A month ago, nearly to the day I wrote here about how this year I was really going to focus on my health in a number of ways. The main thing I have changed is my diet and by that I don’t mean I am “dieting” because that simply does not work. What I have chosen to do is change my lifestyle.

This actually started 3 years ago when I first joined Weight Watchers at a weight of 234 lbs or ~106 kg for you Europeans out there using the metric system. For 2 years I followed the healthy guidelines (mostly) Weight Watchers sets forth and was very successful in losing 20 lbs. Since then my weight loss has remained pretty stagnant. Earlier this year I found out it was because of a hormone deficiency. Specifically, I’ve been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis which is a condition (technically a disease) whereby your immune system (T Cells – white blood cells) attacks your thyroid gland because it thinks it is a foreign body. The root cause of this is unknown but the treatment is life long.

I now take a small orange/pink pill each morning before breakfast which replaces the hormone my body is missing.

Why does any of this matter? The thyroid gland produces two hormones. One is responsible for managing the body’s metabolic system and the other tells the Pituitary gland to start or stop producing the first hormone. In my case, the T-cells in my body were interrupting this process and destroying the hormone responsible for metabolism so losing weight becomes extremely difficult since I can’t metabolize my food properly.

Now, hopefully that is behind me.

To really help out in this process I am tracking all my food using the Livestrong.com trackers which are free and really, really easy to use. The whole database is user submitted and food is verified by Livestrong staff whenever possible. This means you can type name brands into the search engine and they are likely to be there with the nutritional content. Simply add the item and number of servings you consumed and bam! you are now accountable.

This is a really great tool for me because it helps me keep tabs on what I’m eating and really makes me consider if I want that double bacon cheeseburger with special sauce. You can see my progress on the Livestrong.com site. I haven’t logged my weight since I started because I don’t own a scale. I’ll get my weight next time I go to the doctor but what is more important is staying within my caloric goal range and taking accurate measurements.

All that being said, things are going well and if you are struggling with weight loss I highly recommend using the site as well as some of the following products to supplement your efforts. Keep in mind that I am not a dietician nor do I have any medical degree of any kind, I am simply telling you what is working for me. You should always seek medical/professional advice before starting any weight loss program. Your results may vary.

Recommended Products:

• Affordable, Healthy, And Convenient Meals Sent Right To Your Door….Lose Weight Today!
• Acai Berry Blast – Get a free trial bottle
• NutriSystem – Flex™, the program that gives you weekends off while still losing weight for $7 a day

I wish you the same good fortune in your efforts to become healthy this year. I’d like to hear about your efforts so comment here and let me know how it’s going!

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