Lifestyle changes and Health update! ☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ

Hey everyone!♥ How are you all doing? I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely month of May.

In this entry I'm going to tell you what events have been going on with me in the past few days and update about my health diagnosis! ☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ

With my health not being in the best condition (which I will touch more on later) I've been trying to change my lifestyle and eating habits. I will be 23 years old next month (so OLD!!  ヘ（。□°）ヘ) and I think it's time for a change. I've spent 23 years ruining and poisoning my body with food, and now it's coming back to haunt me.    

Panda is a very verrrrrry health conscious person, so he has really been encouraging me to try healthy alternatives! It's a slow process but I can already see a change in my body from cutting out just one or two things that I used to consume on a daily basis.

One of those things are processed foods. Now that I've learned to cook (and have become good at it #swag) I am beginning to eat more home cooked meals instead of fast food and processed things, even though I do eat these things every now and then. But by reducing the amount I eat it has done wonders for my body! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

To go along with my health change Panda and I began to look for places in Milwaukee that could help us stay within are "natural" goal and I was nearly ecstatic when we found some places! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

The first place we found was called Verduras Teahouse and Cafe`. It's a vegetarian and vegan cafe` on broadway avenue near the east side in Milwaukee.

(blurry :( )

I loved the beautiful and quiet setting!♥

What I enjoyed about the menu is that there were a variety of options even though it was vegetarian/vegan. There were different options for milk based drinks, for instance if you are vegan and don't drink cow's milk, you could substitute it for almond milk or soy milk! ლ(´ڡ`ლ) I really liked how the options pretty much accommodated  to any and everyone! ☆~*

I saw bubble tea on the menu and immediately squealed for joy! I ordered a chai milk bubble tea alongside a   grilled cheese sandwich and a dulce de leche cookie.

Panda ordered oatmeal cookies and warm chai tea with honey.

I must say I was VERY impressed with the food! I even went back after my meal to try some of the rosewater lemonade. They make it with real rose petals! ♥

The only thing that hopefully will improve is that the servings are small, but I guess since it's actually a cafe` they'd be the proper size. All in all I loved it and will surely go back to try more of the menu! If you're interested in viewing more of the menu you can do so HERE.

Connected to the cafe was this gift shop that sold a bunch of amaaazing and authentic cultural art...me and panda were in there for the longest lol

Everything inside was simply beautiful.(*ﾟﾉOﾟ)  I have a great appreciation for art and walking through that store gave me much inspiration! It was almost like walking through a museum :3

The second place we found is a grocery store called Whole Foods which my friend from Canada told me about.

It's a huuuuuuge grocery store and EVERYthing there is 100% natural!

(the only pic I could get unfortunately :( )

It was so easy to get lost in there lol (´｀;) ？

There were even buffets and restaurants within the store..so many options to choose from!

I was hungry after a hospital visit so I decided to stop by a stand that was serving yummy Japanese rice bowls!
I ordered the Fried teriyaki tofu bowl:

I never knew how much I loved tofu! ♥

I also got a couple of drinks along with other things (that I as always forget to take a picture of >.< haha):

I love Whole Foods and will for sure be going back there!
Oh, and I forgot to mention a couple of other things I've had that were healthy choices:

Whipped strawberry lemonade made by me!:

For the recipe you can go here!

And yummy sun dried tomato asparagus Couscous that I made:

I love couscous, but as healthy as it is I've found that I don't really care for asparagus. >.<

Thai meat salad from Thai Kitchen in Milwaukee:

Man, was this good! :p

It was really nice to come across some healthy inexpensive options in the city. :D It makes me feel so much more confident about the change I'll be going through! ^_^

Now onto my health.

Now I know you guys have been wondering what the tests have said about my health, so I will explain. I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism.

For those of you who don't know, Hyperthyroidism is a autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland in your neck is pretty much being attacked as a foreign object, thus causing it to over act and secrete too much thyroid hormone. The thyroid, like the pituitary gland, controls many of the bodies functions such as metabolism, energy levels, heart rate and appetite. Prolonged untreated hyperthyroidism can cause serious issues within the body and treatment may even require permanent removal of the thyroid and having to take a pill for the rest of your life.

Sounds pretty grim, huh?

It's crazy, because immediately after that everything was kind of almost like....a sense of urgency, maybe? I felt this way because my thyroid levels were extremely high, and I had to go to the hospital right away so that the doctors could run scans and tests, just to see if there were any abnormalities. There goes my dream of never occurring any hospital bills. =/

The hospital they sent me too was HUMONGOUS omg. The view outside and high ceilings were amazing!♥

I got a what they refer to as a thyroid scan and uptake over the course of two days. It's basically just a procedure in which it looks at the levels of your thyroid and compares it to normal levels.

For the first scan, thyroid produced 75% of it's hormones within an hour.

The normal percentage was 13%. o.o

I figured that was bad, but tried not to worry about it. Meanwhile I noticed that my thyroid had become swollen really bad. The outline can be seen through my neck.

I went to the doctor and he prescribed me with a medicine called methimazole, since I had officially been diagnosed. I have to take a pill 2 times a day after 12 hours each day.

So far I have been on it for about 3 weeks and it seems as though my body is responding to it a lot! 

My heart doesn't beat nearly as fast, appetite has gone down, energy has come back. Even my mood has changed. Still waiting to gain weight though and the neck swelling hasnt gone down...but since it's still a little cold outside I just wear cute scarves to cover it! （　´∀｀）

One thing that I am hoping and praying for though is for my  body to continue responding to it in this way. There are three options for treating this, and if the pills that I am on now don't work I may be forced to get it removed and be on pills forever. :( That's a very stressful way to live, don't you think?

I've already been going through so much because of this sickness. I was hospitalized because of severe stomach pains..the pains were so bad that I could not stand or walk. Doctor said it was stress, and I try not to stress but it's difficult. I don't have much money and cannot work more until I get better...but now the medical bills are starting to accummilate. I'm on my last warning at my job because of missed days due to my health. I've lost a significant amount of weight and hair. My muscles ache often while on this medication. Also people that I thought were my friends and would support me have begun to abandon me. Of course with the good comes the bad, but the last thing I want is to be dependent on a pill forever. :(

But please no one worry or feel sorry for me, because I am a little bit more optimistic now. At least I know what it is, and how it can be treated. And since I've already began to feel a bit better it can only get better from here. <3

LOL such a cliche` picture with what I'm talking about xD

Being sick has actually taught me some things lol. It's basically taught me to appreciate what you have, because you NEVER know when it can be taken from you. As I mentioned before, I abused my body. I ate terribly, never exercised. I used to hate my body, wanted to change every bit of it. Didn't follow through anything...I used to be really lazy. But like, just within the span of two or three months my health deteriorated to that point, and even though I noticed stuff changing I didnt do anything about it. Then when I went to the hospital and was hooked up to a machine that had needles poking me everywhere and was lying on a bed that was about to enter a tunnel that would spin around me...I realized, that things I was taking advantage of could be taken from me right at that very second. Or even worse, my life could be taken just like that. All because of my own selfishness.

It sounds really cheesy and overrated, but it's true. You HAVE to be thankful and appreciate what you have. Love and take care of your body, no matter what people say. Your body is a temple, never ever let anyone (including yourself) tell you otherwise. You never know when something so simple like walking up the stairs can be taken away from you! ♥

So that's my update guys, I know I've been diverting away from fashion a bit but I still really hope someone can get something out of this post. I'm going to be able to purchase my Hello Kitty workout gear and start running again with Panda within the next couple of weeks, so I'll fill you all in! And sorry for making this so long, wasn't my intention. >.<

I also wanna thank all of you who have offered me support and encouragement, even if we don't know each other personally. You have no idea how your one comment has made it so much easier to get through the days. Thank you sooooo much, I love you all!

I'll be back with more updates! Feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions you may have!