Hypothyroidism

I attended an Ornish recovery program after my open heart surgery that lasted 9 weeks. All the recipes called for “health” food ingredients. I lost 30 pounds and 10’s time that in grocery costs. My wife and I found two recipes in carrot&zucchini muffins and a dark chocolate muffin with whole raspberries and a warm raspberry sauce. Both were vegan desserts for weight loss and overall health.
I started e Nutrisystems diet plan and got off of it due to costs and seeing how we could purchase equivalent products at a fraction of the costs. I came away with a great creation for a breakfast or lunch. I chop up yellow onions and green, red, yellow, orange bell peppers. I mix this all together and put a hand full into a quart freezer bag. I add a handfull of frozen chopped spinach and a small amount of ground sausage, cubed ham stored in serving size in its own quart freezer bag. I place the predetermined frozen onion,pepper mix and meat in a cornish dish with a handle in the micro for 2-3 minutes so that everything is thawed out. I stir in three eggs (sometimes I add shredded cheeses) and add my seasonings that are divided between just salt and black pepper, italian seasoning, McCormick Salad Supreme is an excellent seasoning to try, and various Dash seasonings. My favorite Dash seasonings are Garlic&Herb and Onions&Herb. No oils or butter are added. And I cook up the finished casserole or quiche in a single serving portion in the micro for two minutes, take it out of the micro and mix up the dish so the uncooked center is moved to the outside in the dish. I cook for no more than 2 extra minutes and leave it to finish cooking the eggs for a few minutes with no more microwave cooking. I can have a ham&cheese, bacon&cheese, italian sausage&cheese, meat&cheese, no cheese, no meatjust vegs and eggs. The potential is limited by the size of the cooking dish and the ingredients. I add fresh mushroom chopped up and cubed tomatos. I was surprised to find out that I did not have to use salt at all and I am known to salt the salt before eatting. It is easy, fun, and can be done while doing other things such as making my 1/2 gallon of green tea with pomegranate. I am going to try Swerve as a sweetener, but, I can handle the unsweetened drink for my daily work or a complete gallon for my off days. I also drink filtered water during each day.

What I hope to get out of the TDC membership is a greater knowledge in heath and weight control without feeling I am doing without my old favorites. I do not understand the whole blood sugar, fat burning, glucose intolerance, starvation mode, etc…. I want to loose the weight that my permanently changed metabolism from Graves Disease treatment i.e. killing my thyroid and keep it off as well as regulating my blood sugar and insulin. I am a little overwhelmed by all of the strange terms and the cause&effect relationships. My wife and myself are not needing fancy foods or treats. We hardly go anywhere for eating out. My wife had the stomach reduction surgery before we met and is used to eating up to 6 small meals a day. I, on the other hand was raised to be at the table when called or miss out on my favorite foods. We were not allowed to snack if mom felt that it would interfere with the next meal. We fought over our filling the plate. I am now living a retired life of sorts and want to change my eatting habits. It is soooo much more simple if someone else is doing the cooking. So, the sort of things I am needing from this club membership is how to change my cooking and my utter lack of “healthy” recipes using staple grocery items. I will learn as we go along on adding all the “healthy” ingredients later. We are most definitely budget conscious.

I forgot to add that I am 67 years old, retired and lowered myself to partime work as a respite services provider at 20 hours a week. All I have is Social Security and minimum hourly wages doing what I love. I was professionly employed in 2005 – 2020 working with adults with disabilities with a Masters degree in mild to severe disabilities. I was a business owner and Exedcutive in the Boy Scouts after a stint in the Naval Security Group. At 52 I decide to make a change in my advocation to helping others with disabilities to gain self-adequacy and self-advocacy. Hence my Masters degree. I see my decision on a healthy living and eating program and I choose the Trim Down Club to help me reach my goals.

Hi, Emmasr211. Absolutely! Just be sure to steam cruciferous vegetables (such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kale) before eating, and go easy on soy products.