What Exactly CAN You Eat?

Ever since my diet turn-around in October of 2012, I've been through a series of emotions that has been like a roller coaster ride in a grocery store.  Let's face it, food is the center of culture - every holiday, family get togethers, weddings and funerals, church functions and business meetings, anywhere you go, there is going to be food.  (And if there's not food, you're going to be irritated because they didn't feed you!)  From coffee and doughnuts, to a full spread.  And you eat.  Because that's what you're supposed to do.  You don't want to offend anybody. 

So, what do you do when you are faced with a situation where there is nothing that is safe for you to eat?  It's not that I don't like turkey with stuffing and gravy.  It's not that your chocolate pie looks too fattening.  It's not that your spaghetti and meatballs aren't like mom used to make.  It's just that if I eat that stuffing or that pasta dinner, I'm going to feel like I got run over by a Mac truck and won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow.  One taste of that creamy dessert, and within hours I will be so congested I will barely be able to breathe.  I'm afraid to eat anywhere but home, because I don't know exactly what is in everything.  It's a bother to ask about every single ingredient in every single thing, and quite frankly, it's embarrassing.

While people who know my story express their happiness for me that I'm feeling so much better, most still don't seem to understand the seriousness of the issue - people are constantly saying things to me like, "Just have a little", "Just a little won't hurt you, will it?"  "Can you eat this?"  "Can you eat that?"  and, my personal favorite, "What exactly CAN you eat?" 

I know people mean well, but I have actually had to go through something like a grieving process with food.  I've had to make major changes in the way I think about food.  I've had to say goodbye to certain foods that have been around my entire life and are part of my family's cultural background.  Do you have any idea what it's like being an Italian American who can't eat pasta or cheese?!   I feel like an alien on this planet.  

Thankfully, I have a very supportive husband, who has helped me feel more confident about telling people, "I have a very specific diet" without feeling guilty about offending anyone.

I started on this journey feeling very lost, confused and alone.  I've learned a lot, but there is still so much I don't understand.  I've "brown bagged" Thanksgiving dinner, and tried out lots of crazy recipes (some of them actually very good!).

The most important thing I've learned, and  that I want to share with you, is that what I CAN eat is...

FOOD.

There is such a wide array of veggies, fruits, and even grains, that so many people don't even know exist let alone what to do with them.  I have always enjoyed trying new foods, so I try to see it as an adventure.  I've learned how to roast a spaghetti squash and how to make the most amazing chocolate cupcakes out of black beans.  I've learned how to make kale chips and parsnip noodles and avocado pudding.  I've learned to appreciate foods in their purist natural form and to experiment with them, as well.  I am not a vegetarian, I enjoy all kinds of meats, but I have learned to listen to my body and know when I've "enjoyed" too much. 

I've learned that "gluten free" processed junk food is still... well, processed junk food, and that too much of a good thing is never a good thing.

I want to share all of this, because I want everyone to learn to eat real food.  But, I also want people to know that it's okay if you can't afford to eat all organic produce and grass-fed meats.  Guess what - I can't!   I buy what is on sale that week and hope for the best!  I'm fully aware of the health benefits of all organic, and of the dangers of not eating organic, and of the balance in my checking account.  But I fully believe - and have seen the evidence - that your body WILL respond to any real attempt you make at treating it right.


   

Let Us Eat and Drink, For Tomorrow We Diet

 

Don't be alarmed, now, the above pictured (my Birthday dinner) was perfectly safe.  Those are gluten free buns, and those onion rings - baked, not fried - are breaded in corn flakes.  Those hot dogs, weighing in at $5.99 a pack, are all natural, minimally processed, with no artificial ingredients.  Even the ketchup is organic!

Looks good, right?

Hmmm...

There's a serious flaw in that kind of thinking.  That we think we can substitute foods that look and feel (but we all know don't actually taste) like the things we're used to eating, is a testament to the reality that we really don't like change. 

At the beginning of my journey into this amazing world of healthy eating, I experimented with an anti-candida diet, my sole purpose being to rid myself of a nasty case of ringworm.  I soon realized that food was destroying my body - or, I should say, what I once thought of as "food".  I've learned a lot since then, and I've gotten lazy, too.  I still read ingredients - I have to, because there are certain things that will really hurt me.  But, I have more than given in to my sweet tooth, and my body has finally said, enough is enough! 

That is what this candida diet is all about - constantly craving sweets and sugary foods is a big huge sign of candida overgrowth in the body; the sugar feeds the yeast, it grows out of control, and bad things happen (think, Son of Blob, or Little Shop of Horrors).  It's pretty extreme.  The only way to tackle it is to get extreme right back.  I know a bit about this, because I've done it before.  I know what I am dealing with right now.  And, this time, I'm inviting you to go along with me.

But, what if I don't have a problem with this candida stuff?  Why should I do this crazy "crash diet" with some health food nut who doesn't even have her own book or TV talk show or powdered superfood drink mix?

Here's a thought - why not? 

I just want to say here, that I am not selling anything, and I am not making any money at all by endorsing anything here.  On that note, I can't say enough about what a huge fan I am of the Blood Type Diet.  I love that it works for me, and I love that it makes sense of the fact that no one certain diet plan works the same for everybody.  I love the fact that I already knew about my own food intolerances before I ever knew my blood type; this theory is credible to me.  I love that it is not a weight loss plan, but a diet plan for health. 

I especially love when doctors and some other people who are far more educated than I hear my story and then politely inform me, "You know, there's really not enough research to back that up."  My response? That's okay - I'm doing my own research!

What no expert has been able to show me as of yet is the research that says that putting real food into your body, and eliminating the chemicals in "fake food" is in any way harmful.  If I was in pain, and now I'm not, and I accomplished this without the use of any drugs, then why wouldn't I be happy about it and excited to share this information with others?   The way I see it, EVERYBODY could stand to benefit from doing this "diet", because it's really nothing more than eating what was intended for you to eat.

If you do have health issues that could be related to diet, then the candida diet is a very good "elimination diet" - a plan that takes you back to basics by literally eliminating all possible "trigger foods" for a time, and then re-introducing them a little at a time to see which foods are causing you problems. 

I made the decision to do this this month without looking at my calendar.  I now see that Lent starts this week, so here is a great opportunity for all of you thinking about what you will "give up".  Why not make the sacrifice for your health?

I will be posting my personal daily food choices, and you can choose to follow or get ideas for yourself.  I will caution you that there is a ton of conflicting information out there about what foods are acceptable on a candida diet; since I'm not a scientist, I can't say which sources are accurate or why some differ.  As a person who knows how to listen to my body and takes my health seriously, I can only tell you what I am doing - it is up to you to educate yourself and make informed choices for yourself. 

Know Your Body! (part 2)

On the night of October 28, 2012, after three years of searching for answers, I decided that I had had enough and that I needed to make extreme changes in my diet.  Instinctively, I knew that was the answer, I knew what I had to do...

It was late that night, my husband had already gone to bed, and I was alone with my thoughts.  I was excited and ready for the coming day.  I was officially done with junk food, all things artificial, and everything Dr. D'Adamo said I should "avoid".  It was crack-down time, and I was going to do this.   Filled with resolve, self-discipline, a changed person... I couldn't wait...

The next morning, I woke to the smell of something wonderful coming from the kitchen.  I went downstairs and asked my husband, "What are you doing?"  He smiled proudly and very sweetly said, "Making fried potatoes for my wife." 

My husband is a pretty great cook, in my opinion, and he had got up early on his day off to fix me breakfast.  I was heartbroken.  The battle immediately started in my mind.  If I don't eat this, I'll hurt his feelings.  I need to change the way I eat.  I can start with lunch.  I need to start now.  He didn't know.  He will understand.  Fried potatoes isn't going to hurt me.  But it IS going to hurt me.

I don't remember the conversation, but I know it took everything in me to talk to my husband about the decision I had made the night before.  Of course, he was more than gracious and was willing to support me in whatever I felt I needed to do.  Mind you, he wasn't going to join me!  I don't remember what I ate that morning either, but I do remember friends calling about an hour later:

"We're going up to McDonald's for breakfast.  Why don't you guys come up and join us?"

This was NOT going to be easy...

It wasn't easy at all.  I had completely cut out gluten, dairy, and anything artificial.  If I couldn't pronounce it, or if I didn't know what it was, I didn't eat it.  I was determined to do everything right. I was reading ingredients... and going hungry.  It seemed like food was the enemy, and I couldn't let that kind of thinking take over - I needed to stay positive, and stay full.

About two weeks later, I was feeling better than I had in a very long time.  Could it really be this simple?  If I avoided certain foods, and ate certain others, could I really improve my health?

My answer came early one morning, while standing in front of the bathroom mirror.  I was just waking up and getting ready for the shower, when I yawned and stretched... and looked in the mirror.  I had stretched my arms way up, straight up above my head.  I stood there, still, looking at my reflection - those arms, straight, and reaching way up.  And I started to weep.  I had not been able to that in years!

I really was winning now.  The better I felt, the more I was determined to keep doing better.  I read even more.  I was learning about each of the symptoms I had had over the past three years - and for many years before - and started making connections.  Each symptom was a signal; my body had been trying to tell me things - that things were terribly wrong, and that I was doing it to myself by choosing to put the wrong things into it.

This is my cry: Know Your Body! 

Pay attention - every symptom is a message too important to miss!  Every ache and pain, every infection, every migraine, every tummy ache, every little runny nose...  Your body really does have the amazing ability to heal itself, BUT, it can not begin to do that until you begin to treat it with respect and great care.  Every single thing you put into your body has an effect, small or great.  And nobody else lives inside your body, so nobody else can tell you exactly when things are going wrong - if YOU don't learn to listen, nobody will. 

You only get one life - stop poisoning your body with the "stuff" we call food!  Start reading ingredients - if you don't know what it is, do a little research.  Don't fool yourself into thinking the latest health food craze is good for you - figure out what YOUR body needs to feel your best.  There is no magic one-size cure for what ails you.  Learn from others, but be your own best teacher and friend.

It won't be easy.  But it will be worth it!





 

Into the Woods...

If I had known then what I know now, perhaps the next three years of my life would have been a bit easier for me.  That little bout with the ringworm was a warning sign of worse things to come.  I never made the connection at the time, but I also had a random plantar wart appear on the bottom of my foot around that same time (odd because I don't frequent public pools or locker rooms - I don't go barefoot even in my own home), and all of this was following the development of blepharitis in my eyes (I just assumed it was due to my prolonged abuse of contact lenses). 

But in the coming months, my health went from bad to worse, with all symptoms seeming random and me making no connections. 

Gallbladder attacks. 
Mouth sores.
Flu-like symptoms, and generally not feeling "well".  Every three or four weeks, I would swear I was "coming down with something" - sore throat, mild fever, achy and run down - but it never manifested, and in a few days I would feel better.
Numbness in my hands and feet, I later learned is known as "stocking/glove neuropathy".
Pain in my feet became so severe it kept me up at night.  When I did sleep, I had nightmares from the pain.  Eventually, it started to spread, slowly, to my hands, then to my legs, then to my arms, hips, and shoulders... until my whole body hurt.  All the time.

It hurt to sit.  It hurt to stand.  It hurt to move.  It hurt to lie down. 

It felt very much like I had been beat with a metal baseball bat - bruised all over and sore.  The pain went straight through my muscles and bones.  There was no part of me that didn't hurt.  And as of yet, there were no visible physical signs.   

At some point, I starting seeing doctors... and specialists... and more doctors... and going for tests... and x-rays... and more tests...  For every doctor who scratched his head , for every test result that came back perfectly normal, I thought hard about whether it really was "all in my head."

Finally, I started noticing inflammation in my hands - the knuckles of my right hand were visibly enlarged.  I don't know if anyone else can understand this, but I was so happy to see that!  I went about showing people my hands to compare for themselves!  I wasn't making this up!  The right hand was much worse than the left, making it very difficult to write, and over time, I could not open that hand all the way.  Cold made it much worse, carrying frozen goods through the grocery store in my hands made me cry.

I wish I would have kept a journal, because it's hard for me to remember the order of events, symptoms, doctor visits, etc.  By May of 2012, I finally decided to quit my full time job, teaching preschool, and get a part time job that would be less hard on me physically and mentally.  During all this time, I was still very interested in the food-health connection.  Because of my new "dairy-free" lifestyle, I hadn't suffered from bronchitis in a very long time (except for that one time that I "cheated" a little with that spaghetti cheese, and thought I would die from the congestion!) - I had bronchitis at the very least three times a year since I was in the ninth grade, and this newfound relief was amazing and so exciting!   By now, I had heard of the Blood Type Diet, and I was already doing some things with food in dealing with some of my symptoms.  But I felt like I was fighting a losing battle.

One night, I got into a private message discussion on facebook with a lady I barely knew.  She told me a little about how changing their diet had helped her family with some serious health issues.  I realized that I already knew what I had to do, I just hadn't been doing it.  Up until this time, I had been so focused on getting a diagnosis - I thought that by giving this a name, I could learn to accept, understand and treat it.  But now I realized, I was wasting time.  This was my life, and I couldn't leave it in the hands of doctors who didn't know what was wrong or how to help me.  If I was going to beat this thing, I was going to do it on my own, and I had to start now...

Know Your Body! (part 1)

Last time, I promised to help you better understand how the food you eat can be hurting you, and how to know which foods are making you sick. 
 
I also gave you several typos, a very bland-looking blog page, and numerous updates.


Well, get used to it!


The good news (for me) is that I got a new computer for my birthday - yay!  The bad news is, I am still learning BlogSpot and it doesn't seem to be going so well.  (I will try to proofread a little better!)


I first learned about candida back in 2010.  I work in child care, and I usually get ringworm about once a year.  I hate ringworm - it's quite annoying, takes weeks to get rid of, and can really put a damper on your social life.  On the other hand, if you recognize it, expect it, and catch it quickly enough, it should be no more difficult than applying an over-the-counter cream and keeping things extra clean.  At least, that had been my experience in the past.  But in October of 2009, I got ringworm and couldn't get rid of it.  It just kept getting bigger.  And, it spread.  I tried some different creams, and some different home remedies.  I looked and felt awful, and it just wouldn't end.  By December, I was at my wits end - I was out of town on business when I finally called my family doctor and asked for a prescription cream; I was told the doctor would not call in something without seeing me, and that I should go to urgent care.  I thought that was insane!  I wasn't going to the E.R. for ringworm!  So, I continued to suffer, and the fungus continued to spread.


Sometime around January of 2010, it hit me like a bag of ...SUGAR! 


The conversation in my head went pretty much exactly like this: Ringworm is a fungus, and fungus is fed by sugar.  What if I tried treating it from the inside out?


I've always been a big fan of natural and home remedies, so I started researching online the relationship between ringworm and diet, and lo and behold, I learned about candida albicans and how they can grow out of control in the gut, wrecking havoc on the body.  I read as much as I could find online and used my own judgement to put together a diet plan - if this worked, I would finally be rid of the horrible skin rashes for good. 


But, what I didn't know then was how changing my diet would change my life...


For four weeks I deprived my body of sugar in any form - no sweets, no carbs, no grains, no dairy, no fruit, and only limited vegetables and meats.  It wasn't easy, but thankfully I enjoy all kinds of foods - fresh, raw and cooked, veggies included - and knowing it would be only for a time made it easier. 


What made it totally worth it at the time, though, was seeing my skin clear up and no new rashes.  IT WORKED!


And then, a miracle happened.  In order to keep myself well and not overwhelm my body, I made a point to re-introduce foods a little at a time over the next few weeks.  First, fruits, then grains, and finally dairy.  That's when I got bronchitis.  Suddenly, it was so clear - my chronic bronchitis was caused by dairy in my diet!  I could actually go back to my earliest childhood memories and see how many seemingly minor health issues were caused by dairy.  I cut it out immediately.  It was like being reborn - I was getting to know my body and learning to listen to what it was telling me; I was learning to treat my body with respect and kindness, the way I would like it to treat me.  I was learning that every single thing I put into my body has an effect on my health. 

All I Really Need to Know About My Health, I Learned From My Own Body

This will be the first in a series of posts documenting my month on an anti-candida diet - or, more specifically, an elimination diet. 
 

MY purpose in doing this for MYSELF has to do with symptoms of candida overgrowth - chronic fatigue and generally not feeling well among them.



My purpose in documenting this for YOU is to show that it CAN be done, and somewhat affordably (I'm going to just say here that, if I can afford to do it, so can you!).



My disclaimer - and this is the only time you will see this - is that I am NOT a doctor, nutritionist, or scientist.  I am an average middle-aged woman with undiagnosed autoimmune symptoms, and I have come to the realization that there are a whole heck of a lot of folks out there just like me - folks who sick and tired of feeling sick and tired; folks who are sick and tired of having doctors look at them like they are crazy and tell them there's nothing wrong; folks who know there is something wrong - but... what?



I am here to tell you that all I really need to know about my health, I learned from my own body!  I had a lot of health problems for a lot of years, and I didn't start getting "well" until I stopped searching for a diagnosis and started focusing on getting better.  It has been a daily struggle ever since, but I am very happy to report that that the uphill battle is getting me, well, up the hill. 



The "treatment plan" - eating food. 



Yes, you read that right - eating.



Food.



Because, let's be honest, what most people in our society today eat on a daily basis isn't really food.



Think I've lost it?  Go to your pantry right now and pick up a loaf of bread.  Or a box of snack cakes.  Or a package of "instant" anything.  Or any one of those powdered beverages or sports drinks or diet sodas you like to drink.  Or, go to your freezer and pull out a frozen dinner.  Or a carton of ice cream.



Read the ingredients.



Don't know what that word is? Go ahead, look it up...



Scared?  You should be!



Chances are, some of those ingredients are making you sick.  What's worse, chances are that even if you eliminated all of the chemicals and artificial stuff, you would still be sick, because the "real food" that is left is oftentimes so heavily proccessed that it no longer resembles "real food"!  



So, how do you know which foods are hurting you? 



I'll cover that next time, and I'll tell you a little more about what I've been through and where I'm going this next month - I hope you'll think about going along with me!

How do you work this thing?

I'm still not sure how this blogging thing works, but this is my second attempt...  I am impressed with myself for finding it again! 

For my next trick... I will attempt to post some photos.  These will be photos I've taken along the way, and I shall choose random pics that represent me and what I think about...



Here, we have Wintry the ginea pig, and the day I brought home an orphaned duckling we found at the summer camp for disabled kids where I worked...

..and speaking of stray animals that I've brought home, who could forget Coco the dog, who died in my arms two weeks after we took her in, emaciated and alone in the world ...

 

...and, just one more animal shot before we move on...  This was the groundhog who dug his way under our front porch one afternoon while we were out.  I'll admit, this is as close to "wild" as I get, and I was pretty nervous!




 

So, I can see that this website will allow me to post pictures of anything I like and want to share, regardless of who I might bore to tears.  I don't have time to continue today, but I plan to get down to business real soon.  We'll see...