JEN WITTMAN CHHC, AADP Your Thyroid Love Coach

15-DAY THYROIDMAKEOVER

THE JUMPSTART TO RENEWED HEALTH

Copyright © 2016 Thyroid Loving Care/The Healthy Plate, LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, scanned, distributed or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the publisher. Any telephone numbers, addresses, prices, offers and web sites listed in this document are accurate at the time of publication, but they are subject to frequent change.

Disclaimer: The content of the following document is based on research conducted by Jen Wittman, Thyroid Loving Care and/or The Healthy Plate, LLC, unless otherwise noted. The information is presented for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or prescribe for any medical or psychological condition, nor to prevent, treat, mitigate or cure such conditions. The information contained herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a doctor or qualified healthcare professional. Therefore, this information is not intended as medical advice, but rather a sharing of knowledge and information based on research and experience. Jen Wittman, Thyroid Loving Care and/or The Healthy Plate, LLC encourage you to make your own health care decisions based on your judgment and research in partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information in this document and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Affiliate Disclosure: This document may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, your costs will be the same but Thyroid Loving Care will receive a small commission. This helps cover some of the costs for all of the free resources provided by Thyroid Loving Care. We appreciate your support!

WELCOME EMAIL

Here’s your 15-day Thyroid Makeover! So maybe you want to know who this girl is - the one who is telling you she reversed her thyroid condition naturally and that you can too. Well, my “adventures” with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis began a few years ago after giving birth to my son. For 3 years, I felt decimated. I was extremely fatigued, losing my hair and my body temperature might plummet and skyrocket in the span of mere seconds. I had been rushed to the emergency room twice for powerful digestive episodes where I almost blacked out from hyperventilation & severe dehydration. After 2 hospital visits & 12 doctors, I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis; a disease which volleys you back and forth between symptoms of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. I was disregarded. Tossed aside. Made to feel crazy...that it was all in my head. So I took my power and my health back into my own hands. Within 18 months of working diligently to heal myself without medication, I have reversed the disease. There is so much to tell you about why the doctor that finally diagnosed me, convinced me to take a natural path. We’ll talk about that at the end of the course but I thank my lucky stars every day that the doctor persuaded me to use natural methods to heal myself. Now, I share my story with you to empower, inspire and support you in your healing process. We will get there together. Thank you for honoring yourself and taking this pivotal step toward healing. I know you are busy and it is challenging to find the time we need to take care of ourselves. I designed this e-course to cover one topic each day so that it will take no longer than 5 minutes for you to learn what could be hindering the healing process.

1

The course is divided into 3 modules. Module I: Diet & Exercise - Setting Your Body Up For Success (Days 1-6)Module II: Physiology - The Foundation Of Thyroid Health (Days 7-10)Module III: Lifestyle - Overcoming Obstacles To Support Healing (Days 11-15) Please remember, each of us has unique food and lifestyle needs. Some of what I’m sharing with you might apply to you and some might not. Perhaps all of these suggestions apply to you. Everyone is starting from a different level; looking for help through a different lens. The important thing is to respect your body. Listen to its signals. Let it guide you to the areas where you need extra support. There is a HUGE difference between knowing something and doing something. Use this course as a foundation to begin your healing. Much of this information may be new to you. Or, you may know some of these tips already but need a gentle reminder to avoid these saboteurs and reaffirm your commitment to your health. Regardless, what’s most important is that you TAKE ACTION. We’ll begin by exploring the basic mistakes, move through the challenging issues and start digging deep into how we heal. Over the next 15 days, you will be able to look at your own life and see where tweaks can be made to set you on a path toward more energy, vitality and joy. Our journey begins tomorrow. Feel good.

Warmly,

J en

2

DAY 1 THYROID MAKEOVER: COFFEE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.

“Whoa! Wait a minute. You’re going to start there? I don’t know if I want to hear what you’re going to say about coffee.” I get it AND I totally understand but really, let’s get started with an easy one. I know we’re all exhausted. When the alarm starts to buzz or you feel your child’s hand urging you to wake up, your eyelids feel like lead and your body doesn’t want to cooperate. So what’s a person to do? Start brewing a pot of that deep roasted goodness, right? Sadly, that’s a bad move. Although that rich, enticing aroma seems innocent enough, the compounds in coffee not only tax your adrenals, they keep vital nutrients, minerals and medications from absorbing properly. You’re thinking, “but I CAN’T function without some caffeine. I have to drink it to survive. There’s no way I can handle my daily responsibilities without it.” I know. I used to feel the same way too but after I took my healing into my own hands and did the research, I learned that coffee was a big part of my problem.

I was exhausted precisely because I was propping myself up (and I’ll go as far as saying comforting myself) with a cup (dare I say cups!) of joe.

By stressing my adrenals through staying heavily caffeinated, I was perpetuating the cycle.

By starting with a cup of coffee in the morning, you are setting yourself up for a roller coaster of highs and lows throughout the day. From the first sip, the caffeine in coffee enters your bloodstream through the lining of your mouth, throat, and stomach. It begins to affect the central nervous and stimulates your adrenal glands to produce adrenalin.

This puts your body in a “fight-or-flight” mode…. ….now, this would be fine in you were about to be pounced on by a tiger but it is pretty useless and actually harmful to your body while sitting at your desk.

3

When you’re in a “fight-or-flight” state, you’re taxing your adrenals, you’re actually in a perpetual state of alert. This actually puts your body in a state of stress. This stressful state is what gives you more energy, makes you feel alert and able to handle tasks. However, your body perceives the caffeine as being under a state of attack….as if your body is at war with itself. Sound familiar, Hashimoto’s sufferers?

Anyway, once the artificial high dies down, you find yourself completely exhausted and needing another hit of fresh brew (or stale brew if you’re desperate). As you continue this cycle on a daily basis, you set your body up for eventual and chronic adrenal exhaustion. The dip after a cup of coffee also creates a sense of fatigue, anxiety, irritability, depression and can greatly affect your sleep.

Ever notice that the more coffee you drink, the more bouts of insomnia you have?...

Then you wake up needing more coffee, then you have a hard time sleeping and the cycle just continues?

For thyroid sufferers especially, even having one cup of coffee in the morning can have long-term consequences for your adrenal health and the body’s ability to repair itself. If you don’t know, here’s why adrenal health is crucial to thyroid healing.

What creates adrenal fatigue is a very complex issue but I’ll keep it simple. Adrenal fatigue generally develops over a period of years usually due to chronic stress and poor eating habits. Stress to our body comes in many forms. It can appear due to a traumatic event, every day unhappiness, an assault of environmental toxins or a poor diet. In response to chronic stress, our system creates a constant secretion of cortisol which can weaken the adrenal glands and eventually lead to adrenal fatigue.

When the adrenal glands are weakened, the body is put in a destructive state where it begins to break down. Since the thyroid gland controls the metabolism of the body, the gland will slow itself down in order to hinder this destruction. As a result, a hypothyroid condition will usually manifest in the body. The disheartening part is that it doesn’t take a severe case of adrenal fatigue to wreak havoc on the thyroid gland.

Often times, the initial adrenal fatigue is what actually caused your thyroid to malfunction. If you don’t address adrenal fatigue, that limits your opportunity of restoring the health of your thyroid. This is why cutting out coffee and caffeine is crucial to healing your thyroid. And, if you’re currently on medication, studies have shown that caffeine can affect the medication’s efficacy and absorption rate (depending on the type of medication) by a whopping 25-57%! So, you’re on medication and your meds aren’t working? Well, that’s one place to start looking.

Throughout this daily makeover, we’ll go more into the connection between caffeine, sleeping and thyroid health. I think you’ve gathered that eliminating your cup of coffee is a great place to start the healing process.

4

Can’t give up the flavor of your morning Joe? Try my favorite alternative, Dandy Blend. It’s aroma and flavor are much like coffee and it has the added benefit of being a liver cleanser and gluten-free. (yes, I know it is made of barley grass but it is still gluten-free)

You can drink Dandy Blend iced or hot and turn it into a black coffee, cappuccino or even a chai latte. It’s a staple at our house. Dandy Blend can be a little hard to find so, I included a link to purchase it online if you want to give it a try. The bag lasts quite a while. It only takes a tablespoon or less to give you that robust coffee flavor. Want a decadent “coffee” treat? Mix 1 tbsp of Dandy Blend, Hot Water, Coconut Milk (to your liking) and stir. Sometimes I add cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla bean to make it a warm, comforting blend.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #1:

Decrease your coffee consumption over the next few days. Start by drinking a 1/2 caff for two days, then a 1/4 caff for two days and then decaf for two days and then switch to a coffee substitute. Remember to drink lots of water to keep any detox symptoms at bay.

5

DAY 2 THYROID MAKEOVER: SOY IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Ah soy...it’s so controversial these days. You’ve got your advocates who swear by it’s ability to keep disease at bay and its opponents, those who understand the dangers this little pervasive legume presents to our hormones and a functioning thyroid. Long before soy became the hot topic of the day, I read a little article squeezed into a tiny space at the back of a magazine about the issues with our body’s ability to process the plant estrogen from soy. It also alerted me to the differences between the soy consumed in Western societies and the soy available in societies it was traditionally eaten. And, I learned that soy was in just about everything processed and used heavily in restaurant foods as a preservative and cheap cooking oil. I was shocked and a little confused to say the least. Weren’t we supposed to load up on soy to keep things like breast cancer away? I knew I didn’t want THAT. Why were all the other articles and advertisements out there touting the virtues of soy? DID YOU KNOW?...

1. …that I love soy. Thanks to the generosity of our wedding guests, I spent my honeymoon in Japan and I soy-ed it up! I live in a city of amazing Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese cuisine and I love them all. When I first learned that I should give up soy to assist my healing, I was not a happy girl.

2. Soy is an endocrine-disrupting compound. It is a goitrogen which is a substance that suppresses or disrupts normal thyroid function. It can also block the uptake of iodine which can in turn, enlarge the thyroid, creating a “goiter.” If the body is unable to use iodine correctly, the creation, conversion and actual secretion of T3 and T4 can be disrupted.

3. Soy is not the health food it’s been touted to be.

• Soy reduces assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in the body.

• Soy foods can increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D.

• The neurotoxin, MSG, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which can be toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

• Children with autoimmune thyroiditis are more likely to have been fed soy-based infant formula.

• In some people, soy can inhibit the body’s ability to fully absorb thyroid medication.

6

Soy is very high in plant estrogens. When there is excess estrogen produced in the body, it directly inhibits your thyroid gland from releasing its thyroid hormones. Excess estrogen also inhibits the conversion of thyroid hormone in the liver. Soy can inhibit the absorption of key nutrients within your digestive tract which can keep your thyroid from getting the support it needs to function properly.

Major takeaway – if you want to heal your thyroid, you need to take a break from soy products. Soy is a pervasive ingredient in our quick-paced, fast-food, processed food culture. Click here to see where this culprit lives in our food. There’s also a list of other goitrogenic foods to limit in your diet.

And if you want to dive deeper into the world of soy, my colleague, Dr. Kaayla Daniel wrote a pretty eye-opening book on the topic.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #2:

Go through your pantry, fridge & freezer and toss out (or at least don’t eat) whatever contains soy in it. (You’ll be surprised!)

Ooh, tomorrow I discuss the BIG mistake. The mistake so many of us make and the one the we WANT to keep on making but know we shouldn’t. Stay tuned…..and feel good.

7

DAY 3 THYROID MAKEOVER:GLUTEN WILL GIVE YOU GRIEF.

Let me tell you a little about myself. I’ve been a trained chef for almost 20 years. I love good food and I love to eat. My husband and I saved up for 7 years so I could pursue my dream of cooking in Italy almost a decade ago. ITALY, I said! Home of the most amazing, rich, pillow-like pasta you could ever hope to eat. When we lived in Italy, my day started off by walking down 104 stairs to the neighborhood “bar” (the place where you get breakfast), where I’d order a cappuccino and a pastry at the counter every single day. At lunch time, I would select some of the finest cheese, meat and olives I could afford and buy a loaf of fresh baked bread. I’d end at dinner at a little trattoria enjoying what Italy is world-famous for - perfect pizzas or a rich, delicious, pasta dish that was out of this world. We’d often end dinner with a doughy, sweet treat and an espresso or digestivo. From this description, does it seem like I’m the kind of girl who could not only give up my coffee but my gluten too? Well, I did. And here’s why....

Gluten molecules resemble thyroid tissue.

What does this mean to you? It means that if you have intestinal permeability (leaky gut) or a sensitivity to gluten, your body will mistakenly attack your thyroid believing it is attacking the gluten molecules.

If you have hypothyroidism, it’s 90% likely that you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease. This means that in 90% of all hypothyroid cases, it’s likely that YOUR body is actually attacking your thyroid destroying its tissue. Sadly, Hashimoto’s is often misdiagnosed. You can have completely “normal” thyroid levels but have Hashimoto’s and often doctors won’t run the extra lab test to see if it is, in fact, Hashimoto’s because the standard course of thyroid care is always the same whether you have it or not – medication.

What happens with autoimmune disease is that the body is having an overactive immune response against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In addition, the thyroid gland is connected to so many of the body’s systems including gastrointestinal function, stomach acid production, adrenal hormone metabolism, changes in brain chemistry and liver detoxification. So, when a gluten molecular escapes through the walls of the digestive tract and the body starts attacking the gluten, it inadvertently begins to attack the thyroid, continuing its destruction.

8

That’s pretty serious stuff. Some doctors and thyroid researchers insist that if you want to stop the destruction of the thyroid, you must stop eating gluten.

You may have heard all of this before but now is the time to start acting on it. If you truly want to heal your thyroid condition, you’ve got to put your hands up and drop the croissant.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #3:

Go gluten-free for the next 7 days.

“How can I give up my pasta or pizza? What will I eat instead, you wonder? Will I ever be full?”

Yes, you will and there are loads of delicious, naturally gluten-free foods out there. Giving up gluten seems unappealing and daunting, I know. I’ve been through it and before I started living gluten-free, I wasn’t sure how I would ever succeed. But I did succeed. And I learned loads of tips and tricks and have a host of new recipe resources to boot.

I began feeling so much better after parting ways with gluten that I don’t even feel like I need it anymore. Sure, a piece of fresh-baked bread smells delightful but my body doesn’t actually crave it anymore. If I can do it, so can you. So go ahead…just do it!

9

DAY 4 THYROID MAKEOVER:

BE GENTLE WITH YOUR EXERCISE. When you’re in the throes of hypothyroidism, sometimes it’s unimaginable that you’ll ever have the desire to exercise again. Then comes the weight gain. You’ve tried everything but you can’t seem to lose weight so you decide to dedicate yourself and try out all those high-impact exercise programs that help your friends lose weight. You know the ones, they’re fun. They involve pushing it to the max – cross-training, running, aerobics, dancing, high intensity. Your determination is fierce. Initially, you feel great. With every bead of sweat, your endorphins kick in, your mood elevates and you begin to feel like yourself again. But then you crash – you fail to lose weight, you find yourself battling fatigue, irritability and colds and flus. You may actually gain weight. You’re confused. This seems completely counter-intuitive especially since many of us are even happy if we can drag our little bums out to exercise on those high fatigue days but exercising too much can not only keep you from healing, it can make your situation worse.

How can exercise be harmful to my health?

While it IS important to incorporate daily exercise into your routine for healing and good health, studies show that over-exercising can actually deplete your system. Exercising too much increases inflammation, depresses immunity, depletes hormones, slows healing and can lead to bone loss. If you’re trying to manage a thyroid disease, all of these factors can work against your healing. You can actually burn yourself out.

If you have a low functioning thyroid, studies have shown that athletic performance is affected in several ways. Hypothyroidism creates more weakness in the muscles and cramping. It also impairs cardiac function and blood flow (I’m sure you’ve felt that before). In addition, hypothyroidism dampens the body’s ability to use fatty acids for energy which limits your endurance.When you over-train, it causes your body to pump out extra cortisol (the stress hormone) which has been linked to increased belly fat, bone loss, muscle breakdown, sugar cravings (holla!) It can also lead to insulin resistance which is a pre-diabetic condition that causes high blood sugar. We already have too many stress inducing stimuli in our current daily lives. Daily stress causes chronic inflammation in the body which ages the body more quickly and who needs that? Don’t let exercise, which should be a force for healing, be another thing that creates stress in the body.

10

How much exercise is too much?

Since everyone’s body is different, this varies from person to person. Listen to your body. What signals are you receiving? Are you gaining weight, fatigued, experiencing low stamina and sleep disturbances? Are your symptoms getting worse? That’s a good clue.

You’ll know you’ve found the right balance when you get a boost of energy and an overall sense of well being. You should not want to collapse after exercise. You should experience a comfortable level of muscle soreness, mental focus and good mood if you are exercising in your personal fitness zone.

Important takeaway – you need daily, low-impact exercise and sufficient rest between exercise sessions to help you get fitter faster and to avoid compromising your thyroid health.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #4:

Commit to one low-impact exercise to do every day this week.

11

DAY 5 THYROID MAKEOVER: SUGAR ISN’T AS SWEET AS YOU THINK.

A rich, dark piece of chocolate cake. A flaky pastry filled with creamy custard. Fresh-baked cookies. Your favorite, jeweled toned candies. Your delightful, bubbly, pick-me-up soda. You dream about them. You look forward to dessert. Ok, “addicted” may be too strong of a word but maybe you REALLY love sugar and wouldn’t mind working in Willy Wonka’s factory for a day. On a general level, sugar inhibits all healing. Sugar creates inflammation, turns off your body’s appetite-control function, leads to weight gain and belly fat, feeds candida and has a host of toxic effects. All of that sounds terrible enough but it gets worse. You probably don’t even realize how much sugar you consume in a day. Did you know?...

Sugar is 8 times as addictive as cocaine. What? Eight times more addictive than what!?! (See this link). I recently read some scientific literature that said it was 8 times as addictive but I haven’t corroborated that yet!)

I couldn’t believe it but the proof literally is in the pudding. With Diabetes escalating every day and waistlines ever expanding, it is not only clear in research experiments but also to the naked eye, that we have an addiction to sugar in the U.S.

What does this mean for your thyroid?Many people with thyroid dysfunction seem to be especially sensitive to refined sugars or even consuming too many natural sugars. When you constantly consume sugar, you literally burn out your adrenal and thyroid glands. There is a risk of damaging or even destroying the thyroid. If you don’t reduce or eliminate sugar in the diet, there is a risk for permanent damage and that’s no good!

One of the quickest ways to get control of your weight and balance your body’s blood sugar/insulin processes again is by cutting sugar out of your diet. Even if you only eat “natural” sugars from fruit, honey, agave nectar, you could be ingesting an enormous amount per day. I am not saying to cut sugar out of your diet forever. Fruits definitely have some health benefits as does raw honey but by eliminating sugar from your diet for a short period of time, you let your body learn to regulate your blood sugar levels, get a better sense of when you’re actually hungry, increase your immune system’s ability to fight off illness and ward off Candida infections.

12

Sugar is pervasive in our American diet. All kinds of foods that you would not associate with sugar have been processed with this other “white powder.” Did you know that taco seasoning and tomato sauce contain added sugars?

Several years ago, I quit sugar. My health improved immediately. Once you quit sugar, you don’t crave sweets as much and when you do take a bite of dessert, a bite is all you actually need to feel satiated.

A personal set-back before I reversed Hashimoto’sOver Valentine’s Day some years ago, my husband wanted to be sweet and brought home a small tub of coconut macaroons for me. It’s really the only treat I could eat at that time without having a reaction due to all of my food sensitivities. It started out as one bite of one macaroon. At first, I even thought they were too sweet...but then, I went back for another bite then another macaroon and then another.

During the next few days, I was EXHAUSTED. Exhausted, I say! I mean I could barely wake up in the morning and felt groggy all day….so I started adding caffeine and more sugar to my diet.

Within the week, my face had broken out with acne, I was severely dehydrated and I had a systemic Candida infection. All of this started from one bite of a sugary macaroon. Can you say addictive? That’s right – 4 times as addictive as cocaine! It happened to me and I had withdrawal symptoms for two days after I decided to stop the sugar roller-coaster madness.

After a week of being sugar-free, my acne and Candida subsided. I was able to sleep better and was full of energy. Plus, I lost a few pounds off the tummy tire I had acquired during my sugar binge. I learned my lesson! I’m not perfect. None of us are. I fell prey to the siren call of sugar but at least I had the tools to reign it back in quickly. It’s amazing the power sugar can have over your mind.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #5:

Go sugar free for 7 Days!

13

DAY 6 THYROID MAKEOVER: A VEGETARIAN DIET MAY DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD.

Now, don’t go crazy on me yet. I’m not attacking your kale or baby carrots or anything. I absolutely adore farm animals and have respect for all of the animals on the planet; including the human ones. And, I have nothing but love for healthy vegetarians since a vegetarian diet can do amazing things for a healthy person. But, if you’re not healthy (i.e. you have a thyroid or autoimmune disorder), a vegetarian diet may not be supportive enough for you...especially a vegan or raw foods diet. I want to start off by reminding everyone that not all bodies are the same. If you are reversing your thyroid disorder and feel great on a vegetarian diet, stick with it! You’re doing what works for YOUR body. However, if you are not experiencing relief of your symptoms and you are eating a vegetarian diet, you may want re-think that diet for now. Let’s take a look at why….

It’s not a vegetarian diet per se, that could be keeping you from healing. It’s what a vegetarian diet has become in our modern society. First of all, many vegetarians lack sufficient iron and try to compensate for that by eating a lot of soy, lentils and beans. Now, you know from Mistake #2 why soy is a no-no. But also, these plant proteins are not readily available for use in our bodies.

Many plant proteins fail to contain all of the essential amino acids your body needs in order to properly utilize the protein. It’s crucial to thyroid health to be absorbing the appropriate amount of protein and iron since many thyroid patients suffer from issues of low iron already (raise your hand if you’re one of those!)

In addition, many people following a vegetarian meal plan frequently rely on many nuts, seeds, grains and beans to round out their diets. These can be fine in the diet if these items are prepared properly. However, frequently they are not.

When nuts, seeds, grains and beans are not thoroughly prepared, they contain large amounts of phytic acid which inhibits digestion and proper nutrient absorption when eaten. Oftentimes, when you have thyroid issues, you already have a difficult time absorbing nutrients, you don’t need anything inhibiting it further.

Sadly, a vegetarian diet has become synonymous with eating lots of processed foods. Eating a nourishing vegetarian diet requires more food preparation and eating whole foods. In our society, there isn’t a lot of emphasis placed on the importance of making time to prepare REAL food, whole food, not something that comes in a box or package. The amounts of chemicals and hard to digest ingredients in processed foods (whether they are vegetarian or not) takes a toll on your thyroid.

14

Finally, eating a raw, vegetarian diet has been shown to exacerbate a leaky gut.

Tomorrow, we’ll go in-depth into how a leaky gut contributes the poor thyroid function but for today, what’s important to know is that eating a vegetable only diet is not supportive to healing a leaky gut.

Now, I advocate including a lot of vegetables in your diet. In fact, I believe that 75-80% of every meal should consist of vegetables. However, to help your body heal a leaky gut, absorb nutrients and balance out your hormones you need to eat the right kinds of vegetables in conjunction with healthy fats and animal proteins.

You are gonna feel soooo good, once you do this regularly. See ya tomorrow!

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #6:

Fill your plate with a combination of 75-80% cooked, raw and fermented vegetables at each meal (including breakfast!) :)

15

DAY 7 THYROID MAKEOVER:YOU HAVE TO ADDRESS YOUR LEAKY GUT.

How many of you have experienced issues with new food allergies or sensitivities since your thyroid diagnosis? Perhaps you feel bloated, gassy, itchy or get the ol’ GERD after you eat now. Has your doctor mentioned that there’s a connection? The popular quote by Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” could not ring more true. In order for our bodies to heal, we must provide them with the nourishment they need through whole, unprocessed foods. However, what happens to healing when your body isn’t absorbing those nourishing foods properly? Hippocrates also said, “All disease begins in the gut,” and that’s where we’ll start this story. If your body isn’t functioning properly, disease will be able to creep in and take hold. Poor gut health is intricately connected to low thyroid function and additionally, can trigger Hashimoto’s disease. When your thyroid isn’t functioning optimally, it causes inflammation and immune dysregulation which in turns causes a leaky gut. The leaky gut then causes more inflammation and immune dysregulation which then further harms the thyroid. Press repeat. The cycle of destruction is endless if it is not addressed. An inflamed and leaky gut contributes to just about every disease out there. Without healing the gut, you cannot truly heal the thyroid or reverse the autoimmune response. This is the story of how your leaky gut began. Now, what exactly what is it and how do we fix it? Let’s talk about the gut first.

The gut is host to 70% of your immune tissue in your body. These tissues store immune cells that carry out attacks and produce antibodies if there is a foreign invader or potential threats. That’s a really good function if you have a bacteria or virus coming in for attack. However, when these protective functions are compromised, the intestinal barrier becomes permeable (leaky) meaning stuff escapes through it into the bloodstream. Since proteins (like casein, gluten, et al) don’t belong outside of the gut, the body initiates an immune response and attacks them. (This is what creates an “allergic” response or food sensitivity.) The problem comes in when the body turns the attack on itself in response to the protein (think gluten) as in the case of Hashimoto’s, inadvertently attacks the thyroid gland. Studies have shown that these attacks are linked to the development of all types of autoimmune disease.

Tight junctions keep the barrier of the stomach and small intestine impermeable; meaning that proteins can’t pass through. That’s what we want. Thyroid hormones strongly influence the tight junctions in the gut.

However, when thyroid health is compromised, the gut can become inflamed leading to further permeability just continuing the cycle. Inflammation in the gut also increases cortisol

16

levels which you’ll remember we spoke about earlier in this series. Too much cortisol in the system presents a cascading set of challenges including weight gain and further thyroid degeneration.

Another component to healing a leaky gut is having the right gut-bacteria balance. Bacteria in the gut actually assist in converting 20% of inactive T4 into the active form of T3. This is what we use to balance our body’s metabolic functions. This is what we need to have good energy, feel right in our bodies and to keep our weight stable.

I could share information with you on leaky gut for days on end but since I’m trying to keep this to a 5-minute read, I’ll give you a few more highlights on why it’s important to heal the gut before we close the conversation.

1. There needs to be a balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut

2. We need to keep stress and inflammation low in order to heal our bodies

3. We need to reverse the autoimmune response

4. Low stomach acid increases intestinal permeability which is linked with autoimmune thyroid disease. It is also associated with GERD, inflammation and infection.

5. Constipation can impair hormone clearance and cause elevations in estrogen causing problems with the thyroid. It also increases inflammation, infections and doesn’t allow for proper absorption in the gut.

I’m pretty certain that my friends and family are tired of me telling them that they have a leaky gut. But they DO! And you do too. And it needs to be fixed to start feeling better.

As you can see, you can’t have a healthy gut without a healthy thyroid, and you can’t have a healthy thyroid without a healthy gut. To boost thyroid function and heal your gut, you have to address both simultaneously. And this is why, it’s the first place I start when supporting clients.

Healing a leaky gut isn’t something that can happen overnight. There’s no magic pill to make it go away. You either have to make a commitment to researching it all yourself, testing out different diets and tracking what works or you need to work with someone knowledgeable specifically someone who has experience healing a leaky gut. It takes time and some patience but most importantly, it takes making a true commitment to healing yourself.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #7:

Track your food for the next 7 days. What are you eating that could be creating a leaky gut? Start there and take a pre-biotic and pro-biotic while you begin your investigation to start the healing process.

17

THYROID MAKEOVER CHECK-IN:CHECK IN WITH JEN

Wow! You’re now halfway through the e-Course. Congratulations! What do you think so far? I know that for some of you, this is old hat and for others, you are wondering if there is any food ;eft that you can safely eat anymore. I realize it can get overwhelming. So I wanted to pause for a second and check in with you. How is the course going for you? Did you find yourself resistant to any of the suggestions? What concepts resonated with you? I want to know what you think! Give me the good, the bad and the ugly. Email me here» The first half of the course was designed to tackle the dietary & fitness mistakes we unknowingly make. In this second half, we’ll dig deeper and discover how what we do can actually keep us from healing. Are you ready for more?

18

DAY 8 THYROID MAKEOVER:CHECK THE BAROMETER ON YOUR BLOOD SUGAR.

When I first met my husband, I let him know right off the bat that I needed to eat all the time and that if I got too hungry, I would essentially become a lunatic. I told him, that years before, I had designed a warning system for those closest to me to let them know I needed to eat. There were 5 levels. Level 1 meant that I was starting to get hungry. But Level 4 meant that we better find food immediately because if I tipped to Level 5, we were in trouble. If I got to level 5, it was a disaster. By stating I was a level 5, I was basically warning whoever I was with, that I was about to lose my mind. The rage would be starting shortly. You know, I was getting HANGRY!!! Are you always hungry? Do you get bouts of dizziness, nervousness, a racing heartbeat, shakiness or sweating when you haven’t eaten in a while? Do you feel like you could turn into the Incredible Hulk if you miss a meal? If any of these resonate with you, you could have an issue with your blood sugar.

Keeping your blood sugar regulated is crucial to healthy thyroid function and to keep your blood sugar in a normal range your thyroid needs to be functioning properly. Whether your blood sugar is too low or too high, it can create issues for the thyroid. When your blood sugar isn’t regulated it will take its toll on your body in these ways…

• high blood pressure• inflammation• abdominal obesity• high cholesterol and triglycerides• insulin resistance• tendency to form blood clots

Does any of the above sound familiar?

Blood sugar surges which can cause insulin resistance increases the destruction of the thyroid in people with Hashimoto’s disease. If you’ll remember, 90% of thyroid disease is caused by autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s). The more destruction that occurs in the gland, the more thyroid hormone production falls.

When your blood sugar is chronically low, cortisol (the stress hormone) is repeatedly released which suppresses pituitary function. If your pituitary gland isn’t functioning properly, the thyroid won’t function properly either.

19

When your blood sugar isn’t regulated and is in a constant state of surging and plummeting, your gut, lungs and brain become weakened and inflamed, your hormone levels stay unbalanced and your adrenal glands become exhausted. This impairs your body’s ability to detoxify and your overall metabolism.

As you can see again, your body needs to be addressed holistically as everything is connected. Blood sugar regulation is crucial to healing. If you don’t stabilize your blood sugar, your thyroid will not be able to heal.

So how do I stabilize my blood sugar?

It’s all in the carbs baby! Know what that means? It’s an easy fix. You just have to make some dietary changes to balance out your blood sugar. How you process carbohydrates will largely determine how balanced your blood sugar is. We are all individuals so each of us processes carbohydrates differently and requires a personalized diet that fits their needs.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #8:

Eat more high quality proteins and fats and less grains, processed carbs and refined sugars.

20

DAY 9 THYROID MAKEOVER: DON’T ACCEPT STRESS. JUST DON’T DO IT.

Through the clanging of dishes and the whoosh of flames, I race through the galley. I pull down the ticket and shout over the din, “order in the window, table 49.” It’s another night at the restaurant. It’s packed. There’s a long wait and I fly around the restaurant to where I am needed. I love the pace. It’s chaotic and organized at once. After 12 hours on my feet, my shift ends. It was stressful but glorious at that same time. We pulled off yet another amazing performance – great food, superb service, and happy customers. All it took was a coffee buzz, a little adrenaline, and being on high alert for 12 hours straight…the perfect job for someone with thyroid disease, right? ... Not so much. We all have stress in our lives whether it comes from our jobs, our circumstances, our finances or challenges with our family and friends.

Some days I imagine myself as a superhero using a shield to defend and deflect everything that’s trying to attack my mind and body because you know what??? Living in a state of constant stress is quite possibly the worst thing you can do for your thyroid condition.

Many times, we accept stress into our lives that is unnecessary. It’s important to understand what stress really does to the thyroid and techniques for keeping stress at bay. As we’ve covered on previous days, stress greatly affects the adrenal glands and that is directly related to the health of your thyroid. The adrenal glands secrete hormones (cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine) to regulate the stress response. When it comes to your thyroid, the ways in which our adrenal glands respond has far reaching consequences.

Beyond the obvious daily stressors in our lives, the adrenal glands pump out more stress hormones when your blood sugar isn’t regulated, your gut is leaky, you have food sensitivities (such as gluten), toxins and infections are present, or you are inflamed and under an autoimmune attack. I’m sure this is starting to sound like a broken record but all of these issues must be addressed in order to heal. You can’t look at one without the other and adrenal stress could possibly be the most important component.

Adrenal stress creates a host of symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, insomnia, mood swings, sugar and caffeine cravings, irritability and dizziness. It also affects how your hormones are used by your cells, reduces the conversion of T4 to T3, weakens immune barriers, causes hormonal imbalances, promotes the autoimmune response and disrupts the interactions between the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands. This affects how you react to stress or trauma, your temperature, digestion, immune system, mood, libido and energy.

You get the point.

21

You need to kick stress to the curb. Maybe you didn’t realize this but so often we continue to attack our adrenals and ourselves by actually accepting stress into our lives? “Accept stress into my life,” you wonder? “But I don’t accept stress. Stress just finds me. It surrounds me….”

Here are some ways you accept stress into your life:

1. You let other people’s problems become your problems2. You insist on doing everything yourself3. You let other people dictate your schedule4. You feel guilty that you’re “not doing enough”5. You don’t ask for the support that you need

When you’re dealing with a health challenge such as a thyroid or autoimmune disease, it’s absolutely imperative to minimize stress and ask for help. You need at least an hour a day to do something you enjoy, take care of yourself or nurture your spirit.

Let’s breakdown each way you accept stress into your life and see what you can do to get support:

You let other people’s problems become your problems.

Other people’s problems are NOT yours. Their “emergencies” are NOT for you to solve. You have plenty on your plate to deal with right now.

Create Boundaries – right now is not the time to take on others’ problems. You need to carve out time for yourself. Right now, you’re the one who needs support. Any time a new commitment comes up or someone needs help, ask yourself, “Will the world explode if I don’t do this? Do I really need to do this now? ” You’d be surprised at how many things you don’t really need to participate in. Be firm with anyone trying to suck your time. Tell them that right now you have to take time to honor your health and cannot take on any commitments at this time. Be the guardian of your schedule and STAY FIRM.

You insist on doing everything yourself.

In today’s society, are to-do lists are completely stacked. What if you didn’t take the responsibility to do everything on those lists yourself? How will you get it ALL done, you wonder? Here’s a tip – put your kids to work! For example, a 7-year old can put the clean dishes away. A 10-year old can help you prepare food for dinner. A 12-year old can be doing the laundry. There are many great websites that list out age appropriate tasks for children to do. Giving children responsibilities empowers them, teaches new skills and takes items off your to-do list! You also get to work with your family as a team to complete tasks while enjoying quality time together as well.

22

Don’t have a litter of children to help you with your household chores? Ask a friend to support you while you heal by helping you with the groceries, picking up dry cleaning, running an errand. Your friends, work buddies and family are there to help you. All you need to do is explain that you need support in order to heal and ask for their help. There are many tasks out there that don’t really require your expertise. Hand over the reins to someone else who can help.

You let other people dictate your schedule.

I know, you’ve got a job, you’ve got kids or you’ve got a host of outside commitments. What time in the day is actually for you? Well, unfortunately, in this society, no one is going to hand you a block of time. We don’t live in a culture of daily siestas. We have to actually make a decision to take control and carve out time for ourselves.

When we’re over-scheduled and running on adrenaline, we tax our bodies and create more stress. How do you get a handle on it all?

You empower yourself by realizing that this is YOUR life and you need to design it for yourself.

Yes, there are obligations that can’t be avoided but there are ways to redefine your schedule to promote overall health and wellness. You just have to take a hard look at your commitments and see where you are losing time, how you can be more efficient, and what kind of support you need to ask for. Can you ask your boss if you can work from home a few days a week, can you run all your errands on one day instead of driving back and forth all week, what areas in your life can you tweak your schedule so that you are in control of it instead of the other way around?

You feel guilty that you’re “not doing enough”.

You know how it feels – you are greeted in the morning by a thick blanket of fatigue. You hardly want to lift your body up to get out of bed, let alone address the day’s commitments.

When your body goes haywire due to a thyroid disorder, your world gets turned upside down.

The simplest task feels impossible to do, so you start hiding from your “to-do’s” and pair your schedule down a bit. And then the guilt comes in... You’re not doing all that was once expected of you. You feel like a failure in your career, as a spouse, a friend or as a parent.

23

Here’s the problem though….guilt physiologically creates a boat load of stress for your body.

Guilt creates anxiety in the mind which, in turn, creates stress in your system. You don’t need to feel guilty. What you do need to do is heal! So, stop feeling guilty. Now is not the time to be a superhero. Now is the time to redesign your life for optimal healing. Once you’re healed, you can go back to leaping tall buildings in a single bound (if you actually want to). For now, you need to release yourself from guilt and ask for the help you need.

Talk to the people in your life about your situation and how you need support. Ask your boss if you can offload some smaller work tasks to an intern or assistant. (Be sure to explain to that person what is going on with you so they understand why you need the extra help).

Find someone to share carpool responsibilities. This should buy you some time each day between work and home for yourself to take care of your body and your mood.Swap childcare – my husband and I do this. We each get a block of 2-3 hours during the weekend for ourselves while the other one watches our son. It’s free “babysitting” and it allows us each to have quality time alone with our child and quality time alone for ourselves. If you are a single parent, swap childcare with a friend, neighbor, or coworker.

Schedule a standing day every week where each of you gets to have time to yourselves. This is not time for running errands. This is your time to treat your body well and heal. Get a massage! Read a book or magazine. Relax and de-stress!

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #9:

Ask for help! Look at your schedule and see what can be delegated. The next step gives some ideas on how.

24

DAY 10 THYROID MAKEOVERSLEEP FOR SUCCESSFUL HEALING.

How many times have you found yourself staring up at the ceiling in the middle of the night, praying that you could just fall asleep? You’re completely exhausted and your body needs to rest but nothing happens. And by nothing, I mean your thoughts race incessantly and you toss and turn as you try to will your body to sleep. Or, do you sleep for 10 hours and still wake up completely exhausted? Does this sound like you? Poor sleep is a typical symptom for people with thyroid disorders and often it is just accepted as something you have to live with as part of having the disease.

The problem is that insomnia or restless sleep must be addressed so that your endocrine system can be supported in order to heal. We can’t be flippant about a sleep disorder. Too often, it’s accepted, solely medicated or totally disregarded. Discovering the most effective way to get to sleep and sleep well is a must.

Here’s why…

Chronic sleep loss:

• reduces function in the thyroid (your thyroid doesn’t actually cause issues with sleep but lack of sleep affects how TSH, T4, T3 function in the body)

• reduces the capacity to perform basic metabolic functions (such as storing carbohydrates or regulating hormones)

• produced changes in glucose tolerance and endocrine function (not what we want)

• promotes advanced aging (yikes!)

For our body to restore itself, it must rest fully each day. For some reason in our culture, we tend to pride ourselves on how much we’re able to accomplish without having to sleep. When people have had a rough night, they sometimes engage in a competition as to who had the worst night sleep or who slept the least. It’s as if it is a badge of honor or something to brag about. But, this is no contest to win. To really heal the body and support your thyroid, you must make sleeping a priority and find the right methods for getting a good night’s sleep.

25

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #10:

Create a sleep schedule for yourself. Get in bed at 9 pm, lights out by or before 10 pm and set your alarm to wake up by 5 am or 6 am every day. Try it for 1 week. The results of falling asleep by 10 pm are pretty incredible.

26

DAY 11 THYROID MAKEOVER:ASK FOR HELP.

“How You Do One Thing Is How You Do Every Thing”

Take a moment to let that sink in… How you do ONE thing, is how you do EVERYTHING. This applies to so many facets of a person’s life but for thyroid sufferers in particular, we have a way of taking too much on; all the time. THAT is how we do EVERYTHING. Do you find yourself constantly putting your own needs aside and taking care of someone else in almost every area of your life?

Do you put your children’s needs ahead of your own?Are you trying to fulfill the emotional needs of a significant other or friend instead of your own?Do you find yourself caring more about a coworker, a family member or even the cashier at your local store than yourself?Do you try to make people feel comfortable instead of speaking up?

I know I mentioned this point before when I discussed the ways we accept stress into our lives. This bears repeating again since it is so vital to healing. When we feel we need to do EVERYTHING ourselves and constantly put our needs below those of other people, we are not honoring our value.

It’s no surprise that the place our bodies are attacking us is in our throat.

Our needs, desires, wants (dare I say, “voice”) is not being heard. And we’re partly to blame. We’re not letting our voice be heard and here is why that can be detrimental.

But first, let me tell ya a little story…

I sat in front of the doctor in tears: “I don’t understand. How did I get this disease? I really can’t handle anything else wrong with my body.” In addition to this new Hashimoto’s diagnosis, I had been recovering from serious physical injuries to my body from an auto accident. I really didn’t think I could handle any more bad news. We had just finished a long period of stress about our medical bills. Within a three-month span, my dear grandmother had passed, as well as two of my friends (both of whom were way too young.) I was under the enormous pressure of taking care of my young son and in the thick of deep sadness. And now this.

27

My caring doctor looked at me and explained all the medical reasons as to why I had gotten this disease. “But,” he said, “there is an emotional component as well.” What he went on to explain made perfect sense to me.

The thyroid is located in your 5th chakra. In the ancient Indian practice of Ayurveda, a chakra is a center of energy. The 5th chakra is linked to your ability to communicate and be heard. It is also correlated to faith and understanding.

I had been through a 5-year long struggle to pay my medical bills.

Had my voice been heard?

No.

Did I have to squash so many negative and angry feelings just to survive this period? Yes.

Was I in a period of faith and understanding? NO. Had I kept most of this to myself? Yes.

Had I asked my family and friends for the support and help I desperately needed. NO!

What the doctor was saying struck a chord. He explained that when you don’t communicate your feelings, when you squash what’s inside, when you don’t get support or your needs met, your body reacts in ways to make you notice and to put you back in balance.

This means that Hashimoto’s and other thyroid conditions are, in part, a symptom of not speaking up and not being heard.

When you have Hashimoto’s/Autoimmune thryroiditis, your body is literally attacking itself. You are attacking your thyroid, the seat of communication. My body was literally crying out, “Pay attention to your voice. Be heard. It’s time to speak up. Get some help!”

When I thought back, I hadn’t been myself for years. Once a brazen, loud-mouthed, jovial type who sang and laughed often, I found myself turned inward, never speaking my true thoughts. I always had a knot in my throat. I often kept my mouth shut when I was angry, frustrated, upset, feeling resentment and when I really had so much to say.

The doctor said to me, “You really have to find your voice again. This is the way you’re going to heal.”

As I mentioned before, the stress from taking on more than we can handle at any particular time harms our body in so many ways. Not getting support and continuing the cycle of stress will keep you from healing. You need to understand that it’s ok to ask for help. But you have to actually ask for it. And then you have to accept that help.

Are you ready to make a choice to start taking care of yourself?

Would you be fulfilling a long-time goal if you spent the time you deserve to heal yourself, lose weight, have more energy for your life or reduce stress?

28

Do you want to be happy; really and truly happy? What could be accomplished if you invested in yourself to make these things happen?

You ARE worth it and it’s time to start caring for yourself!

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #11:

Ask someone for help today. It can be something small. Just start practicing asking for help. You’ll see it’s not scary. You’ll see that people want to help you…they just don’t know that you need it and they don’t know what would be helpful. So, ask for it…and be specific. It makes those helping you feel like they’ve made a difference too!

29

DAY 12 THYROID MAKEOVER:DON’T SETTLE FOR A BAD DOCTOR.

After 3 years, two hospital visits, numerous scans of my organs and 13 different doctors, I was finally diagnosed with thyroid dysfunction. The first 12 doctors told me they had run a “full” blood panel and that they were checking my thyroid. Most of them told me I looked fine, my vitals were good and that I was just stressed. One doctor intimated that this “stress” was “all in my head” and that I was a hypochondriac.

Sound familiar? There were lots of suggestions for stress reduction. Those weren’t helpful. I wasn’t feeling stressed. My hair was falling out, my skin was so dry it felt like desert sand, my temperature was spiking and plummeting in an instant, I couldn’t sleep anymore and I felt panicked in many normal daily situations. Something was up. I had always been a “Type A” go-getter who considered stress just a benign fact of life and didn’t give it much thought. I certainly wasn’t the type of person who would panic while waiting in line at the grocery store which was now happening all too often. What I knew was that something was really wrong with my body. But, was anybody listening? Really listening? Or, were they just checking off boxes on a sheet of paper which concluded that this was all in my head?

Once I got fed up with the answers (or lack thereof) I received from my doctors, I stopped settling and committed myself to finding someone who did know, who could help and who would listen.

Do you feel like your doctor is on your team? Like he/she has your back? Is really listening and interested in your unique symptoms and lifestyle? If you answered “no” to any of these, you may have you settled for a bad doctor?

Signs that you’ve settled for a bad doctor:

1. The office staff is unprofessional. The office staff is the link between you and the doctor. If they are rude, rushed, neglect to give your doctor a message from you or blow you off, you may want to consider looking elsewhere. Sometimes it happens that the doctor is wonderful but his/her staff is lackluster. If the office staff is unprofessional and impeding your care, bring it up with your doctor. If it continues, you may want to shop around. A caring doctor will make sure his/her staff is trained to reflect his/her values

30

2. The doctor doesn’t respect your time. Do you find yourself routinely waiting an hour to see your physician then once you’re in front of him/her, you feel like you’re being rushed through the visit? Is your appointment frequently being rescheduled? If your doctor doesn’t respect that your time is valuable too, there’s a problem. He/she should be focused on answering your questions or addressing your concerns and not rushing you through the experience.

3. The doctor doesn’t listen. Does your doctor listen when you discuss your symptoms, ask about alternatives for healing, or want your medication changed? Does he/she honor the request if you ask for a certain blood test or exam to be run? Does the doctor give thoughtful responses to your questions or is your doctor constantly interrupting you? If your doctor is more interested in the sound of his/her voice and less interested in relieving your symptoms and helping you heal, it’s time to look elsewhere.

4. The doctor keeps you in the dark. Does the doctor explain his/her reasoning for a particular test or protocol? Is he/she open about recommendations, your healing plan or side effects of medications? Are you able to easily get copies of your test results and doctor’s notes when you request them? A doctor should be open and thorough about recommendations, protocols and test results with you. You should have easy access to your records without having to jump through hoops.

5. You don’t feel comfortable with him, or wonder about his competence. The doctor who finally gave me a diagnosis is WONDERFUL. But, when I asked him how my diet should be structured to help heal my thyroid, he couldn’t offer me much. After all, most doctors will admit that they didn’t learn much (or anything at all!) about nutrition during medical school. Since my doc was competent in other areas and took the time to listen to my needs, I stuck with him for a few months...but then I moved on...and that was OK! So, if you feel uncomfortable or don’t trust that your doctor knows what he/she is doing, it’s time to find someone else. You need to feel confident and trust that your doctor knows how to help you. If you don’t, it’s time to move on. Even if they are the sweetest person in the world, you must move on. Don’t settle for a doctor or practitioner who doesn’t know how to help you heal or relieve your symptoms.

6. The doctor won’t coordinate with other doctors or practitioners. As I mentioned, most doctors are not well-versed in dietary theories that support healing. So, after I received little advice from my doctor, I sought out someone who could help me with nutrition and asked my doctor to coordinate with her. He was happy to and that’s how I knew I had a winner. No doctor knows everything and each of us deserves and need a healing team to help us with all aspects of our health. A doctor shouldn’t feel threatened by working with other supportive health practitioners. Ego should not get in the way of your health care. If your doctor gives you push back if you suggest working as a team with other specialists and practitioners, it’s time to find a better partner for your health care.

31

7. The doctor can’t be reached. A good doctor is available for follow-up questions and concerns via email, phone, Skype or text message. If you can’t contact your doctor between visits, there’s a problem. Fortunately, a growing number of physicians are making themselves available to their patients. I have my doctor’s cell phone number for emergencies. I’ve only used it one time and it saved me a trip to the hospital.

8. The doctor is rude or condescending. If your doctor is a jerk to you in any way, it is definitely time to part ways. If they disregard your requests or trivializes your symptoms, you need to steer clear. Don’t settle for a bad doctor. You deserve the best!

9. The doctor doesn’t know more than the standard protocol. If your doctor’s only treatment option is medication, he/she probably doesn’t have a lot of experience with reversing thyroid disease. Ask your doctor the following question, “Can thyroid disease be reversed?” If his/her answer is “no,” it’s time to find a doctor who actually understands thyroid health.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #12:

If you are not getting the support you need, find a new doctor, holistic health coach or functional practitioner to help you heal.

32

DAY 13 THYROID MAKEOVER: BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF.

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” -Eleanor Roosevelt I’m going to say something bold and maybe wildly offensive but sometimes people choose to stay sick. Let’s be honest, sometimes there are advantages to having a disease to hide behind. And sometimes, we’re just afraid of what it will mean if we get better. Could you be inadvertently staying sick?

• Do you make excuses for why you’re not doing more positive things with your life?

• Do you compare your history of symptoms with others?

• If you feel that you suffered more than someone else, does that make you feel empowered?

• Are you afraid that if you heal, your support group will abandon you or be less sympathetic to you?

• Do you see suffering from thyroid disease as a means of bonding with other thyroid sufferers? And does healing mean you won’t have anything in common with that person anymore?

• Are you always searching for what you did to deserve your illness?

• Do you believe that you won’t be able to heal until you uncover what you did wrong?

• Do you find yourself dwelling on past negative experiences, believing that this actually enhances your healing?

• Do you think about change more than you act to bring it about?

• Do you think of change as something that will make your life feel chaotic?

• Are you reluctant to make a real effort to heal because you’re afraid you’d be setting yourself up for disappointment or feel like a failure if you weren’t able to heal right away?

Did you feel any resistance when you read those questions? Did any of them strike a chord?

Whenever we feel resistance, it is an opportunity for growth.

33

Healing is a process and opportunity for growth. And, in order to grow, you have to let go of the thing you are attached to that is stopping you. In other words, you have to let go of that fear, hesitation or insecurity that is holding you back. Digging deep and being honest with yourself is what will allow that to happen.

When healing a disease, we can be faced with the fear of lacking excuses. If we’re healed, we won’t have the excuse of why we “can’t” do this or that. We won’t HAVE to focus so much time and energy to caring for ourselves which means we have more time to think about what we’re not getting out of life or coming face-to-face with what makes us unhappy.

It can be scary to think about what we really want out of life and if our needs are actually being met.

Be honest with yourself, are any of the above a reason you are holding yourself back from healing?

To flip the script and take a step toward healing, ask yourself the following questions: (you may want to take a sheet of paper or journal to write out the answers)

• What do I really want from my life?

• When my thyroid heals, what will that do for me?

• How will I know when I’ve healed? What will that look or feel like to me?

• Who might be affected if I healed yourself?

• What do I believe the consequence could be to me and the people closest to me if I heal?

• What might I lose in my life or relationships if I were to heal?

*Some of the initial questions in the introduction were adapted from renowned medical intuitive, Carolyn Myss’ article, “Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can.*

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #13:

Take time to reflect upon the answers to these questions. Once you are honest with yourself and understand where you are having challenges or how you are holding yourself back, you’ll be able to

set the right intention toward a clear path to healing.

34

DAY 14 THYROID MAKEOVER:BE OPEN TO ALL YOUR HEALING OPTIONS.

One of the things I’m most astonished about when I read posts on thyroid support forums is how many people are married to the idea that there is no cure for thyroid disorders and that the only way to manage it is to go to the doctor and take a pill. The part that I find so remarkable is that these same people are complaining that their symptoms haven’t subsided and are, in fact, getting worse. Usually, they go on to discuss how the doctor had to keep upping their dosage and yet they still aren’t feeling better. I’ve read responses to those posts where some caring soul offered an alternative suggestion, only to be beaten down by forum members and told they were crazy. It can be disheartening to read those responses to someone bold enough to offer a unique suggestion. I’m quizzical when I read the responses from those complaining of their symptoms only to state that they are “doing fine with their doctor and happy on the medicine.” It’s confusing to say the least. Why wouldn’t someone be open to discovering all the possibilities for healing…especially if they are still suffering from annoying thyroid symptoms?

When people are exhausted, sick and afraid of what their future might hold, they cling to the “accepted” ideas and look for “authorities” such as doctors to protect them.

When you hand over your health care to someone else and hope they will just heal you, you limit your potential for healing. Here’s how you can choose to expand your options and change your life for the better.

Be open. Many people start off with the standard course of medicine, only to find it doesn’t work for them. There are so many effective options for healing. Keep an open mind and don’t limit yourself. You might just surprise yourself and discover that something simple and natural can transform your life from one of pain and suffering to one of energy, joy and liberation.

Be empowered. No one knows your body like you do. Don’t hand the reins over to someone else. Create your own team of healers. Find coaches/practitioners who are willing to work together to help you get the best outcome. Be in charge of your health care. Explore your options and ask people about their experience with an alternative or complementary type of treatment.

Try something new. After my auto accident, my body was a wreck. The accident was severe. My legs were not the same length. My right hip hurt when I stood on my leg or sat down on any surface. It actually hurt when I lied down as well. There was no position that did not bring

35

me real pain. In addition, my right shoulder drooped, hanging loosely forward; all the ligaments having been stretched by the force of my body as it flew from the impact.

Initially, I took the standard route for managing the pain. I saw my primary care physician, went through physical therapy and tried pain medications. Nothing worked. Eventually, I got fed up and decided to try something completely new – acupuncture. I was terrified at the idea of a bunch of needles being poked into my skin but I had read good things. The thought of being in pain for the rest of my life was more terrifying than the needles so I took a leap of faith. And it worked. It wasn’t painful or scary either. In fact, it was quite relaxing and I looked forward to my acupuncture appointments. After weekly treatments, the pain started to subside.

After that, I was imbued with confidence to seek out other alternative healing modalities. I learned about cranio-sacral therapy. Without fully understanding what it was, I tried that out too.

After 4 years of pain, my leg muscles released and both of my legs were finally the same length. It only took 1 session. To this day, I don’t know what magic that guy did but I continued to see him any time I had a random muscular-skeletal issue. The point is, I tried something new and it paid off! You can do this too. It’s time to get out of your comfort zone and give yourself a real opportunity to feel better.

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #14:

Set up an appointment with an alternative, complementary, integrative or holistic care practitioner in your area for

acupuncture, reiki, cranio-sacral therapy or even a massage. More and more these days, health insurance is covering these services.

36

DAY 15 THYROID MAKEOVER:TREAT THE ROOT CAUSE, NOT JUST THE SYMPTOMS.

The standard protocol for treating thyroid disease from a medical point of view is to treat the symptoms with a pill. You get one prescription for your thyroid, one for insomnia, one for depression, one for your cholesterol and the list goes on and on. Usually, people get short-term relief from these medications but as time goes on, it becomes all too evident that pills are not the cure. And with medications, they often got side effects which added more symptoms that have to be combated. When we feel crappy, it’s natural to go to the doctor to get something that will relieve our symptoms. We all want to feel better. Unfortunately, thyroid disease is very complex. Simply masking symptoms without addressing the root cause just delays the healing process. When you get a cut, you put a Band-Aid on the wound. Does the Band-Aid heal the cut? Nope. The body actually undergoes a process of self-healing to repair the damage to skin. When you only treat thyroid symptoms with a pill, you are merely putting a Band-Aid on the wound. You are not supporting your body’s self-healing mechanism which is the key to reversing thyroid conditions. In addition, you are not allowing the body to feel symptoms. Why is this important, you ask? Because your body can repair itself – it is the ultimate teacher in healing.

Symptoms are the way in which your body communicates with you. When you experience certain symptoms, your body is providing you with important feedback…letting you know what it needs to heal.

Some symptoms indicate that you need to change your diet while others will show you how to tweak your lifestyle to allow your body to restore itself. We need to listen to our symptoms, get to the root cause of the disease and give our bodies the support they need to heal.

Everyone’s body can repair itself – yes, even yours!

Did you know that your body constantly repairs itself, growing new bone, skin, blood, heart, lung and organ cells daily? Your body’s ability to regenerate itself makes it possible to overcome infections and injuries. If we didn’t possess this ability, every common cold, minor cut or wound would become a potentially disabling or life-threatening event.

37

THYROID MAKEOVER ACTION STEP #15:

Make a list of all of your symptoms and write down what you think each symptom might be telling you about your body.

Have faith in your body, it knows what it’s doing.

Your heart beats and you inhale and exhale automatically. Your body wants to feel good and does what it needs to do to survive without you having to think about it. Listen to your body. It will guide you to complete healing.

38

THANK YOU. Thank you for taking this journey with me over the past 15 days. It’s been a pleasure discussing all the ways in which we can better support our thyroid health.

I hope you have learned something about your thyroid and yourself along the way. This makeover only scratched the surface of all the avenues you can explore that help reverse thyroid and autoimmune disease.

I hope you found the information thoughtful and valuable. It is my mission to inspire, empower and support you in reversing thyroid, autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.

With the right support, you too can bring energy, joy and fulfillment into your life.

Please let me know if I can support your healing.

And, I want to hear from you. How did you like the makeover? Is there anything that could be improved upon? Your opinion matters. Let your voice be heard - email me! In good health

J en

39