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Dear Judie,
Losing weight is very difficult when you have a thyroid disorder, and it sounds like you have had one for quite a long time. The medication you are on is one that is quite useless for many people that are unable to convert that inactive product you are taking, to it’s active form. In most cases, Natural Thyroid Replacement or Armour has a much more positive effect on helping with hypothyroid symptoms than Levothyroxin. That would probably be one of the first steps – to change medications to the more natural one under the supervision of your doctor – then as the body starts to function better – you usually gain some energy and feel better – so it is easier to start eating well and exercising more. Cravings for sweets and carbohydrates are normally a symptom of low energy in the body – so I would say that this is likely to be related to your poorly managed thyroid condition. I suggest you read a couple of books on thyroid to get some more information – such as “The Great Thyroid Scandal” by Barry Durrant-Peatfield, and “The Thyroid Solution” by Ridha Arem. Once you get the thyroid problem managed, the metabolism will kick back in and eating well and losing weight will be much easier. Find a doctor that is familiar with this area and make sure you get the help you need.
Leisa

Hi Greg,
I appreciate your points, but I don’t think you can judge the work Dr Bland is doing now, from his stance in 1986!! He spoke at the congress about how much his views have changed over the years and from my observations, biochemist or not, he was promoting a very holistic viewpoint, which I found very encouraging. I definitely agree that there are many naturopath’s today practicing what I term “medicalised naturopathy” and I find this disturbing. People walk in with an illness, and walk out with a bottle of pills, which, even though they may be less harmful than drugs, are not actually addressing the root cause of disease, as you pointed out. However, being a naturopath who understands that there are many people who are not going to change their lifestyle and do what it takes to heal at the fundamental level, I see a place for natural medicine which can help a person to manage their symptoms in a less harmful way than with drrugs, although we may know that long term it is not the ultimate solution.

I was incredibly frustrated when I studied to become a naturopath, at the attention given to supplements and bottles of pills, rather than food, cleansing, lifestyle etc – luckily for me I had a passion for healing which had spanned many years prior to doing my study, which has held me in good stead, but it is worrying to see naturopath’s who just took what they learnt at college and set up a practice. There’s a lot more to healing than that!

Thanks,
Leisa

Hi Alexis,
Great that you are interested in studying Naturopathy! It’s a fascinating field and one where you never stop learning. In my opinion the courses offered in Naturopathy in Australia are reasonably limited in their content – they do cover essential subjects – but they also leave out some of the more in-depth approaches to holistic healing and rely on teaching about bottles of supplements. That was my experience anyway. So if you are passionate about natural medicine, the course will give you a basis, but then it is up to you to continue researching and studying to broaden your knowledge on what really works. I did three years of study full time to obtain an Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy which is the qualification that allows you to practise and obtain insurance etc.

The three years full time was a huge workload, and even though I only worked part-time, it was a massive undertaking. I don’t know how you could possibly to that course in two years while working full-time – actually I don’t think it is possible!

There are many fields that you can enter into as a naturopath – consulting, research, writing, product development, sales rep for nutrition company etc – so your career prospects are fairly broad – many go into self-employment and set up their own clinic – so the sky is the limit.

I wish you well with your studies!
Leisa