The Candida Diaries: Doin' it and doin' it and doin' it (wow)

Yesterday began the new (restart? phase? redo?) Candida treatment for me. It's fitting that it happened on July 15th, since I started the original treatment back on January 15th - there's something to the 15th with stuff like this - the 1st feels like too much pressure, but the 15th, man...it feels like you're just kind of slipping into it, like sliding across a hardwood floor on woolen socks.

I saw my doctor and we did testing for Candida Overgrowth, and even though we haven't gotten my results back yet, we both agreed that going on a modified version of it for now is the way to go. It's been super fun to kind of break all the rules and flirt with my old food loves - ice cream, frappucinos, pasta, gourmet cheese, etc - but at the end of the day, it's kind of been the same as making out with a guy you know is absolutely no good for you - super fun in the moment, but the next morning you wake up feeling like crap. Physically and mentally, I just haven't felt like myself these past two months. My old food addiction stuff returned with a vengeance, too - I found myself looking to food to make me happy again after a long day, and started feeling like good things (like Real Housewives) just weren't as much fun if I wasn't eating an ice cream bar at the same time. It kind of bums me out to know that no matter how much work I do on the health side, that stuff might never go away - that it's more an issue of reconfiguring patterns and eliminating triggers, since exorcising it totally from my brain will probably never happen - but on the bright side it's good to have an awareness of it so that I know that those things are stumbling blocks for me, and probably always will be.

So we're back. The difference with this time is that my doctor wants me to sliiide into treatment gradually, vs. the all or nothing approach I took back in January. Even though I constantly battle with my tendency to want to go full-frontal on everything, I know that she's right about this: It will help cut down on the detox bullshit that I went through in January (lots of naps, tons of crankiness (and self-pity), and some headaches) and make it that much easier to commit to the process as a whole if I feel like I can gradually eliminate stuff instead of having it all taken away from me at once.

Her guidelines were as follows:

Apple Cider Vinegar shot every morning... if I can stand it and it works into my schedule, before every meal is ideal.

Drink lots and lots and lots of water. 

Eight hours of sleep, minimum. (I laughed when she told me this - I've seriously been clocking in 9-11 hours of sleep every night this summer)

Take a probiotic supplement. She gave me a recommend on some good ones out there, and I have a couple that I'm looking into. I'll update you on what I decide on next week.

Think about Kombucha. I told her that I would think about it - every time I buy Kombucha, it ends up sitting in my fridge past the due date. I'm a little scared to try the Kombucha, friends. I know there are friends of mine who love and swear by it - Dave, Erin, Erica - but I can't quite make myself do it yet.

Week One: Eliminate what I would call "Carby-carbs" - bread, crust, crackers, buns, etc. Basically, anything with lots of flour and yeast in it. These are the biggest culprits to my treatment (but oddly, also the easiest for me to say goodbye to).

Week Two: Eliminate dairy (except Greek Yogurt, which is really good for candida treatment and has only a trace amount of lactose). Ain't no thing - I still barely do any dairy, besides cheese.

Week Three: Eliminate simple and processed sugars. Natural sugars (like fruit - YAY!) and raw (not processed) dark chocolate are still okay - on an occasional basis - for now. If I find myself craving this stuff more than once a day, though, I gotta cut it out - because then that means my body (and brain) still can't handle even the smallest amount of sugar without going sugar-fiend crazy.

Week Four: Eliminate caffeine. (This is one will be easy-peasy, since I almost never drink caffeine anymore, anyway)

Week Four: Testing week. This is a week of eating carb, dairy, and sugar-free, at the end of which I'll analyze how I'm feeling and how my body's responding. If I'm feeling better, my body's responding well, and I've started to shed a majority of candida-related symptoms, then I can keep going with natural sugars and raw dark chocolate and consider myself in lifetime maintenance mode. If my body is slow to make progress and the symptoms are still showing up, then I move into Week Five...

Week Five: Eliminate natural sugars and raw dark chocolate (sad face).

Week Six: Full blown candida diet in effect.

She also had some strong words about my alcohol usage (whoops). I will admit that I have been drinking a lot, even for me...but it's summer! I told her. I'm out with my friends, doing summer stuff! I whined. She basically called me a moron and pointed out that drinking tons of alcohol was one of the worst things I could do to my body, which...both are true. While she did begrudgingly celebrate with me over the fact that I can now drink a beer (or three) without feeling like I'm getting a cold, she put the kibosh on making it a regular habit. Since I was totally, brutally honest with her about the fact that there was no way I could go drinks-free for the rest of the summer, we compromised: Four drinks a week, with six being the absolute maximum (my rule, not hers - who are these people who only have two drinks on a Friday or Saturday night?!). And I gotta stick to drinks like gin and tonic or light white wine. If I want something fruity (always my downfall in the summa), I can (sparingly) add cranberry juice to the gin and tonic. I can have two beers every other week, but the moment I notice symptoms - including feeling bloated - I have to stop drinking beer and switch to something else.

AND, if I hit Week Four and my body is still sluggish in its response to treatment, then I gotta eliminate alcohol during Weeks Five and Week Six.

At the end of Week Six, I'll check back in with my doctor and we'll review my progress. The big hope right now is that Week Four is a success. If it is, then after Week Six I can start testing things like quinoa, oatmeal, smoothies, etc, and just basically work toward having a more well-rounded diet.

So I feel good about stuff. Yesterday and today were super easy - it's weird how bread stuff is the hardest on my system but easiest for me to eliminate - and I know this week will be a breeze. It feels weird to eliminate bread but still be able to have sugar...and don't get me wrong, I'm totally, totally enjoying an extra week of being able to have a soy mocha or a piece of chocolate (Bucket List for this week: Ice cream at West Dairy. I've literally lived here off and on for more than a decade and have never had it. Crazytown), but it almost feels even more forbidden to be able to have sugar and not bread than to just go cold turkey off both.

Also, since I won't have to deal with so much detox shiz, I am fully planning on upping the fitness component of my life. A couple weeks ago, this girl walked into the place where I sling beer for cash and I stopped dead in my tracks - her arms weren't big, but they were CUT. I was like, "WHOA. I WANTS." My body has always had some pretty decent muscle tone - underneath the flab, my arms are actually pretty dec when it comes to their strength, and my legs continue to be my favorite body part - but I want to ramp it up a bit. I actually have a program that I did last winter that I loved, but haven't blogged about yet because I wanted to write about it while I'm actually doing it, so I'm probs going to pick that up and then tell you all about it. I also need to look into shaking up my yoga routine with poses that actually challenge my strength...my focus this past year has been on building flexibility, which has been awesome, but it's also allowed me to be kind of a wuss when it comes to my routines. So if anyone out there knows of any great online videos/tutorials for yoga routines that will help build some serious strength, please let me know about them in the comments!

And on that note - thanks to everyone who has been following along with the Candida Diaries! When I first started writing about it, I figured that it would be something that would be important for me to write about as a way to keep myself accountable to....myself...and a great way to vent, but that it would be way boring for everyone else to read. The amount of great, positive feedback and cheering on that I've received since starting this series was totally unexpected but also totally, super awesome. The Candida Diaries has catapulted me on a journey that I'm excited to continue and build on...beyond the restart of my treatment, there are some other really fun and exciting things in the works that totally jive with this year's mission to feel great inside my own body, and I'm excited to share it all with you guys in the next few weeks!

Stay tuned... ;)