PearlyMae's Big Adventure to get Little

If not for the support of my friends on the threads on this forum, there is no way I would have gotten this far! I have always struggled to keep a lean weight, but for years, that was a cycle of gaining up to 135 and then dieting back to 120. Well, that was in my 20s. To be fair, as I got older, it was getting up to 140 and dieting back to 130, then finally fighting to stay under 150. And then and then and then.... !

Yep, I’ve done it all. Weight Watchers, Diet Center (remember them? Wasa Bread!) Jenny Craig—twice-- Suzanne Somers, WW Quick Start---they all worked. But I always gained it all back. I once went through the entire Jenny Craig process without giving up my Beloved Pepsi. I just substituted the calories for their diet desserts. I lost the weight, but looking back, I can see I was Unclear on the Concept!

I can see that hypothyroid was a great influence on my weight, though I am here to say T3 does not MAKE me lose weight. I can’t eat badly and depend on it to make me thin. I demonstrated that by taking it for over a year, admittedly at a lower dose, but I still ballooned up again when I quit eating clean. It does HELP me lose, or perhaps I should say it LETS me lose, when I do everything else right. Kinda like it makes me NORMAL. I have an actual metabolism. Who knew?

For the past almost 2 months now, since I started taking the correct dose of T3, (well, almost, no matter how much I tell myself it is okay, I still worry about the full 100...but will try the 25 at a time route and see how it goes...) I have been in the window of my LIW, and sometimes even below. I am eating very cleanly, but I have been able finally to eat “P4” a little, and not just limited P3 foods. For the first time ever, I went on an out of town trip and came back at the same weight.

I by no means have this all figured out. But I am feeling better than I have for 20 years and wear a size 6 or 8. I sleep well, I feel happy, I enjoy my food. I allow myself occasional cake at family celebrations and seem to tolerate sweet potatoes well. I have been known to have a small ice cream cone, but not more than once a week.

Yep, I hear angels singing for sure!
P