Still at it! Monday will be 3 weeks. I am feeling OK. Have note had any bread or sugar or alcohol for three weeks. It's not that hard really to cut those things out and if I had lost heaps of weight I would be happy to say I will never eat them again.....but that's not the case. maybe my expectations are a little high. The only thing I am struggling with at the moment is MEAT. I am so sick of eating meat. Especially breakfast. I would love a bowl of porridge or muesli. I am still eating the same things - bacon, sausages or lamb chops etc for breakfast and two eggs either scrambled, fried or poached, but I am so sick of it. I have got to the stage that by dinnertime I have not really been eating anything because I can't bare to put another piece of meat in my mouth. I hope this is doing something. I don't feel I have lost anymore weight since my great 0.7kg weigh-in on Monday. I will stick at it, I have made the commitment, but if something doesn't happen soon I will be very disillusioned. I'll keep you posted!!!

weigh-in today

Well I did get weighed this morning and although I am not exactly jumping for joy I did lose 0.7kg. I suppose it is better than nothing. As I haven't excercised for about a year the work I have been doing in the last couple of weeks in the gym, I'm told would have built some muscle which weighs more than fat. I hope this is true. Measurements show that I have lost and my clothes are fitting slightly better. I have to keep hope that 0.7 will turn into more over the next few weeks. I have stuck to the diet precisely apart from one (only) moment of weakness where I had a coffee on Sunday morning, it wasn't about the coffee as much as it was just to have something I wasn't supposed too. I don't feel that guilty as this is the only mishap in over two weeks. Time to knuckle down and see what happens. I have started cooking a bit out of the recipe book given to me at the start of the program and this makes life a little more interesting. I have made an orange and almond cake (no flour) which is really nice. I have made another cake which has sour cream, cream cheese, honey, almond meal, (no flour) that is also really nice. I have made a couple of frittata's which are really easy and taste really good. One I made yesterday has chicken, bacon, mushrooms and spinach, cheese is allowed but I put much less (1/4 less) than in the recipe as I just don't think you need so much cheese and it is really good.
I will keep going - 2 weeks down and 14 to go!!!!!

Into my 2nd week of new diet

I am well into my second week, I feel good but I am not sure I have lost much weight yet and am still not allowed to get weighed in at the clinic. Yesterday I was pushing pretty hard for a weigh-in so they said tomorrow after a workout they would do it and take full body measurements again. I need something, just a kilo even to keep up my dedication to this diet. Not that it is hard, but I am saying NO to a lot of things I like, such as sugar in tea, caffiene, cereal for breakfast, bread and all wheat products (which covers a lot) and milk also. So I would kill for a cappachino. Anyway I think maybe today is just one of those days where if I didn't have anyone to answer too I would say "stuff it" and eat whatever I liked and feel depressed later! I will push through it and hopefully get a good result at weigh in tomorrow. I will post as soon as I know my weight loss (if any) I'm guessing 1 to 1.5kgs that's how I feel anyway. Hope so! In regards to the rest of the diet I am doing OK excercise is fairly easy and could be increased but I;ll do what they say. I would like a bit of variety in foods but I guess I have to study the recipe book etc they gave me and try and find some alternatives to what I have been eating. It's up to me I suppose - I think I will go and find something in the book to cook for dinner - a dish I will enjoy eating!

sample menu - for a whole day

on rising - green tea no milk or sugar
breakfast - bacon and scrambled eggs made with butter no milk
baby spinach (wilted) grilled tomato
Morning tea - almonds 15
rice crackers 10 with camembert or brie cheese
Lunch - chicken with skin and salad of lettuce, tomato and feta cheese
Afternoon tea - rice crackers 10 with cheese
green apple
Dinner - Steak with mushroom sauce made with full cream, broccoli,
1 small potato and small piece pumpkin
After dinner - green tea and frozen blueberries and rasberries with a tablespoon of full cream



As you can see there is a fair bit of fat in this diet but no canola oils or margarine etc are allowed
These fats consumed are considered good fats and are essential, also your carbs are kept to a minimum but they are required and good choices with carbs is essential - also protein is high and sugar is non-existent - this is basic run down without going into great detail - there seems to be a lot of other rules for me to learn but they don't want to bombard you with everything straight up. Sauces with msg or canola oils are not allowed. In an earlier post I had said that suaces were allowed but I have found out today that it is best to make your own to avoid all the ingredients that are not suggested and the sauces seem to be full of. I have been sticking to a simialar menu to this, just changing the type of meat but everthing else stays the same. I'm sure once I get into it there will be more choice but for now I am happy to stay with the choices that I know are safe.

1st week over - new diet program

It has been one week today since I started following my new diet/health program. I actually feel really good and feel not so tired. I am still not experiencing any real negative side effect. I still find the hardest thing is to take all the supplements which are not so much important for the weight loss but for health. I know that losing weight should not be my first priority, but I am sad to say it is. I really do want to feel healthy and get off the thyroid medication but I think the weight gain is so far, worse than any of the other symptons. Some days I think I would rather have the palpitations, sweating, muscle shakes, eye problems and possibly even the headaches than to feel overweight. I know this sounds really vain, but I really feel bad when I am overweight. Hence the reasoning behind this search for a weight solution. The clinic would not weigh me today, so I will have to wait another week, but my husband who has followed the diet (except for vitamins) has lost 5kgs in one week. We have had plenty to eat, the foods on the diet suit my husband probably more so than me but I will get used to it. I can't post any results yet but I can say I feel good and the fact that the program insists on 3 exercise sessions per week this has made difference in how I feel. The exercise is fairly low impact more muscle building and toning and only 45mins x 3 times a week is not bad. I actually feell like doing more and may start next week going for a walk/run if I am still feeling good.

Day 5

I have been feeling great....up until last night. Yesterday I had heaps of energy, I have worked out (as per the program) at the clinic with resistance training machines, quite easy and have not been sore after. I felt great until just before dinner last night I took all my prescribed viatmins and had my orange powder and lemon drink and 10ml of castor oil, within about 20mins I felt really sick. I was in the middle of cooking dinner and the smells just added to the sick feeling. I forced in some of my dinner and then went to bed. I slept for about 11 hours and woke up OK. I have a theory that one of the vitamins is making me feel a bit sick - it appears to be mainly iron in this tablet and I have been sick before after taking iron, so I will cut that out until Monday when I see a consultant at the clinic. Still eating similar foods, probably need a bit more variety, they have given me a receipe book and I am cooking some corned beef at the moment. This week i have mostly consumed meat, eggs and cheese I have had no sugar at all only what is in sauces etc which is minimal, I have not craved sugar at all and still have not had a headache. I have been told not to weigh myself, and it might be in my head by I feel I have maybe lost weight. I am taking one neo-mercazal tablet (5mgs) per day. I tarted at 4 x 5mgs per day about a year ago and rose to 11 x 5mgs and has slowly come back down to 1 x 5mgs. Apparantley my last blood test showed that the t3 and t4 levels were OK but my TSH is "a bit on the high side" so maybe this is why I have been putting on weight consistently for the last couple of months and find it impossible to lose. One of the supplements I have been told to take on this program is Lugol's solution which from what I can gather is just plain iodine - I am having two drops per day. I will be interested to see my blood results in a couple of weeks time to see if there is any change.

Day 3

I am already up to day 4, I have been eating similar foods everyday as I am finding the book they gave me a bit confusing, so much information. I mainly have eggs with some sort of meat, ham, lamb chops or minute steak for breakfast, I am supposed to have some carbs also like spinach or tomato which I have tried too but this is so much food I have trouble consuming all of it. Snacks have been cheese(allowed and encouraged)and a type of seaweed rice cracker(not bad especially when breads and biscuits are not allowed - i'll take anything)also almonds I have been having for a snack at morning tea. I drink soda water all day and 1 cup of black tea no sugar in the morning (I have put a little full cream (allowed) in my tea). Lunches are salad with either chicken or lamb chops and dinner is similar either steak or some meat and green veges. It hasn't really been that hard and because I have been trying to lose weight for months my sugar intake has been fairly low and I have tried to eat bread and pasta only occasionally. I haven't really suffered too many detox symptoms, I'm sure I should have by now. The hardest thing is taking all the tablets, I take about 24 vitamins a day, a Vit-C powder in water, a oil mixture, a couple of drops of iodine and a mixture of a fibre powder and water. Oh and I forgot I am up to 4 teaspoons morning and night of the Ghee - this is only for the first week. I think it's the tablets and Ghee that are making me feel nauseous but like I said no headaches and the sick feeling only comes and goes and doesn't stop me from doing anything. If this is the worst of it, then I'm sure I will have no problem with this program. I hope it works. I am not allowed to weigh myself for two weeks and they say some thyroid patients take longer to lose. My husband has been following the diet (minus pills) and he seems to think he has lost weight already! typical. Anyway to sum up the last few days, this program is a bit time consuming, and I feel a little sick, but nothing really bad to report so far. I hope by next week I have something good to report.

Day 1 - search for optimal health

Today I started the day at 6am with a lemon drink with vitaminC and other vitamin capsules broken into it, a couple of other vitamins including one which helps digestion, this had to be 30 mins before breakfast, for breakfast I had to have 26gms of protein so I had two eggs scrambled with butter(allowed) but no milk (not allowed).  I also had one teaspoon of a melted butter type mixture which i had to make up which will go on for a week and increases by day.  This is what is called a Ghee flush????.  It is meant to get the liver going and then on day 7 castor oil is to be taken and then I am supposed to run to the toilet....can't wait for day 7!!!.  Anyway another vitamin at morning tea with a snack of almonds. Lunch was chicken including skin (I know....strange) with salad and more vitamins.  For dinner more protein and carbs are also on the menu so Steak and veges are on the menu and of course more vitamins.  I also had my first workout with a personal trainer mid morning, and nearly threw up for about half an hour. It wasn't even that hard, but I felt pretty sick from a big breakfast and heaps of smelly vitamins that you can taste all day.  Anyway Day 1 is done and I will keep at it.

Embarking on a new treatment for Graves...today

I feel like I am skipping ahead a little, I have missed out a lot of explanation of symptons as well as medication, doses and effects.  But I will go back to that from time to time.  For now I want to document a new treatment plan that I have started today. A friend of my husbands recently recommended a clinic which offers what they call a "program for optimal health".  My husband and I made an appointment and went to see what they had to offer. At the modern, well equipped clinic I spoke with a couple of employees who filled me in a little on what they offer.  They fairly quickly mentioned that the Doctor that owned the clinic had some different ideas than most when it comes to health and nutrition, and some might even say his ideas have been labelled "controversial".  This got me interested.  What do I have to lose, I have been on meds for over a year and gone from Hyperthyroid to Hypothyroid and back again.  I have gained 10kgs, I am tired all the time, I am losing my hair, my left eye waters constantly and both eyes are sore and irritated, I have been on antidepressants for 6months.  Obviously my Endocrinologist can't help or she would have by now, also when I discuss my ailments (such as weight gain) she denies they are related to Grave's, I leave her office feeling like an idiot.  I enquired a bit more and made a decision to join a 16 week program they offered me for $2000.  I hope it works.  I am intending to document as much info about the program and if it is working for me.  Even if I lose weight I would be happy, but my intention is to feel and look good also.

A brief history

I was diagnosed with "grave's disease" in May, 2008. After suffering some unusual symptons for several months I decided to see my GP. While suffering these symptons I had a tendancy to find reasons for each ailment. Headaches and sore watery eyes (the left in particular) I put down to vision problems due to computer use, I had two visits with an optomertrist and had a prescription filled for reading glasses, this made no difference. My headaches became more severe and frequent and my hands trembled most of the time. I thought it was stress!. My heart was always racing and felt like it was jumping out of my chest, I then started getting muscle spasms, mostly in my legs. I also went through the whole of winter without wearing a jumper, and would need to "cool down" by standing outside, usually wearing only a singlet and boxer shorts. I started to think that maybe I had a serious condition and even researched such things as Mutiple Sclerosis online as the muscle weakness and spasms and the trembling had me a bit worried. By the time I got to my GP I was lucky enough to have sold the business in which I was working and get some time off. With a week or so of finishing up I got to the doctor. Im happy to report that my doctor has had some experience with Thyroid issues and I was diagnosed almost immediately. I was put on Neo-mercazale and Inderal and an appointment was made with an Endocrinologist. from here my journey with Grave's begins.

Welcome to my world

This blog evolved from an idea I had last Friday (8th May, 2009) while driving from a consultation with a Nutrionalist. It occurred to me that while I am in constant search for answers in relation to my "Grave's Disease" probably many others are also. If I do happen to find a solution to any one of the many symptons associated with GD, then why not share this information with others.