Time for a progress report on my diet. As a reminder, I’m doing an anti-candida diet to resolve my digestive issues. I’ve been on it for two weeks, and I can report that I feel SO MUCH BETTER. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being perfect digestion and 1 being absolutely terrible, I was at a 1 when I started and now would put myself at a 5 or 6. That is a HUGE difference!
Prior to starting this diet, I was at rock bottom. To give you an idea- one of the reasons my sleep was so terrible was that I had to get up multiple times a night to go to the bathroom. I took an Imodium so I could run my race in April, and also took Imodium when I traveled in May, just to make things easier. Obviously… something had to change.
Things were so much better after only a few days on the diet, it makes me wonder if there was something specific I had been eating that was irritating my gut. Or maybe a combination of things, or maybe just taking away most of my normal foods made the difference- but it was like an intense irritation of my gut suddenly disappeared. There’s still a way to go- I would like to get up to a 10- but I’m really encouraged. And, much less tired because I can actually SLEEP at night.
I’m purposely giving details in case anyone has been thinking “I could never stick to a diet like that” or “why couldn’t I stick to Whole 30?” I promise you- you could stick to a restrictive diet if you were feeling as sick as I was. I’m not doing this because it’s fun, I’m doing it because I HAD to.
In spite of all the restrictions (and removal of lots of delicious food and drinks that I was addicted to) I’m actually enjoying my food MORE now. Before, I was eating the things I wanted, while knowing that they weren’t going to make me feel good. It’s hard to enjoy food when you know it’s not going to digest well, and is going to make you uncomfortable.
Now, I can truly enjoy the foods I’m eating because I know they’re nourishing my body (thank you to Nicole for her post on this subject yesterday!) instead of making me sick. And- I’m usually very hungry by the time I’m eating, which feels different from before, where a lot of time I was eating because I was bored or was craving something specific. Hmm, it feels GOOD to eat when you’re hungry! Who knew.
I’m going to stick to this very restrictive phase of the diet for five more weeks. At that point I’ll be traveling, and I’ll have to decide what to do. It’s going to be tricky, but I’ll do whatever makes the most sense when I get there.
Here’s one of my dinner salads that I thoroughly enjoyed!
And, one day I was feeling a little sorry for myself so I made a treat- homemade pecan butter. You roast pecans and then put them in the food processor with a little coconut oil and salt, and grind them up until they become pecan butter. It is SO, SO, good! I eat a spoonful for “dessert” at night.
And, I made another batch of “Chef’s Salty Balls” to keep in the fridge for snacking. I added less salt this time, but I’m sticking with the name.
I’m even enjoying my green tea in the morning (WHO AM I, WHAT HAS HAPPENED???) Two weeks down, five to go!
Have you ever made homemade nut butter?
What would be the ONE THING you would most hate to give up? (coffee-sugar-bread-alcohol-other?)
Top photo by Tangerine Newt on Unsplash
One Response
I love roasted pecans; they provide such a punch. I love them on salads too. I just pan fry (“roast”) the pecans and throw them on a salad just like the one in your photo and it really provides a nice layer of depth to what can be a little boring sometimes. I also love the buttery taste compared to a vinegar type dressing. I have not made nut butter but I have ground nuts to make balls, which essentially is the “butter” in the balls. However, I have never just eaten the nut part on its own.
Of all the things on your list, I would hate to give up coffee. I can do without sugar, bread or alcohol with little issue, but would really miss my daily cup(s) of coffee!