Most of my clients almost immediately lose weight and feel awesome when following the 6 pillars of The Plano Program. On the flip side, there are some clients that are too tired to exercise or even cut up vegetables. Their weight loss is incredibly slow or sometimes non existent even though they follow all the rules- they journal their food, exercise, get to sleep on time. eat a clean diet, etc. Their family, friends, and doctor tell them that they are not trying hard enough….and once again they feel like a failure.
Some of my heaviest clients are not food cravers or overeaters at all. They eat normally. In fact some of them even chronically undereat, because moderate eating, even combined with exercise, has resulted in continued weight gain! Some of them even gain weight on severely reduced calories or a medically supervised fast. When I looked into the research on this, I found that half of people entering formal weight loss programs do not overeat. The dropout rates for these programs runs as high as 85 percent, partly because so many dieters can not lose weight by cutting calories. What about Thyroid Function?
Common Symptoms and Risk Factors of Low Thyroid Function:
-Heavy since childhood
-Family history of thyroid problems
-Low Energy, Fatigue, trouble getting going in the morning
-Tendency to feel cold, especially feet
-High Cholesterol
-Headaches
-Poor concentration and Memory
-Low Blood Pressure and Heart Rate
-Hoarse voice
-Reduced libido
-Tendency to gain weight easily or inability to lose weight
How do you know that your weight gain and fatigue are due to a thyroid problem and what about conventional thyroid test??
The most common test for thyroid function is the TSH(thyroid stimulating hormone) test. The TSH measures a chemical sent by the pituitary gland in the brain, which relays order to the thyroid gland about how much TSH the body need at a given time. However, from my research, experience, and picking the brain of some of the most educated natural doctors, the TSH is NOT the most reliable test which frequently leaves you with, “Sorry, but the test reveals your levels are NORMAL” If I had a dime for everytime I heard this I would be a rich man.
Different doctors have different kinds of training and use different tests but MOST conventional doctors use the TSH test. If you feel that your thyroid is sluggish insist the following be performed:
1) TSH
2) T4
3) T3
4) RIA -Radioimmune assay
5) T3 Uptake
6) Reverse T3
7) Thyroid Antibody Test
8) FTI – Free Thyroid Index
2 simple Test You Can Do Yourself:
There are a couple of test that can be quite accurate at detecting a thyroid problem.- The Basal temp. test which was conducted by Dr. Barnes in 1942 which proved to be a highly accurate test. Another is the Ankle Reflex Test.
1) Buy a mercury thermometer – Do not use a digital thermometer
2) Place thermometer under your armpit 30 min after awakening but before you get out of bed or turn the light on. Keep your eyes open.
3) Leave it there for ten minutes
4) Do this for three mornings or more to get an average temp. If the axial temp is consistently subnormal (97.8 degrees), your thyroid function is probably low. (Your adrenal function is probably low too)
Testing Your Ankle Reflex
Here is another way to test for thyroid function. Does your foot bounce when the someone taps the tendon or the back of your ankle? This is a good indication that you do not have a sluggish thyroid.
Adrenal Function and Thyroid:
Adrenal function often affects thyroid function, it is crucial to test your adrenals (through saliva) as well as your thyroid. I have been doing tons of adrenal function tests lately, low and behold most of my clients are under some form of adrenal fatigue with strong hormonal imbalanes. For a better understanding of how the adrenals affect thyroid function please visit www.theplanoprogram.com under functional diagnostic nutrition.
PS I just got a shipment of Krill Oil in, let me know who needs more!
Regards,
Marc Plano
www.theplanoprogram.com
www.optimal-results.net
