This has always been odd to me, especially since I've always been careful about diet and have always worked out. Where did the extra weight come from anyway? I swear that one day I went to bed and *poof* the next day I had gained weight.
To say that my last two years of weight loss efforts have been frustrating is an understatement. To say that they have been rip-your hair out, throw the scale against the wall, ready to just throw your hands in the air and let the fat percentage build up as your body sees fit, is a bit more accurate.
About a year and a half ago, I went to a doctor who told me that clearly the answer was that I am a depressed individual and that the seeming weight gain was in my head.
REALLY? Soooo, the fact that my old clothes don't fit doesn't mean anything, then? Is that in my head too?
I told him that perhaps I was upset about the fact that I was spending more time in the gym than at my apartment and that I had become so masterful at counting calories that guessing the calories in everyone's food could be my new career should I ever want to join the carnival circuit, but I wouldn't call myself clinically depressed.
The next doctor I went to told me that I "looked great" and shouldn't want to lose anymore weight. Had I been anorexic and a walking skeleton, I may have heeded that advice. But since I was not, nor have I ever been, underweight, this advice was once again, supremely unhelpful. Why weren't the doctor's listening to me when I told them that something wasn't right?
So I joined CrossFit and became a master of the Zone diet with the food logs to prove it. Initially with the I Am CrossFit challenge, I got token results, but when the Spartan challenge started, I realized that those results were just that; token.
My frustration level at this point was at an all time high. I couldn't improve my diet anymore, I had already cut out processed carbs, sugar and dairy. I couldn't work out any more than six-seven days/week I was already working out. I was ready to quit.
Then my mom implored me to go to her Endocrinologist. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I drove the hour and a half to see her doctor. One Doctor's visit, one blood test and five waiting days later I found out that I am hypothyroid.
Sounds fancy and important, doesn't it?
Here are the common symptoms of hypothyroidism:
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
- Coarse, dry hair
- Dry, rough pale skin
- Hair loss
- Cold intolerance (can't tolerate the cold like those around you)
- Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
- Constipation
- Depression
- Irritability
- Memory loss
- Abnormal menstrual cycles
How could the other doctor's have missed this? I was experiencing just about all of the symptoms to some degree AND I have a family history!
Initially I was so happy and excited to find out that I wasn't crazy and that I did have something else going on (Hurray!). Then I realized that it meant I had to take a pill every day for the rest of my life (boo!), but that was immediately followed by the realization that I already take Advocare everyday, what's one more teensy-tinsy little pill? (hurray!)
So, fingers crossed that this is the solution. I know that it doesn't make weight loss easy, and heaven knows that CrossFit won't be any easier, but maybe it will allow me to get the results that I want!
