Dear Loops,

First of all, I am NOT a doctor.  But I have experience. And I have read the entire thread.

I have had two childre, who are now 15 and 13.  I also had trouble making enough breastmilk at the time and had to supplement. I nursed the first child for 5 months and supplemented with soy milk.  (Fast forward to now, good thing she is A+!) With my son I only breastfed him about 6 weeks, and supplemented with soy mild and formula.  ( He is also type A+, as I am)

After each pregnancy, I asked for my thyroid to be checked because I had so much trouble losing weight.  Each time, the doctor said I was normal.  What I didn't know at the time was that most docs only check "TSH", which is the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, which just checks to see if your thyroid is producing.  I finally went to an anti-aging doctor who checked my T3, T4 and Reverse T3.  THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!  You need to find a doc who will check all these, along with your estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.  To make a long story short, the anti-aging doctor put me on Armour thyroid (natural thyroid) , estrogen, testosterone and anti-depressants.  The weight then came off fairly easily.  Granted, I was going to the gym also, but I was going to the gym prior to getting on these hormones and dieting, to no avail.

Depression is not something to be ashamed of.  It is a physiological disorder, having to do with seratonin.  Either your body does not make enought seratonin, or you do not have enough receptors in the brain.  Interestingly, thyroid ineffeciently can mimic depression symptoms.  In any event, anit-depressants do not have to be taken forever.  I took them for a few years, and haven't been on them for the last 4 years.  I am now on all bio-identical hormones including progesterone.  You may now be estrogen dominant, which will cause fat storage and also your cortisol cycle could be out of whack.  There is a simple saliva test that you can do to test that.

To sum it up, keep changing doctors until you find one that listens to you and is current with all the latest research.  And enjoy your little bundle of love!!  They DO grow up so fast!

Please let me know about your progress.
Grace

Pretty much all females over 35 are estrogen dominant, you don't need lab work to determine whether you are or not.  Adding progesterone may help, as well as reducing stress.  Estrogen is very stressful and aging; it lowers metabolism and causes hypothyroid:
http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/aging-estrogen-progesterone.shtml
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/estrogen-age-stress.shtml

I would ditch the grains also.  Starches are fattening.

ok hello once again my friends!  A new update....
So due to my dairy addiction and withdrawal I went back to high fat low carbs AGAIN....this happens to me around day 5 of no dairy I suddenly start making all kinds of excuses to go back on it.  However this time something terrible happened - I really couldn't sleep - awful insomnia.  You would think I would have learned my lesson but no.  And with a baby this is not good.  And not being ketoadapted this is really bad - no energy etc.  I don't know why but I just can't seem to trust the BTD anymore after gaining weight.  But I do feel better on it.  So I really have to get my head around leaving my weight at the moment - accepting myself as I am because otherwise I am bouncing around from one plan to the next and making myself ill.  And trusting that this way of eating is the best one for me.  I guess I need some encouragment really.

I now have the thyroid supplement so am taking that.  I am also battling an ambien dependency although last night I finally slept without it after eating more carbs and taking a load of calcium and magnesium and various herbs.  I am now feeling better again but I really have to get through the 2 weeks casein withdrawal before I stop wanting to eat dairy again.  The ambien - well I had been prescribed 5mg a long time ago and just take it for emergencies but recently what with my low carbing efforts I was having to resort to it again and again...Ralph luckily sleeps through the night!!

Interesting about the hormones - I had been taking shatavari and goats rue and more milk tea for awhile for increasing breast milk - would this increase estrogen I wonder?  I am still pumping milk - I think I will stop soon though - maybe my weight will drop then.

I will try to find a doctor who will test thyroid properly.  Thanks.

Sahara, those are two great links...thanks for sharing

Loops, sorry you're struggling again....the dairy addiction is something I've experienced for years
and I had no option but to avoid it totally when I was typed as a Teacher (who ironically gets
a lot of cheese), until I found manchego cheese for some odd reason doesn't set me up for dairy addiction.

I think the ONLY solution is not having the dairy in the house....Just do not buy what you can't
eat.  Buy what you can eat and make sure you're one meal ahead of yourself.  Although I've eaten
breakfast and calculated in my head that I ate a large amount of food, what I'm mentally preparing
for in my head is what I'll eat for lunch.  Not enough fiber for breakfast, so I'm already thinking
beans/bean soup....vegetables....and knowing all of these foods will fill me up....Also thinking
ahead is my nuts.....and so I take a little cup and measure them out....getting them ready for
when I need to eat a snack.  Remembering to drink enough fluid....have tea if I think I'm hungry,
because usually I'm thirsty and don't get the signal when I know I haven't had much fluid in hours.
I just pour myself a big pitcher of water in the morning....let it sit out and remind myself to drink
it up before the day is over.

You might want to try melatonin instead of ambien....I sleep well and take it 30 minutes before bed.
It takes trying a few different mg to see how much you need. I need 9 or 10 mg.  My husband only
needs 6 mg.

You might want to just post your meals, one at a time on this thread until you get a handle on
self control. It doesn't take will power as much as it takes planning ahead and feeling gratified for
getting from point A to point B.  That's the way I do it....going from meal to meal....It's not like
I'm thinking about food all day but it's one of the necessities of having food ready when you need
to eat.  And with a baby, I'm quite sure you can't focus very much on yourself when someone else
needs so much of your precious time.  While nursing a baby can be a relaxation time for you,
in all reality, unless someone else is helping you prepare food for yourself, I can see how easy it
would be to grab whatever is available when you feel the need to eat.

Start over again....just feel accountable for one day at a time....And try to get through one meal
at a time by thinking about your next meal while you're still on breakfast.  Think out your snacks
and your liquid....and try to feel the sense that you're planning ahead. I'm generally not a planner
as I like spontaneity, but part of taking good care of yourself and feeding yourself right is being
prepared.

Next time you go food shopping, do not buy foods you know will tempt you...I often freeze foods
I shouldn't eat....Most of my manchego cheese is frozen in little bite size pieces....Only a day's
worth is defrosted and ready to eat.

Sometimes you have to be your own policewoman....for your own good!   Keep a food diary....
give yourself little smile-y faces when you've done a good job.

Just wipe the slate clean and start anew...  

Don't let too much time go by without letting people on the forum know you need support.  WIshing you the best of luck

Quoted from 14442

Pretty much all females over 35 are estrogen dominant, you don't need lab work to determine whether you are or not.  Adding progesterone may help, as well as reducing stress.  Estrogen is very stressful and aging; it lowers metabolism and causes hypothyroid:
http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/aging-estrogen-progesterone.shtml
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/estrogen-age-stress.shtml

I would ditch the grains also.  Starches are fattening.

Not all of us. Some of us have too much progesterone, and adding in progesterone cream will only make things worse. I don't suggest playing around with hormones without the supervision of a healthcare professional, or doing a whole lot of research on your symptoms.

Loops, I'm sorry you're still struggling.

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Hi, guys. Have lost 3 lbs. was able to get really honest with my food plan. Am an o+ nonnie gatherer. Giving up a starch was like giving up a limb. But did the my fitness pal app. It's free. Plug in food. Counts calories. & amount needed to lose.  It made me really see. That the hot rice cereal made with rice milk could be cut. Eat a uni bar 2 times a day so there are my grainy carbs. Also plug in exercise. Since cutting out extra unneeded carbs had to add extra protein serving due to fatigue. Energy is much better. Anyway, am using my finess pal daily. It totals up carbs sugars, etc. sorry to go on.  But it helped me kick my insulin resistant genes butt.  Swami since Dec. daily exercise. Just doing a lot of right things. Plus being able to be honest due to calorie counting app. Am so grateful. Finally, but can only do this one meal at a time. Am going on 60 & when they say its harder to lose when older, they weren't kidding.   My fitness pal has a huge data base.  It helped me. Hope it helps you.