HEALTHY THYROID LADY - MY WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY, DAYS FOUR AND FIVE

Days 4 and 5 of the 10-day detox and I am feeling GREAT!  I weighed myself this morning and I have lost 6 pounds thus far. Wooo Hooo. I am sure it is mostly water and other “stuff” because I have been going to the bathroom like crazy!

As detox’s go, this one is not that difficult. It is similar to how I eat normally, however I am not always cognizant of my portion sizes. My health coach is holding me accountable by making sure I stick to adequate portions for each meal. She gave me the following as a guide:

From bloodsugarsolution.com: Portion Sizes

Understanding portion sizes is a key component in creating healthy, balanced meals while supporting weight loss. The following are the serving sizes for some common foods:

 

·        Fruit: 1 medium piece, 1 cup berries, ½ cup mixed fresh fruit ¼ cup dried fruit

 

 

·        Starch vegetables: 1 serving = 1 cup winter squash or ½ sweet potato.

·        Non-starchy vegetables: 1 serving = 3 cups salad greens, 1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked

·        Meat, chicken, fish: – 1 serving = ½ cup cooked

 

 

 

 

·        Whole grains: 1 serving = 1/3 cup cooked

 

 

 

·        Beans: 1 serving = 1/3 cup cooked or canned

 

 

 

 

 

 

·        Nuts or seeds: 1 serving -1/4 cup or one small handful

 

 

 

 

What I’ve realized during this detox is that consuming whole foods and drinking plenty of water will most certainly satisfy and sustain you.

Healthy Thyroid Lady

Striving for Healthy

HEALTHY THYROID LADY - MY WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY - DAY TWO

Healthy Recipe at the bottom of the page

I am sure you are familiar with sweeteners like caramel, molasses, and high-fructose corn syrup but what about HFCS 42, HSH, and Jaggary. They are sugars,imbedded in the foods we eat and I am quite sure it is main reason why I felt yucky on day two of this 10-day detox.

All day I thought to myself, why do I feel so bad, I have made significant dietary changes since my thyroid disease diagnosis, therefore, I considered it to be pretty good – at least that is what I thought - until my health coach explained to me about the many hidden sugars lurking in our food. I was never a staunch label reader while grocery shopping, my health coach, Gretchen advised that if I want to lose weight and keep it off, mindful shopping/eating is what will garner success. She sent me a list of what to look for on labels. Now that I am armed with this list (see below), I will think twice before purchasing.  

For example, one of my favorite Paul Newman salad dressings contains sugar and the sugar is pretty high on the list of ingredients. The yummy gluten free crackers that I have purchased many times at my local “health” food store has various types of sugars in it. Add this all up and it equals to me not wanting to get off the couch today and the stubborn weight I have kept on for years.

Here is the list of sugars in food – So now, when you see HFCS 42, HSH or Jaggery, you will know this is sugar – Ya gotta know who your enemy is ( :

Agave nectar

Agave Syrup

All Natural evaporated cane juice

Amasake

Amber liquid sugar

Anhydrous dextrose

Apple butter

Apple sugar

Arenga Sugar

Bakers Special sugar

Barbados sugar

Barley malt

Bar sugar

Berry sugar

Beet molasses

Beet sugar

Beet syrup

Blonde coconut sugar

Brown rice syrup

Brown sugar

Buttered syrup

Candy floss

Cane crystals

Cane juice

Cane juice crystals

Cane juice powder

Cane sugar

Caramel

Carob syrup

Caster sugar

Castorsugar

Cellobiose

Chicory

Coarse sugar

Coconut palm sugar

Coconut sap sugar

Coconut sugar

Coconut syrup

Coco sugar

Coco sap sugar

Concentrate juice

Concord grape juice

Confectioner’s sugar

Corn sugar

Corn syrup

Corn syrup solids

Corn sweetener

Cornsweet 90

Creamed honey

Crystal dextrose

Crystalline fructose

Crystallized organic cane juice

D-arabino-hexulose

Dark brown suar

Dark molasses

Date sugar

Decorating sugar

Dehydrated sugar

Cane sugar

Demerara sugar

Dextrin

Dextran

Dextrose

D-frutose

D-fructofuranose

Diastatic malt

Diatase

Disaccharide

Dixie crystals

D-mannose

Dried evaporated organic cane juice

D-xylose

ECJ

Evaporated organic can juice

Evaporated corn sweetener

Ethyl maltol

First molasses

Florida crystals

Free flowing

Free flowing brown sugar

Fructamyl

Fructose

Fructose crystals

Fructose sweetener

Fruit fructose

Fruit juice

Fruit juice concentrate

Fruit sugar

Fruit syrup

Galactose

Glucodry

Glucomalt

Glucoplus

Glucose

Glucose-fructose

Glucose solids

Glucosweet

Gluctose fructose

Golden molasses

Golden sugar

Golden syrup

Gomme syrup

Granulated fructose

Granulated sugar

Granulated sugar cane juice

Grape sugar

Grape juice concentrate

Gur

HFCS 42

HFCS 55

High Dextrose glucose syrup

High-Fructose corn syrup

High-Fructose maize syrup

High maltose corn syrup

Hydrogenated starch

Hydrogenated starch hydrosylate

Hydrolyzed corn starch

Honey

Honey comb

HSH

Icing sugar

Inulin HFCS

Invert sugar

Inverted sugar syrup

Invert syrup

Isoglucose

Isomalt

Isomaltotriose

Isosweet

Jaggery

Jaggery powder

Lacitol

Lactose

Levulose

Lesys

Light brown sugar

Light Molasses

Liquid molasses

Liquid dextrose

Liquid fructose

Liquid fructose syrup

Liquid honey

Liquid maltodextrin

Liquid sucrose

Liquid sugar maize syrup

Maldex

Maldexel

Malt

Malted barley syrup

Malted corn syrup

Malted corn and barley syrup

Malted barley

Maltitol

Maltitol syrup

Malitsorb

Maltisweet

Maltisweet

Maltodextrin

Maltose

Maltortritiol

Maltotriose

Maltotriulose

Malt syrup

Mannitol

Maple sugar

Maple syrup

Meritose

Meritab 700

Misri

Mizuame

Molasses

Monosaccharide

Muscovado sugar

Mycose

Mylose

Nigertriose

Oligosaccharride

Organic agave syrup

Organic brown rice syrup

Organic cane juice crystals

Organic coconut palm sugar

Organic sucanat

Organic sugar

Organic raw sugar

Orgeat syrup

Palm sugar

Palm syrup

Panela

Pancake syrup

Panocha

Pearl sugar

Piloncillo

Potato maltodextrine

Powdered sugar

Promitor

Pure can syrup

Pure sugar spun

Raisin syrup

Rapadura

Raw agave syrup

Raw sugar

Raffinose

Refiner’s syrup

Rice maltrodextrine

Rice syrup

Rice syrup solids

Raw honey

Rock sugar

Saccharose

Sanding sugar

Second molasses

Shakar

Simple syrup

Sirodex

Soluble corn fiber

Sorbitol

Sorbitol syrup

Sorghum

Sorghum molasses

Sorghum syrup

Sucanat

Sucre de canne naturel

Sucrose

Sucrosweet

Sugar

Sugar beet syrup

Sugar beet crystals

Sugar cane juice

Sugar cane natural

Sugar hat

Sulfured molasses

Sweetened condensed mil

Sweet sorghum syrup

Syrup syrup

Table sugar

Tagatose

Treacle

Trehalose

 Tremalose

Trimoline

Triose

Trisaccharides

Turbinado sugar

Unrefined sugar

Unsuphured molasses

White crystal sugar

White grape juice concentrate

White sugar

Wood sugar

Xylose

Yellow sugar

 

Whew, I’m out of breathe, I guess this is the reason dieticians say, “If it has more than 5 ingredients. DON’T EAT IT.”

Healthy Thyroid Lady

Striving for healthy.

Tonight’s dinner:

 

 

Turkey meatballs and tomato sauce over zucchini squash

Turkey meatballs

I made the turkey meatballs by combining the turkey with chopped pecans (very fine used a mallet), basil, garlic and egg. Pan fried in olive oil.

Tomato sauce

Four vine ripened tomatoes

Half of an onion

About 2 cups of Low-sodium chicken broth

Fresh Basil and oregano

About 2 tablespoons of minced garlic

About 5 blueberries

About 5 raspberries

About 10 small walnut pieces

Cooked all in a pot for about 1 ½  hours on low then mixed in the food processor. Returned ingredients to pot and cooked for about another 30 minutes.

Zucchini

Peeled zucchini. Put the zucchini in the veggetti. Put the spiraled zucchini in a small amount of boiling low-sodium chicken broth for a few minutes, then pour zucchini in strainer.

This is a yummy dish

COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS - CHOOSE HEALTHY (THE MIND)

It is the first day of 2015; you have made the decision to be a healthier YOU! Congratulations! I have no doubt you will achieve your goals this year.

There is nothing wrong with self-improvement.  Improving yourself is perpetual for those with a  thyroid disease, for both the mind and the body.

Throughout my journey of wellness since diagnosis ten years ago, I sought care from an allergist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist, internist, gynecologist, mental health clinician, nutritionist, ophthalmologist, ortho doc, otolaryngologist, podiatrist, physician assistant, psychiatrist and rheumatologist. In some cases, I had gone through multiple specialists, hiring and firing, not wasting time with health care professionals who aren’t even bothering to “practice” medicine, more like...pretending. Yet out of the thorns, I have discovered a few roses.

One such rose came from a mental health counselor who helped me get through the tumultuous times early on after my diagnosis, when I would swing wildly from hypo to hyper. Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism can cause severe mood disorders like depression and anxiety. She said the key to coping with any negative self-talk associated with mood disorders, is to have complete awareness of what is going on, and identify the distorted thinking, so you can understand the irrationalities.  Sometimes, awareness is all you need to help break the cycle of damaging behaviors, thus helping you correct thought patterns, thereby helping to improve conversations with others and to get through stressful situations.

Below are a list of cognitive distortions, these distortions can occur when we are not at optimal levels on the thyroid scale

1.    All- or Nothing Thinking: Viewing situations on one extreme or another. Seeing things in black or white as opposed to shades of gray. Using words like “always”, “every” or “never”.

Example: “If my child does bad things, It is because I am a bad parent.”

2.    Catastrophizing: Predicting only negative outcomes for the future,

Example: “If I fail my final, my life will be over.”

3.    Disqualifying or Discounting the positive: Telling yourself that the good things that happen to you don’t count.

Example: “My daughter told her friend that I was the best Mom in the whole world, but I am sure she was just being nice.”

4.    Emotional Reasoning: Feeling about something overrules facts to the contrary.

Example: “Even though Steve is here at work late every day, I know I work harder than him.”

5.    Labeling: Giving someone or something a label without finding out more about it/them.

Example: “My daughter would never do anything I disapproved of.”

6.    Magnification/Minimization: Emphasizing the negative or downplaying the positive of a situation. In some cases making a mountain of a molehill.

Example: “My professor said he made some corrections to my paper so that must mean I failed the test.”

7.    Mind Reading: Believing you know what others are thinking.

Example: “My house was dirty when my friends came over, so I know they think I am a slob.”

8.    Overgeneralization: Making an overall negative conclusion beyond the current situation.

Example: “My husband didn’t kiss me when he came home this evening. Maybe he doesn’t love me anymore.”

9.    Personalization: Thinking the negative behavior in others has something to do with you.

Example: “My daughter has been pretty quiet today; I wonder what I did to upset her.”

10.    “Should” and “Must” statements: Having a concrete idea of how people should behave.

Example: “I should get all A’s to be a good student.”

Which cognitive distortion do you most identify with while in the midst of a depressive or anxious mood?

_________________________

The top four things you can do to “ride the wave” so to speak, while you or your healthcare provider are working to get your thyroid hormones to an optimal level:

1. Recognize and isolate the thought. Absolute words, like 'always', 'never' or 'can't' are usually clues you've got a cognitive distortion going on. So are strong, negative words directed at yourself like, 'hate,' 'stupid' or 'loser.'

2. Write it down. Yes, take pen to paper. It makes a difference.

3. Then take your distress temperature. Zero to ten. Zero meaning your content and peaceful; ten that your misery is paralyzing.

4. Ask yourself: Is it reasonable to think that thought or is it unreasonable? Say the thought aloud. If a friend said that, would you agree or disagree?

 

 

 

As we take this journey of wellness together in 2015, I hope you can embrace the fact that working towards wellness takes dedication, hard work, and perseverance. I deliberately wrote about cognitive distortions as the first blog post of this New Year because so many of us fail in our minds before we even get started. In addition, we thyroid patients have the added disadvantage because our mood disorders can come as a result of a hormonal imbalance. Awareness of what is going on during this imbalance, can help us fight those pesky thought patterns, preventing us from achieving our goals.

We can do this

Get Ready Set Go....

Healthy Thyroid Lady

 

Here is a thought record template to help overcome cognitive distortions

More Tips to help deal with cognitive distortions


Resource
http://healthypsych.com/psychology-tools-identifying-cognitive-distortions/
http://draletta.typepad.com/explorewhatsnext/2010/06/how-do-i-stop-my-cognitive-distortions.html