Not Eating Well...

I was diagnosed with Graves' disease in 2004. It's an autoimmune disease of the thyroid, and it typically manifests itself in hyperthyroidism. (Hyperthyroidism, as I later learned, often causes rapid weight loss, heart palpitations, and exhaustion.) And of course, I had none of the symptoms of Graves' disease OR hyperthyroidism. My GP caught the funky numbers in my annual physical. (Thank God I'm not afraid of my annual physicals.)

So I have been a patient of an excellent endocrynologist for several years now. Good guy. He's smart, funny, and best part of all: I can understand what he's saying to me. (He's good at speaking like a layman...nice perk!) I was on meds for about 6 months so my thyroid could get regulated. And when Doc took me off the meds, it was with the hopes that my thyroid would self-regulate again.

The treatment worked, I've maintained normal thyroid hormone levels for about a year now. But we're still being very careful, watching my blood levels every two months.

I've got to stay committed to a very healthy lifestyle in order to keep the Graves' disease at bay. Exercise, a balanced diet and reducing my weight were all big successes for me in the past year. The danger in "letting myself go," so-to-speak, is that I could land myself firmly in the land of Diabetes if I'm not careful. So I've got to head the Good Doctor's advice and focus my attention on health.

Reducing my weight is really not possible while I'm pregnant. I'm a plus-sized woman. I have been advised by my OB not to gain more than a small amount of weight. In order to avoid gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and all sorts of other nasties, I've got to attempt to let my body maintain its weight equilibrium as best as possible.

This is not easy when one has constant nausea. The only foods I want to eat now are just loaded with carbs: beans and rice, potatoes, TOAST TOAST TOAST.

I made a poor choice for dinner last night involving fish and chips. Except I really only ordered it for the chips. And I didn't even eat half of the moderate-for-a-restaurant-sized portion. But I did a number on my tummy last night and was up half the night paying the dear price for my bad choice.

UGH.

So I'm outting myself here as a Carb Addict. And I'm going to get myself right with the food pyramid. Life is full of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and low-fat dairy products. I'm ready to start eating like a normal, healthy person even if my tummy and my brain are telling me otherwise.

(My current internal dialogue goes something like this:
You're special.
You're not feeling well.
You're With Child.
Be good to yourself.
Be good to yourself with the food you WANT to eat.
Don't worry about booting up your prenatal vitamin, just don't bother with that right now.
Eat what you like, and you can get back on the balanced diet bandwagon in your second trimester.)

It's time for me to get back to being healthy. I'm sick of the all-day-sickness, but I'm even more sick of feeling like crud because I'm not giving my body the proper fuel.

Bon Appetit, Mamasita.