10 days till my 90 day goal

woah!

i can't believe how quickly the time has flown. on oct 12th i will have met my original 90 day goal for following this regimen. there have been ups and downs and while i'm not quite ready to look back and comment on the process (because i'm not quite done) i am happy to report i am not in any desperate frenzy to end the routine.

yes, i have dreamed of walking into a bakery and eating 12 chocolate croissants and sugary sweet latte after latte. but, the longer i take care of business and follow my rules the less and less i am overcome with the insane insatiable cravings i once had.

people keep asking what will happen after my 90 days are up and at this point i am not quite sure what my answer is. i think i'll press on for a few more months maybe until the chirstmas holiday. this will give me an excuse not to ruin it all during halloween.

some quick thoughts about changes moving forward:

• beans are coming back in a big way. beans were my go to cheat food when i was at a place where there were limited options. in those scenarios i never had an adverse effect so i think i'm in the clear on beans.
• i'm not ready for unleavened breads (other than kamut bread) i think i will wait until the new year to test that out. 
• agave is here to stay. no need to mess with sugar, it's bad for me and is high in calories. i'm sticking to agave nectar. in all the substitutions i have used it in it's been fantastic. each type (variety) of agave has it's own properties; amber agave is more maple syrup like and has a combination flavor or brown sugar and syrup, lighter agave has a closer taste to corn syrup and is clean and crisp. 
• kamut (as a grain) alternative was not particularly impressive or easy/quick to cook. i think quinoa and kamut pastas are better alternatives for my lifestyle.
• although it has a bit of natural sugar coconut water is a hydration life-saver. nate loves it for de-hangovering and i love it when i haven't been able to get all the water servings i need in each day. i think it's also on the keeper list.
• roasted salted almonds also make the keepers list because they have stood the test of time as my go to (in my desk & purse) snack. 

i think that's most all for now. i checked today and i've lost 2.2lbs since my last check-in and i'm hoping for 2 more by the 12th and maybe one more period?!!? 

and before i sign off i want to share a little happening that has given me more hope in this new lifestyle. nate went to syracuse for a one week training for work last week. he was on his own with restaurant food daily. i figured he would go wild with hamburgers and pizza (which i think is reasonable). he did mostly eat fast food while he was away but against all my notions he came home craving organic veggies, fruits and yogurt! so while he has been a steadfast pillar of strength and support with me in this.... turns out my martyr has been feeling better and healthy while sharing partially in my lifestyle change. go us!

cheers and happy fall.

-tai

p.s i have some new great recipes from trial and error and friends (like katharine) to share for those who are interested. click here to see these new (and all the old) recipes. 

60 day update

so i have made it unscathed to my 60 day mark.

quick highlights recap: so far my cycle has been back in action (two months in a row, although 6ish weeks apart), i've lost 12 pounds and i am going to the bathroom pretty much every day, if not every other day. i am not feeling tired or slothy even when  i have stayed up way too late. i have noticed a considerable difference in my minor body aches and pains and some of my foot/leg pain has been alleviated.

i actually reached my 60 day mark while in colorado visiting my brother at college with my parents & grandmother. this was a real test for me since it's really the first time i have traveled out of the city since embarking on this undertaking. i actually flew in to albuqueruque and was met by my family at the airport and we drove from their 5 hours up to la junta where my brother is at school.

some of the trip was made super easy and comfortable by my wonderful mom & grandma who packed quinoa, berries, tomatoes & my favorite almond flour/dried cranberry cookies. this made the road trip (notorious for junk food from gas stations) up to la junta easy for me. then all the temptation began, for starters if you have ever stayed in a hotel that has breakfast included you are familiar with the most incredible invention of all time: automatic waffle makers. i was generally able to find some things i could eat, but even yogurts like "light and fit" and "activia" have a shit-ton of sugar in them it's incredible.

out in the real world (not the insulated bubble of nyc) it's hard to find good and healthy food. we spent a whole morning at a country fair where there were turkey legs, funnel cakes, super cheeseburgers, pies, cotton candy, chili cheese fries.... i tell you the only thing harder than not eating fresh waffles is smelling fresh funnel cake and not having some of that.

small town restaurants generally don't have a whole lot of options and i ended up having a couple of not so good salads (one which had a band-aid in it). and at one place i had a grilled chicken breast along with my salad.

i can't claim total victory:   the morning after the band-aid incident i was so hungry i ate 1/4 of a waffle with sugar fee syrup. additionally, on the flight home i had a layover in dallas and forced to select amongst the lesser of 100 evils i opted for a veggie wrap from blimpie.

so officially i have 30 days left on the strict version of the diet and i'm feeling good. i will have to re-evaluate how much longer, and at what capacity i will stay on the diet past the 30 days. we will see what the next month brings and then take it from there. every day at a time.

cheers!

update!

i had started this monumentally long blog about your colon and colon health and blah blah. then i remembered that if i want people to read this darn thing i can't put them to sleep with rantings about the anatomy of their colon.

so instead i will give you a beginning of week 2 update. first of all i have been pooping every day, which is one awesome thing. the more awesome thing is that i'm actually pooping a substantial amount. ergo my body is digesting the food i am eating well and processing it through the rest of my digestive system and colon so well that i'm working like a real person!

additionally, after 3 years of hormone induced periods i started my first natural all by myself period today! sorry if this is gross but my obgyn told me about 2 years ago that the only way to regulate my periods was to stay on birth control pills or to take other hormones by pill or injection.

so i'm pretty happy. in general the pooping regularly thing is incredible. i don't feel bloated or pain when i sit or bend over to tie my shoes i have less pressure on my lower stomach and i feel much less sluggish.

it's only been a week so i am not chalking everything up to the diet... but  it's been a pretty incredible change.

till next time.

the beginning of the end

you may wonder after all my years of blog hibernation, why would i end the hiatus with a blog about the food i stuff my face with. 

the answer goes back to genetics, predispositions and generally not taking great care of myself in my 18-24 years

i grew up in a pretty health conscious household. we ate lots of veggies, tofu, salads etc. so naturally when out on my own in the world i ate all of the opposite kinds of foods. one example, the summer i lived in costa rica my diet consisted of:

1. copious amounts of coca-cola (made with pure cane sugar, the good stuff)
2. trits ice cream sandwiches (delicious vanilla ice cream with fudge swirls nestled between two chocolate cookes)
3. gallo pinto with a fried egg on top (white rice with black beans, and a greasy ass fried egg)
4. maduros & chicharones (fried sweet plantains & fried pork chunks)

this is the most extreme example of my outrageous eating habits but a good indicator of the stark contrast between my nutricious culinary upbringing and my absurd early adult eating habits. 

as i mentioned earlier part if the scenario that brings me to writing this blog is genetic & predisposed. those are annoying things that i can't do much about (other than exacerbate, which is exactly the point i'm getting to). the bottom line is i started feeling unwell in my early 20's. at first small issues crept up, mostly digestion related as well as some strange hereditary toenail fungus i can thank my dad for.

in a young persons life these small health issues generally don't tip the scales for lifestyle change as there are much more important things to worry about than mild discomfort. 

i will comment here that i (in real life, and in this blog) will talk about poop a lot. i call it poop and other derivatives, generally on the infantile side of the lexicon but poop nonetheless. this may make you uncomfortable. if so, go ahead and check the labels for blog entries before you jump in, i'll try my best to tag my poop blogs.

flash forward, i'm 27, married and living in the best/worst food capital of the world, New York City. i should be exercising more, i should be drinking more water, i should stop ordering out 3 nights a week (especially greasy chinese, pizza and spanish food). now i really feel bad. i'm lethargic, i've gained 15-20 pounds of fat weight depending on the day, i can't poop to save my life and literally all i want to do all day is sleep. to top those awesome symptoms i now have toenail fungus on all my toes to the extent that i can't wear open toed shoes. additionally, from my other genetic pot i've been diagnosed by my obgyn with poly cystic ovarian syndrome, a condition which all but eliminates my chances of losing weight, having a normal period or controlling my temperamental sleepiness. 

literally, all of these things had to pile on at once in order for me to realize how sick i am.

so here i am. 

i have known that genetically my dad's side of the family is prone to overactive yeast and an overgrowth of the bacteria candida albicans. this meant very little to me over the past 7-8 years. very recently i decided to make it mean a little more and started researching the condition. essentially, these bad bacteria take over your digestive system and feed on all the bad crap you eat and cause a host of crazy symptoms that typically would seem unrelated to food. i exhibit over 80% of the symptoms, so there. 

later i will post all the symptoms so you get a feel for how widespread they can be. but after speaking with a naturopath and family members i decided to try and tackle this pestering condition head on. 

thus i am starting a strict no yeast, no sugar, no caffeine, mostly no grain diet and i'm taking you along for the ride. i need to be accountable to someone, so why not blog to my friends and strangers who might provide some insight and support as i see how this works out.