RE: ShellyBellyBean. You can do it!

[Guest guest]

As someone who was hyperthyroid for a while, this surprises me. It was one

of the worst times of my life to feel this way (and it was not just feeling

hyper...there were heart palpatations, extreme anxiety, and lots more

symptoms! Not fun.) I can't imagine anyone 'self-medicating' with thyroid

hormone...not to mention how EXTREMELY dangerous it is. My mother, who is

hypothyroid, increased her dosage with the intentions of losing weight, and

it caused her to have a heart attack!

>The tyroid is an interesting thing. Many competitive

>bodybuilders take thyroid hormone to boost their metabolism to get

>extra lean.

_________________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

As someone who was hyperthyroid for a while, this surprises me. It was one

of the worst times of my life to feel this way (and it was not just feeling

hyper...there were heart palpatations, extreme anxiety, and lots more

symptoms! Not fun.) I can't imagine anyone 'self-medicating' with thyroid

hormone...not to mention how EXTREMELY dangerous it is. My mother, who is

hypothyroid, increased her dosage with the intentions of losing weight, and

it caused her to have a heart attack!

>The tyroid is an interesting thing. Many competitive

>bodybuilders take thyroid hormone to boost their metabolism to get

>extra lean.

_________________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Thank you, EJ. As for the weight gain, I gained ALL of my weight in a little over 5 months, but the pictures were taken about 2 years apart. A few months after the weight gain I was diagnosed with severe Hypothyroidism. I've never eaten much so that's the only reason we can figure I gained the weight, although I had recently become a quite sedentary. I'm sure that also had something to do with it.

It seems that I'm losing it almost as fast as I gained it, though. Since August 13th I've gone from 240 pounds to 214 this morning. 26 pounds in 3 weeks! I'm also losing my tummy. The rest of me never really got very big so the loss elsewhere is hard to gauge. If I continued to lose weight at the same rate, I'd be down to 140 in 3 or 4 months. Yeah! I'm sure it won't happen that fast, but I can dream, can't I?

I mentioned the super-quick weight loss to my doctor and he told me that my thyroid problems slowed down my metabolism so much that any increase in metabolism would create a huge weight loss for me. Apparently, the fact that I've finally gotten my thyroid meds straightened out and I'm eating healthy and exercising has caused my metabolism to shoot through the roof. He told me that when most of his patients hit their ideal metabolism, like he thinks I have, and maintain it, their weight loss tends to continue at the same rate until they reach their ideal weight. As he said, "Nobody's body wants to be fat. When you give it the right fuel and exercise it's going to work as hard as you do at losing the extra weight." Makes sense to me!

And, unlike your wife, this isn't post-baby weight. Actually, the main reason I started BFL is because my husband and I have been trying to have a baby for 4 years with no luck. I think my weight has a lot to do with our infertility. Hopefully, if I DO get pregnant after I lose the weight it will come off much easier afterwards. I've also heard that labor is much easier if you're in shape. I'm all for easy labor! I'm sure, with 6 kids, your wife would agree! By the way, that's really impressive that she's gotten back into shape after having 6 kids in 11 years. How do you find time to exercise with all the kids? How do you eat? Do you fix separate meals for the kids or do you fix everybody BFL meals and tweak them to fit the kids needs? I've done some thinking about how to stick to this long term and have wondered how you can feed your kids healthy without comprimising their nutritional needs. I also have an 11 year old brother who eats oatmeal cream pies for breakfast. He wants to try out for his middle school football team next year and I'm trying to find a way to get him in shape. He has the talent to be a great quarterback, but my dad lets him eat junk food all day long. I'm trying to figure out a way to motivate him to eat better and get some exercise. Right now he spends his days playing video games. Any ideas?

-----Original Message-----From: eliot@... Sent: Monday, September 03, 2001 3:19 PMTo: bodyforlife Subject: BellyBean. You can do itI saw your pics in the files today. Wow. Pretty significant change. But you're beautiful (both pics). It's almost hard to tell it's you in both pictures and I wouldn't have been able to, except for those dimples :-')How long between the pictures?What do you think caused you to gain the weight? You can do it. It's definitely worth it and Body for Life works. My wife has lost the significant weight she gained after each child (we have 6 kids, 11 and under) and she is now in better shape than before we were married 16 years ago. Best of luck to you.EJ

[Guest guest]

:

I'm glad to hear you've identified your thyroid issue and are making

great progress. Your body's thrown you a challenge and you're

winning. The tyroid is an interesting thing. Many competitive

bodybuilders take thyroid hormone to boost their metabolism to get

extra lean. So, it makes sense that when the thyroid slows down one

would get heavier. My sister has had that issue her whole life.

She's just starting BFL right now.

Don't hurt yourself trying to lose it too fast. Just stick with the

plan and you'll be fine. Did the Dr. prescribe medicine to get your

thyroid going again? Or did it just start back on its own? What

caused the thyroid problem to begin with?

My wife gains about lbs with each pregnancy not counting water and

baby. Big babies: 8.5 to 9.5 lbs each. She knows that if she

doesn't work at it she'll lose some but not all of the baby weight.

With just 10 lbs extra from each and she'd be 60 lbs overweight!

Plus she understands one very important point....

....women normally put on weight on their hips and thighs first and

lose it there last. This " first on last off " fact is true all during

a woman's life except for one time: when she's breast feeding.

Something about the hormones present when a woman breast feeds causes

the body to take fat from the hips and thighs first when

breastfeeding. So, my wife, who's always had stubborn hips and

thighs, takes advantage of this fact and does BFL while she's breast

feeding each new baby(at least for the last 3). One extra benefit is

that she's found that the cardio on the treadmill puts colicky babies

right to sleep!

So, when you're back in shape and have a baby, don't forget to take

advantage of the breast feeding for fitness. Oh, and the baby seems

to get plenty of milk (another 800 calories lost for the mom each

day.)

Eating: she'll have oatmeal with strawberry myoplex in the morning

(the kids love it, too).

Snack: 1/3 protein bar

Lunch: turkey sandwich, whole wheat bread, no mayo

Snack: 1/3 protein bar

Dinner: chicken breast and veggies (or a Healthy Choice meal)

Snack: 1/3 protein bar

Breakfast is with the family. Other meals are separate but eaten at

the same time.

(watch out for the protein bars, they have lots of carbs, even the

low carb ones whose carbs are hidden in glycerine and not reported)

About your son. We have all girls except for a 6 year old boy. He

loves his Nintendo, too. Nothing better than a physical friend to

play outside with and football games with dad to get him off the

couch. But we're not experts on this one.

Good luck. Keep it up and get your hubby to do it, too!

EJ

PS: She won't let me post her pictures, but I'll send you a separate

email with them attached.

> Thank you, EJ. As for the weight gain, I gained ALL of my weight

in a

> little over 5 months, but the pictures were taken about 2 years

apart. A

> few months after the weight gain I was diagnosed with severe

Hypothyroidism.

> I've never eaten much so that's the only reason we can figure I

gained the

> weight, although I had recently become a quite sedentary. I'm sure

that

> also had something to do with it.

>

> It seems that I'm losing it almost as fast as I gained it, though.

Since

> August 13th I've gone from 240 pounds to 214 this morning. 26

pounds in 3

> weeks! I'm also losing my tummy. The rest of me never really got

very big

> so the loss elsewhere is hard to gauge. If I continued to lose

weight at

> the same rate, I'd be down to 140 in 3 or 4 months. Yeah! I'm

sure it

> won't happen that fast, but I can dream, can't I?

>

> I mentioned the super-quick weight loss to my doctor and he told me

that my

> thyroid problems slowed down my metabolism so much that any

increase in

> metabolism would create a huge weight loss for me. Apparently, the

fact

> that I've finally gotten my thyroid meds straightened out and I'm

eating

> healthy and exercising has caused my metabolism to shoot through

the roof.

> He told me that when most of his patients hit their ideal

metabolism, like

> he thinks I have, and maintain it, their weight loss tends to

continue at

> the same rate until they reach their ideal weight. As he

said, " Nobody's

> body wants to be fat. When you give it the right fuel and exercise

it's

> going to work as hard as you do at losing the extra weight. " Makes

sense to

> me!

>

> And, unlike your wife, this isn't post-baby weight. Actually, the

main

> reason I started BFL is because my husband and I have been trying

to have a

> baby for 4 years with no luck. I think my weight has a lot to do

with our

> infertility. Hopefully, if I DO get pregnant after I lose the

weight it

> will come off much easier afterwards. I've also heard that labor

is much

> easier if you're in shape. I'm all for easy labor! I'm sure,

with 6

> kids, your wife would agree! By the way, that's really impressive

that

> she's gotten back into shape after having 6 kids in 11 years. How

do you

> find time to exercise with all the kids? How do you eat? Do you

fix

> separate meals for the kids or do you fix everybody BFL meals and

tweak them

> to fit the kids needs? I've done some thinking about how to stick

to this

> long term and have wondered how you can feed your kids healthy

without

> comprimising their nutritional needs. I also have an 11 year old

brother

> who eats oatmeal cream pies for breakfast. He wants to try out for

his

> middle school football team next year and I'm trying to find a way

to get

> him in shape. He has the talent to be a great quarterback, but my

dad lets

> him eat junk food all day long. I'm trying to figure out a way to

motivate

> him to eat better and get some exercise. Right now he spends his

days

> playing video games. Any ideas?

>

>

> BellyBean. You can do it

>

> I saw your pics in the files today. Wow. Pretty significant

> change. But you're beautiful (both pics). It's almost hard to

tell

> it's you in both pictures and I wouldn't have been able to, except

> for those dimples :-')

>

> How long between the pictures?

> What do you think caused you to gain the weight?

>

> You can do it. It's definitely worth it and Body for Life

works. My

> wife has lost the significant weight she gained after each child

(we

> have 6 kids, 11 and under) and she is now in better shape than

before

> we were married 16 years ago.

>

> Best of luck to you.

>

> EJ

[Guest guest]

:

You're right. Messing with your own thyroid IS DANGEROUS. I was not

suggesting that anyone should, just commenting that some competitive

bodybuilders too. The number and amount of steroids and fat loss

agents these guys use is unbelievable and potentially quite

dangerous. Many have doctors advising them. Many do not (the crazy

ones.)

Thanks for the caution. I agree wholeheartedly.

EJ

> As someone who was hyperthyroid for a while, this surprises me. It

was one

> of the worst times of my life to feel this way (and it was not just

feeling

> hyper...there were heart palpatations, extreme anxiety, and lots

more

> symptoms! Not fun.) I can't imagine anyone 'self-medicating' with

thyroid

> hormone...not to mention how EXTREMELY dangerous it is. My mother,

who is

> hypothyroid, increased her dosage with the intentions of losing

weight, and

> it caused her to have a heart attack!

>

>

> >The tyroid is an interesting thing. Many competitive

> >bodybuilders take thyroid hormone to boost their metabolism to get

> >extra lean.

>

>

>

> _________________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

:

You're right. Messing with your own thyroid IS DANGEROUS. I was not

suggesting that anyone should, just commenting that some competitive

bodybuilders too. The number and amount of steroids and fat loss

agents these guys use is unbelievable and potentially quite

dangerous. Many have doctors advising them. Many do not (the crazy

ones.)

Thanks for the caution. I agree wholeheartedly.

EJ

> As someone who was hyperthyroid for a while, this surprises me. It

was one

> of the worst times of my life to feel this way (and it was not just

feeling

> hyper...there were heart palpatations, extreme anxiety, and lots

more

> symptoms! Not fun.) I can't imagine anyone 'self-medicating' with

thyroid

> hormone...not to mention how EXTREMELY dangerous it is. My mother,

who is

> hypothyroid, increased her dosage with the intentions of losing

weight, and

> it caused her to have a heart attack!

>

>

> >The tyroid is an interesting thing. Many competitive

> >bodybuilders take thyroid hormone to boost their metabolism to get

> >extra lean.

>

>

>

> _________________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

I agree . I was talking to someone on here a few weeks ago about an ablation that I had done on my heart last January for palpitations. The doctors strongly encouraged me to have the procedure because of my hypothyroidism. Apparently, the most effective thyroid levels for women who are trying to get pregnant are borderline hypo and hyper. You could go either way if the breeze changes directions! I believe that my exercise and new eating habits have made me hyper now.

Now, this is an interesting theory that my Chiropractor has. Everyone he has seen with thyroid antibody problems, who subsequently have hypo were thin at one time in their life. The majority of them were VERY thin for some time. His theory is that thyroid problems manifest first as hyper, which is basically when the thyroid goes into overdrive and the metabolism speeds up. After a while of undiagnosed/untreated hyper, the thyroid eventually starts to wear down as if it had just run the Boston Marathon. So, what does it do? Obviously, it's going to "surpress" its activity by producing more TSH, which will slow down thyroid activity. So, basically, most of those with hypo probably started out hyper until the thyroid started wearing down. That means that those bodybuilders taking the thyroid meds will probably go hypo if they stop taking them and they'll have a harder time staying thin. Either that, or their thyroid will wear out completely from overstimulation and they'll have to completely replace their thyroid hormones to survive. Not fun.

-----Original Message-----From: mb Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2001 11:19 PMTo: bodyforlife Subject: Re: BellyBean. You can do it!As someone who was hyperthyroid for a while, this surprises me. It was one of the worst times of my life to feel this way (and it was not just feeling hyper...there were heart palpatations, extreme anxiety, and lots more symptoms! Not fun.) I can't imagine anyone 'self-medicating' with thyroid hormone...not to mention how EXTREMELY dangerous it is. My mother, who is hypothyroid, increased her dosage with the intentions of losing weight, and it caused her to have a heart attack!>The tyroid is an interesting thing. Many competitive>bodybuilders take thyroid hormone to boost their metabolism to get>extra lean.

[Guest guest]

-----Original Message-----From: eliot@... Sent: Monday, September 03, 2001 11:08 PMTo: bodyforlife Subject: Re: BellyBean. You can do it!

Don't hurt yourself trying to lose it too fast. Just stick with the plan and you'll be fine. Did the Dr. prescribe medicine to get your thyroid going again? Or did it just start back on its own? What caused the thyroid problem to begin with?

[]

I've been taking thyroid medicine since 1997. I'm actually on such a high dose right now that new doctors and pharmacists have to double check the dosage when they see it written down. It's probably too high right now since my metabolism has kicked back into gear, but I'm getting it tested again tomorrow. My doctor actually thinks that a really bad bout with pneumonia brought on my thyroid problems, but I explained in an earlier e-mail to what my Chiropractor (who is also a good friend) thinks. My doc thinks the pneumonia caused antibody overload and those antibodies started attacking my thyroid. I don't really care as long as they fix it....women normally put on weight on their hips and thighs first and lose it there last.

[ ]

I can't relate to this. I have almost no fat outside of my midsection. If you looked at my legs, butt, arms and hips you'd think I weighed about 140-150 pounds instead of a little over 200. I've heard, and am finding it true, that its easier to lose weight if most of your weight is around your middle instead of hips and thighs.

One extra benefit is that she's found that the cardio on the treadmill puts colicky babies right to sleep!

[ ]

I just had a mental image of a woman running on a treadmill with baby in a carrier on her back. I guarantee she'd be covered in regurgitated milk before her 20 minutes were up! Of course, I'm sure that's probably not what you meant. Just my imagination getting the best of me.So, when you're back in shape and have a baby, don't forget to take advantage of the breast feeding for fitness. Oh, and the baby seems to get plenty of milk (another 800 calories lost for the mom each day.)

[ ]

I've researched the benefits of breastfeeding for both mom and baby and I wouldn't do it any other way. Eating: she'll have oatmeal with strawberry myoplex in the morning (the kids love it, too). Snack: 1/3 protein barLunch: turkey sandwich, whole wheat bread, no mayoSnack: 1/3 protein barDinner: chicken breast and veggies (or a Healthy Choice meal)Snack: 1/3 protein bar

[ ]

This is similar to what I eat, but am always told that I don't eat enough.

About your son. We have all girls except for a 6 year old boy. He loves his Nintendo, too. Nothing better than a physical friend to play outside with and football games with dad to get him off the couch. But we're not experts on this one.

[ ]

He's actually my brother, not my son ( I must have confused you), and he lives about an hour away so it's hard for me to keep an eye on his daily activities. I think I'm basically going to write out a plan for foods that he should and should not eat and call every few hours to make sure he's not in front of the TV. Too bad his parents don't care enough to do it themselves.Good luck. Keep it up and get your hubby to do it, too![ ]

Thanks! Hubby's doing it too! He's lost about 18 pounds himself!