Initially I thought okay, it's better to know these things, but then I started thinking what would happen if there was something wrong. I lost 4 lbs, any treatment for hyperthyroidism would slow down my metabolism even more and make weight loss even more difficult! Holy crap, over the last 10 years as I've got older I've slowly put on weight but I've also tried to eat less; it has been a constant struggle to keep a constant weight or lose just a few pounds. I thought my doctor would be happy about the 4 pound difference; I'm getting closer to the weight I was when I left college. But nooooo, there has to be something wrong, it can't just be I'm eating and exercising correctly.
I was tested at 24 Hr Fitness 5 years ago and had a base calorific burn of 1700 - that means, eat more (without exercise) get fat; and remember, that was 5 years ago so I could be less than 1500 by now. So for me to lose weight (without exercise) I need to eat roughly less than 1500 calories a day. Do you know how difficult that is to do? As it is I count calories, pay attention to portion sizes and try and eat the manufactures recommended amount. When I first started paying attention it was quite a shock; I used to fill my small cereal bowl with granola, a banana and non fat milk - when I checked the package, a serving size is 1/4 cup...that's basically a handful...I grab a handful out of the bag as an afternoon snack, it's such a minuscule amount I wouldn't even think of counting the calories. Now that little pile of oats and nuts is breakfast. Another way to put it is if you give yourself three meals a day with two snacks, it's about 400 calories a meal with two 200 calorie snacks....and I make one of the snacks a glass of wine :-) I'm not complaining, I'm used to eating appetizers in restaurants and not buying cookies, my point is, I feel I'm at my minimum calorific limit, I can't eat less, I don't want to have to eat less. Of course I could exercise more but that that's such a wide variable for me, and it does increase my appetite a lot.
If the test came back high, I decided I was going to refuse any medication.
On to the next symptom, always hot, never cold - what's wrong with that? I love siting in bed with warm toes. I love not having to layer on piles of clothes. I don't miss being so cold I just want to sleep. Any medication would take away my heat buzz. The doctor looked at me sympathetically when I said I was always warm. Well, yes, I'm getting close to "that" age, but I'm not flashing, I'm not dripping in perspiration, I'm not uncomfortable, in fact I quite like it. I don't want to be the woman who is always cold, needs a jacket, needs the thermostat turned up, or won't go outside because of the cold. My doctor was quite shocked when I said I liked being warm!
As I said, if the test came back high, I decided I was going to refuse any medication.
Not surprisingly the test came back normal so life continues as normal;
- 400 calorie granola with milk and coffee (breakfast)
- 200 calorie mid morning snack
- 400 calories for lunch
- 500 calorie dinner
- 200 calorie red wine and piece of dark chocolate (best snack of the day)
