zestyzaftig Member

^ This.

1. Do the local women's-only triathlon in May 2. Reach the peak of the most challenging local mountain in July- I've been ogling it for years, wanting to conquer it 4. Do a very difficult 26-mile trail takes me through mountain passes, rivers, and glaciers...and do it in a single day (been a dream of mine for 10 years)…

I've cycled between hypo and hyper since 2004, when I was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer. When I'm severely hyper (TSH 0.01 or lower), I constantly need to have calories coming in to keep up with the metabolic demand, so restricting calories in an effort to lose weight is nearly impossible. Last month my TSH was…

This. I've lived my adult life by remaining very emotionally independent, and I've found I'm far more content with life than my peers since I'm somewhat detached from their supportive OR unsupportive attitudes.

bump

ChrisR, keep it! It's nice to see what can result from healthy diet and exercise. :-)

I'm in the same boat. If my net calories are 1200, I lose one pound per day. I bumped up my net calorie intake requirements today in an effort to slow it down a little. Perhaps we just have high metabolism, or our bodies are reveling in the healthy new regime?

Cross-country hiking and roller skating. Not at the same time: that would be rather unsafe.

I feel the same. It's like I have to pinch myself, "This is really happening, isn't it?"

When I took my dog for a walk and was out of breath by the second block. The ironic thing is that I've naturally lost enough in the last year that my fat pants hadn't fit in over 12 months; I had just recently thrown them out when I "hit bottom" when walking my dog. If I can't control my medical issues, then at least I'm…

I'm another huge fan of Armour. I feel, well, human on it- I just felt like a zombie on the synthetic stuff. Stopthethyroidmadness.com is a fantastic resource to learn the science (in laymen's terms) about how the thyroid works, how its performance affects our body, and the advantages to certain types of medication. My TSH…

Plus hubby and I split a T-bone steak last night, which brought up the issue yet again. Sigh.

There's a bunch of 5-ingredient cookbooks out there that have some pretty good recipes. Amazon has a bunch. Nobody in my family cooked, so I had to learn culinary skills on my own (I'm now a food writer and photographer). One of my favorite cookbooks (okay, my cooking Bible) is 'The New Best Recipe' by Cook's Illustrated.…

I'm here to get healthy. If that happens to make me skinny, great, but I certainly don't consider my efforts as failing if I don't get back to my former 122-pound self. Yeah, the number on the scale going down is neat and all, but what I LOVE is the fact that for the first time in years, I'm no longer intimidated by the…

I just tell people I work in the creative arts services. I do a little bit of everything, and make WAY more than I did before being self-employed: writing, photography, and voice acting are the main income generators. If there's a drought of available projects, I'll do telecommuting bookkeeping projects on the side. I want…

I'm one of those bleeding heart weirdos that doesn't want or need to receive support, but I love to give it.

If "organic" was synonymous with "no genetic engineering" for crops, organic would be better.

There's only one store in my state that carries my size: Nordstroms. I'm a 36H, and it literally changed my life when I was properly measured and fitted at Nordy's. Yeah, you're going to fork out at least $60 per bra, but it makes it so much easier to stand up straight, alleviates back pain, etc. Plus, the bras last a long…

I've been hesitant to do a friends request post for the very reasons you mentioned. Also, I'm losing weight to be healthy, not to "look sexy". As far as helpful info, I can share healthy recipes as I develop 'em. Shoot me a line if you'd like to be friends!

The body typically secretes its largest single "dose" of thyroid hormone in the morning. If you're taking thyroid medication to supplement your thyroid's own hormones, it isn't critical to take it in the morning. However, if you're like me and don't have a thyroid at all, it's important to take it first thing in the…

My motivation is simply to have a body that does what I want it to. To me, it's all about good health and physical performance. I want to be able to hike, swim, hunt, kayak- whatever!- without getting tired after only a few minutes. I want to be able to truly enjoy my body and the things it's capable of.

Partial or full baldness. Or a confident, crooked smile with weird teeth.

Everyone's body works differently. I wish I could do the strict 1200 calorie regime, but nearly passed out yesterday when I tried it. I have really high metabolism (I'm severely hyperthyroid), so have a genuine physical need for more than 1200 calories- any extra of which is burned off in exercise. But I totally respect…

I can have it all. Moderation is what's helping me lose weight, not deprivation. I refuse to give up my from-scratch veggie pizza!

1. Glass of water 2. Camera (Fuji X1800) 3. Cat (Russian blue mix) 4. Ham radio 5. Bottle of aspirin

You sound a lot like I used to. There's only two things I can convey after having healed from many years of maintaining a pessimistic attitude while embracing a destructive (to myself and others) lifestyle: 1- It takes a LOT time to heal from whatever caused you to be the way you are. I had improve the hard way, no…

I drink one serving of Crystal Light per day. My body can't handle more than a glass of it, though, or else I encounter some serious intestinal pain and bloating. I LOVE the Green Tea Peach Mango flavor; it was my flavored non-alcoholic beverage of choice long before I started watching my calories. It does a great job of…

Great tats and perfect eyebrows!

^ This.

I've always been told to not take my thyroid medication prior to a blood test. This has been the rule for the various brands I've been on, both synthetic and natural thyroid prescriptions.