Phase 1 Complete

Well, I've finished my Phase 1 diet and I feel a little better. I am sleeping better and my skin is clearing up. I've lost almost 15 lbs. Some great good things. I'm still feeling tired during the day and have a hard time doing too much. I hope that will improve with time.

I think I sabatoged myself on Monday. We went out to dinner at Tucanos and I tried to be good. I just had some of the meat, a salad and some fruit. I did have a little of a Broccoli Salad I could literally taste the sugar in so I did not finish it. I also think the strawberries had sugar on them. I couldn't be 100% sure, but they were extremely sweet. They tasted so wonderful though I still ate them. Yesterday I was positive there had to have been sugar because I felt worse than I have in a long time. At least I know the diet is working.

I have had sushi now on a few occasions, even though white rice and vinegar is generally supposed to be avoided. I have to be practical though. I can't give up everything I love. It's bad enough giving up sweets! On Sunday my family got together and had a basket of fresh homemade rolls with honey...wow, it was hard. I ended up having to leave or I knew I would cave. They also had a yummy fruit salad with whipped cream I had to avoid, and some amazing cheddar cheese mashed potatoes. I did have some of the potatoes. as I'm on Phase 2 now and my doctor has approved cheese in moderation.

I've made so many small exceptions I think I need to go back to Phase one for at least another week. I am enjoying this lifestyle and I am proud of my weight loss, if nothing else. My son will have a mother he can do things with! That is my goal.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I really needed some sweets. My husband made chocolate chip cookies and it's just torture! So I made some muffins using a recipe I found online I adapted the ingredients to fit MY recommended diet.

1 cup almond flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (or add additional almond flour)
1/2 cup Xylitol
2 Tbsp Poppyseeds
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp grated lemon rind
3 tsp lemon juice
8 oz plain yogurt
1 large beaten egg
Cold-pressed Olive Oil Cooking Spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine oil, rind, juice, yogurt, and egg; stir well. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moist.
Spoon batter into each of 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 400° for 14 minutes or until golden. Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on a wire rack.


Maybe you can make these, maybe not, but that's up for you and your doctor approved diet. :) If you are not on the diet at all, then make them!!! They are super yummy and good for you too. Use another artificial sweetner or real sugar though if you can.

For those looking at the ingredient xylitol and thinking it's not good for you, I refer you to this site...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14556707

Here's my take, I would rather have a day of intestinal issues, get my sugar fix, and still maintain my candida lifestyle than cave completely and give in to the temptations. :)

So many schools of thought!

One unfortunate side-effect of natural medicine is that there is no one consistant school of thought. Candida treatment is so different depending on your doctor. Mine says dairy is fine if it's milk or plain yogurt. No cheese though. Others avoid it completely.

I guess I am in for a journey.

It Begins...

For 8 years I became more and more sick. I ached all over down to the bone, It would take me sometimes 3-4 hours just laying there to fall asleep, I was exhausted all day regardless of how much sleep I got the night before, I was constantly dizzy and off balance, I had raging headaches that blurred my vision so bad I literally could not see. I could no longer easily memorize music ( I am a piano player), my ability to concentrate decreased, I found myself re-reading paragraphs 3-4 times just to comprehend what I just had read. Depression set in and despite diet and exercise I gained over 50 lbs. I felt as if I were 70 and not 26.

Doctors labeled it fibromyalgia and said there was not much they could do, aside from treat the symptoms. I became dependent on anti-depressants, sleeping aids, and ibuprofen. Along with a multi-vitamin I was taking sometimes 8-10 pills per day! At only 25! I knew it could only get worse.

One day I came across a doctor recommendation for natural medicine, and I figured it couldn't hurt. The doctor looked at my symptoms and told me that if we could get the yeast overgrowth under control it could all literally melt away. Even things I thought un-related, my occasional acne, my dry skin, calluses on my feet. I seemed to good to be true.

Then came the catch. For a few months stick to an extremely strict diet (no sugars, syrups, honeys, white flour, vinegars, fruits, yeast, cheeses, peanuts, mushrooms, or processed meats such as bacon or deli meats), take some pills to detox, then stick to a diet of no white flour, sugar, or alcohol for life while slowly re-introducing new foods to see what my body tolerates. The alcohol part was easy, I am not a drinker anyway, but cakes? brownies? Seriously???

I am determined to obey, discovering a whole new way to eat will be... fun? ok, so maybe not fun, but rewarding if I succeed. It's all about mind over matter. I've lived with this too long and it's time to rediscover good health. Wish me luck!