If you want to lose weight and improve your fitness levels, start with some extensive blood work…have everything tested that you can get tested. Know your current state of health. Don’t settle for a call from the doctor’s office saying “your tests were all normal.” Get a copy of the actual lab results. If you can’t read them, enlist the assistance of a friend in the medical field or get your doctor to show you how to read them.

Once you know YOUR numbers, do your homework. Research the tests and what is considered normal, low or high and figure out where your numbers fall. And recognize that the numbers are just a baseline. In no other test is that more clear than in your TSH levels. The range that is considered “normal” for TSH is HUGE.

TSH is a thyroid stimulating hormone. If you have high levels of it, it means your body is working hard to coax your thyroid into producing enough supply for your body’s needs. In other words, the higher the numbers, the more likely it could be that your thyroid is not functioning at proper capacity. What is considered normal range is anywhere from .035 to 5.5. The reason for such a broad range is the complicated dynamics that come into play with endocrine issues are so complex for each individual – where a reading of .035 may be normal function for one individual, it could mean that someone else with an equally low reading could be suffering from symptoms of hyperthyroidism (too much thyroid hormone).

A well educated physician who stays on top of current research will tell you that for those patients whose symptoms of TSH level variations are clear and precise, it is far better to treat those symptoms rather than go exclusively by the numbers, understanding that what may be normal for one person may not be for another. For instance, I can almost tell you the exact number of my own TSH levels, without the blood tests, simply by my symptoms. As it turns out, what is normal for ME is anything BELOW 1. Anything higher and I begin to suffer symptoms of hypothyroidism. Some common symptoms of hypothyroidism are unexplained weight gain and/or inability to lose weight, extreme fatigue and weakness and intolerance to cold temps. Though these symptoms plagued me for YEARS, with ever increasing intensity (as my TSH levels climbed steadily and my thyroid began shutting down), because a reading of 5 was still within the “normal” range, the quacks I was going to refused to consider my symptoms and insisted I could not be suffering from hypothyroidism. The reality is that a HUGE percentage of hypothyroidism goes undiagnosed and untreated for this very reason…and this is an especially common problem in women in particular, over the age of 40-45, often related to the reduction of estrogen production brought on by the shutting down of the reproduction system. If my own TSH levels get as high as 2, I can no longer lose weight, regardless of what I eat or how much I eat…it is IMPOSSIBLE. If it gets as high as 3, I will steadily begin to GAIN weight, again, irregardless of diet or exercise, and I’ll begin to feel the effects of fatigue and weakness. And the higher the numbers climb, the worse the symptoms become. Thank GOD I found a doctor well-read enough to know that the numbers in the TSH tests are only a baseline for evaluating this condition, and that a patient’s SYMPTOMS are the key to interpreting what is normal for each patient.

I started gaining weight at age 48 and could not stop, no matter what I did or did not do. I went from 120 to 174 lbs over the past 7 years…30 of those pounds were gained over the course of the last 3 months of 2007 when my TSH readings were 5 and for all practical intents and purposes, my thyroid just decided to retire. Oh but hey, that was still within the NORMAL range. If I hadn’t found a doctor that would give me credit for knowing my own symptoms, I’d probably be 350 lbs by now and unable to even get off the sofa.

That’s how important it is to find out whether or not your thyroid is functioning properly…for YOUR body’s needs. That said, regardless of how or why your excess weight has come about, LOSING it is the same – it takes time, hard work and commitment. The point is, is that if your body is working against you – or not working at ALL – NO amount of time, hard work or commitment is going to make any difference.

Other factors that could greatly effect your efforts at losing weight and regaining good fitness levels are your blood sugar levels and your sensitivity to insulin, cholesterol levels, kidney and liver function, and of course heart and lung function. Malfunctions in any of these areas could not only defeat the most valiant efforts at weight loss and fitness, but could also be downright life-threatening. So before you do ANYthing, learn all you can about your current state of health and take whatever measures you need to take to get everything balanced out and working correctly.

Read more about the current controversy of diagnosing and treating thyroid problems here: http://thyroid.about.com/cs/publicawareness/a/challenge.htm

Some of you may know me better as Sojourner (.mindsay.com). Yet I felt compelled to open up another themed blog on a subject that lots of people are interested in, especially women past 45...surface beauty and the whole concept of retaining youth and vigor in later years.

Somehow, at the ripe old age of 55 (soon to be 56...YIKES that sounds OLD!), I've found myself on a self-improvement quest that has pretty much taken over my life. Just in time I figure, for I've heard that once you pass 60, your chances for fully recovering a satisfactory body and fitness level are virtually nill...you can make significant improvements, but those will never measure up to what COULD have been your former glory. I’ve also found myself wrangling with the reality of the aging process and how to cope with it emotionally.

Through most of my adult life, I’ve been quite small and quite pretty. I began noticing subtle changes between 40 and 45…and even more so at 50. Now, there’s no denying that I’m no longer the perfect little beauty I once was, nor will I ever be again…at least not on the surface. Hence my blog handle here: On The Surface.

I figure I have a choice to make at this point in life. I can get depressed and just give up, or I can fight back – learning to resist the inevitable surface effects of aging as much as is possible by changing what I CAN change, while at the same time, learning to accept the things I can’t change, perhaps even finding virtue and some other worthiness in the midst of the aging process as a whole. Personally, I don’t care for depression, and if anything, I’ve NEVER been a quitter…so I choose the later option. And this blog is for all those who are traveling with me on this road and who choose that later option.

I don’t have all the answers to these life issues. But here’s hoping that between the lot of us and our accumulated corporate wisdom, perhaps we can each find answers that work for us as individuals. If you live long enough, we’re ALL going to have to face these life realities. And even with all the obstacles along this path, to me, the alternative is just not preferable! There’s still just way too many things in this life left to discover and enjoy, and I want to be fit to enjoy every moment of the whole life experience to the fullest…at EVERY stage.

Yes. More to come.