Week 20: Results

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." -Good Ole Charles D

So this week really was the best of times and the worst of times, at least in terms of my health! I am excited to share with you the results of my allergy testing, as well as my weight loss success. This will be a little bit of a longer post, but hey, this is important stuff!

As you know, my goal this week was to test a few different food products in isolation to see how my body reacted.  I started with dairy since so many people have a problem with it and I've never tried fully cutting it out until the cleanse.  Sunday morning came and it was time to drink the milk.  I have never been so nervous to drink anything! I wasn't sure what I thought would happen, but it took considerable mind power to consume that milk. But I did it. And then...nothing.  I kept waiting as an hour, and then another went by.  I had more milk with lunch and then again with dinner.  And still nothing. So I came to the happy conclusion that dairy was NOT my problem! Long live ice cream and cheese! :)

I waited a day and then moved to my next test--gluten.  I started the morning with a big bowl of cream of wheat.  And what followed is what can only be described as an allergic reaction.  Within minutes, my stomach felt off and my head started throbbing.  My throat swelled up. My nose started running uncontrollably. It felt awful.  My stomach started churning even more about an hour later (in the middle of teaching) and I wondered if I would make it through the day! Luckily the side effects started to wear off. A repeat at lunch confirmed that wheat was DEFINITELY an issue.  And a major one at that.  After a little binging that night on all the leftover gluten-ed products in my house, I got rid of everything that might make me ever feel that bad again. So gluten is OUT. (If you are wondering, I did not test other gluten containing grains like rye and barley, so they may not be a problem for me, but I'm not taking the risk.) Bye bye normal pasta, bread, and cupcakes! And basically all things Italian. :(

After another day's wait, I moved on to soy. I chugged soy milk in the morning.  The reaction was not as severe as gluten, but definitely apparent.  I got the sore, swollen throat again along with some pretty nasty stomach pains.  Tested again at lunch with similar results.  So soy is out as well. Bye bye almost all things Asian! :(

Today, I tested my last item--corn.  Now, I didn't really think I had a corn allergy, but since a lot of yummy gluten free products use corn, I wanted to be sure I didn't continue to sabotage my body.  I ate a big bowl of corn with breakfast (yum...) and then more at lunch.  And...no reaction! Phew! Long live Mexican food (just no flour tortillas for this girl)!

So, I can't exactly say that I am happy with the results.  I mean, I really don't want to give up gluten and soy, two ingredients that are found in SO many wonderful things. But I am happy that this cleanse has given me such a clear picture of what has been making me sick.  It's not going to be easy to live with these intolerances, but it is worth it for my health.

So where do I go from here? I am planning to live gluten free for the rest of my life, though I don't think very small amounts will do my body much damage (not like people with Celiac). I will avoid soy whenever possible, but I am not as concerned about never eating it, as my reaction was much less severe. As far as all the other things from the cleanse? I will continue to incorporate them in healthy quantities as a part of my diet. Especially chocolate. :)  I will continue to eat LOTS of fruits and veggies and keep up with my exercise. 

So, with feeling good some days and bad others, I wasn't sure what my weight loss would look like this week...but the numbers are in and friends...I am down 2.4 pounds! That means I passed the 20 pound weight loss mark and have less than 10 pounds left to lose!  I am so excited about this new achievement!

Here's to a happy, healthy [soy and gluten free] week!

Pounds lost: 20.2

Pounds left to lose: 9.8

Love,

Candace

Week 19: Conscious Cleanse Part 2

"Eating crappy food is not a reward--it's a punishment." -Drew Carrey

Well everyone, I am just about finished with my 2 week cleanse! I have to admit that this week was much harder for two reasons. First was the lack of variety in my diet.  The book includes a huge variety of different recipes, but living in Doha, it is more difficult to find some of the ingredients.  So I stuck with essentially the same foods as last week--green smoothies, salads, and soups, and stir fries.  I just got a bit bored.  

The other difficult part was the food combining rules.  I didn't have too much trouble with them last week, but this week, they were harder to stick with! The food combining rules are basically: veggies with protein OR grain (never protein with grain), fruits in smoothies OR alone on an empty stomach (never with protein or grain).  Seems simple enough, but some of my favorite combos were shot--no beans and rice, apple with nut butter, oatmeal with banana, rice cake with hummus, etc.  I felt like I had few snack options, which led me to eating WAY too many nuts throughout the day.

I will admit to breaking the rules a bit by having fruit after a couple of meals (so awful of me, I know). Today and yesterday were supposed to be fruit/veggie and liquid only days, and I mostly stuck to that, except for a few whole fruits thrown in (there's a reason I have never done a juice fast...and never will).  But other than those exceptions, I am proud of myself for following the cleanse to the letter!

I did unfortunately gain some weight this week, which I will blame on the over-consumption of nuts as well as just plain water weight variations.  I will not have my total official weight loss for the cleanse until tomorrow morning, since I am still cleansing today. As of this morning, I was up 1.2 pounds from last week, making my total cleanse weight loss 4 pounds.

More important than the weight loss are the other benefits I have reaped from this cleanse.  My digestive issues are all but gone, I have more energy, my body feels tighter, my skin is better, and I feel happier! And all of that just by changing what I ate! 

The next step is to start checking my body for food sensitivities by adding back the "forbidden" foods one at a time.  I am not going to test the whole list, but I am going to check dairy, gluten, soy, corn, and eggs. Hopefully this process will help me figure out if there are any foods I should permanently avoid to keep feeling great. Next week, I will report back my findings!

Pounds lost: 17.2

Pounds left to lose: 12.2

Love,

Candace

Week 18: Conscious Cleanse Part 1

"The colors of a fresh garden salad are so extraordinary, no painter's pallet can duplicate nature's artistry." -Dr. SunWolf

Well this was my first week of the Conscious Cleanse and it went well! I wasn't sure how hard it would be to cut so many things out of my diet, but it was surprisingly pleasant! My typical menu was a big glass of lemon water to start the day, a green smoothie (some combo of spinach, fruit, and seeds) for breakfast, veggies and hummus for a snack, a big salad for lunch, fruit as my second snack and a stir fry with brown rice for dinner. I snacked on nuts throughout the day. Every single thing I ate was absolutely delicious, I ate when I was hungry, didn't eat when I wasn't, and never felt deprived. I ate more vegetables than I have ever eaten in my life.  And it was wonderful.

Yesterday and today are "purification days", meaning fruits and veggies only.  Yesterday was a little difficult. I kept eyeing the almonds, wanting some crunch! Today has been a little easier, and tonight I get to have some protein with dinner to transition into week 2 of the cleanse.  I am looking forward to that chicken! 

So the big question is: how do I feel? The answer is that I feel great! I got a few headaches through the week, but otherwise my body is feeling...cleansed! I also feel like my concentration, work ethic, and even my outlook on life have all improved. I have spent so much quiet time this week just chopping vegetables and thinking, and it has given me time to reflect on all the good things in my life.

And the weight loss? Well that hasn't been so bad either. I am down 2.8 pounds since the last weigh-in, but actually more than 5 pounds since I started the cleanse on Sunday (my little "free day" on Saturday made the scale go up a little).  On top of that, I have actually done LESS exercise this week, so I am feeling REALLY good about that number!

I am looking forward to week 2 of the cleanse and then the reintroduction of foods to help me figure out what is going on with my body. Here's to another happy, healthy, veggie packed week!

Pounds lost: 19

Pounds left to lose: 11

Love,

Candace