Sunday Week in Review - UP and DOWN and all AROUND

If you are a regular visitor here you already know my moods can be all over the place. I feel great. I'm tired. I have so much energy. I'm dizzy. I think this diet is fixing me. Oh no _______(fill in the blank) is upsetting my stomach.

Sorry - but things change from day to day - actually they can change from hour to hour when you have three wee ones - one that doesn't sleep and is still exclusively being breastfed, a severe case of adrenal fatigue, food sensitivities, Candida, insomnia, caffeine intolerance, IBS and a fierce determination to correct them all.

So I am working through things one day at a time - and I definitely don't have everything figured out yet so I have my ups and downs. But I have made a lot of progress in the past 6 months. Here's a recap - because this helps me to sort out where I am and where I'm going. And to celebrate the progress I've made even if I have lots of work and figuring out still  to do.

My adrenal fatigue seems to be under control. I have next to no anxiety. This is HUGE. I'm not examining each lump and bump on my body for signs of some abnormality and running to the doctor. Or watching for signs of some doomsday prediction coming true. Well at least not this week............check back next Sunday. Some of the other key symptoms of adrenal fatigue like blood sugar swings, cravings, hunger, moodiness and night sweats are still haunting me but that could be the Candida so I'll leave it at that.

My food sensitivities were confirmed on my IGG tests so I have been staying away (100%) from banana's, Whey, yogurt, yeast, mushrooms, honey, sugar. All things I have to stay away from on my Candida diet anyway so not much to report on that front. I would die for a banana - they are sitting next to my computer taunting me. But maybe eliminating them has had an impact on my adrenals? It is worth the trade off for no anxiety I tell ya.

Candida. Those little beasts are not going to make it easy on me. I suspect that I have had this for A LONG TIME. I have had pretty severe sugar cravings for as long as I remember. Hmmm - a father with a fondness bordering on obsession for chocolate and a mother with a fondness bordering on obsession for baking - wonder how that happened? Problem is that the longer you have had it the harder they are going to fight to stay. This diet is HARD.

I think I am finding it even harder because I am HUNGRY ALL THE TIME which makes it harder to stick to a extremely restrictive diet.  But I am nursing a 22 pound,11 month old that keeps getting sick (i.e. I just want to nurse all day and night as I don't have the energy to eat) and it is draining. No pun intended - ha, ha. I kill me.

I have tried weaning him to both cow's and goats milk but we suspect he has a "sensitivity" to both. He can blame me for that when he's older. Interestingly, his sinus issues and general wheeziness cleared up when I went on the Candida diet (dairy free). Interesting indeed. He's also doesn't sleep. Lots to work on with him these days. But damn he's cute........in his helmet.

So, I think this Candida diet is going to be an on-going thing - no quick fix for me. I also can't go hard on any natural anti-fungals since I'm nursing so definitely have a longer battle ahead of me. You can keep expecting to see sugar-free wanna-be desserts and coconut everything. But I am determined to stick with it. I haven't been cheating much - a few bites here and there. I'm nothing if not determined when I put my mind to something.

My insomnia is completely gone if I stick to my rules - no caffeine, no talking on the phone after 8 and in bed my 10. Broke two of three rules last night and had a CRAPPY night.  But generally this is working after a lifetime of insomnia. Yay!

My IBS is better as I don't have bloating and stomach aches like I used to (constantly). But my system seems to have "slowed way down" lately. I'm pretty sure it started with the oatmeal. Then I thought it was the Xyletol. Now I'm thinking I have been way overdoing it on the coconut flour. But it is so good in muffins and pizza crust. I guess I better slow it down - too much fiber is not always a good thing. Sigh.

I'm also still waiting to hear back on the results of my Celiac test. And I am getting some records pulled from a hospital stay I had when I was 1 year old. Mom thinks maybe they had some tests done then that could help figure out what is wrong with my tummy. And she asked me "Not to freak out" when I saw in my record that I was also hospitalized at 11 months old for a concussion. She NEVER mentioned this to me before. I'm 36 - that's a long time not to mention something Mom.

Oh yeah, and my iron levels are good but my white blood counts are crap.

So that's the status. In general my energy is good most days. I sleep. I don't have stomach aches. But I have cravings, mood swings, night sweats and slow digestion at times.

If you care. Thanks. If you don't care. Thanks for reading this far anyway and hope you can at least find some appealing clean and Candida-diet friendly meal ideas from some of my meals this week...........................

Oh yeah, and this week I felt GREAT, ENERGETIC, HAPPY, PISSED OFF, MOODY, TIRED, STRESSED and BLESSED. Just another normal week with three sick kids, a generally positive outlook and Candida!

Some grass fed beef burgers on a bed of lettuce with green beans and broccoli. I topped the burger with an avocado spread. Must say I am MISSING my condiments. Maybe its time to give the Paleo Mayo another go. Just hate wasting eggs and EVOO when it doesn't work.

Omelet with green beans and broccoli.  Serving #1 of cheese. I'm only allowed 3 per week. 

Salad with leftover burger on top. Sometimes I am left grasping for protein sources at lunch time. Oh yeah. And I miss pork. Like REALLY miss pork. 

Grass fed sausage. I'm not 100% sure if it had any added sugar so I only had one (even though they were so good). That's one problem with ordering from a co-op. No ingredient labels. I served this with home-made sweet potato gnocchi and broccoli slaw salad of some sort. The gnocchi did not really turn out how I had hoped. Edible but not recipe sharing worthy.

A chocolate "muffin" topped with some almond butter/coconut milk/Stevia  spread and 5 chocolate chips. Nope - this was not a cheat. I made this for hubby. Because he has been working his butt off on landscaping. He's a keeper.

Eggs salad on Bibb lettuce. Okay - I really miss mayo. Here I use avocado and EVOO as my creaminess but it was not the same.

Okay - here is my KICK ASS spaghetti squash pizza crust. Even I was skeptical that this recipe would work but it is fantastic.  I don't mean to brag.........okay I do mean to brag. Its good. We love it. Several people have made it now and they all loved it.

We ate spaghetti squash pizza crust pizza two days in a row. It was delicious both times. 

This is one of my kids lunches. Just an idea if you are struggling with how  to clean up your kids lunches without killing yourself cooking. First, my kids still eat grains so I use Ancient grains whole grain bread for their sandwiches. Then I use organic  expeller pressed coconut oil instead of margarine so it doesn't get soggy. I use sunflower butter instead of peanut butter - because its healthier and nut-safe for school. And then I use a low sugar organic jam. So a PB&J sandwich you can send to school, the kids love and its clean. A win, win, win situation.

A Vega One Berrie smoothie with coconut milk, coconut and 1/2 cup of blueberries. It was okay for a change but it doesn't hold a candle to my Vega One Chocolate Chia Smoothie.

A kitchen sink salad for lunch with some leftover gnocchi. Some days my salads have weird things in them. Basically whatever I can find in the fridge. Otherwise I would have to cheat. 

Our second spaghetti squash pizza for the week. Still amazing. 

Some kind of "dessert". I think this was coconut milk, cacao nibs, cocoa, Chia , coconut and Stevia. I topped with a few yellow raspberries. The pudding was so-so. The raspberries were fabulous. They were really sweet so I didn't let myself have many. I'm supposed to be allowed 1 1/2 cups a day but I probably have about 1 1/2 cups a week. I don't trust them.

A salad with egg salad on top. A pathetic attempt at a tasty lunch. But I got some protein at least. I was grasping that day.

Sweet potato cupcakes. The recipe may come one day. They were surpizingly good for a grain -free, dairy-free, sugar-free, low-carb muffin. Made from potatoes. Cool.

My new rain boots. I'm obviously quite taken with them. And WOW it is nice to have dry feet. This rain and cool weather is starting to get to me. I WANT SUMMER!

Salad, mashed cauliflower, rotisserie chicken. Yum.

Sweet potato protein bars. Seriously. These are AMAZING. I'll be posting this recipe tomorrow.  I can't believe these are clean. They are so good. I had to come up with a new protein bar recipe since I'm no longer allowed dried fruit. Success. 

A chipolte soup made from the leftover rottiserie chicken. In this one I used broccoli slaw and spinach. It was really good. 

Eggs. Steamed broccoli and cauliflower. A boring supper but we were really busy landscaping. 

So that's it. My week of eating. Some great meals. Some so-so meals. Very few cheats. A few more foods on my can't tolerate list. I'm happy right now. The sun is shining. Nobody is sick.