I went to my doctor's office this afternoon to go over my battery of blood tests as well as my ultrasound results.  The good news is that my thyroid does NOT look like it's harboring a cancerous tumor, and looks inflamed, instead.   This can be a result of the adrenal fatigue my body is experiencing.  So, YAY for not having thyroid cancer.  It wasn't all positive, but I'm pleased with a number of the results. 

Also in the "good news" column are many of my blood levels, which are in the healthy range, as follows:

Triglycerides = 61 (should be less than 150)
Total Cholesterol = 145 (should be 120-200)
LDL = 88 (should be less than 130)

My insulin, glucose, and others were in excellent ranges, so that is a positive.  And I'm not anemic.  
For the not so fabulous news, I am Vitamin D deficient, which can cause muscle weakness and soft bones if left untreated.   She gave me a supplement to take, and I am so glad that we found that, which could have come about during my strict vegan diet months.   ( I won't even get started on what being vegan did to my system, with the grains and all the soy)

I also have a CRP (cardiac risk predictor) that is in the "high" range.  My doctor and I discussed why this would be high, with my cholesterol and everything low, and she explained that stress is a big factor, and genetic predisposition to heart disease.    Since my grandfather died in his early 60's from a heart attack, and my father had a massive heart attack along with a triple bypass, I am at higher risk for developing heart disease.

The adrenal fatigue (which I was experiencing slightly last year when I started losing weight), has gotten much worse over the past year and a half.  Since I had gotten my thyroid functioning normally (those numbers look GREAT), my adrenals couldn't keep up.  Add the constant stress of burning the candle at both ends, working out to the point of exhaustion daily, and not sleeping more than 5-5.5 hours a day just wore them out along with the rest of me.  By refusing to acknowledge that my body needed time to heal, to recuperate, I shot myself in the foot, pretty much.  

What has happened, is that my body is exhausted.   And it won't get better unless and until I remove some of the stressors in my life (self imposed or not), get some rest, take my supplements, and eat in a whole, healthy way.  No caffeine, no grains of any kind (I'm also intolerant of grains, so bye bye bread), very small amounts of natural sugar in the form of fruit. 
So long Starbucks, I will miss you!

I'm under doctor's orders to put on hold the hard core weight training, and 90 minute high intensity cardio sessions.  That kind of exertion is horrible for people whose adrenals are bogged down.
This does not mean, however, that I'm going to stop exercising, not by any means.   Yoga, pilates, walking (with some jogging if the energy is there), core exercises, elliptical trainer, etc.  After a month or two, when the energy is better, I can start weight training more frequently again as long as I have two days of rest between.

Somehow, I need to start sleeping a minimum of 7-8 hours a night, which is going to require some schedule shifting.   (and a fairy godmother to come babysit my children, ha ha)

Through this, even though it has been a royal pain in the rear to feel progressively worse for the past several months and think I was losing my mind, I know that everything happens for a reason.    This was my sign that I need to go back to the root of why I started to lose weight last year, the real reasons (aside from wearing a bikini, LOL) that I changed my way of eating and exercise so many months ago. 
It comes down to my health.  And it took my own body betraying me for me to get back on that path.  It's not about a number, but about making this  gift of a body as healthy as it can be so I'm there for my children, and live the most fruitful, enjoyable life possible.   No pressure to wear a certain size by a certain date, or an idea in my head of what I should look like is worth putting my body through the ringer.  I still have goals, and absolutely plan to meet them.  The approach to reaching them has changed now, however.

The time to heal it starts now, and I can say that I feel less stress than I have in months as a result of letting go of the pressure.  

xoxox- Carrie

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