So, this weekend between going to the longest consecutive veterans day celebration, college and pro football games and a Ducks Unlimited banquet, I did some research on nutritional recommendations. I found a lot of mention of the adverse effects of Gluten on the immune system, causing increase in organ-specific anti-bodies, like those that attack the thyroid. Therefore, when it comes to nutrition I am going to start to reduce the amount of gluten I take in, as much as possible. I expect weight loss results from this because it will also reduce my carbohydrate intake and my body will achieve ketosis and burn more fat. This of course is great, but one thing I'll be looking for after 4-6 weeks is whether or not I am feeling any better, symptom-wise. Research studies have shown that after 3 to 6 months of gluten-free dieting organ-specific anti-bodies vanish and hashimoto's symptoms as well as gastro-intestinal issues that many of us also deal with can be reduced. (http://thyroid.about.com/cs/latestresearch/a/celiac.htm) As for my work-out, I am going to be quite a bit of cardio, mostly on the elliptical trainer. I had abdominal surgery a year ago and spinal surgery in June '10 so I am still at a point that I have to be careful and slowly phase myself back into the tough total body, high-impact workouts.
My stats right now are 5'9" and 235lbs. I also have body measurements that i'll put up later. My BMI is 34.7, though I am a muscular guy naturally this is not very accurate, it rates me as obese. I use BMI only due to the fact that it is easy to calculate and it is a easy way to measure progress. I will also attempt to get a body fat % later this week.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Starting now!
Life is full of obstacles. Some times these obstacles can become overwhelming and seem to consume your every thought. One of the most consuming things that a person can experience is to suffer from a disease. “Your lifestyle - how you live, eat, emote, and think - determines your health. To prevent disease, you may have to change how you live.” -Brian Carter
To give some background about myself, I am 29 years old and am an Infantryman in the US Army. All my life I have had issues with controlling my weight and bouts of serious fatigue and muscle pain, some times worse than others. Most of the time I thought of these as normal, and thought maybe I was lazy when the fatigue slowed me down. Then about 2 years ago I started to feel more fatigue and more muscle and joint pain, along with multiple other symptoms to include a gain of 30lbs in only 2 months. These symptoms progressed slowly over that first year. Then while I was deployed in Afghanistan on combat operations I started to become very ill, I felt as if I had an ever lasting flu. I was in complete slow motion and the pain radiated through every square inch of my body. One day I was hurt and taken to our medical outpost where I had blood taken, after the 6 weeks it took to get results I was told that I was "hypothyroid" with a TSH level of 86. I was immediately prescribed synthroid and prepped to be MEDIVAC'd (evacuated for medical reasons) from Afghanistan to Germany. After further tests I was also found to have very highly elevated anti-body levels. Once, I was stabilized I was sent home. For a year I have been trying to get this under control and have had great difficultly with Army medical and have never even been sent to an actual Endocrinologist. It took 8 months to get my TSH levels within range and I am now on 120mg daily of Armour Thyroid. Only problem is, I am still suffering from the fatigue and muscle pain and have had no success with my doctor in finding the reason why I am still ill. I have found that it is common for one to suffer from more than just one auto-immune disease. Being I am having little to no success with my doctor I have taken it into my own hands to research auto-immune diseases and take steps to defeat them.
I know how hard losing weight can be when suffering from this disease. Whether it be from the slower metabolism, the water retention, or even just because the fatigue, pain and mental fog cause you to not want to do anything. Trust me I know! Being I am pursuing a degree in Exercise Physiology, I find a great interest in the roles that physical activity can play in rehabilitation and prevention of disease. So, what I am wanting to do with this blog is to experiment with different types of exercise and nutrition and attempt to find ways to reduce the symptoms and loss weight and help others that are trying to find this information as well.
To give some background about myself, I am 29 years old and am an Infantryman in the US Army. All my life I have had issues with controlling my weight and bouts of serious fatigue and muscle pain, some times worse than others. Most of the time I thought of these as normal, and thought maybe I was lazy when the fatigue slowed me down. Then about 2 years ago I started to feel more fatigue and more muscle and joint pain, along with multiple other symptoms to include a gain of 30lbs in only 2 months. These symptoms progressed slowly over that first year. Then while I was deployed in Afghanistan on combat operations I started to become very ill, I felt as if I had an ever lasting flu. I was in complete slow motion and the pain radiated through every square inch of my body. One day I was hurt and taken to our medical outpost where I had blood taken, after the 6 weeks it took to get results I was told that I was "hypothyroid" with a TSH level of 86. I was immediately prescribed synthroid and prepped to be MEDIVAC'd (evacuated for medical reasons) from Afghanistan to Germany. After further tests I was also found to have very highly elevated anti-body levels. Once, I was stabilized I was sent home. For a year I have been trying to get this under control and have had great difficultly with Army medical and have never even been sent to an actual Endocrinologist. It took 8 months to get my TSH levels within range and I am now on 120mg daily of Armour Thyroid. Only problem is, I am still suffering from the fatigue and muscle pain and have had no success with my doctor in finding the reason why I am still ill. I have found that it is common for one to suffer from more than just one auto-immune disease. Being I am having little to no success with my doctor I have taken it into my own hands to research auto-immune diseases and take steps to defeat them.
I know how hard losing weight can be when suffering from this disease. Whether it be from the slower metabolism, the water retention, or even just because the fatigue, pain and mental fog cause you to not want to do anything. Trust me I know! Being I am pursuing a degree in Exercise Physiology, I find a great interest in the roles that physical activity can play in rehabilitation and prevention of disease. So, what I am wanting to do with this blog is to experiment with different types of exercise and nutrition and attempt to find ways to reduce the symptoms and loss weight and help others that are trying to find this information as well.
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