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How to start a healthy diet
My appitite fluctuates, at times I am hungry and then its like "food" what? So with that said what are the best methods for me to attribute healthy food into my diet that would help my thyoid as well as over all well being. Does anybody have a specific diet that they stick to...any ideas
I am sunclinical hyprerT.
I am sunclinical hyprerT.
Hi there! I appreciate the response regarding the low carb diet. I'm sorry if I led you to believe that I follow that.. I do not. I love carbs too much. I only mentioned that WW does offer that choice if some people prefer that. I have tried the low carb thing and I can only last a day or two at best. I prefer just trying to eat what I want but smaller portions!!
Hi Annette, I found that joining Weight Watchers on-line helps me alot. You can pick two different plans and even tailor it around a low carb style diet if you choose. I use the points and it's amazing when I write down everything I eat, how much I'm actually eating. I love that I can type in a food and it tells me how many points it is. After a couple weeks, I'm able to get my mind into the healthy eating zone. I realize that I can eat way more as long as I'm eating the right foods. I've often found at the end of the day, that I hadn't used all the points I was allocated so I'm finding things to eat. I did this a year ago and lost 12 pounds easily, then stopped and gained it back plus some because I just started eating really bad again. No other excuse. I started back on WW a couple weeks ago because I wanted to try to lose some weight before my left thyroidectomy. I've been reading how many of the other women get hypo after surgery so I was trying to get a head start to any weight gain. I haven't been following it the past couple weeks because of surgery but I'm getting back on today. I love the website, it's easy and very informative. You can sign up for a free on-line one-week trial and see how you like it. You can also attend meetings if you want with your on-line subscription.
I also have the low GI books and they are great too.
I also have the low GI books and they are great too.
Annette please read this post about low carb diets
Hi kkern!
Firstly I agree Weight Watchers has some very good programs (my mum had great sucess with them) - After reading your post I just wanted to say somestuff about low carb diets (including low carb/high protein diets).
Short term a low carb diet will help you lose weight mostly in the form of water - but in the long term your body can suffer irreversible damage. No joke.
Normally our body uses Carbohydrate as the preferred fuel (sugar is also a carbohydrate) - the body breaks down carbohydrates to glucose and stores excess as glycogen in the liver and your skeletal muscles. When you use a low carb diet the glycogen stores are used up and not replaced.
When you have poor glycogen stores not only is exercise more difficult because you have no energy reserves and you are have actually lost muscle mass, but you're lacking fuel for your brain too. You would have heard of muscle melt down in marathon runners - this occurs in a low carb diet too!!! This occurs when their glycogen stores have completely run out and can cause irreversible damage to the muscle, as the muscle uses its own tissue as an energy source and destroys itself - permanently damaged muscle can be replaced by scar tissue or fat.
The ketoacidoisis that occurs as the body then turns to breakingdown fat is more dangerous still. The byproduct of fat break down is an acid. Normally the body is slightly alkaline (within pH of 7.35 and 7.45) so with the addition of acids it the body becomes acidic. This is why you get brain fog on a low carb high protein diet - your body and your brain don't like working in an acid environment (as well as the fact it doesn't have energy stores to rely on).
The kidneys filter our blood and act as a ph buffer system - and are put under a huge workload to try and balance the pH when the body is in a state of ketoacidosis - irreversible damage can occur to the delicate kidneys in a low carb diet this way. Diabetics are also at risk of kidney damage for the same reason (and others eg. high BP and high blood sugars).
Your breath gets pretty bad too in a state of ketoacidosis.
Ketoacidosis can quickly develop into a life threatening condition. This highly advertised diet (low carb and/or high protein) can result in a game of russian roulette with your life - please don't risk it.
I too have used the low carb/high protein diet before I had this information - and now I'm eating better I don't have brain fog anymore and so much more energy. I now have the energy to exercise and I've started to drop the kilo's.
I hope that kkern understands I'm just sharing important information - not attacking or having a go at her personally in any way.
Kkern best wishes with your left thyroidectomy. Good on you for being proactive about your weight and health. I had a TT over 4 months ago and I just want to say it's not as scary as I thought it was when I was out the other side. Everyone's different but I had virtually no pain but lots of discomfort moving and sleeping for a week or two after. I hope it's all smooth sailing for you too.
Cheers
Jenipeni
Hi kkern!
Firstly I agree Weight Watchers has some very good programs (my mum had great sucess with them) - After reading your post I just wanted to say somestuff about low carb diets (including low carb/high protein diets).
Short term a low carb diet will help you lose weight mostly in the form of water - but in the long term your body can suffer irreversible damage. No joke.
Normally our body uses Carbohydrate as the preferred fuel (sugar is also a carbohydrate) - the body breaks down carbohydrates to glucose and stores excess as glycogen in the liver and your skeletal muscles. When you use a low carb diet the glycogen stores are used up and not replaced.
When you have poor glycogen stores not only is exercise more difficult because you have no energy reserves and you are have actually lost muscle mass, but you're lacking fuel for your brain too. You would have heard of muscle melt down in marathon runners - this occurs in a low carb diet too!!! This occurs when their glycogen stores have completely run out and can cause irreversible damage to the muscle, as the muscle uses its own tissue as an energy source and destroys itself - permanently damaged muscle can be replaced by scar tissue or fat.
The ketoacidoisis that occurs as the body then turns to breakingdown fat is more dangerous still. The byproduct of fat break down is an acid. Normally the body is slightly alkaline (within pH of 7.35 and 7.45) so with the addition of acids it the body becomes acidic. This is why you get brain fog on a low carb high protein diet - your body and your brain don't like working in an acid environment (as well as the fact it doesn't have energy stores to rely on).
The kidneys filter our blood and act as a ph buffer system - and are put under a huge workload to try and balance the pH when the body is in a state of ketoacidosis - irreversible damage can occur to the delicate kidneys in a low carb diet this way. Diabetics are also at risk of kidney damage for the same reason (and others eg. high BP and high blood sugars).
Your breath gets pretty bad too in a state of ketoacidosis.
Ketoacidosis can quickly develop into a life threatening condition. This highly advertised diet (low carb and/or high protein) can result in a game of russian roulette with your life - please don't risk it.
I too have used the low carb/high protein diet before I had this information - and now I'm eating better I don't have brain fog anymore and so much more energy. I now have the energy to exercise and I've started to drop the kilo's.
I hope that kkern understands I'm just sharing important information - not attacking or having a go at her personally in any way.
Kkern best wishes with your left thyroidectomy. Good on you for being proactive about your weight and health. I had a TT over 4 months ago and I just want to say it's not as scary as I thought it was when I was out the other side. Everyone's different but I had virtually no pain but lots of discomfort moving and sleeping for a week or two after. I hope it's all smooth sailing for you too.
Cheers
Jenipeni
I will definitely look into that. Thanks for the feedback! It seems at times that "we" can help each other more than a doctor can. At least my docs anyway.
Hi Annette,
Most people do very well on a LOW GI (glycaemic index) diabetic type diet. The reason why is bcz it works to help level out blood sugar levels so you don't have big spikes (highs) and then big dips (lows). A lot of people are using the GI factor for weight loss, high level athletes for energy endurence, etc.
If you are unfamiliar with the term LOW GI; Low GI foods are Carbohydrates which break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the blood stream, and have low GI factors.
Low GI foods also help you get from one meal to the next without getting too hungary which helps reduce the chance you'll reach for those not so healthy snacks between meals.
Its not so much a strict diet but more a way of eating which makes it easier to stick to.
There are many really good books available on the topic, I'm reading an Australian one at the moment. It's by Miller, Foster-Powell, Colagiuri and Leeds. Its called 'the GI factor - the glucose revolution' BUT I'm sure that there's a similar book written for Americans (Sorry I'm just assuming you are in the U.S - its good to have a locally written book bcz they talk about specific brands of foods available in your area).
I found it really interesting just looking at the labels of what I eat - examining the fat content.
Recommendations for daily fat intake in my book are;
-If trying to lose weight = 30 - 40 grams per day
-For most adult men and women = 41 - 60 grams per day
-If you are very active = 61 - 80 grams per day
* More than 80 grams per day and you're possibly eating too much fat.
I really like the sense behind the low GI diet bcz it helps to get your insulin working better - and insulin is the other hormone which plays a major role in day to day energy levels by making glucose available to the cells. Since the hormonal system is all interconnected (we still don't know everything there is to know) this must be good for thyroid too.
*Are you aware that some foods are goitrogenic (ie; stimulate goitre growth)? Search the term in google and you should find a list of foods to avoid or at least not eat large quantities of.
I've waffled on again. I tend to do that.
Best wishes
Jenipeni
Most people do very well on a LOW GI (glycaemic index) diabetic type diet. The reason why is bcz it works to help level out blood sugar levels so you don't have big spikes (highs) and then big dips (lows). A lot of people are using the GI factor for weight loss, high level athletes for energy endurence, etc.
If you are unfamiliar with the term LOW GI; Low GI foods are Carbohydrates which break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the blood stream, and have low GI factors.
Low GI foods also help you get from one meal to the next without getting too hungary which helps reduce the chance you'll reach for those not so healthy snacks between meals.
Its not so much a strict diet but more a way of eating which makes it easier to stick to.
There are many really good books available on the topic, I'm reading an Australian one at the moment. It's by Miller, Foster-Powell, Colagiuri and Leeds. Its called 'the GI factor - the glucose revolution' BUT I'm sure that there's a similar book written for Americans (Sorry I'm just assuming you are in the U.S - its good to have a locally written book bcz they talk about specific brands of foods available in your area).
I found it really interesting just looking at the labels of what I eat - examining the fat content.
Recommendations for daily fat intake in my book are;
-If trying to lose weight = 30 - 40 grams per day
-For most adult men and women = 41 - 60 grams per day
-If you are very active = 61 - 80 grams per day
* More than 80 grams per day and you're possibly eating too much fat.
I really like the sense behind the low GI diet bcz it helps to get your insulin working better - and insulin is the other hormone which plays a major role in day to day energy levels by making glucose available to the cells. Since the hormonal system is all interconnected (we still don't know everything there is to know) this must be good for thyroid too.
*Are you aware that some foods are goitrogenic (ie; stimulate goitre growth)? Search the term in google and you should find a list of foods to avoid or at least not eat large quantities of.
I've waffled on again. I tend to do that.
Best wishes
Jenipeni
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