Jonfrum: I disagree 100%, carrot do sweeten in the winter. We have been growing winter carrots for the last 4 years and I look forward to them every year. More so than the first tomato! We like Napoli. We have grown Nelson, Mokum and Yaya during the winter too. They just aren't quite as hardy as Napoli We plant them at the end of July to the First week of August. We Harvest them from mid October- March. We still have some growing now and while they aren't as good as the earlier ones, they taste better than the ones in the store. Our spring carrots will be ready in a few weeks. They were planted in January. We grow ours in movable high tunnels. We plant the crop outside, then after the frost takes the tomatoes, mid November, we move the high tunnel over the carrots and it stays there until spring. We grow over 1000 square feet of carrots for winter sales. I will probably up this by 250-300 more square feet as we almost ran out this year. Each building has 5, 30 inch beds in it. Each bed has 4 rows planted in it. It is a whole lot of carrots. Don't just take my word for it, google Eliot Coleman and Candy Carrots. Jay

I tried Merida about 10 years ago. Didn't do anything for me at all and it was very expensive then. I sympathize with you. I have health problems as well though not kidney. Just need to work around them. Usually exercise helps no matter what health problem though sometimes you have to be careful which exercise you chose. Good luck. --Alice

I hear you and sympathize. I have thyroid problems but not Hashimoto's. Mine is just not functioning adequately. The doctor hasn't given me a name for the problem. I take Levoxyl (plus Cytomel). I'm much older than you, 58. Want to warn you that you are right to be concerned now because it will get a whole lot harder when you reach menopause. Sorry to be negative but I'm hoping to help others keep from being in denial about their weight. I buried my head in the sand and allowed myself to get to 250 lbs! I'm can assure you that the quality of life at 250 is rather poor. Also, if you are married, your poor quality of life affects your partner as well. Not good. So, I don't have a solution but want to encourage you to exercise and move. Find something that is fun that doesn't seem like too much work. If you are single, perhaps a bicyle club would be good. I have recently joined a gym and enjoy swimming 20 laps per day. Hope to move to more activity when I lose more. You might consider a gym. I'm sure you've heard of these suggestions. I'm sure you have heard others say that "you ought to be glad, things could be worse". I'm afraid I'm going to be one of those. I have a lovely friend who is quite attractive, very petite and has always been trim. I've watched her eat and she doesn't watch her food intake that much. She doesn't even like to exercise so she doesn't. But... she gets migraine headaches that cause her to become totally unable to work/play/eat for days. Lots of pain. I must say if I had to trade problems with her, I wouldn't. For some reason, recently, even with my thyroid problems, my appetite is under control and I've been able to lose weight (30 pounds lost since Januaary 04). There are lots of possible reasons. I'm trying many things. Too many to include here but want to encourage you to keep trying. One thing that seems to really help is that I eat nuts at the end of a meal to keep me from eating too much. It seems to shut down my hypothalmus gland. Overeating, quantity has been my problem. Didn't really sound like that is your problem but in case it is and you find yourself eating when you shouldn't try a small handful of nuts. I know they are relatively high in calories but on those day I eat the most nuts, I lose weight. Go figure! I don't eat salted or roasted nuts, no peanuts, but try a variety (all raw) including walnuts, macadamia, brazil, pecans and almonds. I get them at the health food store. I also am one of those weirdos who drinks 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 1 Tablespoon of honey in a glass of water with my breakfast and also before I go to bed. I think this may help my systemic yeast problems more than weight loss but since I'm not sure why I am able to lose now and didn't use to, I thought I would include it. (you can read about this on the web. A guy named Bragg first suggested it.) You have the internet. I'm sure you have researched. Hopefully, you can find some "tricks" of your own to help you with your thyroid problems. My main advice is to not give up! Good luck. --Alice

Not familiar with the name. What is it for?