First coffee

This morning is the first day of Phase 3 - when we get to slowly work back in foods we cut out. Phase 3 lasts forever - the idea is to maintain eating healthy, whole, unprocessed foods and continue to minimize things like sugar and yeast which lead back to Candidiasis. I have been craving coffee - specifically a latte - the entire 49 day duration of this diet.

This morning was like a ritual - first I washed the parts of my coffee machine which had been sitting there gathering dust, refilled it with fresh water, threw out the leftover grounds from 7 weeks ago and ground fresh ones. Usually, I take my latte with a large teaspoon of sugar - I told myself that since this was my treat, if I wanted the sugar I would have it. I finished making the latte, took a sip - it was sweet. The sugars in the milk were so intense to me after 7 weeks of not eating sugar, it was amazing!

I couldn't finish it - the latte was actually too sweet for me. I think I will have to use about half the amount of milk next time, make a cappuccino so that the milk to coffee ratio is lower. I cannot believe that. I mean, as it is, I drink a latte that is mostly foam - I only used about 1/2 cup of milk anyway. 7 weeks ago I would have been adding sugar.

I desperately want to cling to this, this amazing heightened sense of taste where milk is too sweet - and I know that the only way to do it is to make sugar a rare thing in my diet. The funny thing is, with such a heightened sense of taste, I can't imagine wanting to eat anything super sweet. I think about how I used to be able to go through a bag of M & Ms or eat an entire chocolate bar in one sitting - right now I can't imagine eating more than a very small piece, if that. Sugar seems overwhelming - exactly as it ought to be.

Next Day Update: I had an espresso in the afternoon as well and LOVED it. Normally, I'm not very affected by caffeine and can drink a few coffees in a day without noticing much effect - although I generally avoid it in the evenings. Yesterday, I was bouncing off the walls with energy from the caffeine, and didn't manage to get to sleep until about two in the morning. I had a shot of espresso this morning, and with less than five hours of sleep I am like a superhuman energy machine. It turns out withdrawing from caffeine has made it much more potent.