A couple of days ago I blogged about my Whole30 experience and how I was a bit disappointed. Instead of losing weight I gained two pounds and really didn't feel much better. But I had an "A HA" moment this morning and I think my Whole30 was successful. Here's why...
First, some quick background information - I started treating my hyperthyroidism in 2015. I was prescribed methimazole - a drug that basically shuts down your thyroid and therefore your metabolism. I gained around 40 lbs in 4 months and I didn't really feel much better. After a year or so, I stopped taking the methimazole because it gave me terrible migraine headaches. I quickly got back to my pre-diagnosis weight (because my thyroid was uncontrolled) and I actually felt better. It was a win-win for me until my thyroid started acting up again.
Heart palpitations are why I finally decided to go back to an endocrinologist this year. My heart was often racing and would pause/skip beats - a textbook symptom of hyperthyroidism. After meeting with a new doctor about two months ago, she put me back on methimazole and I started gaining weight immediately. A friend suggested i give Whole30 a try... I figured it certainly couldn't hurt. If anything, I wholly expected to, at the very least, feel a bit better even if I didn't lose a whole bunch of weight. At the end of the 30 days, I gained weight and felt the same as I did pre-Whole30.
Last Friday, I threw on a pair of jeans that still fit, sort-of, to run errands (most of the clothes in my closet don't because of the weight gain). They were snug but not uncomfortable. Then over the weekend, I judged a beauty pageant. Friday night we ate barbecue. Yesterday started with pastries, followed by lasagna, pizza and cheesecake. I had a little heartburn since I'd eaten so clean over the last month, but I didn't feel bad or experience any other ill-effects from eating bad-for-me food.
Then this morning, I threw on those same jeans to run over to the mall. I immediately noticed that they were more than snug - they were downright uncomfortably tight. I even struggled a bit to button them up. So somewhere between Friday and today... 48 hours... my body is a size bigger. And that's when it hit me... Whole30 did work. If I could gain enough weight to go up a size over the course of a weekend, I think might've gained 10-15 lbs in 30 days instead of 2. I also realized that the debilitating migraines I had constantly during the first year of treatment hadn't come back. Maybe, just maybe, ridding my diet of sugars, dairy, gluten, etc. was making me feel better. I'm now confident Whole30 did work.
After I met with my endocrinologist last week, she upped my methimazole dose. After the visit I realized two things - working out will not be optional and I have to continue to eat well. Period. My epiphany this morning confirmed to me that I need a Whole30 lifestyle change in order to treat my thyroid without gaining a whole bunch of weight. So I'll be modifying my diet and getting back into the gym (it's been hard to work out because hyperthyroidism is exhausting). But after this week though... it's my birthday week and I'm going to splurge (cake, cake, cake).
But yeah... Whole30 worked.