Tags
fitness, Food, Health, health and fitness, hormone imbalance, hypothyroidism, struggle, thyroid disease, Working mom
No, I’m not talking about Ian and I renewing our vows…that will come at a later time.
When I talk about re-commitment I’m talking about re-committing to myself.
I have been into health and fitness for quite some time, starting when my dorm got an exercise room put in on my floor. I was in there almost every day after class. I became hooked.
I got my first gym membership after I graduated college and started my first post-grad job and then had it put on hold once I was 7 months pregnant and could no longer continue out of discomfort.
Once my holding period was up (in April after Harley was born) I didn’t bother keeping it. I just didn’t have the time or energy to leave the house with a newborn and money was really tight since I was only receiving maternity benefits and that extra $50.00 a month just wasn’t in the budget.
I began working out at home once I got the okay from my OBGYN, starting out slowly and then gradually increasing my workouts from 2 days a week to 5 or 6, depending on what we had going on from week to week.
Then I started feeling sick…EVERY SINGLE DAY.
My energy levels dropped dramatically to the point where I would involuntarily fall asleep on the couch for 1-2 hours every morning after grabbing Harley from his crib and giving him his first feeding. My mood dropped and my personality changed and I would go from happy to angry in an instant and I wouldn’t feel like getting out of bed, getting dressed, brushing my teeth. I just wasn’t a happy person. My memory got worse and worse every day, which I had until then associated with being a new mom. But worst of all, I had searing migraines daily! The migraines eventually got so bad that one night, lying in bed I could feel fiery pain all over my body. I spent half the night throwing up and the other half in bed, crying, telling Ian over and over again that I felt like I was on fire.
Needless to say, I ended up in the emergency room with an elevated heart beat, elevated blood pressure and sitting in a wheel chair with an IV pumping fluids and pain medication into me.
It was one week later that I got the news that my pregnancy had caused my Thyroid levels to drop and I was now suffering from Hypothyroidism.
It all made sense.
No matter how much I worked out or ate right my weight never seemed to drop, or would increase slightly. Every single thing I had been feeling was a symptom of Hypothyroidism, I just never thought of it because I hadn’t gained a ton of weight.
I was put on Synthroid – a synthetic thyroid hormone replacement, that seemed to work at first.
I once again began working out 5 to 6 times a week, as gluten-free, lactose-free and on my way to a completely clean diet.
But then my symptoms started coming back.
It started with the headaches, which slowly progressed into migraines, which I now have almost every day, with the exception of a few good days thrown in here and there. My weight is beginning to fluctuate again, my memory sucks just as badly as it had last year and I find myself exhausted no matter how much sleep I get each night.
It has definitely affected my mood as I absolutely LOVE working out! It has been such a stress-reliever for me in the past, so feeling sick all the time and being unable to work out as much (or at all) has left me feeling quite down and discouraged on a daily basis.
However, I haven’t given up.
As of tomorrow (July 1st) I’m re-committing to my fitness journey. I plan to work out on my good days, and eat a little healthier as well as get in some low-impact cardio (such as going for a walk with Harley) on the days I don’t feel so well.
My goal is to lose 35 pounds by July 1st 2017.
I will post my starting weight tomorrow, however, because of my condition I won’t be focusing solely on the scale.
I will be purchasing Beachbody’s PiYo workout program in July, which is a combination of low-impact Pilates and Yoga.
I want a better quality of life for myself. I want to be able to chase Harley around the house without getting winded and walk to work without breaking a sweat. I just want to feel better over all. I will not let Hypothyroidism stop me.
It may take longer. It may be harder. But I will get there.
(Photo was taken nearly 2 months ago when I was feeling better than I am now)