To eat or not to eat

I am nearly at the end of week six.......I'd like to honor that for myself. 

Then..I have been in physical pain this past week. My back, on either side of my spine, has been hurting. Also, my neck, shoulders and scalp hurt. It is possible the pain is coming from my desk job and poor posture. I have been there for months, though, and I'm just now feeling this. It is also possible this pain is associated with my cleanse. I started feeling it after I got a massage a week ago. I've been getting massage regularly and this wasn't especially deep, so I was intrigued that I started feeling sore afterward. That's what this is, i guess-soreness. It could be from drinking coffee too. I'm unsure.

My response to this pain is the reason I am writing this now. I want to eat something, anything, that is not a part of this cleanse. Or have a drink. In other words, I want to use food or beverage to sidestep my discomfort. Now, isn't that how we got here in the first place, Shannon? 

I started googling what happens if one cheats on the cleanse. The answer, really, is it takes a day or two to get the candida back under control.  My concern, however, is that a little cheat could lead to a lot of cheat. I don't know if having one meal "off the menu" would lead me to more and more. That's not a cycle I'm interested in restarting. I'm already doing that with coffee and tobacco. I'm so close to two months, and I'm feeling pretty proud of how far I've come. 

I think I'm going off topic here. Really, it's important for me to notice and recognize that when I'm uncomfortable in a new way, my response is to put something in my body that will help me to forget about it for a little while. 20 minutes of pleasure can lead to days of discomfort. 20 minutes of pleasure repeated several times a day over time leads to years of discomfort and disease. I haven't decided what I will be eating tonight. I do like noticing how shit gets so messed up in the first place. 

Phase II

I have gotten clearer on what phase 2 looks like. I posted earlier that I will be incorporating hydrogen peroxide as part of my cleanse. I ordered some online and it will be delivered Tuesday-ish. I will be following the standard protocol that I've seen online which is one drop three times per day, two drops three times per day and so on until I reach 25 drops three times per day. I posted a link in an earlier blog if you want details.

I will also be doing, for the next two weeks, Dr. Randolph Stone's purifying diet. I have gotten a little lost in food choices and still am unclear whether my fluctuating symptoms are from things I'm eating or die off. On the purifying diet, there will be no question. It includes a liver flush which I've been doing, tea, fresh veggies and sparse amounts of seeds. It is meant to purify-duh-the body and one is supposed to be on it until symptoms are gone. I intend to keep a specific and detailed journal here while I'm on these two things.

Hydro peroxide cleanse

This is going to be my next step in my cleanse:

http://educate-yourself.org/cancer/benefitsofhydrogenperozide17jul03.shtml

Quick thought

One thing I've realized since cleansing is that eating right before bed is not the greatest. Before the cleanse, I stuffed myself before bed all the time. Now, I'm rarely eating a large meal before bed, or much of anything at night, so when I do I feel the difference. It is harder to go to sleep, it is harder to sleep through the night, and when I wake up, my digestion feels unsettled and incomplete. I don't like having yesterday's food still going through my system when I wake up.

Onion ring recipe

Still coming up with some recipes to adventure outward during my candida cleansing. Here's my most recent creation. This recipe is also raw for any raw foodies out there:

Onion rings

Raw onions, sliced into rings

Batter:
Soaked sunflower seeds
Raw garlic cloves
Lemon juice
Spices (I used salt, paprika, garlic powder, mustard seed)

Put all batter ingredients into your food processor with some water and pulse until a hummus type texture. True, I don't measure these things. I do it all to taste. Therefore, it's good to start with a little water and add as you go. If it's too runny it won't stick to the onions.

Once blended into a nice texture, dip your raw onion rings into the batter and set in your food dehydrator on low for several hours. Mine are still going a little longer, but it has been about four hours on low and they're close to done.

My friend had an idea that the onion rings could be cooked too. I don't know how well the batter would stay othe onions, but it's worth a try.

They're gooood

My successes

I'm nearly at the end of week five and I'd like to mark my successes:

I have been 100% gluten and dairy free
I have been about 97% yeast, corn, sugar free. The exceptions were things I ate that I assumed were free of these things and found out later it wasn't true. It's amazing what companies will put in our food that you would never guess. To truly eat cleanly, you pretty much have to make everything from scratch at home
I have been about 80-85% tobacco and coffee free. This week has been my exception, so one week out of five, and considerably less use on a daily basis than before

I believe I have completed my version of phase one which morphed into "getting myself out of the unconscious habit of doing and eating things that are adversely affecting my life, health and how I feel."

Tomorrow I shall begin phase two. Phase two shall be called "do whatever it takes to get that colon moving naturally and on its own." I have already been taking supplements. I have been taking Colon Guard which includes caprylic acid, and I have been taking grapefruit seed extract. I have also sporadically been taking psyllium husk/bentonite clay and flax seed. It's been sporadic because I'm not sure if the fiber's been backing me up more or not. I'm getting a new probiotic today as well as many veggies and whatever fibrous goodies I can get my hands on. I would also like to start taking enzymes, which I have not included in this cleanse so far. I'm still open to eating meat, but probably considerably less beef than before. I know beef can back a person up too.

Ready, set, continue!

Today in the cleanse

Today is day number 31 of my candida cleanse. I'm having an interesting experience today and yesterday afternoon. Just like most of my symptomology, it's hard to know if its being caused by die-off or something else. My symptoms have generally gotten worse, meaning the things that got me on the cleanse in the first place are exacerbated. I do believe this is from die-off (when candida begins to die and starts to release even more toxicity in the body).

The new and interesting development is some very watery diarrhea. Over the weekend (three days ago) I did a couple of salt water flushes which can cause this, but usually the water goes through within a few hours. I've done salt water flushes before and don't recall the water waiting for days before making its way out. It's been to the point a couple of times that I want sure if it would wait until I got to the bathroom. Thankfully, it has so far.

So, die-off or something else? That's the ongoing question. With this cleanse I have to keep breathing, having some faith and reminding myself I'm doing this for overall better health. It takes time.

Candida cleanse hummus

Here's a raw hummus recipes I came up with to suit my candida cleanse:

One half raw zucchini
3/4 cup soaked pumpkin seeds
Raw garlic 1-4 cloves
Raw onion to taste
Juice of one lemon
Falafel seasoning
Cayenne
Cumin
Salt
Mixed up in food processor.

You can dip celery sticks, cucumber or flax/veggie crackers in the hummus for a delicious snack

Beginning of week five

Today is the first day of week five of my candida cleanse. Admittedly, this past week has been less of a “cleanse” and more of a “I’m just not going to eat sugar or yeast or gluten or dairy.” I have had three cups of coffee, total. This is not a cleanse-ruiner, though it is preferable to not have significant caffeine. I have also smoked a total of three cigarettes. Again, this does not have a significant impact on candida, just on general health. I have also had some fried sauce-free meats.

So, what is up this week? I feel as though I have begun to move into an emotional portion of the cleanse due to a variety of reasons. Because of this, I have been beckoning some of my vices back to me. I’m sticking to the ones that don’t feed the candida even if they’re not super “clean.” I was discussing this cleanse with a friend and she said from her own experience that it’s important to not be so strict with yourself. It’s such a strict food plan already, sometimes it’s less stressful to allow for some things you desire without completely backtracking or giving up.

That is what I’ve done this week. I have been more permissive with myself. When I am feeling better, I will get back to the much cleaner eating and actually feel satisfied with it. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And sometimes it’s okay to slow down, catch my breath, walk for a mile or two before getting back into the groove and jogging pace.

Candida Cleanse

I began these blog posts elsewhere, but I'd like them to have their own blog spot, so I'm copying them over:

I am one week in to my candida cleanse. Very briefly, candida is a naturally occurring yeast in the intestines. It can get out of balance and start overproducing yeast, which is officially called candidiasis. I have felt for many years that I've had this imbalance and, until now, was unwilling to take the steps to clear it out. The cleanse is very regimented and takes a considerable amount of time.

Week one: this week, for me, has been about getting most of the addictive substances out of my body.    This includes coffee, black tea, alcohol, tobacco, dairy, sugar, gluten, etc. Basically, I've been eating meat, nuts, green veggies and non-sugary fruits like avocado and cucumber. I've been drinking green tea, herbal tea and water with lemon or lime. Like I said, very regimented. The cleanse, depending on who you ask, should include almost nothing that breaks down into sugar. It should also exclude foods prone to mold, or fungi, or fermented things.

Why am I doing this? Like I mentioned, I feel I have had an imbalance for years. There are extensive symptoms lists out there if you want to find them. My symptoms are varied, but a couple of weeks before I chose to do the cleanse it seems they had gotten worse. My bowel movements became even more irregular and funky, as far as consistency and frequency. I started to have a white coat on my tongue in the morning. And I really wasn't feeling well. I had this sensation in my digestive system of gurgling and fermenting, and I was having gas all the time, regardless of what I ate, it seemed. Moreover, it felt like nothing I put in my body food-wise was the right thing. So, this was enough. I was ready to take the plunge.

I'm just trodding through right now, feeling along my path as I go. Some websites say it only takes a couple of weeks to clear this out. When I check in with myself, I believe it takes much longer. I've heard several times that three months is the best amount of time, and a friend I just spoke to recently said three months is the minimum and six months is optimal. We shall see. Time seems to go by so quickly, perhaps six months is like a drop in the hat.