Taking It Off Together Tuesday Week #19

You would think after NINETEEN weeks, I'd be further along than this. But no, here I am 'stuck' once again. After the major swelling from last week, I'm just grateful that it's gone down, and the weight is back to normal. I guess you could say that I've been sort of PMSing this week, too, which meant wanting food a lot more than normal, easily stressed, among other things. I've been feeling slightly dizzy these last couple of weeks, too. I'm not sure what is triggering that. I just know that I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being tired really. LOL Anyways, here are this week's results:

This week our contest is sponsored by Tammy! She is offering a copy of Superfoods for the prize for this week! If you’d like to sponser a prize, let me know! We are currently out of prizes!

The names of this week’s “losers” were dropped into a coffee cup and this week’s WINNER is Chris!

Congrats to Clara for being this week’s biggest loser of pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 LOSS
Tammy - 1.5 GAIN
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - No Change
Grace - 0.4 GAIN
Leigh - No Change
Clara - 1.5 LOSS
Julie - 0.8 LOSS
Cheryl - no report
Audrey - 2.2 GAIN
Christy - 0.2 LOSS
Tina - 2.0 GAIN
Danielle - no report
Jessie - no report
Steph - no report
CYN - no report

This week’s total - 2.6 GAIN! EGAD!

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I'll be posting more thyroid related news/info soon.

Taking It Off Together Tuesday Week #18

I have no report this week. To be honest, I cannot tell if I've truly loss or gained anything. My body has been swelling up a lot this week. Of course that makes me gain weight instantly. If I were to post the weight, it would not be completely accurate. I would have to wait until the swelling goes down. Earlier in the week, and a little at the tail end of last week, I wasn't feeling very well. My throat felt sore and my body felt different. I wasn't sure if I was going to get a cold or not since both my girls had gotten one. I felt weak and tired, too. My sleep hasn't changed too much since last week which means I'm requiring naps in the daytime. I took a nap yesterday before the kids got home from school. I asked my husband to wake me up at 2:15 PM. He did, and I just couldn't get up. I was SO tired. I stayed in bed and kept on sleeping. He woke me again at about 3:00, at this point I had been napping almost two hours. I still didn't have the energy to get up. I heard my girls come home though and forced myself to get up. I was struggling for a bit.

This is how bad the swelling is this week: one, my feet feel like they're going to burst, two, as I took my girls to school this morning I slipped on my oldest daughter's flip flops quickly. She says to me, "You can't fit those. Your feet are too big. They're all puffy!" I asked, "You can tell they're swollen?" She said, "Yes." My girls have never really understood, until now i think, that my body really does swell up when I say it does. LOL This kind of swelling happens once a month, and I don't have a cycle as I had surgery to stop them, it also happens if I'm not well rested or if I get sick. Anytime I have a cold or flu, I swell up. When I had my fall down the stairs in my house earlier this year, my body swelled up. As a matter of fact, my right shin, still has a dent that looks bruised. If anyone bumps into it, it still hurts. This accident happen several months ago. Doctor said it would heal up in two months, it's probably been more like seven or so, and it's not completely healed. I tell you, I love thyroid/autoimmune disease! LOL

I'm hoping that the swelling will start to go down this week. Sometimes it will take a week, sometimes two. I want to be able to report something next week, whether it be a loss or a gain, but an accurate one.

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This week our contest is sponsored by Christy! She is offering an Earth Theraputics Foot Care set for the prize for this week! If you’d like to sponser a prize, let me know! We are currently out of prizes!

The names of this week’s “losers” were dropped into a coffee cup and this week’s WINNER is Tammy!

Congrats to Christy for being this week’s biggest loser of 3 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 GAIN
Tammy - 1.0 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - No Report
Grace - 1.1 LOSS
Leigh - 0.5 LOSS
Clara - 2.0 GAIN
Dette - 0.5 GAIN
Julie - 1.4 GAIN
Cheryl - No Report
Audrey - 0.8 LOSS
Christy - 3.0 LOSS
Tina - No Report
Danielle - 2.0 LOSS
Jessie - No Report
Steph - No Report
CYN - No Change

This week’s total - 3.5 LOSS!

Taking It Off Together Tuesday Week #16

I was slow in reporting in and look what was offered as a prize! Darn it. Oh, well. I guess my prize is that I'm still down just the one pound I was down after last Monday's official weigh in.

This week our contest is sponsored by Clara who writes the Coming Back to Life! She is offering a hand made tote as a prize this week! Here is a picture! Oh it is SOOO cute and perfect for fall!

The names of this week’s “losers” were dropped into a coffee cup and this week’s WINNER is Julie!

Congrats to Grace for being this week’s biggest loser of 3.2 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 2 LOSS
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1 LOSS
Grace - 3.2 LOSS
Leigh - 2.5 GAIN
Clara - 2.5 GAIN
Dette - 1.0 GAIN
Julie - 0.6 LOSS
Cheryl - NO CHANGE
Audrey - no report
Christy - 2.4 LOSS
Tina - 1.4 GAIN
Danielle - NO CHANGE
Jessie - NO CHANGE
Steph - no report

And welcome back CYN who is reporting no change this week.

This week’s total - 0.8 LOSS! (not the right total...will have to insert that later since I just posted my weight loss and waiting on a couple of others)

Taking It Off Together Tuesday Week #15

Can you believe it's week 15 already? I should have lost ten pounds by now! LOL Oh, well...at least I lost the one pound I gain last week. You want to hear something exciting? Since I've been back down to 212.0 for the last few days, I kept wondering to myself WHEN will I finally get to the 211 mark. I have to wonder no longer, because when I stepped on the scale this morning, I was 211.2. Yeah, baby! Do you know what this means? I'm finally on my way to my first 'small' goal of weighing 210. It just sucks that it took me this long. Did I mention this was without exercise? Can you imagine if I did EXERCISE? I'd probably kick serious butt. LOL

Anyways, I offered to make the prize for this week and have finished it. I will put a pic up later to show Danielle what she has won this week. :)

Here it is: It's just a simple bracelet (I'm an amateur in this jewelry making thing lol, and I didn't want Leigh to have to come up with the prizes every week). I chose the charm "believe" because I 'believe' in everyone to beat the weight loss battle, and isn't it nice to have something to remind you that if you 'believe' in yourself anything is possible? :)


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Last week we continued the contest where everyone who reported a LOSS had their name added to a drawing for a lot of 100 Mary Kay samples! The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Daniellehttp://alberts-family.blogspot.com/">Danielle!

This week our contest is sponsored by Ciara who writes the Life'http://life-w-hashi.blogspot.com/">Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog! She is offering a hand made bracelet as a prize this week!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week (barely, but it's still a loss)! Congrats to Clarahttp://quiltscatsandotherthings.blogspot.com/">Clara for being this week's biggest loser of 2.5 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chrishttp://www.loneblackspider.com/">Chris - 1 loss
Tammyhttp://crazymomw4boys.blogspot.com/">Tammy - 1 gain
Life'http://life-w-hashi.blogspot.com/">Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1 loss
Gracehttp://andthisismypart.blogspot.com/">Grace - 2.2 gain
Leighhttp://eternal-flux.com/">Leigh - 1 gain
Clarahttp://quiltscatsandotherthings.blogspot.com/">Clara - 2.5 loss
Dettehttp://muthahoodcrib.com/">Dette - no change
Juliehttp://duvallschafer.blogspot.com/">Julie - 1.4 gain
Cherylhttp://cheryl-journey-of-life.blogspot.com/">Cheryl - no report
Audreyhttp://makethisthelastone.blogspot.com/">Audrey - 2.4 loss
Christyhttp://www.myspoileddogs.blogspot.com/">Christy - 3.2 gain
Tinahttp://mom2boys2008.blogspot.com/">Tina - no report
Daniellehttp://alberts-family.blogspot.com/"> Danielle- 2 loss
Jessiehttp://jjjjspot.blogspot.com">Jessie - no change
Stephjeffstephplus5@blogspot.com">Steph - no report

This week's total - 0.1 LOSS!

Taking It Off Together Tuesday Week #14

Don't know what it is, but I've been requiring naps daily these last couple of weeks. It's becoming a bother. I gained, but I expected that with all the sleeping I've been doing. Took my hip hop dance class last night. Now my instructor wants the class to perform at the school's carnival next month. Oy vey! I'd better work out a little harder this time. I don't think people want to see a fatty dancing on stage. LOL

The names of this week’s “losers” were dropped into a coffee cup and this week’s WINNER is Dette!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week! Congrats to Grace for being this week’s biggest loser of 3.8 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 LOSS
Tammy - 0.5 GAIN
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1 GAIN *sigh*
Grace - 3.8 LOSS
Leigh - 0.5 LOSS
Clara - No Change
Dette - 1.5 LOSS
Julie - No Change
Cheryl - No Change
Audrey - no report
Christy - 1.4 LOSS
Tina - 0.5 GAIN
Danielle - No Change
Jessie - 3 GAIN
Steph - no report

This week’s total - 4.2 LOSS!

Taking It Off Together Tuesday Week #12

Well, looks like some of us did pretty good this week. Way to go ladies! As for me, I'm just glad I didn't retain more than that. I realized last week that I didn't mention why there was no change. If you look at the post below this one, you'll see why. There was no way to get an accurate weigh in until after all the infection, and medication for it,was out of my system. It's funny how every time something happens to my body, I swell up (including the fall that I mention in the previous post). O.K., no more excuses now. It's time for me to start over and MEAN it.

This week we are adding a contest! It seems we all need motivation after all. So, for everyone who reports a LOSS (maintaining doesn't count, sorry!) on the next weigh in will have their name put in a drawing for 100 assorted Mary Kay samples! So drink your water and count your calories. We can all do this!

And check it out! We had an over all loss! Congrats to Christy for being this week's biggest loser of 5 pounds!!


Chris - 3.2 LOSS
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 0.4 GAIN
Grace - 0.4 LOSS
Leigh - 0.5 GAIN
Clara - 0.5 GAIN
Dette - no report
Julie - 0.2 LOSS
Cheryl - 0 CHANGE
Audrey - 2 GAIN
Christy - 5 LOSS
Tina - 1 LOSS (from last week)

Jessie - 0 CHANGE
Danielle - 2 LOSS

This week's total - 9.0 LOSS!!

Funny What Kind of Things Affect Your Weight Loss

I just realized that on my last Taking It Off Together post, I didn't mention that I did have a change in weight, but because different things were affecting my body, I could not get an accurate result. Here's the deal:

Since I have an autoimmune disease, anytime I get sick, whether it's a cold, UTI, or whatever, it usually hits me harder and longer than someone without one. I'm not sure if this happens to everyone with an autoimmune disease, but this is how it affects me. For example, if I get the flu, it will take me two weeks to recover instead of just one. I still have a bruised area on my leg from the fall I had SEVERAL months ago. I was told that my bruising would heal in about 2 months, it's now 6 months and still not completely healed. I'm sure you get the idea.

So, with the medication and the UTI, my weight was fluctuating a LOT. Then it started to keep going up and up. It went up as much as FOUR pounds in one week. I was suffering from lots of myxedema swelling thanks to the UTI and meds. Soon as I started to recover, I finally went back down and lost all those four pounds. Well, almost all of it. Stay tuned for tomorrow's weigh in.

Taking It Off Together Tuesday Week #11

This past week, actually almost two weeks, has been pretty rough on me. I was getting pretty lethargic. It was so bad that I was taking naps almost everyday. It's unusual for me to take a nap more than once a week since adding the Cytomel last year.

A few days ago I was trying to read a new magazine I received in the mail, and right in the middle, I started dozing off. I was reading, I was sitting upright, but it was almost like being someone narcoleptic. I had ZERO energy which meant no working out. I couldn't understand. I figured it was just that one time a month or every couple of months that I get a little rundown, but this was ridiculous.

One morning I had to go to the bathroom. It kind of burned. It wasn't that intense, but as the day progressed, I was going to the bathroom every five minutes to empty my bladder with very little coming out, a whole lot of pain and increase in blood. I had a nasty UTI. It was kicking my butt: hard.

Luckily, when I called for an appointment so I could get some type of antibiotics, they directed me to the advice nurse and said that they would just start me on the antibiotics. I was glad for that, because if it's not necessary, then why do it.

What's weird is how my body reacted to having this infection. I was retaining water or something, because my body was swelling. Every time I swell, I can feel it in my hands and feet...almost like my skin was too tight for my body (if that makes sense).

I picked up my antibiotics within an hour of calling them, and also picked up AZO pain reliever that's made especially for that specific pain. I took it, and the pain was gone. The antibiotics help me to swell a bit, too. It's weird, because those types of medications never made me do that before thyroid. It also made me a little dizzy, but I figured I could handle that in light of the fact that it was going to help with the infection.

Ha Ha I guess I just repeated myself as I had posted something similar in the last post to this one. Oh, well.

It seems a lot of us are struggling this week, but I know we can come back and have losses to post next week! :)

Here are this week's results:



Chris - 2 GAIN
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 0 CHANGE
Grace - no report yet
Leigh - 3.5 GAIN
Clara - 4 LOSS
Dette - 2 GAIN
Julie - 0.2 LOSS
Cheryl - 0 CHANGE
Audrey - 2 LOSS
Christy - 2 GAIN
Tina - no report yet
Danielle - 0 CHANGE
Jessie - 0 CHANGE

This week's total - 2.3 GAIN!

Taking It Off Together Tuesday Week #2

This week has been one of ups and downs, both weight wise and emotionally. I fluctuated a LOT. I was anywhere between 214 and 218 during the week. I had a lot of myxedema ('swelling' which I mentioned in Thyroid Story part 1, and it's something I'll get into more later). It looks like we are doing great ladies. Even if we gain, we know how much we can fluctuate in the weight loss journey. A lot of things affect our weigh-ins, too, such as weighing in after eating, later in the day, drinking too much caffeine (which can cause swelling). It's a roller coaster with many twist and turns, but at the end, you get off feeling good, right??

Now I'm off to visit everyone. :)


Chris - 1.0 loss!
Tammy - 5.0 loss!
Ciara-Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog -1.0 loss!
Grace - (out of town...I will update when she gets back)Update: .8 loss!
Leigh - 3.0 GAIN! ARG!
Clara - 5.0 loss!
Dette- 0.5 gain
Julie - 0 (first week! Welcome aboard!)

Weight Loss Update #4

I have actually been down to 213 for a bit. But today, as with yesterday, I am once again swollen and retaining stupid water weight. Therefore, I am UP two pounds today. :(

I do know that I will fluctuate. I have been trying to cut the sodas cold turkey with no luck. It is the main reason that I retain water. Very frustrating. I need to just keep drinking actual water to counterbalance I guess.

Thyroid Info Week #2, Video #2

I would get so frustrated when people would tell me that I wouldn't gain weight if I didn't eat so much. But if anyone knows anything about thyroid disease, those who are hypothyroid actually eat very little and get full fast. No matter how much I explained it, it just didn't matter. Like I've mentioned before, I have to work twice as hard to lose weight as those with a normal thyroid. Here's a little more about hypothyroidism and weight gain: