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Fatigue

Feb 14
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3 Things I wish I knew when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s

By | Autoimmunity, Fatigue, Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism, Lifestyle, Metabolic Balance, Mindset, Pathology

1/ Healing is a marathon not a sprint

I was privileged as a Nutritionist student who understood that despite what the GP was telling me, I was not ok, this was not normal, nor the simple consequence of simply ‘doing too much’. From the moment my head lifted off the pillow in the morning I was a walking zombie. I felt a rising panic that this was going to be my life now, forever. By my third GP, after having to pay privately for proper pathology because the first two doctors refused to run a comprehensive thyroid panel, I finally got a diagnosis.

After my initial grief & fear (which lasted a few months) I came to a place of relief; I finally had a face for my fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, haywire hormones & low moods. Ever the A type personality, I pulled out my text books, wrote out meal plans, put a supplement chart together and created a plan to get my life back on track.

I don’t think I need to tell you how that panned out.

The following few years are a blur of different practitioners, doctors, diets, many many supplements, so many blood draws that I was on a first name basis with my local pathology clinic and a lot of money spent without great results. I would feel better for a time and then decline again. It was always two steps forward, one step back.

I was discouraged, impatient and desperate.

It wasn’t until I found a Naturopath who specialised in thyroid health to guide me that I started to get improvements. But the big healing shift occurred after I implemented my own personalised nutrition food plan (the same plan that every Thrive Method member now receives) years after my diagnosis.

Healing is a marathon meaning you have to show up daily, consistently & persistently for months to years to reignite your energy, shift stubborn weight and regain your previous health. And you have to keep it up! Slipping on bedtimes, work boundaries and daily eating habits will make your health slip backwards. I hate to break it to you but your habits need to change for life if you want to keep your results.

Going on a diet for a few weeks or months just to shift some weight and then returning to your old habits is not going to cut it, it will just damage your metabolism even more.

I wish I had known this, it would’ve helped me fight the late nights, excess coffee, constant pressure to exercise, frequent snacking and one too many wines on the weekend which kept me stuck for years. My clients and I have discovered that nothing tastes as good or is worth feeling subhuman everyday. Now I look back and I’m grateful for every connection I was able to make and each step that led me closer to where I am today. Not only did I learn SO much (which I can now share with you!) but it makes me supremely thankful for the level of health I now enjoy.

 

2/ How blood sugar regulation was crucial to battling symptoms

I knew what I ate mattered of course, I was studying Nutritional Medicine and ate a really good diet if-you-don’t-mind-thank-you-very-much! 90% of my daily eating was whole foods, made from scratch, lots of veggies and much of it was organic.

BUT, my blood sugar still wasn’t regulated, I wasn’t addressing meal timing, portion sizes, macronutrient balancing and ensuring I was getting enough protein, healthy fats and complex carbs daily. My coffee habits and addiction to busy-ness was keeping my stress hormones & insulin high. There was also enough inflammatory & processed foods creeping in to keep me trapped on the disregulated blood sugar rollercoaster day after day. I wanted off but I couldn’t find the release switch and truth be told, I wasn’t equipped with the knowledge to recognise what it was anyway. Wasn’t poor blood sugar regulation only relevant to those with diabetes? How wrong I was.

If I had understood how crucial blood sugar regulation was for lowering inflammation and shifting stubborn Hashimoto’s weight, exhaustion, brain fog, poor sleep, haywire hormones and my skin I wouldn’t have suffered all those years. It turns out eating ‘healthy’ foods was not enough.

If, like me back then, you wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to blood sugar regulation, I have a free nifty resource that makes it all extremely simple and easy to follow. You can download it here. Oh how I wish I had a resource like this when I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease!

 

3/ That a Hashi’s diagnosis is not a life sentence and there is hope for healing

The moment I discovered I had an autoimmune disease is seared into my memory, I remember the windows and light behind the GP’s desk and the sensation of my stomach dropping. Later that day doctor google provided me with enough doom & gloom to keep me afraid and trapped in victimhood for a time. The ‘C’ word worried me in particular because I already had a genetic predisposition and had just been through a ten month long osteosarcoma scare. But the idea of living out my days tired, foggy and unable to stop the gradual weight gain was pretty daunting in my late twenties with two little boys in tow.

I wish I had known that remission and even curing yourself of autoimmunity was entirely possible. It would have helped me take action & dig myself out of that pit sooner.

Every week I hear diagnosis stories from women and how they were told that their immune system was slowly destroying their thyroid tissue and that there was nothing they could do. Eventually their thyroid would be irreparably damaged and they would be reliant on medication. No hope. End of story.

This is not your sealed fate, there is A LOT you can do and it is possible to cure yourself of Hashimoto’s. I wrote a blog post on this topic last year, check it out here. But even if you never get your antibodies down into remission level you can still manage Hashimoto’s to the point where your symptoms are mild or in some cases eliminated and you can lead a normal life again. I’ve done and my clients do too.

Tessa

P.S. I was fortunate that as a Nutritional Medicine student I already knew gluten was a no-go for those with Hashimoto’s otherwise this blog post would’ve been titled, FOUR things I wish I knew…lol.

Nov 21
0

Why you aren’t getting long term results

By | Fatigue, Lifestyle, Mindset

I knew about 10 minutes in that I was in trouble.

10km wasn’t far, I had done 5, 6, 7km often. The difference was in the pack I was carrying. It wasn’t until we were loading up at the car that I realised the all important strap that causes your hips to take most of the weight was broken. Add to that our heavy & impractical blow up mattress (many of you will have heard all about THAT saga) and the fact that we had to carry enough water for all four of us for 24 hours in warm QLD conditions while we sweated our way from one end of the Carnarvon Gorge to the other, and I was in struggle town. From behind I looked like a hiking pack with legs, I know this because unbeknownst to me, Theo took a rather unflattering photo of me from behind while I tried in vain to secure the hip strap.

After about 45 minutes I moved ahead of Nick and the boys so I could give myself a little pep talk.
Tessa, this is going to be much harder than you thought, but you can’t give up, the boys are watching, and you want to do more of these hikes in the future, you’ve got to push on.

My knees already felt like they wanted to drop out of my body and slink way to die in the bushes and I was only about a fifth of the way.

In my mind I was chanting encouraging words and recalculating how much further we had to go at every signpost we passed. It wasn’t that unlike childbirth now I think about it.

Every few minutes we would pass hikers coming the other way and while it was nice to have eye contact with strangers (this does not happen in Frankston!) they all had something to say about our clearly under-equipped life choices.

‘Are you camping overnight?!’ They would often ask with a smug smile. These goody-two-shoes had obviously got up at the crack of dawn, hiked there and back and were heading back to the lodge where a glass of shiraz, cheese board and running water was waiting for them.

I passed one elderly couple resting on a bench with walking sticks and felt immensely better, if they could do it surely I could too. By this stage I was determined but so red and puffed out that all I could manage was a nod in their direction.

The leader of the next group of people stopped for a chat, they were impressed and curious about our family and couldn’t believe we were planning to camp at the other end. They asked a few questions, told us we were in for a treat and then wished us luck. I was elated, I had never actually met anyone who had done this hike and hearing about the wonders ahead that we would probably have to explore all to ourselves was spurring me on. This was going to be the experience I had planned for my family for months now. My pack felt lighter, my pace quickened, I could do this! The next 45 minutes was a breeze, I only stopped for a moment to let a family of kangaroos pass in front of me, a joey peeking out from his mothers pouch.

‘You’ve got a long way to go!’, called out a man as we passed, ‘At least another four hours.’
I heard the boys groan behind me. Instantly, my pack felt impossibly heavy, the enchantment of the forest, the gorge walls (which were glowing in the afternoon light) and the river song was broken. The pain in my knees came back 10 fold and a black wave of doubt filled my mind.

I can’t do this, I have weak ankles, I’ll injure myself, we’re too far from help if anything happens, we’ll run out of water, the boys are going to get bitten by a snake and die a painful, slow death, this is irresponsible.

It’s amazing the ways in which your mind can craft falsehoods in an effort to turn you away from discomfort. My thoughts and perceptions about my situation were shaping my physical reality, literally causing me pain.

For many people the war that rages on in their mind daily is with their relationship with food. They may win some small campaigns but ultimately, they always seem to end up defeated with no long term results. We all have a vision for ourselves and values about who we want to be and how we want to interact with food but somehow we never seem to gain victory long term.

The reason you aren’t winning the war is because you aren’t equipped. You need strategies, information about the inner workings of the terrain and a powerful battle cry – ok I’m taking the metaphor a little too far now I know. But you get my point right?

Food Freedom is the solution I created to educate while also challenge and equip you to win this battle, get the results and start living out the values you hold for your future self. It’s part Yoda, part Samwise Gamgee and part Fairy Godmother. It’s also the most cost effective way of working with me if 1:1 is beyond reach at the moment.

Topics I cover include goal setting for powerful habit mastery, emotional eating, hunger & cravings, self sabotage and how exactly your body works and wants to be fed so that is is nourished well and able to release any extra weight with ease. I also go over the basics like portions sizes, what foods should make up most of your daily eating and my helpful meal formula. There’s a lot of value!

If you join The Thrive Method you get access to Food Freedom as a gift (that’s one generous $397 gift) but you can also enrol for Food Freedom now and start today.

Aug 30
0

Tried everything & still exhausted?

By | Client Results, Fatigue, Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism, Weight Loss

So often I hear the words, ‘No matter what I try, I’m always exhausted’.

Fatigue associated with Hashimoto’s disease is unrelenting, all-encompassing and usually comes with a hefty dose of brain fog and mental confusion, sometimes dizziness and frequently, low moods. It doesn’t tend to improve with sleep or any of the usual strategies. It’s common for Hashimoto’s sufferers to wake unrefreshed even after 8-10 hours of sleep.

Low thyroid hormone circulating in your system due to hypothyroidism and/or Hashimoto’s disease causes a deficiency throughout the body meaning that all the systems that contain thyroid hormone receptors will not be able to do their jobs properly. Systems including your brain, central nervous system, heart, liver, stomach and intestines slow and are affected, causing chronic fatigue.

I remember telling my husband that I was convinced someone was slipping a sleeping tablet in my morning coffee back when my Hashimoto’s was poorly managed.

Most of my clients come to me for weight loss – and they do lose weight which they are pleased as punch about (obviously!) – but it’s saying goodbye to afternoon naps and constantly feeling lacklustre that eclipse the delight over weight loss.

Without vitality & energy it can feel like you are trapped in a black and white world while everyone else lives in technicolour.

Fingers crossed, I’m yet to have a client not experience a huge increase in energy. Most of my clients initially report energy levels at 2-6/10 and walk away with energy levels between 7-10/10.

In fact, just this morning my 10am client Alison told me she is feeling amazing and rated her energy at 10/10. That’s up from 6/10 at her first appointment only 4 weeks ago. After many years of Hashimoto’s associated fatigue, joint pain and digestive woes she has also lost 8kg in the last four weeks.

“It’s just so easy!” She gushed about following her personalised food plan. And you can see why she feels that way with results like that!

So what is it that gets these amazing results so fast?

A combination of lowered inflammation, regulated blood sugar, nourishing food and personalised nutrition. That is, eating fresh whole foods that are right for you and your health conditions, at the right time, in the right portion sizes and balanced in a way that provides your body with all the nutrients it needs to keep your energy stabilised throughout the day. Drinking enough water to stay well hydrated also plays a part.

It’s all pretty simple really but as I was explaining to Alison this morning, in the West our inner compass is so broken when it comes to food. Factory made flavours and foods that make no sense in nature, diet culture, in addition to a lack of cultural food tradition has done a lot of damage to our relationship with food. The majority of us – Hashi’s or not – are walking around in a daze, with no idea of how good you can really feel.

If you feel like you’ve tried everything then I have a solution for you that is based on common sense principles and really works. Just ask my clients!

If you have loved ones who are trapped in the misery of Hashimoto’s or Hypothyroidism please forward them this blog.

Aug 02
0

Mum with Hashimoto’s regains energy, balances hormones & loses 4kg

By | Client Results, Fatigue, Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism, Metabolic Balance, Pathology

Initially Kara was not sure she wanted to work with me or do Metabolic Balance. She was extremely doubtful it was going to work.

After 8 years as a vegetarian and 2 as a vegan following the advice of the Medical Medium, Kara was nervous to try animal proteins again, fearing it would make her antibodies soar.

But she was also frustrated with her extremely low energy levels and the stubborn tummy weight so in the end she decided to give it a go.

This is what Kara had to say about how she felt initially…


“I was hesitant coming from a vegan lifestyle for 2+ years and vegetarian lifestyle for 8+ years. Changing my diet was extremely unnerving to me as I had seen improvements in my health however I still had lingering concerns which didn’t change no matter what I tried.”
Kara

As a working mum to a two year old, Kara’s sleep and energy were of major concern to her.

She reported her energy at a low 5/10. She was particularly exhausted by 3pm (the blood sugar hour as I like to call it) but felt tired throughout the day.

Her brain fog was severe enough it affected her ability to function.

Kara was familiar with the benefits of a whole food diet and ate plenty of healthy and wholesome foods in her vegan diet but they were not right for her or her healing journey.

She claimed she was ‘always hungry’.

I knew that personlised nutrition was going to be a game changer for her.

Kara had a very pale pallor to her complexion and not surprisingly her pathology revealed she was very low in iron. Hormonally, Kara reported mild PMS with heavy bleeding day 1 with some cramping discomfort.

Kara had trouble conceiving in the past due to Hashimoto’s and she wanted to prepare her body for a successful pregnancy in the future.

Kara wanted to manage her thyroid function better and with fewer or no supplements (she had 9 different supplements she took on & off).

She was also hoping to get her autoimmunity into remission eventually.


“I was also heavily supplementing which was also something I wanted to reduce as much as possible and find something that would heal my body through food only. It took me almost 3 months before I was ready to commit and start the program. Mostly changing my mind set around “healthy eating”.
Kara 

Kara is a very petite woman, weight gain had not been a major issue for her and was not her main motivation for working with me.

She stated that it would be a bonus if she could release her stubborn abdominal weight gain on her belly which she estimated to be around 4kg of extra weight based on her history.

Her starting weight was 58kg and her goal was 54kg. Kara experienced a few food intolerances and digestive issues and was already on a strictly gluten free diet.

Kara had her initial health consult at the end of March and started her program with me at the beginning of April 2022. We had her last consultation in mid-July 2022 so we worked together for a total of 3 ½ months.

We stopped all her supplements as she wanted to see what just food could do for her health. I recommended some selenium drops and Kara agreed to take the drops only throughout the program.

In 7 days

  • 2.5kg released. This was very much a fluid & inflammation picture that was sitting on her belly due to the unsuitable dietary patterns Kara had before starting her program
  • Energy had already jumped up to 8/10
  • Sleep had improved

14 days

  • 4kg released, down to goal weight with abdominal weight gain released
  • Energy stable at 8/10
  • Enjoying food options

28 days

  • First period since starting MB is lighter & more comfortable
  • Libido has also significantly increased
  • Sleep has improved to 7/10

2 months

  • Energy 8/10
  • Sleep 8/10
  • Brain fog is gone
  • Maintaining new weight
  • Very confident with food choices
  • Period is lighter with a shorter bleed, no pain

3 ½ months

  • Sleep 8/10
  • Energy 9/10
  • Upon retesting TPO antibodies have decreased from 470 to 424
  • Ferritin and iron have increased
  • Kara’s complexion has improved drastically, she looks healthier, more pink in her complexion with eyes more alert & clear.
  • Has advised she is definitely ovulating and is feeling more optimistic about her fertility. To be continued I guess!
  • The weight has stayed off her abdomen effortlessly despite having been in maintenance phase for about six weeks.
  • Kara’s thyroid function has normalised since she first started her plan, all her blood levels are now in the optimal range and her TSH has decreased from 3.3 (subclinical hypothyroidism) to 1.7 (optimal) and her symptoms have resolved.

Kara is now super confident with which foods are right for her, her portion sizes and how to balance a meal to keep her blood sugar regulated, keep inflammation at bay and energy high.

She still enjoys food while on holidays and at special occasions. She is effortlessly maintaining her energy levels, hormonal health and healthy weight.


“Within the first week there was no question in my mind that I had made the right choice to start this. I instantly felt energized and inflammation had reduced greatly already! In the end my results have been amazing and I’m so happy with where I’m at with my health, in terms of how I’m feeling but also with my Hashimoto’s & Thyroid blood work. This is now just a lifestyle that works best for me, my blood type and blood results for my condition (which is basically gone now). So so happy. Thank you very much! Forever grateful!” Kara

The Thrive Method for women with Hashimoto’s & Hypothyroidism is now available.

Jun 07
0

The link between Hydration & Weight Loss

By | Digestion, Fatigue, Gut Health, Weight Loss

 

I bet you didn’t know this!

Water, it’s the elixir of life right?

But why do so many of us struggle to drink the amount we know we should?

What if I told you that hydration is an essential element to healthy weight loss and maintenance?

I’ve got your attention now! But first let me explain something.

When I start working with a client they undergo a huge transformation very rapidly and release excess weight quite quickly. I’ve had a few conversations with clients that go something like this:

Client: ’10kg in 12 weeks that won’t be possible for me!’
Me: ‘Try keep an open mind, give or take this is usually the results I witness when a client commits to themselves & their plan.’
Client: ‘No, it will take me closer to a year to shift that kind of weight!’
Me: ‘Ok, we’ll see how you go.’
(12 weeks later) Client: ‘I cannot believe it, you were right!’

This is a quote from an interview I did with one of my clients Rachael last year:

It’s been the best thing that I have ever done. I can’t believe in 12 weeks, you told me what would happen, and then it actually happened! It surprised me! I didn’t believe you!

I’ll get to the point…

When you are transforming your health and releasing weight those stored lipid cells in your body have been home to a number of different hormonal metabolites and other toxins. They will vary depending on what you have been exposed to over the time that weight has been stored on your body. It’s another way your body protects you, by storing toxins away in lipid cells where they can’t harm you. When you regulate your blood sugar and lower inflammation with nutrient rich whole foods your body starts to use up that stored energy. Guess what happens to those toxins? They get released back into circulation and your liver has to deal with them again.
Here’s the important bit, if you aren’t helping your liver out by remaining super hydrated it won’t be able to flush out a lot of those toxins through your kidneys. And even worse, dehydration will lead to constipation so they won’t be getting out of your system via a nice, healthy bowel motion daily either.
Here’s the kicker, when your body is dealing with a lot of toxins not only can you feel awful (headaches, join pain, pimples, low mood etc) but the stress can cause your body to go into survival mode. When your body is in survival mode it wants to hold on to those energy stores on the body which will make your healthy weight maintenance goal much more difficult to meet.

But dehydration has other draw backs too:

  • It causes the liver to release glucose into the blood stream, thereby increasing insulin your weight storage hormone.
  • It will make your lymphatic system sluggish, another toxin draining pathway.
  • It can cause you to overeat due to mixed thirst/hunger signals.
  • It causes low energy & poor cognition which impairs your ability to make healthy choices that will support your health goals.
  • I’ve already mentioned this but it’s so important, dehydration causes constipation which will leave you sluggish, inflamed and make weight loss much more difficult.

Have I convinced you yet?

You are probably asking yourself how much you should be drinking? Calculate your optimal daily intake by multiplying your weight in kg X 35ml of water. For example 80kg x 35ml = 2800ml or 2.8litres. More than you expected?

The good news is that herbal tea counts, the bad news is that alcohol consumption increases your need.

One of the easiest ways of tracking whether you are hydrated is simply to look at the colour of your urine, it should be quite clear with only a hint of yellow. So if your urine is yellow (unless you’ve taken a B vitamin) keep drinking until it’s closer to clear.

I’ve also attached a handy guide if you know you need to work on this aspect of your health. It’s also a colouring in sheet because who doesn’t love a colouring in (so satisfying!). Calculate your water and divide it by 8, I recommend tracking your water intake for a few days once a month until you know you’ve nailed this healthy habit.

Tessa