A New Chapter

2013 was my year.....I had gotten down to my lowest weight, 169.8lbs just in time for my sisters vow renewal. I felt amazing, I looked how I had hoped and was happy......I then stopped taking the diet pills and my exercise regimen slowly faded and now almost 4 years later, I'm heavier than I started and feel like crap. The last couple of years I've just felt off. My body was doing weird things and we couldn't figure out why. I attributed it to being overweight and not exercising and I tried to find that want to do better....but I didn't so I just continued to feel like crap. I've mentioned before having Bells Palsy in 2009. I've been having some nerve pain because of that and finally went to the doctor just recently to figure it out. She ran a large scale blood panel to see if we could figure out something, and well, we did.

My panel came back with all kinds of things wrong. First, my Vitamin B12 & D were very low. My glucose was in the higher range of healthy (99 is high and I was a 92), my cortisol levels were 28 when high is 13, yikes! Last on the list was my Thyroid levels. She tested both my TSH and TPO levels and there it was, Hashimoto's Disease. Hashimoto's disease is a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid, a small gland at the base of your neck. Inflammation from Hashimoto's disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, often leads to an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). 

I thought it sounded crazy but the further I've read into and seen what this disease can do, the more I realized this is exactly what has been wrong with me for these last couple of years. Fatigue, constipation, weight gain, hair loss, muscle aches, joint pain, depression, memory loss, mood swings. I hit just about everything on the list. It makes me happy that something was found but it's going to be a lot of work....getting my body to work like it should and adjusting to this new lifestyle. 

This new lifestyle comes with an extreme diet change....and not for just a few months but for the rest of my life. I'm scared to death! Per doctors orders; no gluten, no dairy, no sugar, no soy....what???!!!! After more reasearch, I'm looking at Paleo AIP or Paleo Auto Immune Protocol. Roughly, it's a paleo diet with even more restrictions and because of my high sugar count, I am not allowed any fruit except berries for a few months, or until we can get my sugar under control. 

What makes me sad is the kids asking why I can't have something and I have to explain to them that sadly, I did this to myself. Years of horrible foods and yo yo diets have brought me here....and it sucks. For right now, I won't be going crazy with exercise, just taking long walks and doing some yoga to relax and lower my stress levels. Day 1 of this diet was rough....I had a headache most of the day and just wanted to sleep. Luckily, hurricane Irma is on its way and I get a much needed 4 day weekend to recoup and try to get feeling like myself again. The sweet cravings have dug into me today....it probably doesn't help that I've been pinning away all the desserts on paleo.....which I can't even have yet, lol

So follow along with me.....let's see if all these changes make me feel finally like myself