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.