarily need to be even called a cheat. It’s just food. Food= fuel for your body. However, I think cake batter shakes from sonic necessarily aren’t the best fuel lol. I am excited though to get back into routine of eating clean when I get home.
Ultimately I think my thyroid levels are off again or something because I just don’t feel like myself. But since being home, I have been completely dairy free and limiting my gluten and I feel a lot better. However, I am a girl of routine and I could just feel better because I am back in my own house lol.
Society tells us we cannot brag on ourselves or we are boasting. However, I am so proud of myself. This takes a lot of courage to even post but I finally feel happy with myself and I am far from being done on this journey but I am at a place where I feel like I am happy with myself. Basically, this blog post though is to tell you how diet and exercise do have a huge impact on your body from a mental and physical point of view. I am incredibly pleased with my results over the past 6 months. I am 25 lbs down, and have gained so much self confidence.
Please take everything I say with a grain of salt. I am not a fitness guru and I am not an expert on weight loss or hypothyroidism. But, I am happy to share my journey with you.
If you like this post, please leave me a comment and if you have any questions I am on open book. Tell me what you would like to know.
