Hold On, You Said What??

Back in 2008-2009, I was diagnosed with Diabetes.  It wasn’t so much that I was overweight—which I was—but it was more so because I was taking a medication at the time that caused my blood glucose levels to rise.  I remember my doctor telling me when she gave me my prescription that I needed to watch what I ate.  But that was all she said, and I loved bread.  Because I was diagnosed, we changed my medication and I was swiftly “prescribed” diet and exercise (she actually wrote a prescription for it.)  At the time, all I could think about was how both my parents had to be pricked every morning for testing and I hate needles.  I took my prescription very seriously and lost a considerable amount of weight.  So much so, that my doctor asked me how I did it.

I was 31 then and had just started grad school.  My friends and family watched me slim down so

quickly that it was hard for me to keep clothes in my size.  I consigned and gave away a lot then.  When I finally reached a plateau that made my dietician say, “Yeah, sometimes the body just stops at a certain weight,” I was content with my size.  I loved hanging out with friends for dinner after class and watching them listen intently as I gave my two-cents on proper eating and exercise habits.  I loved how once when some friends and I had lunch in The Gulch in the middle of the day, as we were waiting outside for the valet, two guys drove by in a very expensive vehicle and the guy in the passenger side just couldn’t stop staring at me.  I acknowledged him with a, “How are you doing?” and they went on their way.  My friends joked that I was really grabbing the attention.  I LOVED that feeling!! 

Fast forward a few years when I was prescribed a different medication for the same condition.  A new doctor at the time said, “Have you ever taken a steroid?”  I said, “No,” and she wrote the prescription and I left her office.  After having been on the medication for a few weeks, I couldn’t figure out why I was so hungry all of the time!  I would literally eat a big meal and be hungry again less than two hours later.  I asked my pharmacist one night about the medication, asking if it was normal.  Her response was, “Yes.  It’s a steroid.  You have to break your meals up over time so that you don’t eat as much.  You can’t eat a full meal in one sitting.”  I was livid!  How dare my doctor not tell me this!  I had even stopped working out thinking somehow that was affecting my hunger.  By this time, I had gained 35lbs while I was already trying to lose 15.

When I moved to Texas, I decided I was going to turn over a new leaf and finally lose that weight.  I joined a gym and when the weight wasn’t coming off fast enough, I added their trainer to my membership.  I lost three pounds and felt like my life was getting back on track.  Shortly after, I had a disagreement with the gym and decided to cancel my membership.  I thought since I was doing so well, I’d apply what I’d learned and work out on my own.  Some time during that time frame, I stopped losing pounds.  I hired another trainer.  In 2016, back at my original overweight size—plus I think an additional 15 breakfast taco and Kolache pounds, I registered for a week-long organizational conference that happens every two years.  I’d been to several of these in the past and knew that with all of the walking and little time to eat a heavy meal, I’d most definitely lose 1-2lbs.  Excited to weigh myself when I got back I noticed that I’d actually gained five pounds.  Talking to my trainer about it, she encouraged me to see my doctor saying this was not normal. 

After several tests, it was discovered that I have Hypothyroidism.  I was initially devastated.  I think I even cried in my doctor's office.  From what I knew about the disease, what stood out to me the most is something a former classmate said her doctor told her when she was diagnosed:  It’s going to be hard for you to lose weight.  I told my doctor my fear of being overweight for the rest of my life and she reassured me, saying that other doctor was wrong and I’d definitely be able to get the weight off.  Side note:  Unbeknownst to me at the time, she’d worked in a weight-loss clinic for part of her career.  I doubted her, but I’d try anyway.

Around the time of my diagnosis, I remember hearing stories in the news about how Oprah, who also

Oprah 2012

has my condition, had lost 40lbs.  She’s in her 60s.  (In case you don’t remember what she looked like, here are before and after photos.)  Determined that if she could lose weight at twice my age, I decided so could I.  I was motivated and became focused on cardio and strength training throughout the week and seeing my trainer first thing on Saturday mornings.  Progress was very slow.  I would lose a few pounds here, then eat a sandwich or a pastry there and gain it all back within a week.  It was frustrating.  In my head, I blamed my trainer for not making the Saturday workouts strenuous enough.  She would give me homework to do during the week and I started to question that as well.  Then there was the fact that I worked long hours and oftentimes came home and just didn’t feel like it.  I cried.  I prayed.  I asked my doctor, who always said my blood work was “normal”, if something else could

Oprah 2017

be the matter.  I consulted friends and asked my doctor to change my medication.

About a month ago, I went in for my blood work results and sat there as my doctor looked over the several sheets of information saying everything “looked good.”  Determined, I asked her to explain the numbers to me, specifically my T3/T4 count.  She showed me the sheet and said, “See?  You’re in the normal range.”  I noticed the number was on the lower end of normal and asked, “So is the goal to have a low number or a high number?”  She explained the higher number was the better number.  I asked her to up my dosage.   I also stepped my workouts up to two-a-days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, continuing to do cardio on Mondays and Fridays and challenging myself on Saturdays.  I weighed myself religiously and even when I hung out with a friend and she commented that I’d lost weight, I didn’t believe her because I knew my scale hadn’t budged.

Last month's blood work

Last week, I saw my doctor and we discussed how I was feeling.  I told her that I could tell my stomach felt different on my thighs when I stretched so I thought I was gaining muscle.  She looked up at me and said, “Well you’ve lost five pounds…”  I’ve never been so excited in my life!  I felt vindicated!  My friend wasn’t just “being nice” after all!  I had more testing done and have to see her in two weeks for the results.  I pray that everything is still normal.  This has been a long journey for me and I am determined to get back down.  My goal weight is the same size I was just a few short years ago and I now know that is possible.  I have never been so excited to lose a measly five pounds (and holding) in my life!  I just pray that my results from my blood work are normal…