21DSD – Last Week, and FLO Living!

So, we’re entering the last week of the 21 Day Sugar Detox (21DSD), and I’m starting to feel really good! Last week was really rough though. It’s very difficult for me to get carbs in when I can’t eat grains or potatoes (it’s very easy to forget), so I have to make a really conscious effort to provide my body with fuel. Because I wasn’t paying attention, I had a major carb crash on Thursday, and ended up over indulging as a result. Earlier day, I got an email from FLO living (which I signed up for months ago, but never really looked into) offering a quiz for hormone issues as well as a 4 day reset plan. After taking the quiz, I purchased the book she wrote (Woman’s Code), and noted that I had problems in all 4 zones: blood sugar, adrenals, elimination, and estrogen. Adrenals and elimination were the worst. My adrenal problems were responsible for my anxiety, hypothyroidism, and general fatigue, and my elimination problems were causing acne, food sensitivities, and indigestion.

I poured over the information in the book, and noted that in order to fix these problems, I didn’t really need to change what I was eating (since I was already eating really well), but when. I simply needed to add about 20g of carbs at lunch, and then add a nutritious snack in the afternoon (keep breakfast and dinner relatively low carb like I usually do). That would resolve my blood sugar and help me keep cravings at bay. For my adrenals, I just need to do gentle workouts in the morning (which is a struggle since I tend to be nauseous in the mornings), try to go on walks, and temporarily avoid stress in my life (as best I can). For my elimination, I just need to keep eating lots of fiber, drinking water, taking baths, and bouncing a little more on my medicine ball at work (which is REALLY fun, btw!). After I get these three things in order, I can begin work on syncing up my cycle (which is already pretty much in sync). Above all else, though, I plan to focus on listening to what my body has to say, and what I’m craving at the time.

I started implementing the food related and elimination related changes last Friday, and hoped that maybe I would start to notice some positive changes after a couple of weeks. That Friday, I felt pretty good, enjoyed my carbs for lunch, and REALLY enjoyed my snack of a green apple and some nuts. The best thing about this plan is that I can start it even though I’m in the middle of the 21DSD, and really, it can be applied to pretty much any healthy diet (vegan, vegetarian, paleo, pescatarian). It would be harder to start if you are starting from ground zero of eating poorly, but since I was already eating well, the switch was pretty easy 🙂

I planned to go work out first thing Saturday morning, but didn’t really feel up to it yet. I allowed myself to have breakfast and wake up a bit before going to the gym around 10AM. The workout she recommends at first is very gentle, with cardio consisting of 8 cycles of 2 min walking and 30 seconds of light jogging (20 min total) and strength consisting of 20 min of light weight compound movements. I did the strength workout on Saturday and felt like I could keep going, which is the idea. I continued to eat well on Saturday, and went to bed a little early since I was tired.

On Sunday, something miraculous happened: I woke up, and felt like I had energy to go to the gym first thing. I drank a little water before going, and did the gentle cardio workout with only the slightest twinge of nausea toward the end. I was so proud of myself! The only problem I had at the end of the day was that I had dinner a little late, so I was pretty hungry by then. Still, I had a taco salad and that was incredibly satisfying.

Last night, I slept pretty poorly. After having the bed all to myself all weekend, my boyfriend returned home from his hunting trip and wasn’t feeling that great to boot. I woke up in the middle of the night a few times and had some difficulty going back to sleep (probably due to being a little dehydrated – I always get dehydrated when I go out for the day since I tend to talk more and drink less).

Despite a poor night’s sleep, I had enough energy in the morning to work out before work.

That. has. never. happened. twice. in. a. row!

So far, things have been going absolutely wonderfully, so I’m definitely going to stick to the protocol and see how it goes. I’ve already noticed body composition differences and that my mood tends to be a lot better, so I’m hoping after another couple of weeks on the protocol, I will be well on my way to recovery!

If you are a woman struggling with any kind of hormonal issue (seriously, sign up for the free quiz on the FLO living website – there are some signs you may not think are hormonal!), I highly suggest giving this protocol a shot. Listen to the author, Alisa Vitti, speak – she has been there too!

Thanks for reading, and stay healthy, friends!

 

21 Day Sugar Detox – Going well!

I’m not sure, if it is the supplements, the diet, the gratitude journal, or what, but today I’m feeling pretty good. My sleep is still a little off, but I’m noticing that I’m losing some swelling, and my cravings are low. I’ve tried several of the recipes from the 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook, and for the most part, they are all good (though you have to go into the dessert recipes knowing that they won’t be sweet). Yesterday, Sylvia came over and we batch prepped and cooked all of this week’s meals, which will take a lot of the stress off.

I want to try to narrow my eating window this week to between 9AM and 6PM, so I will see if that boosts my results. I’ve noticed in the past that if I eat poorly and then skip dinner, I wake up with significantly less swelling and gut pain. I think allowing my gut to heal is going to be key going forward.

Now that I’m more fat-burning adapted, I’m not nearly as hungry first thing in the morning. I think that will help significantly with my more narrow eating window. It may prove to be difficult, but I hope that it helps my healing!

Thanks for reading, and I will keep you posted next week! Stay healthy friends!

21DSD – Day 3 – Emotional Roller Coaster

This past week has been a roller coaster of emotions. Somewhere over the past few months, I fell out of the habit of gratefulness. For a while, I would write 3 things I was grateful for every day, and I think that helped me be happier. But time got in the way and work was too busy, so I forgot.

I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but my bestie Sylvia and I are embarking on a sugar free journey with the 21 Day Sugar Detox (or 21DSD). We started on Monday, and I am expecting to have my anti-candida supplements arrive today to begin that regimen. I will be doing 30 days of Para Cleanse by Nature’s Sunshine (10 days on, 10 days off, 10 days on again), as well as 14 days of Candida Clear by Nature’s Sunshine. So, including all of my supplements, here is what I am doing:

• 14 Days Candida Clear (this will probably suck because I know my Candida is really bad right now)
• 30 days Para Cleanse
• Enzymes with Meal
• Stomach Acid with Meal
• 1/2 – 3/4 tsp Fermented Cod Liver Oil
• EFA Supplement
• Vitamin C Supplement
• Multivitamin
• Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc supplement
• 21DSD extremely low sugar diet

The way I see it, If this doesn’t kick whatever parasites and candida I’m harboring, I don’t know what will!!

Detoxing has been going okay, though my emotions have been all over the place. I flip flop between ‘everything is cool’ and ‘the world is ending’ and it is really exhausting. What I hope will help is by doing the following daily:

1. Write a sentence for 3 things I’m grateful for
2. Pick one thing and elaborate on why I’m grateful for it, so that I get most of the details and I get a chance to relive a happy memory
3. Exercise daily – I would say a minimum of 30 min total of walking
4. Meditation – I don’t meditate well, but walking is very meditative for me
5. Perform a Random Act of Kindness – And then write it down – give yourself a written pat on the back!
6. Write down two things I’m looking forward to! – One caveat is that they must be something that I know when it is going to happen. For example, I can’t say that I look forward to the day my candida is gone, since I don’t know when it will be over. But, I can say that I’m looking forward to the end of the cleanse, since I know what day it will happen.

Doing this takes about ten minutes a day, so I’m going to see if this generally helps me feel happier 🙂

I will be doing this cleanse over Thanksgiving, and that’s going to be nuts, and I will be continuing to to this until I’m done with the Para Cleanse. I know that this cleanse is going to get worse before it gets better, but at the moment, things are okay!

Thanks for reading, and feel free to join me! So far, the recipes in the 21DSD cookbook are pretty good!

Whole 30 – This Seems Impossible

Welp. I’ve already blown my latest whole 30 Challenge.

For some reason, this time around, it was impossible for me to stick to my typical low carb diet. I don’t think my candida fighting supplements were helping me, and I was just completely overrun by candida (my whole tongue is covered in thrush every morning, and I have really bad sugar cravings all of the time). I haven’t experienced cravings this strong in a really long time.

So, I have a new game plan. Unfortunately, this means that I am going to have to go in a more extreme direction.

I’ve talked it over with Sylvia and she has agreed to start a 21 Day Sugar Detox challenge with me next Thursday (21 days before Thanksgiving). At her recommendation, I have ordered the 21 day sugar Detox Cookbook, since it covers the basic program but has more enticing recipes. It should be here in a couple of days, so I hope to use the full week to figure out which recipes I want to try and which ones I want to skip. Going into this challenge, I’d like to have at least a full week’s worth of food cooked and either frozen or canned, so when I’m in the worst of my cravings, I’m not tempted to cheat to avoid cooking (which is my typical reason for cheating).

On top of doing a Sugar detox (which, when done right, really helps kill the candida), I am going to be doing a combination of two herbal cleanses (both by Nature’s Sunshine): Para Cleanse (for yeast and parasites), and Candida Clear. Para cleanse is a three step cleanse: 10 days on, 10 days off, 10 days on again. Candida Clear is just 14 days on. In addition to these supplements, I will be taking a probiotic (at least 50 billion CFU/day), my herbal enzyme formula, and my stomach acid supplement. So, technically, because the Para Cleanse is a 30 day program, my 21 day sugar detox will be more like a 30 day sugar detox. At this point though, I cannot allow myself even a little bit of what I would potentially binge on (*ahem* potato chips). For the purposes of this program, potatoes are poison to me.

It’s terrible, but I feel like as we enter the thanksgiving/holiday season, I will feel more free with a more strict diet. I’m hoping that the combination of this diet and the herbal supplements will finally bring my candida in check and free me. It is so frustrating to get so close and fail, over and over again. But I don’t want to give up. If being free from these cravings will allow me to feel as good as I once did again, then it is worth it to give this challenge my all!

This week, I will be getting all of my ducks in a row for next week, but I plan to spend pretty much every evening this week getting food ready for the challenge. I’ll check back in next week before the challenge begins! Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading, and stay healthy, friends!