Eat Less, Move More update

Last week was good. I managed to avoid Coke (my not-so-secret addiction) as well as added sugar in my coffee or other beverages. I also got in two walks, which was good.

This week I will continue the goals of getting in 2 days of at least 15 minutes of exercise, as well as avoiding adding sugar in my beverages, but I'm also adding new goals

• Eat a "real" breakfast each morning - no more stopping at Safeway for a bagel or McD's for a sausage egg McMuffin, hold the sausage.
• Begin to do the speed and agility training the girls are doing during practice. Do this at least 2x a week.

As far as the real breakfast - bagels in themselves aren't bad. What is bad is that I have no will power at 7 in the morning and end up getting far more than just a bagel for breakfast. I walk in for breakfast and walk out with Oreos, candy, and other junk that I just don't need. By planning ahead I help avoid all the temptations tht stopping at the grocery brings. And exercising with the girls just makes sense. Someone has to supervise the conditioning station, and none of us like doing it. I might as well volunteer and use the time to get some exercise in. It's good for me, makes me a good role model to the girls, and answers the question of "when will I ever find time to exercise?!"

My Thyroid

I've had thyroid issues for so long that I forget not everyone knows about it, or understands exactly what it means.

I believe I was a freshman or sophomore when I was diagnosed - somewhere around 15 or 16. I have hypothyroidism, which means my thyroid doesn't work as well as it should. Some people are hyperthyroid, which means it works too well. In my case, it means that my metabolism is extremely slow, I'm tired all the time, and I'm always cold.

The technical term for my "disease" is Hashimoto's. The other wonderful part of this disease is that it compromises the immune system and the body's ability to repair itself. Thus the never ending aches and pains I experience on a daily basis. And I just thought I'd abused my body with too much competitive softball!

Hashimoto's is the reason I have a difficult time losing weight, and it's the reason I like to sleep 10 hours a day. It's the reason I minored in naps in college, the reason I always have on 2 sweatshirts and a hat at games. It essentially explains away all of my quirks and idiosyncracies. Ok, most. Fine, some!

Anyway, a normal person's thyroid would test between a .5 and a 4ish. Different doctors have different ranges of acceptability, but generally anything higher than a 4 is considered to be out of whack. A year ago, I tested at 33. Six months ago I had dropped to the 20s. Two weeks ago I was all the way down to 14. So we're definitely getting there, but we're not close enough yet.

I was starting to worry about why my thyroid was so out of order, but my dr said it's really nothing to worry about. The simple explanation is that my body is clearing the synthetic thyroid from my system too fast, so it's not given enough chance to work. In essence, my kidneys and liver are too efficient. I guess they're trying to make up for my lacking thyroid.

So there you have it, the basic explanation of what is wrong with me. I get another round of blood tests in 3 months. We're hoping to be down to at least a 4 by then!

Eat Less, Move More

In an effort to jumpstart our weight loss, my friends and I came up with the above phrase. Quite ingenious, isn't it? I know, not that original, but really losing weight is as simple as that. If only the act of following through were so simple.

So I'm babystepping. I feel too overwhelmed right now to jump right in and do it all, so I'll start with dipping a toe into the weight loss pool and go from there.

This week my eating goal is to not drink my calories, so no cokes, sugar syrups or sugar in my coffee, and no hot chocolate. My exercise goal is to get in at least two 15 minute exercise sessions before 6 pm Saturday.

Each week I'll add a new eating goal and up my exercise goal, in an attempt to get myself back on track with a healthy lifestyle.