Goes to show how the type of foods we eat can make a HUGE difference to how our body functions and ultimately affect how we feel! I did not eat less calories than previous weeks, or burn more calories through exercise and still lost 2 lbs, likely from inflammation reduction.
Click to Week 10 Food & Exercise Summary
Still Putting Puzzle Pieces Together
The more I learn about Hashimotos, the more I’m able to put pieces together about my own health and experiences I’ve had over the past 20+ years. It’s still mind blowing! What is even more amazing is how my intuition guided me over the past several years to make changes by removing toxic cleaning products, toxic people, changing cooking oils, removing dairy, paying attention when foods cause a reaction, stopping prescription medications for eczema etc. and so forth.
As I look back now since hindsight is 2020, every step I’ve made during my healing journey has led me exactly to this point.
Deciding to share this weight loss journey back in September felt like a very strong intuitive push even though I feared people’s judgement. Had I not made the decision to stop checking all the labels and being so restrictive with myself regarding which foods to eat and basically ignore everything I’ve learned over recent years, I would not have experienced what I now know to be a Hashimoto flare.
I shared how I felt Week 6 but didn’t know about Hashimotos then so had tried to make sense of everything by focusing on the information I knew particular around my Complex-PTSD. Looking back on that particular week, it was trauma combined with an inflammatory response so it was no wonder it felt massively overwhelming! It’s also allowed me to recognize I probably should have had my blood work done at the time I stopped my anti-depressant because I suspect my iron was low then.
There are always multiple layers to everything!
Getting to this point gave me the opportunity to know how it feels and be able to determine when something biologically isn’t right and when to seek help. It was during week 6 episode where I started to strongly feel something was wrong but couldn’t pinpoint what it was, which eventually led to me asking my GP for my hormones to be checked thinking it was related to burn out. If I had not asked for this, my Dr wouldn’t have suggested I see a naturopath, and the ND I chose just so happens to have a brother who has Hashimotos.
Every single thing we experience has a purpose we may not be able to see or understand in the moment!
Eliminating Inflammatory Foods
Functional Medicine Drs and Dr’s who specialize in Hashimoto’s suggest the first food to eliminate from the diet is gluten in order to help heal the gut and allow vital nutrients to be better absorbed. Strangely I had removed a lot of gluten (though not 100%) from my diet 3 years ago for well over a year and did lose weight and felt better at the time, but it was also then where I started to experience a significant amount of stress and trauma which shifted my focus to dealing with that.
For the entire past week, I’ve eliminated gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, corn (I miss popcorn the most!), and also nightshades – particularly peppers, tomatoes and white potatoes. I also have a sensitivity to beans and legumes so I normally avoid those as well. As I mentioned in last week’s post, at first it felt VERY overwhelming to see the list of foods I should NOT eat, however once I shifted my focus to the foods I CAN eat, it did become slightly easier and was able to find a lot of Paleo recipes that worked with ingredients I typically have on hand. I do hope to reintroduce eggs but for now want to focus on reducing inflammation and healing my gut.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a huge fan of the KISS method and keeping things as simple as possible. Once I focused on eating meat, sticking with my regular avocado, coconut and olive oils, certain spices, and variety of different vegetables, I made some decent meals!
I’m not a photographer and I should have taken more photos throughout the week, but here’s a few I did take of a gluten free ramen noodle stir fry with beef, chicken fingers rolled in coconut oil and crushed plantain chips and a spinach and mixed green salad with cucumber, beef, few carrots and avocado oil. The soy-free sauce I bought, Naked & Saucy is sooooooo good! It was expensive but it’s low calorie and tastes amazing. I’ll be on the hunt to find this one cheaper at different stores.
Vitamin Supplements & Fluoride
While I continue to adapt and become comfortable with the Paleo lifestyle, I’ll continue to take (for now) Iron, vitamin C, B Complex, and Vitamin D supplements and will try to take a weekly salt bath for magnesium.
Also with fluoride being a disrupter to our well-being and body function, another change I’m making is going back to drinking reverse osmosis water. I had done a lot of research about this a few years ago and found it to be a great option for drinking clean water that’s free from the various metals, bacteria and fluoride. Unfortunately the store bought filters like Brita just don’t cut it. I had purchased reverse osmosis water for a few years from a local family owned business both for my home and business at the time but after moving a couple years ago as I mentioned, the stress and trauma took over so I had stopped buying it. I’m actually not sure where the refillable water jugs ended up through the move, but I’ve starting to go back now.
It also makes me feel better knowing I’m getting clean water for my kids, and it tastes better too.
Week 10 Food & Exercise Summary
I was going down many rabbit holes to gain more information about Hashimotos and look for meal ideas so my focus was more on diet compared to exercise this week. I was fairly active doing typical daily tasks such as grocery shopping, cooking etc so wasn’t concerned about not being active enough.
I also took my Fitbit off to reduce the amount of radio frequency radiation on my body since there’s already enough around with the wifi and phone. I know, seems extreme but all of the different gadgets we hold, touch or are near add up to interfering with how our body functions and until I know my thyroid ultrasound results, I’m going all in!
Overall, by the middle of the week I was starting to get the hang of cooking these new meals and noticed physically that my inflammation had gone down. I really noticed this when I was doing yoga on Thursday night and paid attention to how my body felt while doing the poses. I also didn’t have the mild knee pain I’ve had off and on over the past few months (which was new and thought it was weight gain related), my brain fog is lifting and my overall energy levels are better.
| WEEK 10 – FOOD & EXERCISE SUMMARY | CALORIES | EXERCISE | YOGA |
| Average 1762/day | |||
| Friday – Protein bar – Coconut Raspberry and Blackberry yogurt, apple, blueberries, salad topper – Banana, gluten free oat mix with coconut – Baby carrots – Ground beef with broccoli, gluten free rice ramen noodles and coconut aminos | 1741 | Errands | 12 min |
| Saturday – Protein bar – Bacon – Coconut Raspberry and Blackberry yogurt, apple, salad topper – Leftover lean ground beef, ramen noodles, broccoli and Soy sauce – Beef ‘egg roll’; Lean ground beef, shredded carrots, cabbage, onion, baby boy choy, garlic, coconut aminos | 1695 | 49 min walk | 12 min |
| Sunday – Protein bar – Bacon, Mushrooms, spinach – Coconut raspberry and blackberry yogurt, blueberries, banana and salad topper – Homemade chicken nuggets: organic chicken breast dipped in coconut oil and crushed plantain chips, cabbage and balsamic vinegar salad | 1588 | ||
| Monday – Protein bar – Vanilla coconut yogurt, blueberries, banana, salad topper – Lean ground beef mixed with carrots, coleslaw mix and coconut aminos – Apple – Baked sweet potato – Enjoy life semi-sweet chocolate chips | 1795 | ||
| Tuesday – Blueberry and banana smoothie – Protein bar – Lean ground beef stir fry with garlic, mushrooms, carrots, coleslaw mix and coconut aminos – Bag of plantain chips and sweet potato and beet chips – 2 Brazil nuts – Apple with almond butter | 1895 | 30 min walk | |
| Wednesday – Coconut vanilla yogurt, apple, blueberries, banana and salad topper – Salad with mixed greens, mushroom, cucumber, carrots, lean ground beef, coconut amino and avocado oil – Protein Bar – Dates – Organic chicken breast, bacon and sweet potato | 1995 | ||
| Thursday – Gluten free oatmeal with blueberries, banana, salad topper and chia seeds – Apple – Part of a paleo protein bar – Homemade date, nut and cocoa balls rolled in shredded coconut – Organic chicken, hormone free bacon, sweet potato, broccoli, garlic, onion, avocado oil and seasoning – Coconut whip | 1629 | 15 min walk | 21 min |
| PREVIOUS WEEK (Nov 27) | 177.3 lbs | ||
| WEIGHT LOSS – /GAIN + (Dec 4) | -2.0 lbs | 175.3 lbs | |
| Total cal/lbs lost since Sep 25, 178.6 lbs: | –11,550 cal | -3.3 lbs |
How to Heal Your Life 
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