I have it! I do. The dreaded Mecham curse... Hypothyroidism. Or maybe it's the Helen curse, except I'm pretty sure a few Aunts have it as well. I like to call it "Hippo"-thyroidism, because that's exactly what happened to me.
For those of you who don't have it, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! I'm not a high energy person in the first place, but whoa... a minute of de-regulation in the metabolism department and WOE is LIFE! The battle between my dress sizes is old! 10 years old now. I used to love the time when I had the Pedersen metabolism - I could eat just about whatever I wanted and remained pretty thin. 109 lbs exactly one year after the birth of my first child! Then several years later, overnight I gained a whopping 40 lbs. We won't even talk about my current weight - I refer to myself by size only now.
There's always some mental argument going on in my brain about if I'm helping myself daily, or if I'm doing worst for my body. Each morsel, each minute of rest I analyze and have guilt issues. In reality, I shouldn't have guilt issues. I don't eat that much. True, I do not get out to exercise much. Solely, because of my current status as a housewife/mom and my clinging 2 year old daughter. I had more freedom the 16 years I worked full-time. Thus goes the argument in my head... am I responsible for being as fat as I am, or is it my damned genes?
Sometimes I get control of the other areas of my life and make exercise more convenient (usually involving good weather and no mountain lions in the neighborhood [a blog for later]). And then I restrict caloric intake enough for my particular biological functions and along with a much healthier diet (think salads and lots of veggies), I ever so slowly begin to lose weight. One glass of wine or alcohol and forget it - game over. My body also has a problem with water retention. So then something happens in life (like the intercontinental move I recently made) and the weight just piles back on. Ah, I just HATE my body!
As the years have passed I swing back and forth both on the scale and in my attitude. Various thoughts have begun to percolate and I have found myself always wanting to be able to explain just what it's like to have a thyroid problem. I have come up with the following analogy:
I was born a 1971 Chevy Corvette. 350 cubic inch engine, with a blower on top. 8 miles to the gallon, but boy, was I fast! And light too, with a fiberglass body! I could suck in all kinds of fuel and race around all day long. Over the years=I stayed a Corvette, but upgraded the body style until 1998. At this time, I defected to Japan and became a low-end Lexus (made by Toyota). Big, fat, Japanese car, doesn't require much fuel and can go forever, albeit not super fast, on very little fuel.
Know what's funny about this analogy??? As soon as I thought of it this way, I didn't feel guilty anymore. I like to think that my body is more fuel efficient! In fact, I often lie to myself and tell myself that I am just physically evolving faster than everyone else in this new age of abundance. It's everyone else that is behind, not me! It has to be all that blue blood we have in the Mecham line - I always knew we were better in some way. Now I just need to learn how to mentally adapt to my new life as a Lexus.
For those of you who don't have it, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! I'm not a high energy person in the first place, but whoa... a minute of de-regulation in the metabolism department and WOE is LIFE! The battle between my dress sizes is old! 10 years old now. I used to love the time when I had the Pedersen metabolism - I could eat just about whatever I wanted and remained pretty thin. 109 lbs exactly one year after the birth of my first child! Then several years later, overnight I gained a whopping 40 lbs. We won't even talk about my current weight - I refer to myself by size only now.
There's always some mental argument going on in my brain about if I'm helping myself daily, or if I'm doing worst for my body. Each morsel, each minute of rest I analyze and have guilt issues. In reality, I shouldn't have guilt issues. I don't eat that much. True, I do not get out to exercise much. Solely, because of my current status as a housewife/mom and my clinging 2 year old daughter. I had more freedom the 16 years I worked full-time. Thus goes the argument in my head... am I responsible for being as fat as I am, or is it my damned genes?
Sometimes I get control of the other areas of my life and make exercise more convenient (usually involving good weather and no mountain lions in the neighborhood [a blog for later]). And then I restrict caloric intake enough for my particular biological functions and along with a much healthier diet (think salads and lots of veggies), I ever so slowly begin to lose weight. One glass of wine or alcohol and forget it - game over. My body also has a problem with water retention. So then something happens in life (like the intercontinental move I recently made) and the weight just piles back on. Ah, I just HATE my body!
As the years have passed I swing back and forth both on the scale and in my attitude. Various thoughts have begun to percolate and I have found myself always wanting to be able to explain just what it's like to have a thyroid problem. I have come up with the following analogy:
I was born a 1971 Chevy Corvette. 350 cubic inch engine, with a blower on top. 8 miles to the gallon, but boy, was I fast! And light too, with a fiberglass body! I could suck in all kinds of fuel and race around all day long. Over the years=I stayed a Corvette, but upgraded the body style until 1998. At this time, I defected to Japan and became a low-end Lexus (made by Toyota). Big, fat, Japanese car, doesn't require much fuel and can go forever, albeit not super fast, on very little fuel.
Know what's funny about this analogy??? As soon as I thought of it this way, I didn't feel guilty anymore. I like to think that my body is more fuel efficient! In fact, I often lie to myself and tell myself that I am just physically evolving faster than everyone else in this new age of abundance. It's everyone else that is behind, not me! It has to be all that blue blood we have in the Mecham line - I always knew we were better in some way. Now I just need to learn how to mentally adapt to my new life as a Lexus.
from
Rachel Pedersen Stewart
Niece/Daughter of The Girls
Oh wow! You just described me. I have had the Lovely Wilsted/Mecham Hypothyroidism, for 12 years now. I am not at my all time high weight right now, but it sure is a depressing one. I have looked at every area of my health, yes I too could exercise more, but truth be told the only time I have ever lost weight with the exercise was when I was doing it 4 hours a day. And it took me an entire calendar year to lose 35 measley pounds. I have kept most of it off, but my thyroid med was just recalled so I am back to using synthroid, and the dose is much lower than my other med, but they are making me wait until the first week of february to check my levels. and I can feel the weight slowly creep on. I too have a water retention problem. I can lose a pants size overnight as well. Sugar causes me to really retain. I feel like I should wear a sign that says "Hey, I do exercise, I barely eat 1400 calories a day."
ReplyDeleteAnyway, loved your car analogy, fuel efficient we are.
Jen
Wow. This is me too!
ReplyDeleteI had hyper-thyroidism that I suspect was due to my birthcontrol. It became so aggrivated my dr was worried about a heart attack before I turned 25, even though I was heavily medicated. It was pretty scary. So I had my thyroid out almost 6 years ago and gained roughly 40 pounds in six months. I wasn't eating, I was exercising, and I was still gaining wieght! So frustrating!!!
After I had my last baby, I was able to loose about 12 pounds, but like Jen, I was exercising 3 - 4 hours a day. When I backed off on exersise to write my story, (Another blog, maybe.) I gained the 12 back plus another 8. Talk about depressing. And to make matters worse, my drs. aren't sure what exactly to do. I feel like Jen, just hang a sign around my neck with the exact wording. Want to know my new motto? My fat butt can run nearly 5 miles. Can your skinny butt do that?
Fuel efficient, yes we are.
Hilari