tiny cheats confession

i am still within my 90 day strict phase of the candida diet so technically i'm supposed to be as strict and limited as possible and i have to admit i am pretty proud of myself thus far but i need to get a few quick cheats and realizations about those cheats off my head.

• i have had beans twice (at mexican places to augment the size of my tiny meal once i realize that fajitas with no tortillas is not a lot of food)
• i've had one dollop of mayo (which contains vinegar) on tuna fish on two occasions
• i've had some soy sauce and now that i think about it i'm sure there has also been sugar in some of the sauces on beef with broccoli from chinese takeout places. (probably 4 or 5 times)
• as i mentioned in my previous blog i have had bread and pasta (each on time) which were mixed with wheat and corn flour.
• i've had a few cups of decaf coffee (3 or 4)

all of these cheats yielded in no real feeling of change or negative physical reaction. many of them had such minimal amounts of things i'm not supposed to eat that i think even in this early stage of my diet my body can handle it. i also think beans will be an early add back in after the 90 days i really feel they are a great addition to my personal diet. 

however last night, i was at a wonderful housewarming party and there was a beautiful slab pie with fresh hand whipped cream. i made it the whole night without really cheating more than accidentally having a carrot at the dip station and having a drizzle of soy sauce on some asian wraps. but that slab pie was calling my name. late in the evening i finally gave in and cut a one inch by one inch square put a dollop of cream on it and went for it. 

about 10 min later i did that same thing again. tiny insignificant pieces of pie. my body totally freaked out. i was full from eating lots of other things but suddenly my body was craving pie, i started imagining breaking down and just serving myself  3 massive slices and inhaling them. by body was craving sugar like i have never experienced. the yeast in my body had been fed on the minimal sugar in the two bites and was willing me to feed it more.

at this point i decided to leave, to take myself away from the overwhelming temptation. but clearly i'm not ready for tiny cheats, especially where sugar is concerned. my body is not in balance or control enough to handle that yet. and i think i have to be ready to not be at that place for a long long time. that feeling of salivation and almost un-natural convulsion is the same feeling i used to give into with sweets all the time wondering "if i'm so full how can i possibly be eating ANOTHER cookie or ANOTHER piece of cake?" it was an awful feeling and my desire to taste the pie was not satiated in any way. 

so it's back to the strict for me at least for the next 45 days. 

trial and error

i know i have been slow on the update side but i want everyone to know i have really been busy with work and if i needed to let something slip i figured a good long update in a few weeks would be better than a huge bag of oreos.

so here we go.

in my absence from blogging i have been actively experimenting with new food options and ingredients to see if I can find some solutions to some of the missing staples in our diet.

• kamut pasta: in looking for candida appropriate pasta alternatives i came across several types of kamut pasta options. kamut pasta in general tastes like whole wheat pasta and it does a pretty bad job of absorbing any sauce or cooking liquid you add for flavor. nate was not a huge fan and i think it's because kamut is a dense grain, very hearty and in turn 100% kamut pasta is also very dense and can turn mushy and flavorless very easily. i'm going to keep experimenting with different brands* and recipes. keep you posted.

• * i did find kamut-quinoa swirls which are half of each type of flour. these were generally much better that 100% kamut pasta (italian style anyway)

• kamut udon noodles: i know i just went on a mini rant about kamut pasta but i'm not going to lie these are actually delicious. they have perfect consistency and they stand up to boiling and stir frying very well.They absorb oils and sauce well and they can be used in broths as well as stir-fry's and asian noodle dishes and probably cold in salads although i've never tried. yay!

• quinoa linguine: to be totally honest before i give quinoa linguine a glowing review, the brand I have is 60% qunioa flour and 40% corn flour i just checked the nutrition facts online. i'm aware this is a small form of cheating but i can't stress how incredibly delicious this pasta is with and without sauce. it's very light and has a great bite to it. so if you're willing to cheat a little every once in a while this is much better tasting than 100% kamut pasta.

• yeast free bread: i discovered that the brand that makes my 100% kamut bread has several other options of yeast free bread. i just tried a flax, sunflower seed kamut bread that was very good. again i think this bread has a little wheat in it but the main flour is kamut. it's much larger and less dense than the other 100% kamut bread and much more practical. 

• quinoa flour: my last and most anticipated attempt was to try to make tortillas with quinoa flour. this was a colossally epic fail on my part. quinoa has no gluten in it so naturally the flour products don't have a great binding agent to give the tortillas elasticity. so after preparation and research online i gave it a try and everyone who posted a recipe online that said all you need is water, vegetable shortening and quinoa flour to make tortillas is an idiot. the balls of dough would just fall apart like clay in the pan and the tiny piece i managed to cook tasted terrible. i'm still working on this one.

seriously delinquent & sorry

this is the eventually problem with blogging (and i guess projects in general): you get busy.

so i am working diligently on my thoughtful and exciting update which will hopefully materialize sooner rather than later. keep your eyes peeled.

in the meantime here is a recap. so far i feel pretty awesome with the minor exception of today because i was pretty sleepy in the morning. i have much more energy and people have started to comment that my skin looks brighter and "glowing" but that may be just one friend in particular who is good with compliments.

i have lost 7 pounds so far although this morning my stupid wii balance board said i had gained .7 lbs back. but i won't get to sad about it until i weigh myself again in couple of days and see how i'm doing then.

i have to say i think maybe eating out two times this weekend and then eating the leftovers from one of those meals may have contributed to that .7 as well as my sleepiness today since restaurant food generally has much more salt and added crap then home cooked food. so i'm back in the kitchen this week taking it easy making some fish and chicken and we will see how things pan out.

my goal is to lose 10 pounds and since i'm at 30 days i'd say i'm doing pretty well. i'm sleeping really well and i am finally getting used to drinking all this water. i'm learning some critical bladder control... which is not easy if you know how small women's bladders are.

anyway.... that's the nuts and bolts of it for now. tonight were having swordfish steaks brocolini and pico de gallo over quinoa.

hugs!

delay!

sorry i haven't posted my menu from last week. i am slightly behind and in truth we ordered out a few days last week so i think i may postpone and do a week 3 and 4 menu update this friday.

i'm writing because i am much more excited to announce that i just viisted http://www.edenfoods.com/store/ and i ordered the fixins to help make ..... quinoa sushi!  i'm totally excited. i have been thinking about what kinds of things i can try and branch out into and beside having found great kamut and quinoa pasta i realized sushi is an easy and versatile thing to make and i can load up on veggies and it will be great for lunches.

i haven't pooped since saturday but i am positive the reason is i ate like 2 or 3 cookies a day (the cranberry cookies i mentioned earlier) and while they tide hunger well they are also very dense and perhaps i didn't drink enough water over the weekend to get them good and no as dense.

i'm working on that so i'm gonna stick to veggies and more veggies today, things should be back i order by tomorrow.

cheers and sushi!