I love being a physically active person. When I was young, I used to participate in ballet, swim, and track. I used to ride my bike endlessly. Then I became a bit of a couch potato when I moved to the States. But in college I began working out – pilates at home, and even Jazzercise. (Don’t laugh! It was fun!) Living in beautiful Flagstaff, I used to hike in the summers and ride my bike to school. I also really got into Tae Kwon Do – I’d spend about 8 hours a week at the dojang.
When I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, I had no idea how it would impact my adrenal glands and my energy levels. Surprise! I developed adrenal fatigue! I realize some doctors don’t acknowledge that adrenal fatigue is real. Well, my body, and many people’s bodies who struggle with this debilitating condition have no kind words for those doctors!
It’s real. It’s really fucking real when you sleep for 8 hours and still feel completely bone weary. It’s really fucking real when you forgot your phone upstairs, but you’re too tired to walk up the stairs and back down again to retrieve it. It’s really fucking real when you fold a load of laundry and need to take a 10 minute break to recover. It’s really fucking real when walking around the grocery store requires a nap when you get home. It’s really fucking real when you miss hanging out with your friends, but you have to choose between cooking or socializing because your energy levels are so limited.
And those are just a bare handful of ways my life has drastically changed.
So you’re probably wondering how on earth I’m working out again – well, it was a long and arduous process! There were three important components to me getting back to being able to work out while living with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis:
1. Medication – the right medications, at the right dosage
2. Diet – eating a clean, paleo, ketogenic diet with all my macros balanced appropriately
3. Flexibility – the first two items are no-brainers, but to truly be successful, I had to learn to LISTEN to my body, and ADJUST my work outs accordingly
Case in point: yesterday, I felt like utter crap. Wednesday’s are yoga and cardio days, but I could only do yoga, and even then, I shortened how much I did. I skipped cardio entirely. My former self would have been shocked and dismayed! My current self knows that skipping cardio allowed my body the additional time it needed to recuperate so that I could do my cardio today. Flexibility! It has made the difference between success and utter failure and burnout.
Flexibility also applies to my diet. I plan out my meals for the week and cook lunch and dinner on the weekend, so during the week the only cooking I’m doing is making breakfast. Yesterday, I realized my carbs and calories were a tad low and that was also contributing to my lack luster physical state. So today, I added more carbs and calories to my meals, and voila! I’m doing oodles better today even after my 30 minutes of cardio this morning.
Flexibility is the new normal.
It sounds simple but it took me a while to truly understand how important it is to LISTEN to your body and ADJUST your diet/exercise accordingly! I’ve always been so used to having a plan and just barreling through it. But I can’t do that anymore. So I could either run myself into the ground or change the way I approached my fitness and diet. I’m happy to report that it’s going well so far. I’ve lost about 28 lbs. My energy levels have improved overall and I’m feeling pretty good these days.
My medication and getting the dosage right, was a close collaboration with my naturopath. It is so important to work WITH your doctor to find solutions to your health issues. I am constantly working on this aspect of my health management with my doctor and as always: flexibility is the key!
Sometimes it’s really frustrating when I have to tweak my plan. But I have to remember that it’s not a setback, it’s a step forward in the long run. Because of how my energy ebbs and flows, what I do on Wednesday can impact how I perform on Friday. Friday’s are arm and back days. So being kind to myself on Wednesday will allow me to have a successful workout on Friday. Flexibility is my new best friend.
***Please note: I am not a medical doctor and I am not dispensing medical advice. I am simply relating my personal experiences with disease, medication, and weight loss. If you have questions and concerns regarding your health, please consult your doctor.***
Friday, April 22, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Living and Thriving with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
Holy moley! I haven’t updated my blog in two long years! Wow…
Well, life doesn’t stand still and I’m happy to say that I am in a much better place now than I was two years ago. I am a strong person, to be sure, but I could not have come this far without my incredibly supportive husband and parents. 2015 was a terribly difficult year for me – both professionally and health-wise. However, through perseverance and, I cannot say this enough, my amazing support system of loved ones and friends, I am so blessed to be where I am now.
I won’t go into the details of my professional trials and tribulations. I will only say that academia does not fully prepare you for the ruthless nature of industry. But here I am!
Still standing.
Still strong.
As Ms. Swift aptly sung, “Haters gonna hate.” Her song was my personal anthem for a good part of 2015. Thank you, Taylor, for your impeccable timing.
My heath also took quite the roller coaster ride in 2015. I injured my wrist and my back. My weight sky rocketed again into the 140 lb range. My diet was abysmal – I was eating gluten and dairy. And at the end of the year, my medication changed due to changes in insurance, based on FDA regulations, which led to my hair falling out and my nails chipping for the first time in my life. (No, I’m not exaggerating: my nails have never chipped before without me doing something like digging around in gravel.) So I was pretty much at my wits end.
In September 2015, I started the hard road back to gluten- and dairy-free eating. I started eating clean. I was in physical therapy for my wrist and back issues. I cannot stress this enough: physical therapy can make all the difference in getting you physically back on track! At the end of August, I started working out again. It felt torturously slow. And I realized that I cannot ever let myself go again. Yes, I can have treats. Yes, I can have high carb days. But I cannot stop working out. I cannot go back to eating gluten and dairy. I just cannot waste another minute on things that will only ruin my body and most likely make old age terribly unpleasant, considering my family health history and my current chronic illnesses. I cannot condemn my future self to that life. And so I made the decision to be the healthiest version of me.
When you have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, the healthiest version of yourself looks drastically different that what I imagined it to be while in my mid 20’s.
In my 20’s, on a typical Saturday I could clean our apartment, help my Mom cook, finish my homework, do a couple of loads of laundry, workout at the dojang for a couple of hours, and still have the energy to hang out with friends at the end of the day.
Now, a typical Saturday involves summoning the will to go grocery shopping. Take a break. Eat a snack. Laundry. Take a break. Do some meal prep for the week. And I’m done. Flat. Out. Done.
I cannot fully convey what it feels like to be an energetic person who could do so many things in one day and not feel exhausted, who has now become a person that gets wiped out by just doing two or three simple household chores. It’s heartbreaking.
However, learning to work within my current limitations and finally start thriving – THAT has been my breakthrough achievement this past year. I have had to learn how to be kind to myself. To be ok with just doing grocery shopping but not dusting the bookshelves. To be ok with just doing laundry but not vacuuming. And that’s where my husband has been a great support to me – he does a great deal of the housework and yardwork that I don’t have the energy to help with. And this is also why I am so incredibly happy to be childfree, because I probably would have collapsed from exhaustion numerous times already if we had kids.
This learning process has been hard for me. But it was either figure out how to manage with what I have, or work myself into the ground. And so, I make my to-do list and try to get the most critical chores done. Anything else on the list is a bonus.
I’m finally ok with that. And showing the same kindness and understanding that I show to others, to myself, has reduced my stress and made me much happier. I do what I can and the rest will get done when it gets done. Because sometimes the smarter choice is sitting in the hammock, listening to the birds chirp while sipping on a cuppa tea.
Well, life doesn’t stand still and I’m happy to say that I am in a much better place now than I was two years ago. I am a strong person, to be sure, but I could not have come this far without my incredibly supportive husband and parents. 2015 was a terribly difficult year for me – both professionally and health-wise. However, through perseverance and, I cannot say this enough, my amazing support system of loved ones and friends, I am so blessed to be where I am now.
I won’t go into the details of my professional trials and tribulations. I will only say that academia does not fully prepare you for the ruthless nature of industry. But here I am!
Still standing.
Still strong.
As Ms. Swift aptly sung, “Haters gonna hate.” Her song was my personal anthem for a good part of 2015. Thank you, Taylor, for your impeccable timing.
My heath also took quite the roller coaster ride in 2015. I injured my wrist and my back. My weight sky rocketed again into the 140 lb range. My diet was abysmal – I was eating gluten and dairy. And at the end of the year, my medication changed due to changes in insurance, based on FDA regulations, which led to my hair falling out and my nails chipping for the first time in my life. (No, I’m not exaggerating: my nails have never chipped before without me doing something like digging around in gravel.) So I was pretty much at my wits end.
In September 2015, I started the hard road back to gluten- and dairy-free eating. I started eating clean. I was in physical therapy for my wrist and back issues. I cannot stress this enough: physical therapy can make all the difference in getting you physically back on track! At the end of August, I started working out again. It felt torturously slow. And I realized that I cannot ever let myself go again. Yes, I can have treats. Yes, I can have high carb days. But I cannot stop working out. I cannot go back to eating gluten and dairy. I just cannot waste another minute on things that will only ruin my body and most likely make old age terribly unpleasant, considering my family health history and my current chronic illnesses. I cannot condemn my future self to that life. And so I made the decision to be the healthiest version of me.
When you have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, the healthiest version of yourself looks drastically different that what I imagined it to be while in my mid 20’s.
In my 20’s, on a typical Saturday I could clean our apartment, help my Mom cook, finish my homework, do a couple of loads of laundry, workout at the dojang for a couple of hours, and still have the energy to hang out with friends at the end of the day.
Now, a typical Saturday involves summoning the will to go grocery shopping. Take a break. Eat a snack. Laundry. Take a break. Do some meal prep for the week. And I’m done. Flat. Out. Done.
I cannot fully convey what it feels like to be an energetic person who could do so many things in one day and not feel exhausted, who has now become a person that gets wiped out by just doing two or three simple household chores. It’s heartbreaking.
However, learning to work within my current limitations and finally start thriving – THAT has been my breakthrough achievement this past year. I have had to learn how to be kind to myself. To be ok with just doing grocery shopping but not dusting the bookshelves. To be ok with just doing laundry but not vacuuming. And that’s where my husband has been a great support to me – he does a great deal of the housework and yardwork that I don’t have the energy to help with. And this is also why I am so incredibly happy to be childfree, because I probably would have collapsed from exhaustion numerous times already if we had kids.
This learning process has been hard for me. But it was either figure out how to manage with what I have, or work myself into the ground. And so, I make my to-do list and try to get the most critical chores done. Anything else on the list is a bonus.
I’m finally ok with that. And showing the same kindness and understanding that I show to others, to myself, has reduced my stress and made me much happier. I do what I can and the rest will get done when it gets done. Because sometimes the smarter choice is sitting in the hammock, listening to the birds chirp while sipping on a cuppa tea.
Monday, April 28, 2014
When I Grow Up, I Want to Give the Best Years of My Life to My Employer
When I was a child, I didn’t fully understand how much of your life you spend at work, getting ready for work, commuting to work, and thinking about work. What is the point? I feel like I haven’t discovered my life’s purpose. Each week that passes me by, I wonder what it is I’m supposed to be doing. Shouldn’t we be doing something more meaningful than going to work 40+ hours a week? I guess for some folks, their work brings them meaning and purpose. Lucky bastards.
I enjoy my job. I feel like I am making a difference in people’s lives; however, I don’t feel like it brings any great depth to my life. I can’t tell if I’m just being whiny or if I should be doing something different.
That brings me to something completely different (but maybe related): meditation. I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but I’m going back and listening to Dreamland from the earliest archives available. Almost every other episode, someone will mention meditation in once context or another. Meditation has so many benefits (also) both psychologically and physically. I should meditate. I know I should meditate and I’ve told myself that I should start meditating. And I have… occasionally. More like very rarely. Actually, it really doesn’t count when it only happens about once every 3 months.
I have become much better at journaling on a more regular basis to help me manage stress but also to just write. My (very limited) practice of yoga has been rather on and off. And then there’s my non-existent meditation practice. So there is clearly room for improvement. My problem is I never know what the best time is to meditate – if I try it right when I wake up, I promptly fall back asleep and if I try it right before bed, I promptly fall asleep. When I practice yoga, I find mediation to be a terrific way to finish up, but again, my yoga practice is rather irregular.
I’m making this harder than it needs to be, aren’t I?
That was one of the many things I loved about Tae Kwon Do – we would meditate at the start and at the end of class. Sometimes it was pretty short, but it’s amazing what even 5 minutes can do.
I need to make time.
I enjoy my job. I feel like I am making a difference in people’s lives; however, I don’t feel like it brings any great depth to my life. I can’t tell if I’m just being whiny or if I should be doing something different.
That brings me to something completely different (but maybe related): meditation. I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but I’m going back and listening to Dreamland from the earliest archives available. Almost every other episode, someone will mention meditation in once context or another. Meditation has so many benefits (also) both psychologically and physically. I should meditate. I know I should meditate and I’ve told myself that I should start meditating. And I have… occasionally. More like very rarely. Actually, it really doesn’t count when it only happens about once every 3 months.
I have become much better at journaling on a more regular basis to help me manage stress but also to just write. My (very limited) practice of yoga has been rather on and off. And then there’s my non-existent meditation practice. So there is clearly room for improvement. My problem is I never know what the best time is to meditate – if I try it right when I wake up, I promptly fall back asleep and if I try it right before bed, I promptly fall asleep. When I practice yoga, I find mediation to be a terrific way to finish up, but again, my yoga practice is rather irregular.
I’m making this harder than it needs to be, aren’t I?
That was one of the many things I loved about Tae Kwon Do – we would meditate at the start and at the end of class. Sometimes it was pretty short, but it’s amazing what even 5 minutes can do.
I need to make time.
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