How the heck are you supposed to figure out what causes each symptom??

hashimotos hypothyroidism symptom tracking thyroid journal Oct 01, 2021
 

One day in Hawaii...

I was happily shopping in a GAP store I think it was, in Hawaii on holiday soon after we were married in 2001. I was wearing a pretty baggy dress but it was comfy!

As I flicked through the clothes rack wondering how each of the tops would look on me, an assistant came over and said hi. I smiled. Then she asked, "when are you due?"

I was somewhat mortified and wanted the ground to swallow me up right there and then. I replied, "I'm not pregnant". πŸ€”

The assistant looked suitably embarrassed and then added insult to injury .. "how old's your baby?". πŸ™€

At that point, I walked out. I was so upset my husband wondered what had happened. At that stage in my life, I was undiagnosed with Hashimoto's and I really had no idea why it was so hard for me to lose weight. 

Sure I'd had a checkered life of dieting since my early teens.. (no one told me I didn't need to lose weight when I told my parents I was fat at age 13).

I'd tried every diet there was, Weight Watchers (several times), Jenny Craig, Cabbage Soup Diet, Hip & Thigh Diet - you named it - I'd done it.

Do you remember the Apple and Cottage Cheese Diet? I tried that too - and I hate cottage cheese. 🍏

I even went to a Doctor who gave me speed tablets! Yikes. I can only imagine what damage that did to my system long-term. 😢

But what was happening was that my thyroid had been attacked by my immune system - and I didn't even know it. I was not diagnosed until 2009 - 8 years later. 

Once I was diagnosed it was actually a huge relief that I had a reason for being overweight - not that I wanted to be!

I started a diet soon after and lost 20kgs / 44lbs and then embarked on my thyroid healing journey. 

Don't get me wrong - it's not easy now to maintain weight - it's relatively easy to lose now but I refined that method over many years - it was not always easy - in fact, I gained weight at Weight Watchers and did not lose any weight only eating 20g / 3/4oz net carbs a day. I was vegetarian until about 2011 - that way of eating did my weight loss no favours at all. 

What I actually had to do was record everything I ate, every day, and what symptoms I had, how much sleep, how my digestion was, my resting heart rate, my activity (that sometimes made my adrenal fatigue worse so it was important to track), and everything else in between. 

Now that sounds really boring and tedious right? 🀨

You're not wrong!! So I decided it needed to be a pleasure to do and be easy!!

I designed my very own thyroid tracker - it's pretty, it's pink and it's so lovely to fill out. What's even better is you can take it to your Dr to show them your challenges and successes. 

By simply recording what is happening every day (there's a section for everything) you can easily spot days where you gained weight or became bloated - and link it back to your stress levels, lack of sleep, or something you ate - then you can start to see patterns. You can eliminate foods to see if it improves and then there's space for safely re-introducing foods again too!

If you'd like a copy you can get yours here.

If you have any questions let me know but the video at the top walks you through it :)

Your own virtual tour!

πŸ’—

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