Endocrine irregularities run in my family.  I first began experiencing symptoms (wt, hair loss, etc)  I was in my late twenties.  By my mid-thirties the symptoms were obvious to others, so I relunctantly went to see the endocrinologist my Mother and her Sisters see.  His prognosis was that I was showing symptoms, but it was not a threshold that could be treated. 

My response was to take more control.  I would not end-up like my Mother or my Aunts, who had cancerous and "precancerous" thyroids removed.  Nor like my cousin, whose pituary gland is also affected!

I went and rehauled my diet from the whole-foods, mostly-organic, nearly none processed foods or refined sugars or altered fats, spare fruit, USDA food pyramid, lots of coffee (need that for the bottom-out energy!) that it had been my diet since college (a la Diet for a Small Planet + meat 3x/wk--I know I know the contradiction is glaring! 

I threw out the food pyramid and with it the emphasis on grains.  I refined my carbohydrates to shift the balance towards fruits and vegetables and cut 80% of glutenous carbs and coffee by 60%.  I added fruits back into my life.  I committed my self to getting enough sleep and to drink more water.  I was sucessful with everything, except my commitment to water.

My initial reading in the mid 1990's was that heavy reliance on grains was not the best diet for my "body type"  and that the root of my family's endocrine issues lay in colon.  Looking around at all the distended abdomens at family gatherings, was enough to convince me that all the sit-ups in the world would not flatten stomachs bulging with accumulated fecal matter.  I leaned towards the Nourishing Traditions ckbk by S.Fallon (based on W.Price's work), as a way of feeding my family and myself. The first 70p are worth the entire price of the book. 

Although I considered detoxs (fasts, restricted diets, cleansings, et al), I just wasn't up to it.  Five years later, much of my body and mental energy returned, my body reshaped itself.  It looks like I lost 10lbs, but in reality I lost none.  AND THAT was frustrating.  My hair was still thinning. Age spots appeared on my face and skin tone was loosening.  My eyes were losing their sparkle.  All indications that there was more I could do. 

So I added 20 min daily yoga/pilates and tried incorporating, recommitted myself to any clear liquid (tea-broth-plain water), increased fiber with 20% raw foods, and some added psyllium husks.  I am good at making small changes permanent--except drinking plentiful amounts of water.  My wt remained the same, but it did stop the suddent spikes and fall that would occur unexpectidly. 

A few years later, I come across Dr.Hyman's work.  Not so radical from what I have been doing for decades, but he is could about putting it in print--so much so that I bought 2 bks.  One for me and one for my parents.   I also got the message again, that I should detox.  Yet, I don't want to give up lattes.  I gave up all coffee during pregancies and breastfeeding months.  It is an emotional issue for me.  It is one thing that I can have for myself everyday. 

So I halved my remaining coffee, grains, meats.  I routinized my meals by added 2 snacks and making my main meal of day in the mid-afternoon.  This doesn't please my husband, but I am happier with this rhythm.  I will sit down with everyone at a meal I cooked for them and drink black tea.  Then I have an herb tea, sweetened slightly w/honey later in the evening.   I also drink ~6oz first thing in morning and again in the afternoon, when I take some supplements. So now I am ~30oz closer to drinking 64oz of water daily.  I also added some supplements: a good multiple vitamin, addtl B vitamins, Juice Plus dehydrated fruit & vegetable.   I also decided to keep a food and exercise journal on fitday.com.  I was eating 1300-1600 cal/day split evenly among Prot/Carb/Fats.  I reduced it to 1100-1300 cal/day and switched my journaling to Kathleen's Diet.  Hence, my intake of some basic supplements, and the avoidance of any calorie that does not offer true nutrition. 

It is now approximately a year later, and I have only lost 3lbs in wt, but I lost 1" around my thighs, hips, and waist each.  My eyes look a little brighter and I think my age spots are fading, but hair is still thinning, and now my eyebrows and eyelashes are disappearing!

I think I am finally ready to detox.  My hope is that because I cleaned up and refined my diet beforehand, that it will be short and effective.  Wish me luck loosing 40lbs. 

Blessings, Lisa

I have been telling doctors for over 20 years that there was something wrong with my thyroid. No one would believe me. My TSH came in between 4.2 and 4.8 so they told me I was borderline, but wouldn't do anything about it.

I did all the things you did, Linda, and had the same results.  Nothing has helped. Now, after less than three weeks, I am a new person because someone finally listened! Dr. Hyman started treating my thyroid and between that and being on the USD program, my entire universe has changed. (I tried the USD on my own, and it didn't do very much... the tests that Dr. Hyman did and the thyroid issues showed me why).

A month ago, my body was falling apart.  I kept going to my MD and with each new complaint he tagged me as a hypochondriac.

Today,  I came to work and did something I haven't done in years. I RAN down a set of stairs!! I didn't hobble because my knees were threatening to give out and hurt. I actually RAN! The funny thing was, I didn't notice that I'd done it until I was at the bottom. I was so shocked I went up the stairs and did it again!

It's not the weightloss. I've been this low in the past couple of years and still couldn't run down the stairs.

One thing I found out ... I've developed a rice allergy along the way and never knew it. If you are wheat free and still tired etc., maybe there is something else triggering it, like rice. By having all the testing done, I no longer have to guess. I still will reintroduce foods slowly, even the "safe" tested ones, but I've got a good starting point now.  

Because of all my allergies, I've remained 100% on program, and even tried to do as much of the enhanced program as I could. Potatoes tested ok for me in the allergy test, but it's not on the program, so I'm not eating them. I really feel if he can help me feel better this fast, I'm going to do exactly what he tells me! No deviation!

I had to go see Dr. Hyman to get things going for me. Maybe this is an option for you. It made all the difference.

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Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.