What’s New?

Hi everyone! I can’t believe it has been at least a week and a half since I last posted!! Man, time flies when your having fun busy. This post may be a little random because I have several things to share that are not related to each other at all 🙂

The first bit of interesting news is that I got my ears pierced stapled! No, I am not some kind of hippy or anything. These staples are a form of acupuncture that you leave in. You can read about it here.

If you read about ear stapling, you would see that a lot of people do it to try to lose weight. That is NOT why I had it done. It is not just for weight loss. My ND recommended it to help balance my hormones and energy and to help with sugar cravings. She obviously thought it would be very beneficial to me because she did it for FREE! I probably wouldn’t have had it done if I had to pay for it, but I figure if it’s free it’s not going to hurt to try. At least I know she wasn’t just trying to sell me something 🙂 Speaking of hurting, you may be wondering if it hurt. Umm, yeah! Not extrememly bad pain, but enough. It hurt worse after it was over and they (I have one in each ear) were very tender for several days. The worst part was when I would forget they were there and go to scratch my ear! NOT good! I also had some trouble sleeping with them in the first couple of nights.

So, today is day seven since having this done and what have I noticed? The first thing I noticed was a decrease in depression! That alone is fabulous! Then I started to notice an increase in energy–woohoo! I kept wondering when the sugar cravings would improve. The first few days I could still be very tempted by sugar.  On about day 4, I noticed a dramatic improvement in my cravings! THAT IS A MIRACLE!!  You guys probably have NO idea the struggles I have had with sugar cravings. That’s not something I really talk about on my blog. All in all, I think the staples are helping me and it was worth the momentary pain 🙂

Okay, enough about my ears! I have been following a low-carb diet due to candida and I was SO excited to find this new protein powder yesterday!

This is Healthy N’ Fit protein powder and it is 100% egg white protein. What made me so excited about this powder is the fact that it only has stevia in it for a sweetener. So many other protein powders still have fructose etc. in them! It is also loaded with amino acids. How does it taste? YUMMY!! I had my first smoothie with it this afternoon.

This is a spinach smoothie with almond milk, a few frozen cranberries and 1/2 cup plain unsweetened yogurt added in. Perfect! Now, I know there are a lot of Jay Robb fans (Hi Heather🙂 out there, but this stuff is cheaper! At my Kroger, Jay Robb is $22.00 for 10 servings. The Healthy N’ Fit was $35.00 for 34 servings!! I have to go with the cheaper! I have never tasted Jay Robb due to the cost, but I really felt like this was worth it.

I have been feeling great on a low-carb diet (and the staples:)! I am doing yoga some and some other workouts–like the FIRM. I really want to feel stronger! I think I am what a lot of people would call ‘skinny fat’. I’m at a low weight, but don’t have a lot of muscle. Hopefully, my diet and exercising will help me gain some of the muscle I lost when I was struggling with an eating disorder. I have been thinking about doing the P90X workouts. I’m not trying to get ‘ripped’ or anything, just stronger with less fat and more muscle. Anybody ever done those? What were your thoughts? I really don’t want to kill myself! I am also wondering if I do harder workouts, will it make my weight go up due to gaining muscle. If it does, that’s okay, as long as I know it’s from muscle and not overeating or gaining fat! Would appreciate your input 😉

This post is getting pretty long, but Clare gave me a sweet blog award about two weeks ago and I am just now getting to it!! Terrible, I know! I am supposed to tell 7 random things about myself so here goes.

1-I am pretty OCD about some things but not others. For ex. I HATE crooked pics, open cabinet doors and I CAN NOT buy something that is dented!! But, as for keeping my house spotless–I gave up on that years ago!!

2-I have homeschooled my (3) children most of their lives. MANY ups and downs on that one–mostly ups though 😉

3- I LOVE animals!! We have three dogs, two cats and two turtles (those are my daughter’s) I think she loves animals even more than me!

4-I am a book addict!! Mostly cookbooks, as you know if you have been reading my blog long.

5-I LOVE fried okra, but sadly can’t eat it anymore! Hey, maybe I can make it and coat it in almond flour!

6- I HATE beets and kombucha!

7-I was born three days before my brother’s first birthday. I bet he thought that was the WORST present EVER!

Thanks Clare for thinking of me. I give this award to anyone who has never received it before 😉 

Sorry this post was SO long! I’ll try to post more often so this doesn’t happen again. I really like to keep it short and simple 🙂 

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Eat, Spit and be Merry=)

Okay, that has got to be the dumbest post title EVER! BUT, they all pertain to my day so far. I’ll start with the ‘spit’ because I know that one had to have gotten your attention 😉

As many of you know, I have been struggling with chronic yeast problems for the last year (at least). I was doing some reading online yesterday about Candida and read about a spit test. I had seen this before but never gave it much thought. I did my first spit test yesterday afternoon and it wasn’t looking good. They say that you get better results first thing in the morning, but mine was pretty bad in the afternoon! So, I decided to do it again this morning and see what happened. I’m sure you will be glad to know that I did NOT take pictures of my spit in a glass 🙂 Anyway, this morning’s spit was REALLY bad!! Was I surprised? NO! I’m guessing my Candida is worse than I thought. I also sent off a test that the ND had me do and should hear the results of that soon.  I think I am a walking yeast molecule!! ( Just for the record, my daughter thought this was pretty cool and did it herself. I think she’s fine though as far as yeast goes.)

So, after my science experiment this morning, I proceeded to do my devotion. I am reading through the Book of Mark and still praying about a particular Bible study. Then I did a glorious 75 minutes of yoga on my own. I really like Yogadownload and going to classes when I can, but I think my favorite is just doing what my body feels like doing all on my own. This makes me very happy and content 😀 I was looking at a yoga book this morning and found this quote that I liked:

“If your practice doesn’t increase the joy in your life, it is the wrong practice for you.”

For my eats today, I had eggs and grain free bread for breakfast–no picture. How interesting can eggs and bread be anyway? For lunch, I had my heart set on some poached salmon that I made for dinner last night. My tummy was feeling pretty out of whack last night, so I skipped the salmon thinking I would just eat it for lunch today. Well, what happens when there are three teens and a hungry hubby in the house? They ate ALL the salmon–and roasted asparagus!! I ended up having chicken salad -hold the mayo- with raw veggies.

I used organic gluten free canned chicken and added green onions, red peppers, 1 tsp. olive oil and salt and pepper.

I have an appointment with the ND this Friday that should be pretty interesting so stay tuned 🙂

Now, I know all of you want to go spit in a glass, right?

Added note: After more research, I just wanted to say that I would not use the spit test for an official diagnoses for Candida. I mainly did it for fun and out of curiosity. It is important to note that I have a gazillion other symptoms and am having an actual lab test done to see where I stand with candida. So, if you go spit in a glass and it looks all funky but you have no other symptoms–no worries 😉

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HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

Well, the holidays are over and time to get back to ‘normal’ life–whatever that means. We had a fabulous Christmas but I don’t have any pics loaded on the computer yet. I have been extremely lazy about getting on the computer. My favorite gift that I received was a Wii Fit Plus from my hubby. I LOVE IT!! I also got some Christmas money and got the Wii Active. I quickly learned that the Wii Active can kick my tail!! It is more of a workout than the Wii Fit–although the Wii fit can burn some booty too 🙂 Anyway, I am currently pretty daggone sore from them both!

I thought I probably should get on here and kind of explain why I haven’t been blogging for the last few weeks. It really had little to do with the busyness of the holidays. After reading this post by Heather, I thought that I too should be able to be honest on MY blog. Ya see, I kind of stepped back because I have been feeling like a hypocrite or a lunatic–which ever one is worse. I say that because of the fact that my diet is EVER changing and confusing. I say I’m doing one thing only to find that it doesn’t work for me. Every time I think I have something figured out–I realize that I don’t. Then I feel all this pressure to stick to what I said–EVEN IF IT’S NOT WORKING!! So, that is BAD, right? Yeah!

This past year has been one of the most confusing where my health is concerned. I loved what Heather said about labels and gave that a lot of thought. Thanks Heather 🙂 I am NOT labeling myself anymore. I am NOT vegetarian(for real), high raw, vegan, low carb, macrobiotic yada, yada, yada!

I DO, however, HAVE to stay away from gluten due to Celiac and I HAVE to stay away from things that feed my candida.  I have tried way TOO hard to force my body to do one thing or another and it has been miserable!! This past week has been so freeing because I am eating what sounds good–as long as it’s not going to worsen my health. Last night, I had cooked cabbage and onions with ground deer meat that I seasoned with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and paprika(sorry–no pics–I gobbled it up!). It HIT THE SPOT!! Gasp, I ate deer! Yes, my hubby is a hunter and that is something I have never felt comfortable enough to share on my blog due to all the veggie fanfare 🙂 That’s all I’m sayin’ on that note. So, I am eating meat again and feeling SO much better. I DO think that some people just don’t thrive on a veggie diet and I’m learning that I’m one of them.

Along with the meat in my diet, I am mainly eating eggs and tons of veggies. This seems to be helping my yeast some and for that I am SO grateful. It’s NOT about labels, but about finding what will make me well!! I am also HAPPY 😀 to report that I am eating some almond flour and doing okay!! You have NO idea how happy that makes me!! I got ‘The Almond Flour Cookbook’ and have made several things out of it. Of course, I have to tweak and use stevia instead of agave due to the candida, but it’s working.

Last but not least, my hubby has agreed to eat whatever I’m eating with a few exceptions–a.k.a he is eating cheese and I’m not–little things like that. It has made life SO much easier and he’s losing weight to boot 🙂

Sorry about the picture less post. I’ll be a little more prepared next go around 🙂 See ya!

Lots of smileys in this post–that is a good thing!! 😀 😀 😀 Hope you’re smiling today!!!!

VERY IMPORTANT P.S.–HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HEATHER!!!!!! I think this day calls for some protein ice cream!!

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Funky Town

Do any of you remember that old song called ‘Won’t you take me to Funky Town’? I remember like yesterday the year I got that record for Christmas. Yes, that was before the beloved CD’s, i-pods etc. I loved playing that record on my good ol’ fashion record player. Some of you may be too young to remember that song, but it was a huge hit back then.

So, this past week I have been in Funky Town! Now, I’m singing ‘Won’t you get me out of Funky Town’?!! I have had NO desire to blog or be transparent with anyone (except a lovely fellow blogger who has been SO kind to let me e-mail her with my woes 🙂 ). What can I say? Holidays are HARD! It seems like everything is centered around food–and food has not felt like my friend lately. I have been trying to follow the Anti-Candida Diet and was very successful–for 11 days. Then, I got on a slippery slope that I have had trouble getting off of. Eleven glorious days of NO cheating and then BOOM! What happened? I have no idea, other than sugar won 😦 Ricki, I think I am back to day 1 !

Now, it’s time to get back on the wagon and hang on for dear life! This Anti-Candida thing is a wild ride that I would much rather NOT go on, but I don’t really have a choice. Who knew that yeasty beasties could be SO stubborn. I’m pretty stubborn, but I think this takes the cake–literally! I would love to have a piece of cake!!

This slippery slope has led to another slippery slope that I MUST get off of–NOW!! You see, I have this pattern. I try REALLY hard to do the right thing, I fail, I get angry with myself=restricting. My rational thinking this week has been ‘It is better to not eat at all than to eat and take a chance on the sugar/gluten monster winning’. Restricting can make everything seem under control–for a moment.  Problem is, my gut starts SCREAMING for food, I get light headed, I get depressed, I get angry because I’m hungry etc.

So, what do I do when I am really not loving food but am surrounded by it everywhere I go? I just have to do the best I can. That’s all I can do. I don’t know what tomorrow is going to look like. I don’t have a clue if I’m going to be able to fight the cravings when they come. I don’t know what to take to eat when I go to gatherings. I don’t know if this yeast will EVER go away!  About the only thing I DO know is that God gave me grace to get through 11 days and HIS grace does not run out!  I have to cling to that with everything in me. I have NO hope apart from HIM!

I hope you all are enjoying this Holiday season. Remember, it’s NOT about the food or the gifts! The only reason we can celebrate this Christmas is because Christ was born to come and save us from ourselves! I need HIM everyday. I am a hopeless case without Him 😉

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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Yummy Eats

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and I have been loving some new recipes! First of all, I am happy to say I made it through the holiday without even sniffing gluten or sugar! Yay me 😉 I was a little lot worried that I would not be able to resist all the traditional food. So, I made sure to take my own and basically stayed away from the large table of food at my mom’s. I have been learning more about the anti-candida diet and really prayed hard that God would help me stick to it! He answered my prayer 🙂

My Thanksgiving day started off with a yummy HOT breakfast–southwestern style. I have realized that I do much better with a BIG HOT breakfast–not cold and raw (more about that later). Here are a few I have been enjoying.

1 egg + 2 whites, cooked peppers, onions and black beans over spinach

More eggs, peppers, onions and black beans over spaghetti sqaush

Coconut flour pancakes with Sweet Almond Sauce--OMG!!

Did I mention I have a new BFF? I don’t think she knows it yet, but Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs is saving my life with this Anti-Candida thing!! Thanks a million Ricki! I still have SO many more recipes to explore! The recipe for the Sweet Almond Sauce is here and it is to die for!!

Lunch on Thanksgiving day was:

Kale Salad with Sweet Potato Fries

These recipes were also on Ricki’s blog🙂 I’m afraid sweet tators may be out for me for a while though–they make me crave sugar! UGH!

Dinner on Thanksgiving:

Anti-Candida Stew

Yet another wonderful recipe from Diet, Dessert and Dogs! I used quinoa instead of rice and I did put the sweet potato, but will probably leave it out next time. I took this with me to my mom’s and didn’t touch anything else. I KNEW if I took even ONE bite of the traditional food, my taste buds would go BONKERS and I would be in trouble!

Dessert on Thanksgiving:

Tofu Carob Pudding (sugar free:)

I’m still not sure that tofu works for me, but it was certainly better than eating sugar and gluten. Tofu doesn’t make my stomach hurt, but I have noticed some unpleasant reactions to it. I think it is worth eating occasionally, but I couldn’t eat it every day.

So, basically, Ricki saved my Thanksgiving. I LOVE the blogging world. We have never even met and yet blogs are SO helpful!

Just a quick note about the raw diet in my life. I went to the ND the other day and she and I both think it is best if I just concentrate on staying away from sugar and gluten. With my past eating history, too many rules was REALLY freaking me out! Food was VERY quickly becoming my enemy and I just can NOT go there again. So, I will eat raw when I want (like kale salad) and cooked when I want. I’m sure it will be more cooked than raw and that has to be okay–if for no other reason than to keep my sanity! Eating disorders are a powerful form of bondage that I don’t want any part of–EVER AGAIN!! I have to see food as fuel and as my friend,and I wasn’t seeing it that way when trying to follow so many rules. I am feeling MUCH better emotionally since coming to this place with my diet 😀 I know there are rules to follow on the anti-candida diet, but I think it is easier than trying to do mostly raw. I’m not much into raw eggs, but have been loving them scrambled for my breakfast!

Better run now. I think my daughter and I are going to try to go to a movie today and maybe do a little window shopping 🙂 Hope you have a blessed weekend!

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Learn Something New Everyday

Here are some things I am learning:)

1-I need to start a strict anti-candida diet! The ND is going to have me do a test that we send off that tells how bad it is and what strand of yeast I have. We can then proceed to treat accordingly with herbal/natural supplements. Main point-I have severe candida!!

2-I learned today that green monsters without ANY fruit are REALLY nasty!! ‘Nuff said! That also means I learned that breakfast on high raw, anti-candida is going to be tricky! Any ideas?

3– I learned that I like raw rutabaga blended with garlic, olive oil, salt etc. These were supposed to be patties, but didn’t quiet work the way they were supposed to. So, I learned that they make great croutons!

This is my salad I packed for lunch today. It had:

romaine, english cucumber, yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, carrots, sprouts, sprouted black quinoa, and broken up rutabaga “patties”

4-I learned that raw broccoli is NOT my friend. I didn’t take a picture. For snack today, I had raw broccoli with some black bean dip.

5-I learned that I LOVE Gena’s BEST. SOUP. EVER.!!

I do not typically like raw soups at all, but this one, well it was a different story!

6-I then proceeded to learn that butternut is probably not good for candida. Not sure about that though. Raw foods have less sugar and carbs than cooked food. Any info. here?

7-I learned that chia pudding has a very weird texture that I’m not sure I like.

Raw cocoa chia pudding

I tasted this and stuck it back in the fridge. Will taste again later:)

8-I learned that this is my favorite raw meal so far:

Raw bread with tomato, sprouts and raw cheese with coleslaw

9-I learned that cheese is a no-no for anti-candida diet:( I rarely ever have it, but it’s nice every once in a while. So long cheese!

10-I learned that functioning on VERY little sleep is TORTURE when you have to go clean someone’s house!! I NEED SLEEP!!!

There– I learned at least TEN new things today!! Never too old to learn!:)

Have you learned anything new today? I also learned that I can’t spell or type very well today!LOL!

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