Proud of surviving

Yesterday was the kind of day that would have challenged anyone's resolve to eat right, let alone eat on the Candida Diet. I had to get up early for a conference which I organized. I needed to arrive at 7, which meant getting up around 5:30. I decided to make my lunch the night before so as not to have to add more time onto my morning.
I woke up before my alarm went off and checked the time. 7:23! I had a cold chill. I freaked out. I called my boss's cell. No answer. I threw on some dress pants, a blouse, and a blazer in a panic, splashed some cold water on my face, and brushed my teeth while phoning for a cab. I tossed my lunch and makeup bag in my purse. While I waited for the cab I got through to my boss, who assured me that everything was under control. In the cab I realized my makeup bag had neither cover up nor a mirror. I used my phone camera as a mirror to do my makeup fast, which wound up looking awful because of the huge under eye circles that I couldn't cover up.
I got to work at 7:50, ten minutes before the conference attendees were meant to start arriving. Fortunately I'd left very little to do for the morning, so it worked out fine but it was good that I got there when I did.
However, I left without eating breakfast, which I never do, and within an hour I was starving. I ate the apple I'd brought but compared to my usual protein-and-whole-grains it was a pretty hollow morning. On top of that, I was dying for coffee, and instead of the usual crap conference coffee, we had lovely fragrant Starbucks tempting me (since I organized the conference.)
There was fruit on the table, but only non-Candida friendly very high sugar fruits like melon and pineapple. Not a berry to be seen. I can follow any diet when I'm full, but I can't stand going hungry.
At noon I ate my wrap, which got me through the early afternoon (it would have been plenty if I'd had be breakfast.) There was an apple on the noon buffet table so I grabbed that, but nonetheless it was a bit of a hungry day.
When I got home, I ate a largish steak, a huge baked potato, and a full head of broccoli for dinner. It's the first time I've had potato, because even though they're allowed in phase 2, I don't think they're very conducive to weight loss. I learned an important lesson - I'd you skip your protein in the morning, you will crave and eat a giant pile of carbs in the evening.
I'm proud I got through without caving in, especially on such a challenging day.

Gotta get moving

I have been super faithful to this diet so far and now that I am forming the habit of making all my own food, I'm really enjoying it. However, I'm not losing weight anymore - so it's time to up the ante. I've bought a gym membership at work and today, I went. The gym is great and sort of a well kept secret, I guess, as it was empty. I still don't actually like going to the gym but I do like feeling less like a couch potato.

The good news is since Phase 2 started and I added back the variety of fruits and veggies, I'm feeling much better and my digestion is better. I also started the caprylic acid supplement, which may have something to do with that. I'm at a point where I just can't even imagine wanting to eat junk food - I feel so great and clean without it. I mean, I was never a McDonald's eater but even stuff I like, such as good chip-truck poutine, just sounds gross and heartburn-inducing to me right now.

I STILL REALLY WANT COFFEE. It's my one major temptation, the only thing I'm finding it hard to resist having. 19 days left 'til coffee.

Tomorrow is the first conference where I was feeling weird about bringing my own food. I've decided not to feel weird - just to do it but make sure I bring something that doesn't require heating up - keep it simple. Also there may be veggies and fruits I can eat on the buffet. Getting closer to the event and I'm too concerned about it working out well to worry about food.

Smoothie goodness

This week I started making smoothies again. I went out and bought a new blender, which I've decided is handier than my magic bullet. Reason being, I can make two servings at once, take one to work in the morning, and then have the second serving when I get home from work. Perfect! What's weird though is that I'm not really enjoying them like I used to. They're TOO sweet. And that's without the usual vanilla yogurt, bananas, chocolate almond milk, etc. It's like my body doesn't understand why I would want to consume something sugary.

That said, I will keep playing with the recipe and see if I can't find one that is palatable. For the simple reason that I need the extra calories and it's super convenient. This is the recipe I'm working with for now:

2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (from a carton, not the rich canned stuff)

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup cucumber

1/2 cup chopped kale

1 tbsp raw almond butter

1 tbsp ground flax seed

1 tbsp flax seed oil or coconut oil

5 ice cubes

Phase 2 Starts Tomorrow

After some pretty quick weight loss in Weeks 1 and 2, the weight loss in Week 3 has been insignificant. (It's hard to tell on my scale, which is not very precise - I really need to buy a digital one so I can see small changes. Anything less than 2 or 3 pounds is hard to see, which is unfortunate because even losing a pound in a week is an accomplishment.) I know I'm still on track though, because my pants are a bit loose. I keep reminding myself that it took me a long time to put on this weight, it's not all going to come off in a couple of weeks.

I need to be totally honest with myself and admit that I am not exercising enough - and it's time to change that. My cycling and walking are winding down as it gets too cold, so - I am getting a gym membership at work. I'm not really a gym person but the keys to going for me are convenience and scheduling it in. It is convenient, so I just have to make a schedule and accept no excuses from myself. I think I should also pick a weekend day and go swim laps once a week - the pool is about a twenty minute walk from my house, or less than a 10 minute bike ride, so I should be using that resource.

It's very much time for Phase 2 - which of course, is not just about adding some foods in but also taking natural anti-fungal supplements to ATTACK any remaining yeast. Phase 2 starts tomorrow - I'm looking forward to working apples, berries, grapefruit, sweet corn, peas, carrots, and beets back into my diet while all those foods are still in season. I'm still going to avoid potatoes for awhile as I'm not craving them yet and they're not the best food to be eating if you want to lose weight.

So - wish me luck in Phase 2!

This Week's Discoveries

1) Water - I must drink at least 3 litres of water a day to feel healthy. It sounds like a big amount but it's totally manageable - I drink a big glass in the morning before I leave for work (that's 500 ml), two 500 ml bottles of water (yes, I refill the same bottle from the tap) at my desk before lunch, another bottle in the afternoon, and two more big glasses of water in the evening. Often I want to drink more than this. I try to only drink one in the afternoon at work, otherwise I have to pee the whole way home. I suspect that I drink about this much liquid anyway - but since on this diet I can't drink anything but water and herbal tea, I'm really noticing the large quantity. I go the bathroom a lot, so if I have a meeting in the morning I don't drink much so I'm not the jerk constantly leaving the room, but then I have to make it up in the afternoon so I don't get dehydrated.

2) Cacao nibs - I found these in the health food store, and what they are is plain cacao beans (which is what they make chocolate out of) but broken up into bits. They don't contain caffeine (I looked it up) although I think they do contain a stimulant that is related to caffeine. I can't find anything that says you can't have them on the Candida Diet, but just in case I will make the amount moderate. Anyway, I'm excited - they taste sort of like a cross between chocolate and plain coffee beans, so they're helping with my coffee cravings. The desire for coffee, I should clarify, isn't caffeine addiction - I don't want it for energy, I have lots of energy. I just like it and miss it.

3) I'm really craving oatmeal. I eat a lot of it normally, probably 2-3 times a week. I make it from large flake rolled oats (the least processed kind after steel cut) and mix it with raisins, cinnamon, toasted almonds, ground flax and whatever else I have around. I usually put about a teaspoon of maple syrup in it too, and some milk. I miss this breakfast, which I think is quite healthy, as long as there's enough protein in it. However you are not supposed to eat raisins, oatmeal, or milk on the Candida Diet, so I have to forego it for another 5 weeks.

4) A decision regarding apples - I was in the farmer's market yesterday, and walking past all the gorgeous fall apples nearly killed me. (Not to mention berries.) And so - even though in Phase 2 you are only supposed to have green apples (which are less sweet, I think) I am not going to do that. I am going to eat a small portion of any kind of apple I want. The reason is that it is September, and it is the best time to get the most flavourful, lovely apples in Canada, and I'm not missing it. I will wait until Phase 2 though, which is in one more week. A couple of years ago when I was on the elimination diet in June, I said to my naturopath that I just couldn't stand to miss June strawberries, and she said that was okay as long as I made sure to get ones with absolutely no mold. This leads me to believe that sometimes, it is okay to modify something slightly and you have to use your own judgement. Nigel has done the same thing this past week, adding blueberries into his diet even though they are not allowed in Phase 1, to help his sugar cravings and help prevent him from losing weight, which no doubt he will talk about in his own blog post.

5) Just read the book "Real Food" by Nina Planck, which I thought was great and it outlined what I think is a pretty good eating strategy for when this diet is finished. Basically she argues that if you look at the three major diseases caused by poor nutrition - heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, they didn't really exist until more or less the 20th century (with exceptions) and still don't exist much in cultures that eat very traditional foods. Her argument is that a nice balance of traditional foods (meat, fish, eggs, cheese, butter, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts, and traditional fats such as olive oil, lard, chicken fat and butter) are good for health whereas industrial foods are killing us. It is not butter and eggs that cause heart attacks but margarine and refined sugar. She explains it much better than this and if you're interested, I recommend reading it. I think that I will aim to eat like this 90-95% of the time, and only allow myself to have things like refined flour and sugar as treats 5-10% of the time, because you really can't live without having pizza, chocolate and ice cream once in awhile. In practice, if you eat three meals a day, seven days a week, that is 21 meals a week - which means by this rule you can have refined food at 1-2 meals out of the whole week - I think that, for me, is probably something I can do.

I read somewhere that the amount of weight you want to permanently lose dictates the amount of your life you must permanently change. That would be a pretty big change for me - and I think it's something I can do permanently. We will see.

Surprise! This is fun

Last night, about half an hour after dinner, my boyfriend asked "Is there anything to eat?" and went rummaging in the kitchen. Confused, I said, "But you just ate dinner!" No response. After a minute I asked, "Are you still hungry?" Again, no response. Finally it clicked - he wasn't hungry, he had the munchies. As of two weeks ago, I would have had them too. Heading straight back to the cupboard for something to munch on was my pattern too until I started the Candida Diet, and already the idea of eating when I'm not even hungry seems really odd. That's what happens when I stop craving things - I'm eating as response to hunger and NOTHING ELSE. Not boredom, not emotions. It seems too good to last.
I'm finding I like this diet. I'm eating to a point of satiety. The food I'm eating is tasty. With all the veggies, it tends to be colourful, too - my plates look pretty. Because I'm not eating out, I can afford to eat things like organic chicken and organic butter. I haven't gone this long - nearly two weeks - without eating out in forever. I've stopped desperately wanting something sweet at the end of dinner.
I feel a little bit like I OUGHT to feel deprived - but I don't. (Except coffee - I still want coffee.) I'm looking forward to cooking and eating. I'm wasting less food as I eat leftovers for lunch nearly every day. I'm also spending less time in the grocery store, because knowing that I have to cook, every day, means that I plan a few days ahead while I'm there and don't go as often.
I guess you could say, slowly but surely, that I'm forming new habits.

It's interesting too, when I take stock of what I actually miss, that there's no junk food on the list. Here's what I miss:

Carrots
Vinegar and fermented sauces like mustard, soy and Worcestershire sauce
Parmesan cheese
Italian food (sauces which contain dairy, good quality pizza)
Melon
Maple syrup (Yes, it's sugary but it's not junk food)
Coffee - specifically espresso
Milk in the context of lattes

I'm wondering why I gravitate to eating junk so much when this is clearly not even what I'm missing.

Week 2

Feeling good - slowly but surely my digestive issues seem to be clearing up. I am having to drink a lot more water to match all the extra fiber I'm eating. This was my lunch today:

I'm enjoying my food, which maybe has more variety than Nigel's because I eat red meat? My sugar cravings are basically gone but I'm still really craving coffee.

The problem for me is not the food but the lifestyle that goes with it. I can't imagine wanting to go back completely to eating how I did before. But there has to be a happy medium between eating food so clean that you can't go out, and eating food full of sugar, hydrogenated oil, preservatives, and other junk.
On nights when I am at home, making dinner and lunch for the next day is easily done. When I have plans with friends though, I will have to able to find ways to eat healthily - which can be tough in some kinds of restaurants, not to mention eating at people's houses.

The other challenge I foresee on the horizon is that I have several days of conferences coming up at work, in late September and early October. At least by this time, I will be in Phase 2 so my options will be wider, but it's just weird to be the only one bringing their own lunch when there is a big, catered buffet. I feel a bit more comfortable doing this on my own turf, at my own conference, but at an outside conference - the social culture is that lunch is provided, and everyone eats together. It's a strange culture to opt out of, and I feel some trepidation about it. You can make people very uncomfortable, in my experience, by not eating the same food.

I think I can, I think I can...

It's the first day of week 2 and let's just say that despite how great I feel, the cravings for sugar are worse than ever. It's taking every ounce of willpower not to eat everything that's bad for me. The mere smell of coffee or a baked good makes my mouth water. I'm only writing this now because I need to keep myself busy.

To top it all off, I am completely sick of everything I've been eating for the past week. Really going to have to get creative this weekend and find some new snack ideas and recipes.

Maybe doing yoga and getting to bed early will help. This plain greek yogurt is just not cutting it tonight...

Breakfast Cereal

Interesting post on breakfast cereal.
I don't eat it generally either - it's laden with sugar.

Eating healthy, in a rush

People are always saying that the reason they eat fast food, or order takeout, or heat up processed food out of a box, is that they don't have time to eat properly. When you embark on something like the Candida Diet, you have to factor it in to everything you're doing - you don't suddenly have more hours in your day to eat right. A major component of the challenge is planning your meals.

Today, I had a dinner planned but I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer in the morning, and I had an event to be at by 7.30 so I needed something that could be cooked quickly. Often, it is times like these when I turn to take out or picking something up because I am too exhausted to face the grocery store - or, I make something out of what I have in my cupboards and fridge already. Often, I make eggs - which is actually a pretty healthy and quick solution, but not one I could use today, as I'd already had eggs for breakfast.

In the end, I bought a piece of haddock at the grocery store and cooked the green beans I already had in my fridge. Fish is super easy - all I do is put a piece of foil down on a cookie sheet (which makes clean up really easy), place the fish on the foil, put olive oil or butter (just a bit), salt and pepper. Put it under the broiler in the oven until it flakes apart easily under a fork - after you do it a few times you will be able to tell by looking at it. It takes 5-10 minutes for white fish - probably a bit longer for oily fish, which tends to be cut more thickly.

Anyway, this dinner took me 15 minutes to make, total - proving that there is no excuse for fast food.

Day 7

Okay - confession - much as I would love to be, I'm not really a vegetable person. I mean, in the summer I absolutely do love eating beautiful fresh produce, but even then I'm more interested in fruit. I love fruit. I expected to be really, really challenged by giving up fruit.
Instead, I was noticing last night just how sweet a green bean tastes when you haven't had sugar in a few days. I have never thought of green beans as sweet - but these were fresh, lovely summery green beans. I could even taste the sugar in the cabbage. The sugar cravings, so far, have pretty much subsided.

I don't think of myself as having terrible eating habits - I almost never eat fast food, and I never heat up food out of a box. I'm a good cook and I don't like those things. But - I usually eat a small breakfast, drink coffee every morning, eat a small lunch, have a (usually unhealthy) afternoon snack, and then eat a largish dinner. Then, I look for snacks all evening because I haven't eaten enough calories to fill me up - and I generally fill up with carbs and sugar. Changing this pattern has enabled me to see this pattern - and no bloody wonder I've been gaining weight.

Since I started the Candida Diet, I've been eating a large breakfast (for me) of mostly protein. Yogurt, amaranth, flax and often eggs. No sugar whatsoever. Then I eat a small snack of nuts in the morning, and then a lunch that is mostly vegetables and protein, with some complex carb. I sometimes eat a snack again in the afternoon, but I am less and less hungry for it. Then I eat a smaller dinner of more veggies, some protein and maybe some more complex carb. I am also drinking tons of water because I am not allowed to drink coffee, tea, juice, milk or pop. When I do want a treat, I've been drinking Perrier with lime.

It makes sense, in a way, that my sugar cravings are gone, because I think I've been mistaking hunger for sugar cravings. I haven't been eating enough good foods, and then when I'm hungry, I overload on sugar and simple carbs to get a quick fix and feel "full."

What I am missing, and this is a surprise for me, is coffee. I don't think it's the caffeine - I feel pretty good and my energy is good. It's just coffee - I love coffee. I love sipping on a latte in the morning while I read. Fortunately, when I am finished this diet, I can stick to my new habits but add the odd latte in and that will be fine.

And - it's only been a week so I don't want to get prematurely excited as my weight can fluctuate - but I'm definitely down a few pounds!

Recipe: Tuna salad with a kick

So part of the challenge in this first week has been to find recipes that appeal to me and can be made in batches for future meals. The Candida Diet website has a decent number of recipes on hand, so I figured I would start there. Tonight, I experimented a little bit with a fresh salsa recipe. The results were delicious.

Tuna salad with a kick

You will need:

• 3 medium, vine-ripened tomatoes (fresh from your garden is even better)
• 1 small, red onion
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 can flaked, light tuna (drained)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 lime, squeezed
• sea salt to taste

The instructions are really simple. Chop the tomatoes and veggies to your liking, add the lime juice and cilantro. Sprinkle with sea salt and mix well. It should now look something like this:

Now, for any vegetarians reading this. You can stop here. You'll notice the salad (which is sort of like fresh salsa) tastes amazing already. However, I need the protein, so I added the tuna and then used the salad to make wraps. I bought the gluten-free brown rice wraps at Hartman's. They come frozen so you can pull them out individually and de-frost them. This was the final result:

This recipe is certain to become a staple for me. Enjoy!

nigel

Why the Candida Diet?

I guess it's my turn to explain my reasons for trying the Candida Diet with Mélodie. Truth is, I made the decision spontaneously. I had just returned from two weeks of vacation and I was feeling pretty gross. After reading Mélodie's post on facebook about the diet I read a bit more about it online. Soon, I realized that I had many of the symptoms described.

They are, in no particular order:

• mood swings
• skin problems (acne, eczema, unexplained rashes, itching, etc)
• difficulty sleeping
• anxiety
• digestive problems which have actually affected my sex life (to be completely honest!)

It didn't take any convincing for me to decide to embark on this incredibly challenging journey.

It's been nearly a week now, and I've already realized a few things. First of all, I have a sugar addiction. I used to eat a lot of candy as a kid, and although I rarely eat candy these days, I consume a lot of sugar in other forms. Often hidden in fruit, flavoured beverages, yogurt, etc. 

It's the end of day 6 tonight and I have to say that I already feel much better than I did last week. My digestive problems are nearly gone and I feel a lot more in my body (and not so much in my head). The cravings are intense but I've been able to keep myself going by cooking yummy food and staying active.

I look forward to sharing my experience with anyone who's inclined to read our blog. Thanks for witnessing this incredible experience!

nigel

My reasons, and the first three days

Nigel suggested we each start with our reasons for doing this.
If I'm being totally honest, probably my number one reason is that I'd like to lose some weight. The last time I successfully lost a chunk of weight was on a diet similar to this - the elimination diet. Like that diet, there is no sugar and no simple carbs allowed, and for my body, this seems to help me lose weight.
But there are easier ways to lose weight, so why choose this?
Simply put, I'm pretty sure I've been fighting an overgrowth of Candida my entire adult life. In fact, when I look at the symptoms of Candidiasis, and I think back to when I first started to notice them, I'd have to say probably around 10 years old. That's when my tummy started to get sensitive - one of the symptoms of Candidiasis.
Over the years, I've experienced many of the symptoms, including:
digestive issues
recurrent yeast infection (also urinary tract infection, bladder infection)
low energy
soreness
headache
So, I am hoping that clearing out the overgrowth will help me with all those things. Although the Candida Diet isn't meant to be a permanent way to eat, it is a very clean diet, and I am hoping that consisently doing it for two months will help me to form good habits - usually cooking my own food, planning my meals in advance, and eating mostly fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, meat and fish. I expect that filling my diet with fresh, whole foods for two months will make processed food really unpalatable - that's the hope anyway.

The first day, Sept. 1, was awful. I didn't get sick but I was lethargic, had no energy, and never felt even close to full. The next day was a definite improvement, although I still collapsed into bed pretty early.
Today, Day 3, I am definitely noticing an improvement in my energy. Nigel and I got together this afternoon and went to the Farmer's Market, and his energy was starting to flag while mine was great. I suspect this is because his metabolism is three times as fast as mine so he was already starving - I noticed on my way home that my own energy was getting low, and realized I should probably eat something. The thing with not eating sugar or simple carbohydrates that I've discovered is that it's a good idea to eat BEFORE you get really hungry, because it takes longer to digest and use the food you eat.

So I came home and had some yogurt with amaranth and ground flax (rapidly becoming my favourite snack) and started making tomato sauce from scratch from the stuff I got in the Farmer's Market.

I have done this before, once or twice, but never with awesome results. The sauces usually wind up being too thin and watery. I realized as I was making it, that I kept thinking that they were waterier than "real" tomato sauce. And I realized that somewhere in my Canadian upbringing, I have begun to think that "real" tomato sauce comes out of a tin, and that the kind made from real tomatoes is not the "real" kind.

I will leave you on that thought - but just add that I googled it to see how to make it thicker - the trick is to remove the seeds.

The diet explained

My sister recently suggested to me that I try the Candida Diet, which she just finished. She has a lot of the same health issues I do, and they are all symptoms of Candidiasis, which is an overgrowth of a certain kind of yeast in the body. So the idea behind the diet is to not eat anything that Candida (yeast) eats, and to eat things it doesn't like to eat, and basically starve it to death. By doing this, you restore the natural balance of healthy bacteria in your body, and in theory, feel much better.

I thought I might write a little about the experience, just because I would find it interesting to hear about, and also I am hoping that some of my friends will help cheer me on, since I think this is going to be tough.

The diet is three phases as follows:
Phase 1
Food to eat:
Veggies (Asparagus, Broccoli, Avocado, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Collard greens, Cucumber, Eggplant, Garlic (raw), Kale, Leeks, Okra, Onions, Peppers, Radish, Seaweed, Spaghetti squash, Spinach, Summer squash, Swiss chard, Tomatoes, Turnip, Zucchini)
Dairy: Plain yogurt and a little butter, eggs
Meat: Beef, chicken, fish, lamb
Freshly cracked nuts other than peanuts and pistachios
Grains: Millet, Amaranth, Buckwheat, Quinoa, Wild and Brown Rice
Most spices and herbs, good oils especially olive, coconut, and grapeseed, and herbal tea
Stevia with no additives (this is a highly concentrated, completely natural sweetener - which I'm not fond of - but my sister says its the chemical additives I don't like, so if I buy one that is 100% pure it will taste better.)

Foods not to eat:
Fruit except a squeeze of lemon
Veggies: potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, peas, carrots, beans, beets, winter squash
Dairy: Cheese, milk
Caffeine, sugar, alcohol, artificial sweetener, preservatives, additives, nitrates, trans fats
High-mold nuts (peanuts, pistachios, and anything not freshly cracked)
Gluten
Mushrooms
Vinegar
Peanut, corn, canola and cottonseed oil
Soy
In general, the rule is that you are avoiding sugar and mold - so the less processed something is, the less opportunity for mold to be introduced.

Phase 2 (4 weeks) is the same but you can also eat:
Beans, potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, yam, beets, peas, parsnips, and winter squash, green apples, pears, grapefruits, and all berries, very fresh cheeses like goat or fresh mozzarella

Meanwhile in Phase 2, you also begin to take natural antifungals, which include Aloe Vera, Black Walnut, Caprylic Acid, Cloves, Garlic, Goldenseal, Grapefruit Seed, Olive Leaf Extract, Oregano Oil, Oregon Grapes, Pantethine, and Pau d'Arco. You don't have to take them all, just see what works for you.

Phase 3, you can start eating other foods again, but one at a time so that you can identify if something causes you indigestion or whatever.

Tonight I'm headed to the natural foods shop to get a few pantry staples I will need. I will have to shop often I think as this diet is going to be high in fresh veggies and meat, but for tomorrow I'm going to go buy coconut milk, almond milk, Stevia, buckwheat flour, and some grains (I have brown rice and quinoa). Also brown rice pasta and nuts.