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Well, today is the third day in a row that I had the ol' #2 as soon as I finished breakfast, before I left home.  No doubt in my mind now, this is having the desired affect. Here it is 1 week of taking the thyroid -- since they say the half life is so long it takes 2-3 weeks to level out at the FULL affect -- it may get even better.
I'm looking forward to seeing if this speeds up the weight loss without changing my 1200 calorie per day regimen.  Of course -- being in Cancun next week will make it very hard to stick to 1200 per day -- I have to admit I am getting a pretty good idea of what a 300, 400 or 500 cal meal looks like - so theoretically I could probably come near the mark guessing and not writing down -- but I fear how much I'll be swayed by the tempting treats Club Med will have on hand, and the vacation mentality that usually leads to "FREE FOR ALL" jubilee and screw the diet.

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For the last two days I've had the unprecedented experience of "going" within the first half hour of awakening.  Usually I wouldn't expect to go until I'd been up at least 3 hours (and hence, at work).  I read amongst other attributes that underactive thyroid would result in constipation (that's me -- if I don't have big bowls of Fiber One each and every day -- I could revert to going once every 3 or 4 days) and overactive thyroid (or over-dosing on thyroid therapy) would result in "frequent" bowel movements -- by which I guess they mean more than several times a day.  Therefor - I take the last two mornings as a definite additional indication that these pills are REALLY working!!!

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So here I am again today at 140 -- the big, bad 140 -- that might as well be the Great Wall of China as far as my usual abilities to get past it into the 130's.
In the last 15 years the only two times I saw 139 or 138 (for only a matter of days) was about two years back when I was on a major running and loose diet period (running to the point where I got my first sports injury).  In the first part, hovering around 141 for a while -- I briefly touched down around 138 after a few days of the stomach flu (always a nice side benefit to an otherwise horrid illness), and then again a few months later after I pulled out all the stops with exercise and a bit of last-minute crash dieting in order to win the bet that I'd be below 140 before we went away to our February island vacation.  Obviously, I was nowhere near the 130's anymore by the time we returned from said vacation, but I have to say the pictures from that vacation are much more pleasing than they usually are when I see bathing suit and otherwise skimpy summery attire.
And here I am again -- on the cusp of achieving that same condition -- in a way so novel for me -- pure unadulterated moderation.  No extremes in exercise, or weird green-juice fasts, bee pollen, spirulina, one-salad-per-day or even the Hollywood diet -- I'm cruising along on 1200 or so cals per day - a number that only occasionally leaves me with a tinge of the hungries.  And slowly but surely, the numbers are creeping down.
I say no extremes, but the sitting down for 30-60 minutes a day (sometimes more, sometimes less) to CALCULATE what my calorie level is so I can make sure the end of the day doesn't exceed 1200 -- THAT is an extreme which I'm no stranger to.
In the past I have done similar time-consuming laborious calculations and spreadsheets when doing Atkins for carbs, or when trying to do the juice fast plus eat high nutrition to get every single USRDA vitamen and mineral into my daily diet without using supplements (now THAT was nigh unto <u>impossible</u>).  So I'm an old hand at this sort of extremism -- on the computer -- but the actual diet itself, healthy, balanced, a daily moderation of 1200 (not trying to push the envelope by going as low as 1000 - or even crazier, below that) -- is really something new.  And it's working.  Thanks to the fact that it ISN'T extreme -- I don't end up with such deprivation that I finally have to go crazy and binge -- and also thanks to the motivating factor of accountibility to my diet buddy -- the diet is really working.  The long-term aspect necessary to success on any diet is actually do-able because of the non-extreme nature and the help of the accountability.  And I feel 100% confident that I will eventually sink below 140, and surpass even the last two times -- going to 135, even possibly 130 before my June wedding.
The only question being will I MAINTAIN what I finally achieve.  I can't really imagine maintaining 130 on my own if I ever stopped emailing back and forth with my diet buddy -- and given that she's got much more to lose than I do -- I don't think I'm in any danger of losing her -- so I probably have to consider this diet-buddy system as a pretty much long-term permanent addition to my life -- much like a moderate eating system has to be considered a life-long system, rather than a short-lived crash diet that has an end-point.
Granted -- there is a different caloric level for losing weight vs. maintaining that weight once achieved - so I will be able to go up from 1200 to something a bit more satisfying on a daily basis -- but to avoid reverting to the daily indulgences, candies, chips (whatever is in the community bowl at work) cookies and bars leftover from meetings, not to mention frequent large portions at meals out and deserts -- I'll probably have to continue reporting and counting every day at the maintenance level to keep myself honest and committed to this.

This morning I did the usual -- stick the mercury thermometer under my arm for 10 minutes -- and whereas usually it would read somewhere between 96.8 to 97.2 (or as high as 97.7 if I'm ovulating) this morning's read was an unbelievable high of 98.0
I was feeling a sense yesterday at various times that I was actually "hot" - -not to the point of sweating, but a feeling of being a bit overheated in my coat, a feeling I haven't felt in sooo many years it was almost foreign.  It wasn't much, but I did wonder if it wasn't just my imagination.  Usually I wouldn't sweat or feel over-heated with a coat even in warm weather, at most, if the weather was over 80 degrees, I'd feel merely "adequate" warmth, never too hot.
So the thermometer this morning makes me really think that these dessicated thyroid pills may be starting to do their job.
I can't say how excited this makes me feel, the phrase "new lease on life" is not too strong to apply.   I can hardly wait to see as the days go by how this all goes.

I received the bottle of dessicated Thyroid gland pills Mar 12, Friday night when I returned home from work and immediately and eagerly popped one right into my mouth that very moment.
I'd originally planned to go with one a day for a few weeks,  then up the dose to two a day for another few weeks, and so on, until basically I felt like I'd achieved the desired results. The primary indicator of "achieving the desired results" would of course by my basal temperature, as measured upon waking in the morning (at a time of the month when I'm not ovulating of course, since that raises the temperature temporarily).
Over the years as I've measured my temperature, I'd say the general range has been between 96.8-97.2.  Between a degree or two lower than normal.
Naturally, I want to be warmer so I'm not freezing in a winter coat and scarf and cold blue hands, whilst a friend sits across from me in a t-shirt, warm and comfortable.
And there's no doubt it has nothing to do with weight gain or loss, since I've been just as cold as this even when I weighed a full <u>25</u> pounds more a few years back.
Anyway, as I was saying, I thought I'd start at one pill a day, but then I got to thinking -- one pill is useless. Plus, I already essentially did that when Fiance's sister put me on the low dose thyroxine trial for two months and of course I felt nada. Then her plan was to increase by 150%, then 200% etc. over more trial periods, until the same "desired results" I mention above. But given that she lives a state away, the next trial just never came. Only if she was my own doctor and lived nearby could I have really expected to have uninterrupted attention to my course of treatment.
So - one pill is just such a miniscule treatment that I decided to start with two a day instead.  Given that even TWO a day is lower than anyone's treatement would ever be, I'm positive this is plenty safe. And get me where I want to be sooner.  I'll go with two a day for 2-3 weeks, then add another per day to bring it to 3, then another 2-3 weeks to 4 etc.  They say most people find the desired results from 3-4 per day, though some people with greater thyroid needs could end up as high as 6.
Who am I kidding.  The 2-3 week period - will almost undoubtedly not be a single day over two weeks before I go to the 3-pill regimen.
I may use more caution before graduating from 3 to 4, though, since that is getting into the range of possibly being adequate.
I really have high high hopes for this thyroid treatment to raise my temperature, and of course, temperature being a function of the rate of metabolism, therefore raising my metabolism, and therefore allowing easier weighloss, and higher energy levels, maybe even less sleep (currently 9 hours) while leaving me MORE rested.  Can you say MIRACLE cure-all?
Of course, I realise there is always the chance that my problem may not be related to an underactive thyroid after all (though the endocrinologist's tests did produce signs of mildly low thyroid activity - which he ignorantly refused to treat!).

If I have no results, I'll have two possibilities.
If I try these thyroid pills for a few months and experience no results, I will have to go pay the big bucks ($1000+?) to see the thyroid specialist and get him to prescribe the Armour thyroid pills.  If they do produce results, then it will turn out I basically ordered Snake Oil from the internet, under the lable "Thyroid pills without perscription".  If Armour produces nothing -- I can only hope that he would have done enough tests to have already found out what the real problem was anyway and put me on a course of effective treatment, which again - being truly effective, would at minimum raise my temperature.
How much would I give to be warm like I was before about 20 years ago when my furnace-esque body began to go the other way.  From Ms. Heat Meister to Ms. Cold Meister.

Monday
In a way, it seems I haven't really made any progress at all since the last report -- this morning's scale readout was 140.5.  Over the weekend I even saw a bounce up to 142 Sunday morn - but body fluctuation day to day is strange like that. I was looking at my excel progress chart -- and I noticed that a consistent pattern shows what appears to be an incredible over-night weight drop of a pound or two, followed by week or two of plateau, then another steep drop, and again plateauing.  Over all, though, the progress trendline is a gradual downward slant, if you even out all the drops and plateaus. So I guess I'll just have to take those plateaus in stride -- maybe the body needs a week or two to re-group after those losses, redistribute and acclimate - before another drop.
I don't know if I can hope to see a drop this week (even though by the chart I'm due, since I've had a two week plateau) - because I'm now entering the "retain water" phase of PMS.  I should probably just expect to hold my own until after my period (in a couple weeks?).  Which is unfortunate, since I'm going to Cancun next weekend with Best Friend.
Oh well, 140.5 is pretty close to the best weight I've seen every time in the past that I've dieted and exercised down really hard - it's a site better than it was a month or two back, at 147.5 - and the hip shape problem is definitely better since the lipo - so I can't complain too much.
I'm still doing (in my estimate) 1200 calories or so a day.  I usually try to come in under that number, because I'm sure I miss-calculate and underestimate - especially when I'm eating out in restaurants.

 
I also updated an earlier progress report with a different but similar three-week status pic. The left pix are the night before the lipo, the right pix are three weeks later. Last thursday I had the 1 month checkup at the doc and he said that I could estimate that I was at about 60% -- by the end of 3 months I'll have seen another 40% swelling decrease to the final result.

As much of a struggle as it's been to learn portions and even going so far as to buy a food scale for when my weight loss stalled and I needed a reality check on my estimations -- I have to say that the one month (will be one month tomorrow) since I've been using this diet buddy system has REALLY WORKED.  I began at 147.5, and this morning the scale read 141.
In fact -- I had a bit of a hog heaven weekend and gained back some, Saturday before I had the blowout, the scale was even 140.5.  Which amounts to 7 pounds in one month.   And believe me, I haven't had any true starvation or even many moments of out-right hunger.  It's nothing like in the past when I've just blindly "gone on a diet" - bit the bullet and cut back to the point of starvation.  Which of course (I know now) meant I was eating so little as to be counter-productive - not only was it leaving me ravenous, weak and cranky -- but it was definitely in the range of what would cause the body to react to the starvation sense by slowing down the metabolism - and thus slowing down my weight loss -- so that I was starving myself for less results than the hunger pains should have rightly resulted in.  And of course, as they say - when the pendulum swings far in one direction, it will eventually swing back equally far in the other direction.  And so, inevitably, at the end of each of those periods of self-imposed starvation -- most certainly long before I'd reach my goal weight, my resolve weakening, my misery would win out - and I'd find myself in the candy store, filling a bag with one of everything chocolate and peanut butter related, plus anything else that looked enticing (and what DOESN'T look enticing when you're starving!!!) and just about undo in one day whatever progress I'd made.  It was a terrible way to try to lose weight, but I didn't know any better.
This time around - for the FIRST time - (I admit with chagrin, since I'm a very intelligent, educated and otherwise pragmatic and sensible person) - I have done it right.
It took some investigation - first - I admitted I was powerless over food (yes that sounds like a 12 step phrase, and yes I've done some time in "the rooms" years back).  I'd given it EVERY chance to do it on my own, down to the last 6 month trying Atkins for the second time (now that there are so many more resources and support by others doing it and restaurants providing alternatives) - and even that didn't ultimately work. So I set a kind of limit for myself -- last summer - if I didn't get below 140 by November - I was going to admit defeat, throw up the white flag, and join a group and really participate, to force the issue - because I knew a big big part of diet success was simply the motivation to stick with it.
November came and went - and I did not reach my goal, in fact, I started sliding back up.
Finally - albeit months later than my vow -- February 9, out of desperation, I found a site where you can do like a personal ad - put in a profile, then search other profiles -- and find someone compatible to be a diet buddy.  I found L, and in only 4 weeks time I've basically seen 7 pounds of weight loss.  That is DAMN good.
And I did not do it by pills, special diets (though for health reasons I do still find it beneficial to restrict junk carbs, including flours, sugars etc.), starvation, etc.  I cut back initially, and then with more investigation and learning about the ideal daily calorie value -- I settled on 1200 calories a day.  L made that same journey with me, and by week two we were both reporting between 1200-1400 calories a day to each other (although weekends tended more towards 2000!) and sticking with it better than we either ever could have done alone.
And I repeat - I was never really hungry - and NEVER starving at all. Many times I'd even say I was well satisfied. Almost every day I ended with a treat - a flan, or small bowl of ice cream - something to really please the palate and avoid a feeling of deprivation or undue austerity in this "diet".
7 pounds.  This is sensational - I am feeling invincible!  This may be the first time I actually reach my goal - 130.  I am excited!

Tomorrow is coming up on three weeks, and just like they predicted, I saw some improvement and felt better about the look by 2 weeks, and now closing in on 3 weeks, I'm even more pleased. Left pix are 1 day (looks the same as pre-op), and right pix are 3 weeks later. We've been taking pictures and measuring the whole time and the tape measure is definitely showing progress as well as the swelling subsides. I think years ago when I was at my peak weight of 165 that I was maybe 42 or even up to 45 inches at the hips, whereas at 145 (approx) the day before the surgery, I was at 40. As of yesterday's measurement I was down to 38.5 I know that doesn't seems like a big difference - but it really is. There is no doubt my hips showed a difference at 140 than when I was 142 or more, and this 1.5 inches of further shrinkage is a real pleasure to behold. The 'angle' that my thighs/saddlebags stuck out at is definitely less -- instead I'm seeing more of a smooth curve. Obviously I'm not going to be straight down boy-hipped -- but the line from the waist to the hips and then in again as the leg goes down is becoming a curve, a womanly curve, instead of that awful pointy angle sticking out, making that wide area that mars the aesthetic curve. Now, no matter what weight I am at any time in my life, I'll have a womanly shape -- the layer of fat, however thick or thin it may become, will be evenly distributed up and down my leg -- creating a smooth line -- instead of a big bunch of it bulging out in one area. Even at my thinnest weights, I've always had that one excess, which began basically since I hit puberty. I was thinking today how I've really had the equivalent (over time) of the Extreme Makeover. Thinking back on how my body has been altered through the years... 1) Braces (middle school, to correct an overbite) 2) Allergy shots (to alleviate hayfever etc. from molds, pollens) 3) Lasik (glasses since 5th grade, dry eyes precluded contacts) 4) Blonded hair (natural color: mousey brown, plus greying since age 31) 5) Liposuction of the saddle bags 6) Avoiding sugar/junkfood etc. (which gave me acne) 7) Breast implants (formerly disappointing A cups, now C) Man, I was a mess! And now, thanks to time, discipline and care, money, and surgical advances -- instead I'm a goddess!