I'm not just saying, "I don't care." Like kids who say they don't when they do--'cause I don't.

So I have a disease y'all. Not terminal or anything but a disease nonetheless. I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which is an autoimmune disease. My body does not like my thyroid at all. It's a real bitch and likes to send cells and antibodies to attack it. Fortunately there is medication I can take but just when you think you're in a thyroid/medication nirvana, your body decides to get all ninja on your thyroid again to shake things up. Sometimes I'm hypo (thyroid not working enough), sometimes I'm hyper (CRAZY thyroid! Works too well.) It's strange because the symptoms for hypo and hyper can kind of be the same. Exhaustion, brain fog (What is your name again? Ryan?), weight gain/loss, dry skin, dry eyes, muscle weakness, ANXIETY!, depression, constipation, leaky gut, loss of appetite, appetite never satisfied and a long list of other things I won't bore you with. I don't look sick but I can be. So what can you do, you say? I take synthetic thyroid hormone and sometimes natural dessicated thyroid and a drug called Cytomel. I take quite a few supplements. I get a lot of sleep. I exercise regularly but not a lot of long cardio. I go here. I should do yoga and meditate. I'm working on it. I go to a therapist I love. I also follow a strict diet. It was recommended by my doctor, an anti-inflammatory diet that, if followed, should help keep me from feeling worse or getting an even more horrible auto-immune disease. Shudder. Another more trendy name for how I eat is Primal or Paleo. I had been gluten free since October but going full on paleo was a bit daunting. I started having some muscle and joint pain a few weeks ago and it scared me into trying this. I bought some cook books, researched eating and made a meal plan. It's been two weeks and it's getting easier. I cook A LOT more, or at least I cook from scratch a lot more. We already ate pretty healthy but not nearly enough veg. So a sample day for me would look like this:

Breakfast: 1 egg, two egg whites scrambled. Tablespoon of fresh ground almond butter.
10am: Albacore tuna salad, topped with avocado and balsamic vinegar.
Lunch: Leftovers from the night before. Usually a meat and veg. I can do some amazing this with cauliflower. I get a lot of recipes from the nomnompaleo app
2pm: Oberto beef jerky and sugar snap peas
Dinner: Shrimp with onions and cherry tomatoes (yum!)
Snack: Kale chips or Guacamole or paleo deviled eggs or sometimes I need something sweet and make an apple "crisp" with crust made from almond meal flour, ghee and honey.

 There really are so many things I can eat. My friend recommended I focus on what I can eat, not what I can't and that has been helpful. The whole family eats this way at mealtimes. Hanna has even developed a love for Brussels sprout and kale chips. I don't make them eat this way when I'm not cooking. I bought them all ice-cream last night while I ate my apple crisp. I told Ryan I felt like a pioneer having to cook everything from scratch. I bet the pioneers just didn't eat because preparing food took too much effort. I try to buy organic as much as I can but it can get expensive. Costco is a good place for organic meat. True paleo eaters want grass-fed meat but I just can't justify that expense. I'm not a caveman. Evolution happens.

 Do I feel better? I think so. I went to the gym yesterday and was apple to do 21 box jumps in a row without my usual pause at the bottom. Progress. I did more pull-ups than usual. I didn't feel like puking after burpees.  I lifted a really heavy paint bucket into my car and Hanna was impressed. My joint pain is better. My gut is happier and less bloaty. I still feel exhausted at about 2pm on Thursdays and Fridays at school and my anxiety is still there. I'll keep working with my doctor to find the right dose of medications.

Here is a good article on Hashi's and another article for if you think you might be suffering from low thyroid. When I was diagnosed 11 years ago with hypothyroid I had never even heard of it but I think more women suffer from it than you'd think and it's diagnosed with a simple blood test. It's also really common after pregnancy. I was diagnosed after I had Grace.
 Now excuse me, I'm going to eat some of my homemade guacamole.