The top 5 things I struggled with after having my thyroid removed in 2001
Energy & Fatigue
It always seemed to hit out of nowhere and I'm not talking a little yawn like when you're tired. I'm talking about when you can't even think straight tired. I think thats where all my brain fog came from, mental fatigue! I was constantly reaching for a pick me up, a quick fix, ANYTHING that I thought would help. But they were all temporary, I needed something permanent.
I worked on routine routine routine!! I go to bed early. As soon as I'm feeling tired and have nothing to do other than sit and mindlessly scroll social media, I go to bed. I also rarely watch t.v. in my bedroom. I'll occasionally read if my kids are being loud downstairs. But science says, that if you only use your bedroom to sleep, it's trains your brain to fall asleep faster when you lay down. I typically fall asleep in minutes.
I get up early, even on my days off. This was not something that came natural. I LOVE sleep. But I'm much more productive if I'm up hours before I need to actually do anything. Also after listening to a podcast about morning routines, I learned that hitting the snooze button actually F*cks up your whole day!! I was hitting the snooze button at least 4 times every morning. I'd set my alarm purposely so I knew I could hit it over and over. And I was actually screwing myself up every damn day. Apparently when you fall back to sleep, your body starts a new sleep cycle, and a sleep cycle can take up to 70 min to complete!! So when you disrupt it, your body wants to go back to bed!! Then you're groggy and dragging ass!! So I started to get right up with the alarm, and now my body just naturally wakes up before my alarm ( most days) and I'm good to go!!
Fresh air and sunshine, as much as I can get! Outside walks daily, or any daily movement that is intentional. Not standing or walking at work. Or cleaning your house. Something intentional that you're choosing to do for yourself. I also don't wear headphones on walks outside. I feel more engaged and connected to myself. I'm forced to be with my thoughts and ides without distraction. Sometimes I even walk and talk out loud to myself, I use this time to map out goals. This was a game changer.
Food. I figured out the foods that work well in my body and the ones that don't. This takes TIME. It's taken me years to figure this out. Good carbs vs not so good carbs. Realizing carbs aren't always the enemy and listening to my body when it needs a carb load day. My body runs better, and feels better eating lower carb and high protein. On the days I need extra, I treat myself to eating out or grab a pizza!
Weight Loss
OMG I feel like I'm still trying to figure this one out. But, what I have learned and trained myself to do and really feel this is key on being able to keep going even if somethings not working. FALL IN LOVE WITH THE PROCESS!! And YOURSELF along the way. I can remember all the years I spend avoiding mirrors, dressing rooms etc. It was like torture, staring at myself and seeing all my flaws. And don't get me going on all the negative self talk. If you're guilty of this STOP RIGHT NOW!! There are studies that show, your brain believes what you tell it!! You can't shame yourself into a positive way of life. Think about it, you bash yourself and then realistically you feel like shit. You don't feel happy. I've never called myself fat in the mirror and walked away feeling pretty. So cut it out!! If you don't already have one go buy a full length mirror. I have one on the inside of my closet door. Use it to take pics, just for yourself. You can delete them later, but trust me when you start to make progress you will be glad you have the old ones. Because progress isn't always measured on the scale.
Speaking of scale, before I weigh myself I always ask this questions. Will what I see hurt me or help me today? Then I decide. My scale is also in a really out of the way spot in my basement, I have to intentionally go to that spot if I want to weigh myself.
Sleep, I feel like this ones obvious but maybe not. When you're not dragging ass you're more likely to follow through with your healthier habits because you feel better. The more you're dragging, the more likely you're gonna grab an extra coffee or a soda for an afternoon pick me up. It's also way easier to say screw it to a workout when you're tired.
Gym Program, or workout program. There are plenty of at home programs if you're not a gym person. Having something to follow is key. You might have to try different things, YouTube is awesome. I hate fast paced dancey type workout videos. If I have to follow them I quit!! But there are tons of free ones.
I paid a trainer to give me a gym program and show me how to run through it, best thing I've ever done. I also paid for a meal plan in the beginning. I was clueless and wanted to learn. It's worth paying someone to get you started, based on your needs and body type etc. I also started following people on instagram that have a similar body type as me. I'm never going to be a curvy model type. I'm built like an awkward teenage boy. Follow people with your goals. Take their advice and watch what they do.
Play around with meals. I am happier eating 4-5 meals per day with snacks, I LOVE snacks! I don't mean junk. I mean I'll have a full meal protein shake, cucumbers, pickles, rice cakes with almond butter and my newest obsession is magic spoon cereal and cereal bars! I just recently cut out dairy, I was having some digestions problems and even after cutting out yogurt and cottage cheese it took me 2 weeks to feel better. I will eventually add the yogurt back to see if it really made a difference.
I do not suggest changing everything all at once, because if you end up feeling shitty you won't know what to change. It takes time, and you might get frustrated and quit before you see any progress if your try to change everything at once. I also mix up my plans and meals every few weeks so I'm not bored. Be patient with yourself, goals don't happen over night.
I added weight training and cycle in cardio. I also found my fav online home programs and invested in them so I could download them and have them. If I'm not feeling like driving all the way to the gym, I can still get in a good workout with weights. If you go this route, go get yourself some weights. You don't have to get crazy. All I have at home are 10's and 15lbs. Those are all I use and still get in a great workout.
Giving myself a break
I used too beat the shit out of myself and my mind if I wasn't pushing at 100mph all the time. I'm still trying to figure out where that comes from. Realizing I needed to accept myself and work with what I have as far as not having a thyroid took me forever. And once I started to see results, I had this mentality that if I wasn't pushing and driving myself every min I'd fall right back into thyroid hell. That terrified me!! Now I know it's healthy to rest and that you need some sort of balance. I have to remind myself all the time that a day off is not failing.
Mental Health
I used to be so angry. I actually wasn't originally going to list this one, but I was really angry and all of a sudden had mental health issues I'd never had before. Brain fog & memory loss were things that really wore me down. Nobody prepared me for what this ride was going to be like. All of a sudden I was hit with all this chaos in my head and I didn't know what to do. And I was pissed, all the time!! On top of physically feeling like shit, my head was all kinds of screwed up. And you have ZERO control, if your medication is just a little off. If you're not having your labs checked all the time, it's a slow progression and can kinda just creep up on you. You might not even realize your mood swings, but the people around you most likely will. And that used to make me feel even more mad!!
Now I am very diligent with my labs and medication. Thats another reason why my routines are so important. If I start finding I'm forgetting my medication, I know I'm off. That actually does happen and it's something I notice. If all my boxes are checked off and I'm still struggling, I go have my labs drawn. If you don't have a doc who is willing to check them when you feel off, find another doctor.
Self Worth
Not feeling enough, I'm still working on this everyday as well and thats ok. I think we lose some of our identity with a cancer diagnosis or maybe I didn't want thyroid cancer to be part of my identity. I don't know. My body changed so much, and I wasn't ready for that to be my new normal. Weight gain, hair loss and the hair I had left turned gray at the age 24!! Trying to navigate all of that, I lost my self confidence somewhere along the way. Then I found I was using the "I have no thyroid" crutch for years.
Well GUESS WHAT, you get to reinvent yourself any time you want!! And if you're living with no thyroid, or a cancer diagnosis. You're a fucking badass!!! I know you might not feel like it right now, but you are and you will your power in this.
I'm literally a totally different person than I was 5 years ago. And my biggest person growth has been just within the last year. I'm not even the same person I was a few months ago. Just keep growing!!
xoxox Ash
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