I’ve been sharing information about my journey with Hashimoto’s for a while. The information I’ve shared in prior posts has been information that put me on the road to healing.

I don’t want you to think the road I travel is always a bed of roses. On the contrary, it has been a rough ride. The highs and lows of living with Hashimoto’s is a challenge. I have months where everything goes well, then I sabotage myself. I watch those around me eating chocolate cake and potato chips. I see everyone laughing and enjoying the party or life itself, thinking that what they eat makes them smile, and laugh.

My true self knows that’s not the case, however, my ego says, “You can be happy if you eat and drink like them.” So, I listen to that “false self” and tell myself that one piece won’t hurt. A few chips won’t make me sick. I’ll be fine.

Then it happens. Once I eat the forbidden foods, I eat more of them. I tell myself I feel fine and think “Maybe I really don’t have Hashimoto’s.” Well, not true.

In the last year, I’ve lived the scene above more than once. The good thing about falling off the wagon is you can get back up there and start again.

So I have a confession to make. I’ve recently lived the scene I mentioned above. I’m now reaping the reward of such behavior. The tired exhausted feeling, and not being able to focus are slowly returning. At first, I was going to give up, say forget it, I don’t care anymore. It’s just too much.

But the universe has something else planned for me. I can’t give up.

I have a friend who recently found out she has an autoimmune disorder. It’s not Hashimoto’s, but none the less, it’s autoimmune. Everything I’ve read about autoimmune diseases tells me that changing the way you eat can put that condition into remission.

Now I’m back on the wagon, with my friend at my side. We have a plan. While I know what I’ve done in the past has worked, I’m not doing this just for me. My friend needs to shed some extra weight. I could stand to lose a little, but she wants to get rid of the extra pounds that have left her feeling a little self-conscious. So we’re trying something different.

I thought it might be nice to share the journey with you. I can’t divulge the personal information of my friend, but I can share my experience and maybe some of the non-personal information of my friend.

So we begin today. We will work together, hold each other accountable in our lives. Not just weight loss, but overall health. We will check in with each other when we feel weak and when we have wins to celebrate. Much of what I’m sharing with her are things I have already incorporated into my life. So, I’m thinking it should work. We are going to find out.

Today we start with green tea and a protein shake as I usually do. Some of the ingredients I’ve altered. Lunch and dinner will be similar to my prior routine. Salmon and sweet potatoes for lunch and chicken and veggies for dinner.

This journey is one that I hope will be of value to others. My goal is to share the experience and let you all know how we’re doing. I hope you will follow this journey with me. I’m giving it 21 days to start. What we’re doing is untested (at least other than myself) so I don’t want to commit to this being a “Program” but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to share what we learn along the way. If you’d like to take the journey with us, post in the comments and we’ll try to make it happen. Wish us luck.