Filed under "Everything You Know is Wrong"

First things first, after 50 squats this morning, am having serious trouble staying in control of my legs.  Kinda fun.  Kinda annoying.

So Slashdot tells us that stretching before exercise may weaken your muscles.  I haven't read the original report yet, but this is really interesting.  I've always been a bit of a lazy stretcher.  I've got moderate flexibility and at times I've stretched a huge amount, and at times not so much.  Through it all I've maintained moderate flexibility.  Now, I may not feel so guilty!

It looks like the recommendation is to go with dynamic stretches (described in the article).  They look pretty cool.

From Slashdot today:

Posted by kdawson on Friday November 07, @09:40AM

from the everything-you-know-is-wrong dept.

Khemisty writes"Back in grade school you were probably taught the importance of warm-up exercises, and it's likely you've continued with pretty much the same routine ever since. Science, however, has moved on. Researchers now believe that some of the more entrenched elements of many athletes' warm-up regimens are not only a waste of time but are actually bad for you. The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds — known as static stretching — primes muscles for a workout is dead wrong. It actually weakens them. In a recent study conducted at the University of Nevada, athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all. Other studies have found that this stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 percent. Also, stretching one leg's muscles can reduce strength in the other leg as well, probably because the central nervous system rebels against the movements."

Wooo hooo!

10 pounds down!  This is the first time I've lost weight since my metabolism blew in '02. 

I can't tell you what a relief this is.

I won't tell you all the numbers involved, but I will tell you this.  I've lost just over 4% of my body weight.  I've lost approximately 11% of my goal loss.

How'd it happen?  Well, I think two things came together:

1.  Strict low carbing.  What can I say?  It works.  I've been a lazy low-carber for years now, so it was easy to drop down to strict low carbing.  Since I've been lazy low-carb for years (since 2000) also means that I'm not missing any comfort foods, but I'm also a lucky person in that I'm not an emotional eater and I don't eat for comfort.  I've been averaging 20 to 40 carbs per day and usually around 1200 to 1400 calories, with a couple of planned lapses for social commitments.  This also means that a good bit of this loss was/is water weight as de-carbing dramatically de-bloats a person, but I'm not complaining.  Last time I tried strict low-carbing was before my wedding in '04, and I didn't even drop a pound of water weight, so that brings us to point two.

2.  88 mcg/day of levothyroxine.  I still don't think I've got a normal metabolism, let alone a fast one, but I think I do have a metabolism now.  Life is so much better than a year ago, and I'm coming up on a year of treatment now.  My chronic headaches are all but gone, I sleep better, I nap much much less, I get hungry for meals almost every day, my skin has cleared up, I sass my husband more (the poor thing), my energy is better, I'm less sensitive to comments, my nails are growing, my hair is growing faster (meaning I have to change the style to save money at the hairdresser's!), and even before the weight loss I'd lost my permanenent myxoedemic bloat.  Looking at pictures from a year or two ago, I barely recognize the tiny-eyed, round-faced person there.

It's certainly worth a pill a day.  Next checkup in a week!  I am hoping for another increase.

At the moment, I'm not crediting exercise for the weight loss.  I'm at the moment an intermittent Crossfitter - I absolutely adore it.  I had intended, since I was one month into this newest venture, to restart Crossfitting this week after a three week lapse, then my pesky husband went and sprained his ankle*.  I'll try for next week.

I'm concerned about this weekend - we're going away with friends for a couple of nights and I've got to sacrifice a little bit of control over my food.  I'm seriously considering bringing a bag of cheese along so I can opt out of meals.

* Softball injury, yes they won the game.  He's fine - can even get his own coffee now and is down to one crutch.  He's a bit uncomfortable, and the ankle is impressively swollen, but improving.  Thanks for asking :)

Up the dosage!

In a nutshell, TSH has gone up (2.6) so the doc upped my dosage. Up to 88 mcg qd.

Bah. Why? Bad luck? My one swim in a chlorine pool? Shingles? Do my thyroid levels bounce around like this all the time? Did we really just happen to catch my thyroid on the brink of catastrophic failure a year ago?

Also, am grumpy that my weight is up a bit - 5lbs. Might be muscle since I've been lifting a lot lately, but it might also be the result of the month spent gingerly on my bum with shingles. Pants aren't any tighter, so that at least is good.

In the So-What-Isn't-Bad-For-Your-Thyroid-These-Days department: http://thyroid.about.com/od/newscontroversies/a/sunscreen.htm

According to research being presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Glasgow, Scotland, there is evidence from animal studies that the chemicals used in sunscreens and some anti-aging products may disturb thyroid function. The chemical studied was 4MBC, which absorbs ultraviolet radiation, along with benzophenone 2 (BP2). The animal studies treated rats with 4MBC for 5 days, which significantly increased levelsof thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), with unchanged T3 and slightly lower T4. These are changes that are "typical of the early stages of hypothyroidism," according to the study's leader Professor Josef Köhrle. The weight of the thyroid glands also increased significantly, another sign of thyroid dysfunction. Interestingly, the thyroid results were prevented if there was adequate iodine in the mixture.

So, um... get plenty of iodine in your diet!

A Case of the Squats

Disgusting! I know! Heeee...

Today was Back Squats 5-5-5-5-5

My previous PR was a paltry 95#, so I figured I'd start at 45#, add ten for each round, and see where I end up.

So I ended up with 5 each of 45#, 55#, 65#, 75#, 85#

It went excellently. Good deep squats on all of them, and I just started to go wobbly towards the end. I felt like I could have started higher and would have had a successful workout, so next time I shall start at 55# or 65#.

That having been said, I did walk out to the car with particularly floaty feeling legs. Margaritas on the neighbor's deck when I got home only added to the effect ;)

How to get a number

Lift heavy stuff. Add weights together. This is your number.

Crossfit Total. Check the CF site for the gnarly details.

Shoulder Press, Back Squat, Dead Lift. Oy.

Last time it was SP 65, BS 95, DL 205 for a Crossfit Total of 365

Today, I doubt I got that for my deadlift last time... couldn't do it today. Either I miscounted or I lost strength. Either way it sucks.

However, my shoulder press and back squat both improved markedly. I'm still figuring out where my limits are, and could probably have lifted these last time if only I had known to try.

Thus, today's effort was:

SP 80, BS 115, DL 190 for a Crossfit Total of 385 (up 20)

Step Away From The Corn Flakes

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/359/3/229

ABSTRACT
Background Trials comparing the effectiveness and safety of weight-loss diets are frequently limited by short follow-up times and high dropout rates.

Methods: In this 2-year trial, we randomly assigned 322 moderately obese subjects (mean age, 52 years; mean body-mass index [the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters], 31; male sex, 86%) to one of three diets: low-fat, restricted-calorie; Mediterranean, restricted-calorie; or low-carbohydrate, non–restricted-calorie.

Results: The rate of adherence to a study diet was 95.4% at 1 year and 84.6% at 2 years. The Mediterranean-diet group consumed the largest amounts of dietary fiber and had the highest ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fat (P<0.05 p="0.01).">

Conclusions: Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets may be effective alternatives to low-fat diets. The more favorable effects on lipids (with the low-carbohydrate diet) and on glycemic control (with the Mediterranean diet) suggest that personal preferences and metabolic considerations might inform individualized tailoring of dietary interventions. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00160108 [ClinicalTrials.gov].)

Pushover

Push Jerks 3-3-3-3-3

Figured I'd start at my last known heft - 65 lb. 45 lb bar with ten extra on either end. Won't say it is easy, but quite manageable. Definitely have to jump under the bar to do it.

Then I formulate the plan. Go up 5 pounds at a time, so I start with 65, go up to 70, 75, 80, and finish up at 85.

So off I toddle. First three done (65 lb) quite nicely. Pop 5 more pounds on either end of the bar for my 70 pounder, lift (grimace), done.

Phew. Okay. Five more pounds on either side, 75 lbs. Lift, grimace, swear, done. Wow, this is harder than I thought it would be.

Then the old brain, however briefly, surfaces for just a moment.

65 plus 5 pounds on either side is 75 not 70. Then, if you follow me, 75 pounds plus 5 pounds on either side is 85.

Duh.

Also, ouch.

Okay... regroup, think again. Add 2.5 lb on either side for the next lift of 90 lbs. Very very hard. Wobbled quite a bit. You really can't get away with dropping the bar at the YMCA so even though I had the safety railings up, I couldn't trust that I wouldn't have to dump it if I went higher, so I did my fourth three, removed the 2 2.5 lb plates and for my final three re-lifted the 85 lbs. That had been my goal anywho.

So to finish we have Push Jerks 3-3-3-3-3 with weights of 65 - 75 - 85 - 90 - 85

In continuing themes: I seemed to be the only person sweating. I grimaced, but didn't grunt. The whole endeavor was *not* assisted by the three fratheads taking turns doing bicep curls behind me. I was uncharacteristically self-conscious. I think I was afeared of letting rip with a ginormous fart (Crossfart?) at an inopportune moment, or some such. Ah... feminine vanity.

Puppycup??

Row, row, row your boat,
Briskly 'cross the drink,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Crossfit makes me stink.

alt.

Row, row, row your boat,
Briskly to the shore,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Crossfit makes me sore.

As a puppy/buttercup I only had to row 1000 m yesterday. It's intended to be a sprint, but I don't sprint until I've got a fairly good idea of how knackered I'm going to be at a more normal pace. First, run your mile, then learn to sprint it.

Well, I expected to really suck at rowing - not so! Maybe all those years of swimming have finally amounted to something, because they sure as heck didn't tone me up, slim me down, or really do anything other than empty my head and keep me sane. I had the crank on the rowing machine on 10. I don't know if 10 is easy, or 10 is hard. (Edit: I just checked online, 10 is hard. Wow.)

However, I was feeling good, so I did the big dawg workout - 2000 m. This makes me feel better for not having truly sprinted, but rather hurried through the whole thing. I was pleasantly knackered at the end, and kind of wanted to keep going. I messed up my watch, but I think it took me about 10.5 minutes.

Grimace

Today's workout was great. It was deadlifts. I love deadlifts. I'm good at deadlifts.

Well, comparatively. Let's put it this way. I don't completely suck at deadlifts in quite the spectacular manner that I suck at the rest of Crossfit. It fits with my image of myself as a 'big strong girl'. Raar.

So the workout was stunning in its simplicity. Deadlifts 5-5-5-5-5. Whee. Five sets of five!

I started with 135#. Really easy weight for me. Then I went up 10 by 10 until I got up to 175#. This isn't anywhere near my PR, but I also only had to hoist the PR up once. The final few resulted in me pulling comic faces at myself in the mirror - bared teeth and grimace.

Oh no... that means I'm the face-puller. Ah well. We had a moaner in the gym today. This fella was bicep curling huge dumbells and moaning fit to star in an x-rated movie. Totally intimidated the lady next to him who was on her first workout with a personal trainer - he had her doing a series of arm-wavings-about with a 5# weight. She was working hard, but made some comments about how she felt so inadequate next to Mr. Moaner. I piped up and told her that she was doing just fine, and she'll get there too and I had this moment of clarity and understood a bit better how my brother encourages me when we work out together. Hmmm.

Anyway... I'm still totally embarrassed about the grimacing, but at least I'm not a moaner. In the gym, I mean.

For James

PR

Deadlift 205#, 7/8/2008

:)

I thought my intestines were going to fly across the room.

About time...

To quote my brother, "When doesn't this suck?".

Saturday was evil. Evil nasty. Evil nasty bad. Evil nasty bad painful. Crossfit Games workout, hard even at the buttercup level. So, I woke up, cleaned the bathroom, kissed my husband, packed the car, and then set off for a weekend of fun. Husband was on call, so he got left at home. First stop, the gym to do some thrusters with the squooshy bar. I was also supposed to do some pullups, but I only had 10 minutes to spare at the gym since I was late for a lunch date, and I misread the instructions. Since I didn't even attempt them, I got a penalty workout that night! Aiee! Not as bad as the usual penalty workout (50 burpees or 200 meters of walking lunges), but still...

I arrive at the Family Compound, slam down a cup of tea, then get dragged off to the gym with my brother to do the second part of the workout. OW. Owie ow ow. Deadlifts and burpees. I don't like burpees and my legs are still sore. Still, I buttercupped it through - super slow on the burpees and respectably fast on the deadlifts. We even upped my deadlifts weight because even though I have zero metabolic conditioning, I am strong.

Back home, nice dinner and chatting, then part three of the workout. Strictly speaking I didn't have to do it as my instructions had told me to pick two of three options. However, I had to do a penalty round for skipping half of the first workout. Oopsie. Thus, I found myself at dusk dragging an American Bulldog out for a fast walk while my brother went for a run.

I've made the command decision not to run until my weight drops a bit - I have no problem walking fast enough to get a good puffy sweat on and I'm worried that at my current prodigious weight that I'll crush my knees. I think I'll try running when I've dropped 20 pounds.

Of course, the next day I got dragged again off to the gym for even less fun. I am going to call this particular incarnation of evil the deadlift-squat-jumpingjack-with-barbell. Aiee. My legs were so stiff that I couldn't get down into a proper squat, but I was getting better at doing the push jerk at the end when James made me put more weight on. More weight = better form. Weird.

So, this morning I was debating whether or not to check out the WOD over at Crossfit. Do I want to know? Sometimes I psych myself out so much for it that the anticipation is much worse than the actual workout. However, it would be helpful to know if I should do it before work, rather than afterwards - plus it might be a fun one! I'm thinking dumbell swings and deadlifts - fun fun fun!!!

So I checked, and was absolutely thrilled to pieces that it was a surprise rest day! Wheee!

So to answer James' question: When doesn't this suck? When you get a surprise rest day, that's when.

Dearth of Pullups

Today's workout brought to you by the Marquis de Sade and his good buddy the Marquis de Masochism.

Officially titled "Death by Pullup", this workout strikes especial fear into the hearts and minds of those of us who, to put it mildly, suck at pullups. Suck badly. Aiee. What to do?

Well, I warmed up as usual, sans pullups of course. I'm not the stupid one. The pushups required a bit of dancing about as the half-bouncy-ball I use as a foot rest decided mid-up to slide jauntily away from the railing I was using. This nearly resulted in a bonked nose, but quick thinking and a subvocal "ohhhhh...noooooo" got us through quite nicely. I'm using the half-bouncy ball to raise my feet slightly because that's easier than sawing down the railing - I'm alternating doing my pushups old-school off the floor (for improved realiness) and doing them off the railing to improve speed, depth, and body control.

The instructions for Death by Pullup are as follows. In the first minute do one pullup, in the second minute do two pullups, in the third minute do three pullups, extrapolate until you vomit.

Now I can't do a pullup, and can barely do them on the assist machine, so I failed in minute three. I can actually keep going doing pullups, but I average two a minute - three kills me. So, for minutes four, five, and six I did controlled and slow dropdowns. Here's hoping that helps me build the strength to do this properly one day.

*sigh*

Sweaty is good, right?

Scaled Crossfit WOD from BrandX

Buttercups:
Three rounds for time of:
10-15 pound Deadlift, 15 reps 10-15 pound
Hang power clean, 12 reps 10-15 pound
Front Squat, 9 reps 10-15 pound
Push Jerk, 6 reps

Hm. Ran into a minor logistical issue here - I didn't have access to a 15 lb bar. I knew I could probably survive the darned thing with a 45 lb bar based on my experiences yesterday and knowing that I'm a strong deadlifter and squatter (comparatively). However, I've done some reading and I knew that there was a key piece of information in the instructions.

"for time"

This means that this is, in addition to strength training, also a metabolic conditioning workout. The weight is meant to be low enough to give you the ability to hustle and get the heart rate up. Compare this to yesterday which, when you're really doing it (rather than playing with an empty bar like I was) you really try to get as much weight on the bar as possible, and if it takes you a bit longer to get through it, well then that's fine.

So, I found a heavy squooshy bar and used that. I hoisted it up next to a 45 lb bar, and it seemed lighter, so I think I did the workout today with about a 30 lb weight? So much for following instructions. First round was about 2:30, second round I forgot to set my watch going again but I estimate a 2:10 (I know it was my shortest round), third round was 2:14. I think I was a bit tentative on the first round because I didn't have a good sense of whether or not this was going to kick my ass, or just tickle it. Turns out it was somewhere in between.

So I hustled. This means I also sweated. I also got bit red faced. I'm red faced sweater - add in the obesity, and this makes me a pathetic looking gym rat. However, I had my hustle on, knew I was doing some good for myself, and considered it a point of pride that I did this while I was still sore from my previous three workouts - though the sorenesses are all melding together a bit now. Plus, my arms looked totally muscly and huge - always a plus!

Much like at my old gym, nobody else in the weights area was red faced, pink in the face, or sweating. We didn't even have a grunter. There were probably five or six other people there. C'mon... there's got to be at least one grunter in the bunch.

Oh wait... maybe that was me? Note to self - check for grunting next time. Also, try not to flick sweat on mirror. That's a touch pathetic.

Ow

Ow ow owie ow.

After a scintillating month of shingles (pretty much all better now, thanks!) I'm back in the gym.

Ow!

Two days ago was working on my pushups and pullups, and am still really really sore from that. Today was shoulder press work:

Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps (5-5-2-3-5 actual)

I did it all with just the 45 lb bar. This was an interesting lesson for me. I was struggling with the last shoulder press and didn't see how I was going to do basically the same thing 40 more times. No way, no how.

However, I'd done my homework - watched the videos, and realized that this is designed really well. I couldn't have done many more shoulder presses, but the bit of heave-ho that you give yourself with the push press makes it possible. Yeah! For the push jerk, I really had to use my legs and jump under the bar to get it up over my head - at this point my arms were blown, so it was a good lesson.

Hm. Maybe they do know what they're talking about. In the meantime I'm considering drinking my coffee through a straw. Less arm movement that way.

Ow.

Campus in the Springtime

I'm working on campus four days a week for a couple of months, and if you ever get the opportunity to do so in the springtime, I highly recommend it.

Every day at lunchtime, I set off for a walk from the College of Design, through the mall, over the Mississippi and back. Usually, I pick up a bit of lunch on the way to eat at my desk when I return. Combining this with parking at-distance from the U, it means I get about three miles of walking in a day. Not much, but when you're battling having no metabolism at all, every little bit counts.

Today was classic Spring. No preachers on the mall, but instead there was a pretty big rally and march protesting China and the Olympics in Beijing on behalf of Tibet. The milling throngs had mainly three parts:

1. Tibetan Sympathisers - among them, perhaps even some Tibetans. They are walking around with t-shirts, banners, symbolic torches, and having themselves a nice and orderly demonstration. Well, apart from the two shouting matches I saw. You can spot these guys from a distance by their air of moral superiority and the smugness of doing-something-about-a-bad-thing.

My favorite poster said "Chinese students are brainwashed". As if we all aren't, in some way or another.

2. Bewhildered and Hurt Chinese students, staff, and faculty. Some get angry and shout, some make reasoned arguments ("separate Chinese government from Chinese people" being chief among these.) Some hustle by, looking sad.

3. Jaded passers by. Many people, insulated by their white earbuds, sunglasses, and businesslike gait, just march on by. Spend enough time at the U and you'll see enough protests, marches, and rallies to choke a horse.

I don't know all the nitty gritty details of the Tibet situation, but it does seem a sad one. However, today, the people I felt badly for were the Chinese students standing in sad huddles, and walking with their heads down.

Zimbabwe? Really?

With a combination of colds, travel, coughs, and a soupcon of laziness, I've sort of fallen off the exercise bandwagon. I'm running after it - went for a lovely long walk yesterday and didn't cough once! In fact, I only coughed three times yesterday, and that's awesome news. I've got my workout gear with me, and have scheduled a visit to the gym after work.

Something else I'm doing is tracking my daily consumption on DailyPlate.com. I've learned a few things.

I eat more carby stuff than I should, but still way less than the average American.

According to DailyPlate, I'm allowed about 1800 calories per day for my weight and activity level, if I want to lose 2 lbs a week.

According to them I generally do eat 1800 calories per day naturally. Awesome! I'm not losing weight much, but we all know that there are various other things at play here including basal metabolic rate. Actually, I often eat quite a bit less.

When I have a bad day, my calories can go as high as 2400. That's really really high for me, and happens every couple of weeks or so.

So, it was no small measure of amusement that I came across this today: http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2006/12/27/do_americans_eat_3790_calories_per_day.php

So it seems that the average American from 2000 to 2002 ate 3790 calories per day. WOW.

I'd love to eat that much. Mmm.

Apparently in 1979-1981 the average American ate 3180 calories - a difference from today of 610 calories. Approximately the calories in a McDonald's Super Sized French Fries.

A sobering note. Zimbabwe (according to the link above) in 2000-2002 showed a daily consumption of 2,020 calories. That's still more than I eat.

Finally, check this out : http://www.calorierestriction.org/

There is research showing that restricting calorie consumption can lengthen lifespan. I can't really comment since I haven't read the research yet. They steer clear of making daily caloric intake recommendations (very smart, imho) on that site. More information here, including a pretty compelling discussion of the risks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction

Why do I bring this up? Well, the New York Times has an interesting article here: http://nymag.com/news/features/23169/

Dude tried the calorie restriction diet. He ate 1800 calories per day. Granted, he's 5'11" and I'm barely 5'9", but still... that's interesting.

Back on the horse that bit ya...

Well, something like that.

The last two weeks have been an assorted plague of illnesses - backache/headache (me), flu (loved ones), heart attacks (yup, loved ones - doing okay now though), followed by a monster cold (me *cof*).

Guess what my wod was today?

Walk from the car into work. At the end of the day, repeat in reverse. (To be fair, it's about .8 mile, nice little leg stretcher)

Whee. Feel the burn.

Plan for tomorrow is much the same. I'm wiped. Luckily we've got some beautiful spring weather right now. Minnesota might get brutal winters, but we get great light. The coldest days have this brilliant blue and clear sky - simply lovely. We get similar skies in the early warm spring days. Really puts a bounce in your step and a wheeze in your lungs.

Crossing fingers, I'll be up for a half-speed buttercup wod on Friday. In the meantime, I'll be sleeping with Prince Robitussin.

The Cookies. I did not toss them.

That's good, right? Oh, metabolic conditioning, how you hate me.

Scaled WOD. Yesterday's since I'm off schedule.

Four rounds for time of: Run 200 meters 15 Squats 10 Back Extensions. Looks easy, huh?

Paltry performance. A month ago I'd have made it easily. Darn that laziness!

Came in at about 3:45 per. I'm such a wuss that I walked the last two so as not to toss the cookies, and my time improved.

The good news is that I'm really hungry now. Yay exercise and levothyroxine!

The bad news is that my hair is falling out. Went to get the hair done today and every time they combed my hair, tons came out. When I commented on it the gal said cheerily "Oh, I've seen worse!". Hmm. At least it's a decent cut and color now. This is a well known side effect of both Hashimoto's, and the treatment, so it's yet another thing to add to the list.

I also had a grumpy moment in the locker room. I saw my reflection from afar and was dismayed to see that my cheeks had puffed back out. Darned thyroid, darned puffiness. Sulky moment. Then I looked again. The shadow I'd taken to be puffiness along my cheek was actually cheekbone. Ah, I rescind my sulky moment. Yay for cheekbones! I haven't seen them in about five years now! Yay! I had dinner with a dear old friend last week and she told me quite cheerily "You look great! Better than you have in years!" she then added "You *are* still fat though!".

Heh. She really *is* a very good friend, and as such is allowed to say such things. She edited to clarify that she basically wanted me to know that she wasn't blowing sunshine up my bum ... that I really do look better. *grin*

Well that's impressive.

On Friday, I went to go workout and it was one of those evil ones that have that word "max" in them.

CFWU minus pushups and pullups,

3 rounds:
max pushups
max pullups

Well, I didn't do well. I hadn't eaten, and I was still really really sore from the previous workout. So, I did my best, got changed, and went home.

Once I got home, I realized that the entire workout had been less than a typical CFWU. D'oh!

When I do the CFWU, I take as long as I need to to get in 10 of everything. On Friday I was working hard at doing things continually, with no blood sugar, and massive full-body creakiness.

Note to self: Eat.

On a personal side note, some of y'all may be interested to know that my parents are posting about their adventuring over here: http://nikonvict.blogspot.com Go leave 'em a comment, would ya? There's nothing quite like seeing your comments explode as a welcome to the blogosphere. Plus, if you comment, then they'll post more often and it'll be easier to keep an eye on them. I might even save some minutes on my cellphone ;)

From Peach to White

Today I am moving at the speed of creaky. Ah well, what did we expect? Am taking a rest day today - going to work out every other day for a couple of weeks while I get back into the swing of things.

Have had a couple of lovely phone calls this week. First thing Monday morning, the doctor's office called and said that the doctor had reviewed my question from last week and the conversation that I'd had with the nurse. She confirmed that the goal is to get my TSH to the low end of normal, round about 1 or so *and* to a level where I feel good. She said that the goal is nebulous, since everyone feels best at a different TSH. This is fabulous news! I was thrilled to bits.

Got another phone call this morning, the doctor had had a chance to look over my blood test results from last week and the verdict is... up the dosage! I'm going up from 37.5 mcg to 50 mcg - doubling the original dose she gave me back in October. Moving up from the peach pill, to the white pill.

This is great news, in that backhanded well-wouldn't-it-be-nice-if-I-didn't-need-it kind of way. This also serves to confirm, yet again, that I was not imagining things and that it was appropriate for me to be, shall we say, assertive in obtaining treatment.

I want to make a t-shirt that says "Check Your Thyroid" and wear it out in public. Or perhaps, "Check Your Thyroid: Make Sure You Get Treated: TSH Only Tells PART Of The Story"
EDIT: Done! http://www.cafepress.com/jehr

Back On The Horse

Giddyup.

After a couple of weeks of doing components of CFWU at home and discovering that I can do a passable dip off the edge of the kitchen countertop, we finally managed to sign up at the Y. It's only 10 minutes away (in no traffic) as opposed to 25 minutes away (in no traffic) for the entirely awesome but too far away former gym. This is great - only took me an hour to drive there, dress, sweat for a while, re-dress, and go. Yay! It's also next to my favorite fancy grocery store, the library, my doctor's office, my pharmacy, my Barnes & Noble, and lots of tasty restaurants.

My CFWU was awesome. My situps were great, my pushups were no more or less wobbly than the last time I did them in a gym. Pullups were at once awful and awesome. On maximum assist I had to break them up into sets - my strength curve needs to go up, and my weight curve needs to go down before I'll make much progress on these. However, I'm actually doing pullups now, thanks to the fancy assist machine, rather than doing pulldowns in a half crouch. Dips were awesome, next week I'll reduce the assist on those.

The WOD was Front Squat 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1. The idea is that with the first one, you do a reasonably high weight in your range, and add weight so that by the last one you should be at your absolute limit and thisclose to biffing it.

Since I've been out of commission for a bit, I didn't exactly do this. I just did Front Squat 2-10 with the 45lb bar. It went really well. I think next time this comes up I'll be in good shape to push a bit harder.

I do miss the back extension machine at the other gym. I tried doing Good Mornings, but didn't feel like I was doing anything other than stretching my hamstrings. Next time I'm going to try doing them over an exercise ball...

Again with the letters.... "U" and "V"

Well heck.

http://thyroid.about.com/od/newscontroversies/a/sunscreen.htm
"chemicals called MBC and benzophenone 2 (BP2), frequently found in sunscreen and cosmetics are ...potent disruptors of the pituitary-thyroid hormonal system in rats. It's early days, but if the same effect is discovered in humans, then we may have to rethink how we protect children and those with existing thyroid problems or those in iodine-deficient areas from sun exposure."

I've long been of the opinion that sunscreen is evil. Unfortunately, I'm one of the pale people and it is a necessary reality in my life.

A few years ago I read an excellent paper talking about Vitamin D, sun exposure, and health. I originally was tipped off to this by Slashdot (http://www.slashdot.org)

"[The] trial involving 1,200 women, and found those taking the vitamin had about a 60-per-cent reduction in cancer incidence, compared with those who didn't take it, a drop so large — twice the impact on cancer attributed to smoking — it almost looks like a typographical error. And in an era of pricey medical advances, the reduction seems even more remarkable because it was achieved with an over-the-counter supplement costing pennies a day. One of the researchers who made the discovery, professor of medicine Robert Heaney of Creighton University in Nebraska, says vitamin D deficiency is showing up in so many illnesses besides cancer that nearly all disease figures in Canada and the U.S. will need to be re-evaluated. 'We don't really know what the status of chronic disease is in the North American population,' he said, 'until we normalize vitamin D status.'" http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/29/0724246

Fascinated by this blurb, I went to the original article in the Globe and Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070428.wxvitamin28/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

I was struck by the following quote (made, of course, much more exciting by being taken out of context - do go read the original article)

"The sun advice has been misguided information "of just breathtaking proportions," said John Cannell, head of the Vitamin D Council, a non-profit, California-based organization.
"Fifteen hundred Americans die every year from [skin cancers]. Fifteen hundred Americans die every day from the serious cancers." "

Taking the source back another step, I read through a few of Reinhold Vieth's papers, and came across this beauty: http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/16/3/422 : "We found strong evidence to support the hypothesis that vitamin D could help prevent breast cancer. However, our results suggest that exposure earlier in life, particularly during breast development, maybe most relevant."

Having read these, I don't wear sunscreen on a day-to-day basis. That means that if I'm having a very indoorsy kind of day, I'll get at least 20 minutes or so on my hands and face (more in the summertime) running errands and taking the dog out. If I'm not going out at all, I'll go sun myself for about 10 or 15 minutes in a bikini if possible. Otherwise I stick to the shade and have a nice big sun hat. If I'm sailing, hiking, or going to be in sunshine for long enough to burn, then I bite the bullet and put on sunscreen. I'd rather wear a longsleeve shirt though. I eat salmon, drink milk from grass fed cows, and take a supplement.

This amount of sun exposure usually gives me just enough of a tan so that I don't burn if I end up being outside for an hour in the summer in Minnesota without other protection. In previous years when I kept myself too pale, I could burn too easily and would actually burn more often than I do now.

Hm. I've just realized that in recent years, I've rarely worn shorts in the summertime, and I usually have a long sleeve shirt on. I wonder if that has been a hypothyroidism symptom? Will be interesting to see if my clothing choices change this summer.

Brought to you by the letters "Y", "T", "S", and "H"

We went to the local Y last night to check it out and it was awesome. There's a water slide!! Of course, I'm a little hesitant to get back into a pool until Big G, the goiter, has withered away. The weights area was small, but looks like it has pretty much everything I'll need. The Y was packed, and there was no one in the weights area, and that's actually fine with me.

My phone died yesterday. Dead as a doornail. Whoops... where did I put the charger? So I charged it up last night, and found a flurry of messages on my voicemail this morning from the Doctor's office. Three triage nurses called regarding the question I'd left at the front desk yesterday. Three! Wow! Awesome customer service.

Finally got the chance to chat with one of the nurses this afternoon and explained why I'd asked the question that I'd asked, and what my agenda was (more drugs please! thanks!). She was great, reading me stuff from my chart, letting me know that they did already have the results of yesterday's TSH test, letting me know how the Doctor usually does things, etc. She was great.

She said that what would probably happen is that the doctor will look at my results when she gets back from her vacation and have a nurse call me to ask how I would like to proceed - up the dosage, or hold steady. She indicated that this was usually what happens when the TSH is neither alarmingly high, or low.

So what's the verdict? 3.54.

August: 2.94
October: 2.31
November: 3.65 (after 8 weeks of 25 mg levothyroxine)
February: 3.54 (after 8 weeks of 37.5 mg levothyroxine)

I am intrigued. Why is my TSH still higher than it was before treatment? By all rights it should have dropped with the medication I'm taking. The endocrine system is so strange and complicated, it makes me wonder what the heck these numbers really mean.

Phlebotomists and Halogens

Today is blood-test day to see how I'm reacting to the new dosage of levothyroxine. I've been on it for 8 weeks, and I feel better. My nails and hair are growing, my eyebrows are thicker (weird, huh?) and my body shape is changing. I'm still pretty sleepy, and I haven't lost more than a pound or two, but I am thinner. My skin is clearer. My cheekbones are coming back. My eyes are much less puffy. I sleep better - I often sleep through the night now without having to get up. I have less heartburn, and an improved appetite. If I'm eating correctly (meaning, if I haven't eaten at Fogo de Chao recently ;) then I get hungry for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. Then I'm hungry again before bed. It's wonderful.

As I'd hinted at in the last post, I left a message at the doctor's office for my endocrinologist. I've asked her what her goals are for my treatment. Is she aiming for a particular TSH, is she aiming for a particular level of me not complaining? Something else?

Depending on what she says, I'm going to tell her my goals. My goal is a TSH of .4 *and* complete resolution of all symptoms. This includes normal body weight. I would like her to continue increasing my dosage until I suffer the ill effects of having too much, then backing off slightly. If we don't do this, then I will always be guessing that I would feel so much better, be so much healthier at the next dose up.

Though I don't trust TSH particularly as an indicator of health, I think it's an interesting place to start. My main goal is, of course, resolution of symptoms. However, by aiming for this particular TSH we have something we can measure, and that's always interesting, and might show us patterns we wouldn't otherwise see. So far my TSH has been approximately:

August: 2.94
October: 2.31
November: 3.65 (after 8 weeks of 25 mg levothyroxine)
February: 3.54 (after 8 weeks of 37.5 mg levothyroxine)

I, as you know, haven't been good about exercising lately. Hopefully we can switch to the YMCA at the end of the month, and that will make things much easier because I won't have to block off 2 hours to work out.

However, this has been interesting. I've seen improvements in my puffiness, and my body fat ratio. My average weight has seemingly dropped a tiny bit (maybe two pounds) but my measurements have decreased in the areas where I carry my podge. The nice thing about this is that my body is healing even without Crossifitting. I'm all about separating out the variables! Interesting though it may be, I've got to get back in the gym, I miss it.

I'm going to do the CFWU tonight, tomorrow, and the next day. Hammering hard to get back in the game, then a rest day, then back on the bandwagon. Harrass me if I don't do this, please.

Having gone for my blood test, I'm on another research kick. Why did I get this? Why is this so common now? This isn't about making my disease into my identity, or about crying "poor me!" and cultivating my victimhood. This is about understanding. What about this can be controlled? Where does the genetic component end and the environmental one begin?

I do know that I have unwittingly put myself in the path of a couple of extremely insidious bad guys in thyroidia over the past years. What bad guys? The Halogens.

I love to swim. I swam about 6 hours a week for three years of my undergrad, and about 3 to 5 hours a week while I was in grad school. That's a lot of swimming, but certainly not alarming. Lots of people swim that much. Lots and lots of people swim more than that and are just fine.

However, the University of Minnesota keeps their pools sanitary with Bromine.

I also drink municipal water which is kept sanitary with Chlorine.

I also have pretty decent teeth now from years of treatment of Fluorine.

Aaand, I've got an autoimmune disease of the Thyroid. Thyroids love and need Iodine.

Go look at a periodic table. Have a link: http://www.corrosionsource.com/handbook/periodic/

Look in column VIIA. Top to bottom it reads: Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine, Astatine. Let's ignore Astatine for the time being, it's radiocative, and doesn't occur in nature.

So what?

Well, here we enter the realm of Halogen Displacement. I'm not very good at chemistry so we'll let Dr. Jarvis continue on from here:

"The mechanism behind "halogen displacement" was probably best described by J.C. Jarvis, M.D. (Folk Medicine, Henry Holt & Co., 1958, HB, p. 136), who wrote: "The clinical activity of any one of these four halogens is in inverse proportion to its atomic weight. This means that any one of the four can displace the element with a higher atomic weight, but cannot displace an element with a lower atomic weight. For example, flourine can displace chlorine, bromine and iodine because flourine has a lower atomic weight than the other three. Similarly, chlorine can displace bromine and iodine because they both have a higher atomic weight. Likewise, bromine can displace iodine from the body because iodine has a higher atomic weight. But a reverse order is not possible. A knowledge of this well-known chemical law brings us to a consideration of the addition of chlorine to our drinking water as a purifying agent. We secure a drinking water that is harmful to the body not because of its harmful germ content but because the chlorine content now causes the body to lose the much-needed iodine..." (http://www.altcancer.com/lugols.htm)

So why is this happening with me and not my brother? My brother is the most similar person to me on the planet - we were raised together, ate the same food, saw the same doctors, travelled to the same places until he was about 20 years old. We even lived together until I was 24. Some may cite the feminine predisposition to thyroid disease, and they might have a point there. However there are two important differences in our history.

When I was 9 and my brother was 13 we changed dentists. Our new dentist gave us fluoride treatments on our teeth. I believe that he did this until the patient was 15 or so? That means I got six treatments, and my brother got two.

When I was 20 I started swimming very regularly in bromine pools and continued that more than weekly for about six of the last 12 years.

Was this enough to damage my thyroid? Am I grasping at straws? Am I reading too much into too little? Hmmm...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Presenting an Appetite!

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks. It turns out that when you work for yourself, then take a month off, you're mighty busy when you do return! Am just finding myself surfacing from the huge pile of work that stacked up while I was away. Just have some normal ploddy little things left to finish up, then my filing (urgh), then getting all our tax stuff together for our accountant. Quelle thrill!

I also confess that I haven't been crossfitting. I have not lost my taste for the Kool-Aid, it's just been hard to get to the gym. Partially it's been laziness in the depth of the cold and dark Minnesota winter, partially it's been work, and partially it's been the fact that my gym, though awesome and groovy, is actually kind of a long way away. Am thinking of converting over to the local YMCA - it's under 10 minutes away.

Blah blah blah. This is all boring.

Interesting stuff? Hm, three things.

1. My measurements are down again! My weight also seems down just the tiniest bit too. Yay!

2. My fingernails are growing! This is new and strange for me. I've had to learn the fine art of the manicure. Actually, I just take an emery board to the loo with me. Multitasking. This is the resolution of a wonky thyroid symptom - weak, useless fingernails. I never had to trim them before, they just ripped, or frayed, or peeled away. What joy. Mum says my hair is growing faster now too.

3. I'm hungry multiple times per day now. This is also taking some getting used to. Previously, if I had a busy day coming up and knew I was going to miss breakfast and/or lunch, no biggie. That would just mean I'd be hungry for dinner. I usually didn't get hungry in the normal way either - I'd get moody or feel a bit ill. That's how I would know I should eat something. Now I get the entirely pleasurable sensation of growly tummy and daydreaming about food. It's so much fun! I usually have a small cup of oatmeal for breakfast, small sandwich or bowl of soup for lunch, and meat/fish and a veg for dinner. If I don't have these meals I find myself rooting around in the kitchen looking for snacks (a glass of V8 usually takes care of that quickly. Yum.). It's been an interesting balancing act. I try to eat just enough at a meal so that I'm hungry in time for the next one. However, I sometimes misjudge and find myself rooting for snacks, or skipping a meal, then rooting around for snacks. Am having a hard time with dinners though - most nights I do go to bed a bit hungry.

I have a blood test next week to see how my numbers are shaping up. When those results come in, then I think it's time for a chat with the doctor (via a nurse, certainly). Here's my plan:

Ask the doctor what her goals are for my treatment: Is she aiming for a particular TSH? Is she waiting to see when I stop complaining so much? Is she going for a gut reaction?

Depending on her reply, this is what I'd like to tell her. So far, I have felt better with each increased dose. I would like to continue to increase the dose until I feel worse (hyperthyroid). At that point, make a note, do a bloodtest, and back down the dosage a bit. I'd like to get my TSH below .4 mU/l

I've been trying to find out what the statistics are for very healthy people. Athletes who easily maintain good weight, are mentally stable, no autoimmune disorders, no hypertensions, yadda yadda. I want my numbers to match theirs, not the numbers of "normal" people when I look around and realize that I don't want to look like a "normal" person, I want to look and feel great. Thus, I'd like to try and get my blood chemistry to match that of people who look and feel great, not just a statistical middle-ground.

For some interesting reading on BMI vs TSH go here:

http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/90/7/4019?ck=nck Small Differences in Thyroid Function May Be Important for Body Mass Index and the Occurrence of Obesity in the Population

Good graphic :
http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/vol90/issue7/images/large/zeg0070535900001.jpeg?ck=nck

I've found a few studies that find no correlation between low BMI and low TSH, but I don't agree with how those studies chose their populations (one study that found no correlation, only had subjects that had been identified with some thyroid abnormality).

Found another good article on TSH Reference Ranges. http://thyroid.about.com/od/gettestedanddiagnosed/a/tshtestwars.htm The TSH Reference Range Wars: What's "Normal?", Who is Wrong, Who is Right...

It's a very good discussion on the ranges, and how some physicians will see someone with a TSH near three (like me) and say "you're fine", but someone who is receiving treatment will have a target TSH near one. If three is fine, why not aim for three, eh?

Lovely chatting, but I've got to go. I'm hungry. :)

Really?

Wow.

This has not been a good month. Holiday eating (yum!), didn't go overboard but still had more sugary goodies than I'm used to. Travel eating (yum!), didn't go overboard, but selection is limited. Stomach flu (not so much on the yum), made me a picky eater for over a week.

Also haven't been Crossfitting. Have been keeping fairly active, but this last week has been cold, I've been wiped out from travelling, and there's just a touch of laziness thrown in there. Also, I've been sleeping a whole bunch again - whether or not it's the thyroid thing, winter, illness, or some other thing, it's a bit frustrating.

So, it was with some trepidation that I started myself back on track today and pulled out the tape measure to see how I'm doing. My weight is down a couple of pounds since I got home from LA, so I'm hoping the travel bloat has passed.

I did not expect this:

1/23/2007 (10/30/2007)
Thigh 27" (27.25")
Belly 42" (44.5")
Bum 45.75" (46.5")
Boobs No Bra 47.75" (47.25")
Chest Above Boobs 42.75" (44.5")
Upper Arm 14.75" (14")

Total 219" (224.5")

Since Halloween, I'm down 5.5 inches on my body measurements. Wahooo!

Since Thanksgiving, I'm down 2.25 inches. *grin*

I don't feel thinner, I don't think I look thinner, but I can't argue with these numbers. They prove that in some small ways, I am making progress.

Really.

Back from LA

Well it's been an interesting two weeks. Return home from Williamsburg, promptly get stomach flu/gastroenteritis, immediately upon recovery drive to Los Angeles.

Phew. Am exhausted.

Didn't CF on the drive out there - 5 days of driving and feeling jelly legged from the flu. Once we arrived in LA, I helped my friends move into their sweet apartment in Marina Del Rey, and started re-entering the world of the active person by going for walks.

Walk One : From my cousin's west of the marina, walked up to muscle beach then back to her place.

Walk Two : Dropped off about a mile north of muscle beach by another cousin, walked home to my friend's place just east of the marina.

Walk Three : Around the Getty Museum all day.

I had intended to do a longer walk, but it didn't end up working out. It was also a plan that received gasps of incredulity from locals. "You plan to walk WHERE?" "Do you know how far that is?" "I'll drive you!" "I'll drive you halfway!"

It's okay ma'am. I have a hat.

Here's the plan. I still consider it an active plan as I'd like to do this next time I'm in the area.

Start at my friend's apartment. Walk approximately one mile to the beach around the marina. Walk approximately four miles north along the beach to the Santa Monica Pier. Turn around, reverse directions, and go home.

I'm good at reading maps. I have a degree (undergrad) in Geology. That's reading maps. I have a degree (grad) in Landscape Architecture. That's reading maps. I spent my childhood following my parents through the woods and the desert, sometimes leading them. That's reading maps.

I have a good map of LA, and I have a ruler. I estimated that the walk was between 10 and 11 miles round trip (Google agrees with me). The walk is flat, in easy distance of food, water, and shelter. The walk is interesting. The walk is at sea level. It is probably the easiest 10 mile walk you can imagine, and it was almost unimaginable to the several people I pitched the idea to. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the 13-miler around Minneapolis' Chain of Lakes? I was also raised with my father telling me about the Lyke Wake Walk - a 42 mile slog through heather, bracken, and mud in Yorkshire. To be completed in one go, in one day.

Today I'm just going to do the CFWU to start getting into CF mode. Tomorrow is rest day I think, then back at it full speed.

The good news is that even with all the awful (but tasty!) travel food I've been eating, my weight isn't up. Phew.

Oy. Ve. Redux

Turns out the creeping crud was, and is, stomach flu. Am doing much better today - can sit up for entire minutes!

Of course, this has not been fun, and in some ways it could not have come at a better time. It didn't happen while I was staying at the inlaws, and it didn't happen during my road trip that begins this sunday.

It did, however, happen during my three days of work scheduled between those two trips. Boo.

The full body aches were the worst - even Crossfit doesn't do that at ya.

Feeling like Helen

Oy. Ve.

Happy New Year everybody! I woke up late yesterday after a long hard day of travelling. We came back from Williamsburg Virginia via Atlanta and Chicago, and our bags even got to go sightseeing without us! They got back the next day, safe and sound, and completely mum about their extra journey.

Simplest New Year's Eve ever. Romey and I ordered pizza, watched a movie, and I was in bed at 9:38 PM. Romey's made of tougher stuff than me and saw in the new year solo, playing video games.

New Year's Day was lovely, though Romey made the unfortunate discovery that bronchitis plus 5 degrees outside plus clearing the driveway equals lung damage and relapse. He has spent most of his time since clearing the driveway on the couch and coughing.

I woke later than usual and was pootling around the house when Jmz calls. I ask him immediately how he feels. "Uh, fine?" was the puzzled response. "Me too!" I say, "Isn't it wonderful being in our thirties?" He then invites me to come over and meet him at his gym, and have a go at Helen.

It went pretty well. I suck at pull-ups. No way to gloss over that one. At least I'm working at it - am hoping to be able to do them by next New Year's, or at least spend the year trying. Jmz and I both agree that the primary issue is my weight, and the secondary issue is my strength. The weight is up a touch after the holidays, but I am more slender than I have been in a few years, so I'm obviously trading a bit of pudge for a bit of muscle. May I be lucky enough for this to continue. The pull-ups assist machine was the same old friend I used for pull-up assistance for my three years of weightlifting as an undergrad. I had it on max assist, and biffed many of them. I attempted each one though, and managed the yo-heave-ho my way up a couple of times using swinging, pumping the assisting foot-rest, and light cursing.

The running went just fine. Was only for 200 meters, and I held a 10 minute mile pace, though I ended up pretty winded at the end and with a stitch.

The dumbell swings, at 10#, were laughably easy.

Jmz says that apart from the pullups, I'm not really a buttercup any more. *grin*

Anywho, today I feel like Hell. H-E-Double Hockeysticks. The creeping crud that I have deftly avoided for so long has finally caught up with me. Back of nose is goopy, lungs are claggy *coff* *coff*, energy is low, appetite is completely non-existent, and headache is persistent. From Helen to Hell in 20 short hours. Boo hoo.

My arms and back are lovely and sore though, and that at least feels very very good.