image from lovefoodhatewaste.com
I've made it five days without really cheating, woohoo! I don't see any real change yet, other than I fell a lot less lethargic. I also tried to stop drinking soda at the same time. That didn't work out. I am too addicted to sweets to do both. I have managed to really cut back on the diet soda, but not entirely. That'll be a next step. I am drinking lots and lots of water and trying to ignore the headache I have right now.
It has really gone a lot better than I anticipated. The hardest part so far has been chocolate. I want it badly! I did make a nice concoction of whipping cream, cocoa powder and stevia that was pretty tasty. I think I whipped a little too long though, because after I finished I felt a little like my tongue was coated in butter! Last night, however, was killer. We had friends over for dinner and afterwards I served up small dishes of icecream with my homemade chocolate syrup. That actually wasn't the problem. The problem was the three little drops of syrup that ended up on my cutting board. It killed me. I so badly wanted to just whip them up with my finger and lick it off! The jar of syrup I was holding in my hand didn't bother me, just those three little drops. I guess I'm not ready to make cookies yet...
Anyway, I don't really have any recipes yet because I'm still in the induction phase and it is VERY low carb, like under 20g a day. So I'm basically eating meat, cheese, lettuce, broccoli and asparagus. I'm sure I'll start to expand soon, but for now that's it.
I did, however, make my own taco seasoning. I had previously just bought a big container from Sams and used a little bit when I needed it. Unfortunately one of the first ingredients in that is flour. So I made my own. And I don't think I'm going back! Hubby likes it and our friends like it last night. It's good. I used a little chipotle powder in it, yum :-)
I don't have the recipe with me, as I'm blogging from work right now. But I will try and get it up soon.
On a bit of another note, I am really glad I decided to go this route right now. After reading Dr. Atkins' book, especially the chapter on Candida yeast overgrowth, I am convinced that I am struggling with this issue and have been for some time.
There is a lot of information out about Candida, so I won't go into a lot of detail. But basically, Candida is a yeast that lives in your gut. Sometimes, due to overuse of antibiotics or steroids, among other reasons, it becomes overgrown. This can cause a number of symptoms, including craving sweets and starches, feeling tired and "spacey", being prone to itchiness and rashes and having nasal congestion and drainage. The list is very large, but many of the symptoms describe what I've been going through perfectly. So I am trying to control this.
One of the first places I heard about it was from Shannon at Nourishing Days.
The good news, one of the best ways to treat Candida is to remove all starches and sugars from your diet, something I'm already doing. I'm also supposed to limit my intake of caffeine, moldy cheeses, vinegar and fermented condiments. Oh, and no nuts, smoked or cured foots, wine, beer or spirits.
Some of the last things mentioned are going to be very hard for me. I'm a recovering ketchup-aholic. Since I can no longer eat ketchup, at least the kind purchased from the store, I've been using cheese and other yummy sauces (usually based on vinegar or fermented soy sauce) to stand in for ketchup. Without these, I'd be in trouble. So, we'll say I'm taking baby steps.
I'm not completely off caffeine yet, I'm working on it. And I do love good stinky cheeses, though I am trying to stick to mozzarella and cream cheese. I haven't had nuts yet on this new diet plan, though I was looking forward to introducing them back into my diet in the future. And I don't drink, so I have that part covered. I've also ordered a probiotic and hope to start taking that soon to speed the process along. Getting rid of a Candida overgrowth can take quite a while, especially one that's been hanging around for a while, like I'm pretty sure mine has.
Hopefully, all these changes will help me to feel better again. We'll see. And in the meantime, I may just lose these extra 40 lbs I've gained recently too!
