Miss Lizzy | Miss Lizzy Thyroid Support

This is a variation on Gordon Ramsey’s Shepherd’s Pie recipe. It’s a great winter or rainy day meal. It has potato which is a carb treat sometimes. And I increase the carrots for flavor and to get more vegetables in the base. The recipe takes time but makes plenty for leftovers.

Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins partly unattended

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs ground lamb, or combo of lamb and buffalo (only if its good tasting)
fresh ground black pepper
2 cups onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 carrots shredded or finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 ounce butter
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tablespoons flour
7 ounces red wine
2 1/2 ounces Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken stock
2 lbs boiled potatoes
2 ounces butter
5 ounces milk
1/2 cup parmesan (more or less as desired)
fresh ground pepper
salt

Directions

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat oil until hot. Add half the meat, season with pepper and fry until well browned. With a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the pan and place in a metal colander to allow the excess fat to drain. Drain excess fat from pan.
Add butter wait until it foams, then add the onion and carrots. Cook until soft and translucent. Add the thyme and garlic cook for 203 minutes more. Add the meat and tomato purée and stir.
Add the red wine and Worcestershire sauce and cook until the liquid has reduced to half the original volume. Add the chicken stock, bring back to the boil, then simmer for 20-30 minutes (less time if the mix is thick, more time if it needs to boil down). The mixture should be thick and glossy. While the meat mix is simmering prepare the potatoes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peel potatoes, cut into quarters and boil in a larger pot. When potatoes split easily with a fork, drain. Mash potatoes to break apart or pass through a Mouli or potato-ricer. Put into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Warm milk and butter in microwave until its hot to the touch. Pour over the potatoes and beat well, season with salt and white pepper.
Put the meat mixture into a large baking dish, then top with the creamed potato. Use a fork to rough up the top. Sprinkle with shredded parmesan.
Cook in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown in color.

Image source: http://chefgordonramsayrecipe.com/shepherds-pie/

Sauteed Apples, Pears or Peaches

Miss Lizzy

For a fast, delicious dessert try sautéing pears, apples, or peaches in butter to curb the sweet tooth.

Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1

Ingredients

1 Pear, Apple, or Peach
1 TBS Salted Butter
Dash of Cinnamon, Nutmeg or Chili Powder
Truvia
Sour Cream or Yogurt (Full fat variety)

Directions

Heat butter in pan on medium heat until foam subsides. Cut fruit into cubes or slices. Sauté in butter about 5-7 minutes until fruit softens to desired tenderness and starts to caramelize. Add spices, stir and removed from heat. Add sweeter, stir. Top with Sour Cream or Yogurt.

Image source: http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/sauteed-apples/

Cheese Souffle

Miss Lizzy

(Adapated from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything”)

Ingredients:

4 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup Spelt Flour (or White Flour if that’s what you have).
1/2 tsp. Salt (Ideally Celtic or Real Salt brands)
Pepper to Taste
1 1/2 cups milk (Warm to the touch)
6 Eggs Divided (Fresh eggs or Omega 3 Eggs taste great)
1/2 tsp Mustard Powder, and/or a pinch of Cayenne
1/2 cup Cheese (Parmesan, Cheddar, Havarti, but choose good cheese)
Pinch of Cream of Tartar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Use 1 tsp. butter to grease an eight-inch soufflé dish (like Corningware).

In a small saucepan, heat remaining butter over medium heat until it foams. Whisk in flour, cook for a few minutes until the color darkens just a bit. Add warm milk, whisking to avoid lumps. Cook a few minutes longer until the mixture is thick. Remove from heat. Add egg yolks, mustard and/or cayenne, salt, pepper and cheese.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites gently into the cheese/egg mixture, then pour into the soufflé dish.

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Image source: http://www.phaidon.com/agenda/food/articles/2010/april/23/cheese-souffle/

Fried Egg and Avocado Salad

Miss Lizzy

This simple salad works for any meal. Like all my recipes, natural salt such as Real Salt, makes a huge difference in taste. And natural salts are especially beneficial for those of us with Adrenal Fatigue.

SERVES 1

COOK TIME: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1/4 to 1/2 Avocado, sliced
3-4 Leaves Romaine Lettuce or Spring Mix Lettuce (I prefer pre-washed lettuce in the box because it keeps longer)
2 Eggs (Omega 3, or Free Range)
Sliced Almonds (or any nut you prefer)
Dried Cranberries
Chives or Scallions (optional)
Butter (use the real stuff)
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter over medium high heat until foam subsidees. Add eggs and fry to desired doneness. To cook the top of the egg without flipping egg cover the pan. This gives the egg yolk better texture.

While the egg is cooking, on a plate add lettuce, top with avocado, dried cranberries, almonds, then the fried eggs. Garnish with chopped chives or scallions. Season with salt and pepper.

Image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/136445063680780154/

Tomato Soup with Onion, Carrot, Sour Cream and Chives

Miss Lizzy

Serves 2-4
Time: 20 minutes including prep
This is a really simple soup recipe that’s also pretty.

1-2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Onion (diced)
2 Carrots (diced)
1 Can Crushed Tomatoes
1 Cup Chicken Stock
1/2 Tsp Ground Thyme
Sour Cream (full fat, it tastes better and adds protein)
Chives or Scallions
Parmesan (Shredded or Grated)
Salt and Pepper

In a 3-4 quart pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. While oil is heating dice onion and carrot. When oil is hot add carrots and onions pot. Saute for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent and carrots are soft. Add chicken stock, stir to get the good stuff off the bottom of the pan. Add crushed tomatoes and thyme. Cook for another 5 minutes or so until tomatoes are bubbling. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Serve and individually top with parmesan, sour cream and chives (or scallions).

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge or frozen.

The Depression Hypothyroid Connection

Miss Lizzy

One of the many unfortunate symptoms of Hypothyroidism is Depression, but its easy to think they are unrelated conditions and treat them separately with separate medicine. In some cases they are unrelated, but on Stop the Thyroid Madness (STTM) there is a long list of inspiring stories of depression that went away when people started using natural desiccated thyroid medicine like Naturthroid to treat Hypothyroidism. I am one of these success stories.

I didn’t have full-blown, year-round depression, so I never thought I was one of those people who needed anti depressants. What I did experience was a low-level sadness that felt almost like the muscles in my face were heavy, making the act of smiling unthinkable. It wasn’t a long-lasting depression or hurtful to those around me. Just a general weight-of-the-world, dragging feeling.

The unusual part is I felt this “Hypothyroid depression” most noticeably during the months of March, April and May, which always seemed odd to me. One would think the dark part of winter would be the worst time for depression. Not in the spring when the days are getting longer, flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and everyone is happy. I should have felt great, but instead I felt miserable. Every year starting at age 13, I dreaded the doldrums of spring.

When I started researching Hypothyroidism, I learned something really interesting about depression. According to nutritionist and Leptin expert, Byron J. Richards, when daytime high temperatures vary 25 – 40 degrees over a period of a few days, the thyroid system really struggles to keep up. This means fall and spring seasons are hard on the thyroid and can cause a mental funk or depression. So that was it, incredible! Finally an answer that made sense.

This type of depression is so subtle, its easy to pass it off as related to other things in life, or not even call it Depression. While other Hypothyroid sufferers experience depression that is much more intense. The good news is depression has gone away for so many of us after Hypothyroid treatment with natural desiccated thyroid medicine. After getting my thyroid medicine to the right dose I am happy to report I can finally enjoy a spring.

xxoo

Lizzy

Do It Like It Matters

Miss Lizzy

My yoga teacher, Katie, is one of the great influences in my life. She has a unique talent for challenging her students to push their limits but in a supportive, encouraging way. She never says “Tonight we are doing handstand… oh silly you, you just fell! What were you thinking?”. Yet that’s the kind of thing we do to ourselves all the time. We try something challenging or new, and then flog ourselves with regret and self-doubt. Or we stay in old patterns that aren’t working for us simply because we are afraid of making a change. Change is scary! I totally get that.

In yoga class when we approach a scary pose like handstand, Katie says just touch in with it, even if you don’t do the full pose, keep touching in and it will become less scary. And here is the connection. This applies to everything in life. To reach any goal, we have to decide to make that change, have courage, then do it like it matters. Know that its okay to fall because falling will happen, that’s how we learn.

So tonight my message is…. if you want to make a change in your life, only you can make it happen. No one is going to say “I told you so,” but no one is going to do it for you. So get out there and do it, start now, start tomorrow morning, but make a decision to start. Be proud of your willpower and courage.

xxoo

Lizzy

Getting Started with Natural Desiccated Thyroid Medicine

Miss Lizzy

When starting natural desiccated thyroid medicine like Naturthroid or Erfa, the big questions are “How much should I take?” and “How quickly should I increase my daily dose?”. While I am just a patient and can’t give medical advice, I can share my experience, and what others have tried.

Getting to the right dose for us personally is really important. You might think being on too much natural desiccated thyroid medicine is the only problem. But being on too low a dose can also be problem for some people.

Personally, I was fearful of being on too high a dose, so I held back on increasing my thyroid medicine, and waited long stretches in between increases. The result was a much longer time recovery time. While I advocate being cautious, I was overly cautious. I could have reached my optimal dose within 2 months, but instead took two years! So here is some information about how others safely, but quickly, reached their optimal dose:

Getting Started

According to Stop the Thyroid Madness (STTM), a safe starting dose is around one grain (or pill) a day which is 60 mg (for those with poor adrenals, starting lower is suggested). The STTM site says hold the starting dose for a week or two at the most to allow the body to adjust. Then start raising about 1/2 grain (or pill) every few weeks according to doctors guidance.

On the STTM they learned if they didn’t raise from a starting dose within two weeks, the hypothyroid symptoms started to return with a vengeance. So staying on too low a dose was a problem for them.

If hypothyroid symptoms still persist after reaching 2-3 grains (pills) a day, rather than raising more they found it best to hold their dose for at least 4 – 6 weeks to allow the body time to adjust. Raising higher at this stage could cause a patient to dose too high, resulting possibly in hyper symptoms like a fast heart rate, jitters and sensitivity.

Finding the Optimal Dose

STTM says most of us end up needing between 3 – 5 grains (pills) to reach our optimal dose. For people its higher and for others its lower. There isn’t a one size fits all. Personally, at one stage I raised as high as 3 1/4 pills thinking I need a higher dose, but I had a bad hyperthyroid reaction which included extreme noise, site, sound and sensitivity, as well as, irritability and edginess. So I eased back to find 2.5 pills was my optimal dose. You and your doctor have to explore and try things according to your individual needs, and the removal of hypothyroid symptoms.

Remember, too low a dose can be equally problematic to being on too high a dose. So think like Goldilocks and find the spot that’s “just right.”

xxoo

Lizzy

Read more information about dosage on Stop the Thyroid Madness

The Secret Message Behind Chocolate Cravings

Miss Lizzy

Did you know craving chocolate, especially during PMS, can actually be sign of low magnesium? According to James L. Wilson, Ph.D., author of Adrenal Fatigue , magnesium helps mediate the symptoms of PMS because it is is directly involved with the production of progesterone. Since chocolate contains high levels of magnesium, craving chocolate is the body’s way of getting the supplements it needs. Its incredible how smart our bodies are!

The down side of course is caffeine which, if you have Adrenal Fatigue, overstimulates an already exhausted system. The solution, according to Wilson, is to let the chocolate cravings be a reminder to take more magnesium. He recommends 400 MG of magnesium a day, either all month long for severe PMS suffers, or for milder cases of PMS from Day 12 or 14 of your cycle (until the first day of the next cycle).

Within two weeks of starting magnesium supplementation, Wilson says cravings for chocolate should disappear (or be negligible). If you are still craving chocolate this likely means more magnesium is needed.

Magnesium can be found in foods such as almonds, cashews, other nuts and peas. And if you are following the HypoT Girl’s Diet with me, then you should be getting lots of magnesium from eating nuts all day. I rarely crave chocolate anymore, so there must be something to this stuff!

xxoo

Lizzy

Fear of Failing My Lab Work

Miss Lizzy

Ever since my first lab work for Hypothyroid testing came back “normal,” I have a terrible fear of failing my labs. I always knew my body wasn’t working right, but year after year the lab work claimed otherwise. Frustrating! And the doctors only believed the numbers, they didn’t believe me. It was a dreadful feeling. In my heart I knew something was wrong. But somehow I felt like a liar, because see there, the numbers don’t lie so it must be me. But how does one actually fail at lab work?

Its easy to feel judged and criticized if doctors only look at labs. Therein lies the problem. It wasn’t my lab work that was failing, I hadn’t found the right kind of doctor, someone who looked at the lab work but also listened to how I felt.

When I finally found the doctor who treated me (let’s call him Dr. B) he explained that lab work has ranges of normal, but “normal” is different for everyone. In addition to lab work, he said we needed to look at symptoms, as well as a my “sense of self” (meaning, trust my own instinct about my health). Hallelujah! This philosophy about medicine was totally different from my past experiences.

Here is a great example of where symptoms and labs didn’t line up, where my lab work failed me. In my situation, my TSH was low before getting treatment. Currently with treatment my TSH is .01. By the standards of many doctors and Endocrinologists this TSH level is considered suppressed, which means they would take me off thyroid medicine immediately (horrifying). Yet with suppressed TSH, I feel better now than I ever felt in my life. My Hypothyroid symptoms are almost all gone. Its confusing when the labs say one thing but your body says something else. Luckily my doctor looks beyond labs.

Still many doctors and Endocrinolgists are using the unreliable TSH test results to diagnose Hypothyroidism. According to my experience and patients on Stop the Thyroid Madness TSH is not a reliable marker for Thyroid function. If treatment is based entirely on the TSH test, how many people out there are “failing at lab work” and not getting treated?

So beware any doctor who makes you feel like a Hypothyroid failure! It may not be the lab work after all.

xxoo

Lizzy