Hypothyroidism/PCOS Success

Four years ago, life caught up with me (eating out, drinking, little to no physical activity, etc.) and my weight was at its highest. I was unhappy and unhealthy at the mere age of 23. After many tears, I decided to try out MyFitnessPal in March 2012 - a free smartphone app and website that tracks diet and exercise to determine optimal caloric intake and nutrients for the users' goals and uses gamification elements to motivate users. I started walking more and exercising using workout DVDs like Jillian Michaels. I lost about 10lbs before I met Pam at the end of 2012. My mom had recently had foot surgery and was doing physical therapy at Peak Performance, where Pam worked as an exercise physiologist. I owe it to my mom for connecting me with Pam - Pam is one of the biggest reasons I am who I am today in terms of health and fitness. She is such a beautiful person inside and out, and truly motivated me to change. I started working with Pam in the beginning of 2013 - exercising together once or twice a week, as well as on my own, and monitoring my food intake. I have to admit that I became a bit of a cardio bunny as I wasn't comfortable hitting the weights on my own yet; however, I had developed a routine and was happy to be eating healthier and to be exercising at all. Then in March 2013, I had unexpected surgery to remove a dermoid cyst from my ovary that was the size of a grapefruit. I was even more motivated than before to lose the weight after being laid up on the couch for two weeks during recovery. While working with Pam, I lost almost another 20lbs. Pam and I remained friends (to this day), but I started to branch out to other avenues of fitness. I did it all - SoulCycle, personal training, even my first 5K. Eventually I got stuck at the same weight despite all of my efforts - I was discouraged to say the least. In 2014, I started to lift heavy weights and cut out the cardio once I discovered my love for lifting and dislike for cardio (those minutes go by so slowly!). In early 2015, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. My doctor continued to monitor my thyroid but I made no progress even with the adjustments to my medication. Although I was dieting and exercising, I maintained the same weight plus or minus the same few pounds for about a year. I finally decided to see an endocrinologist whose response to my inability to lose any more weight was to eat a 1,000 calorie diet. For those of you who don't know, I'm 5'10" - 1,000 calories isn't going to sustain me even if all I did was sit on my *kitten* all day long. I remember leaving that appointment in tears, thinking that this was the end of my weight loss. Still, I continued dieting and lifting. In the meantime, I found a new endocrinologist and in December 2015, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and started medication in January 2016. I also learned that my previous doctor had not informed me of the correct way to take my medication which is why I was on such a high, unnecessary dosage and yet still my body was not responding. I started a new job in September 2015 and in October 2015 enlisted the help of my coach Paul Revelia with regard to my nutrition. Paul's patience and expertise has truly been a godsend. Fast forward to today and I have lost a total of 55lbs since 2012, 31lbs of which I've lost since October 2015 under Paul's guidance (plus 8.5" off my waist) following IIFYM, lifting heavy and doing my (dreaded) cardio.