Quasi-moto? Kashiharioto? Hashimoto?

So Let's get down to business. I saw the endocrinologist today (FINALLY) and it was the most encouraging experience I've had in years. She told me that after all my work and everything I was doing that she was pretty sure SOMETHING wasn't right with my hormones. My favorite was her reaction when I told her I took phentermine (an FDA approved appetite suppressant) and lost 4 pounds the first week and gained 2 the third week for a grand total of -2 pounds.  She just stopped typing into her digital medical record thing and looked at me for a few seconds and then in a slow voice said, "WOW." Most people brag about losing 2-5 pounds a week and how it really jump starts their weight loss. It didn't really do much for me except make me freezing cold and give me migraines! And I guess it did cut my appetite but apparently food hasn't been a big factor in weight loss for me the last few years! She took my blood and then called me back this afternoon to tell me I tested positive for Hashimoto Thyroiditis. Now I don't encourage anyone to diagnose themselves with a disease or disorder. This took me many doctors visits and over 10 months of diligence, patience, frustration, tears, and research to understand that something was NOT right in my body. I had to do everything I possibly could to lose weight and be 100% with my actions to prove to myself that there was something I couldn't control. I wanted so bad for it to be my fault- I had just eaten too much, I hadn't exercised enough- because if it was in my control, I could just fix it by being better. Well here we are 11 months later learning I have an auto immune disease. Here is a link to a publication from the American Association of Endocrinologists about this disease. Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Now that I understand these symptoms I feel so free!!! I experienced so many of these symptoms years ago. I blamed it on other medications, depression, and believing I had a mental illness that needed to be treated with drugs that intensified forgetfulness, cloudiness, fatigue, and weight gain. I also saw a doctor a year and a half ago because my periods were so heavy I actually made a doctor's appointment because I thought I was in danger. If only I had known! I'm sure that this has been slowly developing over the years, causing symptoms that went under the radar or were easily blamed on other things like stress and lazy lifestyle.

The only thing I have to say about today is that I am happy. I feel blessed. I feel FREEEEEEE!!!!!! Now that I have answers this blog will be even better because I will eventually improve my health and lower my weight. I would encourage anyone who is curious about their hormones to get serious with yourself and do everything you possibly can to improve your health and if your results seem slow, stagnant, or non-existent, don't be afraid to explore the option of seeing an endocrinologist. Jillian Michaels believes anyone who wants to lose weight needs to see an endocrinologist because she understands that no matter what you do, you can't fight your hormones if they are out of balance. Now she's a little extreme and believes that foods that come in plastic are messing with your hormones but I think there's truth in the statement that you just can't fight and win with your hormones if they are out of balance.

The last and maybe best part about my endocrinologist is that she also said that 1200 calories and 2 hours of exercise is excessive and that I could continue the exercise if I wanted but I need to eat between 1500-1800 calories. I feel like it will be like Thanksgiving for me!!! I haven't eaten that much on a regular basis in almost a year. Even while I've been indulging the past few days my calories have barely hit or passed 1800 calories and boy was I feeling like little miss piggy!! This is going to be AWESOME! On a lamer note, today was long, stressful, and booked and when 7:00 pm rolled around, my yoga pants and the couch spoke louder to my heart than Zumba and I did NOT exercise today. I did a lot of walking today but nothing I would call true exercise. Don't be sad, don't lose faith in me, and don't judge me, ok?  Tomorrow is a new day and I get to go sweat my booty off tomorrow at 9:30 AM and I promise a full report. It's been a day full of a lot to digest for me and that is the most important part of my day. Just for fun these are the last 3, yes I said 3 times people treated me for my birthday. For the privacy of Dan's parents I cropped them out of the sushi pictures just in case they weren't quite ready to be displayed in cyberspace.

Amazing, dear friend, Tricia and I at Sawadee in Salt Lake City.

Trying some sushi for the first time at Happy Sumo (Dan's first time, not mine and in this picture we're only at the edamame part, the sushi came later. Can't you see his enthusiasm???)

              Come on Dan, don't be scared, they're just little soy beans, you can hold on a little tighter

I know, I know there is something so horribly wrong about a blog called spandex forever and a picture of its creator modeling a cheeseburger and fries...don't worry, these won't be frequent.

See, portion control!! Sharing!!