Well here we are, August of 2014, and I've been living in New Zealand for the past 4 months. It's beautiful here (even though it's winter!) We came here for a bit of isolation, rest, and relaxation. It's exactly what we got! It has been amazing, and New Zealand definitely has a place in my heart.
When I arrived here I knew something was off with my body. I had this weird pain in my mid back when I drank coffee. What was that? I had no idea. Through my friendship with Gillian B (gillianb.com) I discovered that my mid back pain was probably my adrenals, and that I could be experiencing burnout. This was not a surprise to me as I have always been a quite stressed out person. I take on way too many projects and never ask for help. Our discussion of this subject actually lead to us writing an ebook together about it, which is very exciting! Hopefully coming soon.
So when we were living in the states, I was a Whole Foods shopping 2-3 times a week kind of girl. Vegan, of course, and lots of fresh food. Arriving in New Zealand put a limit on these things that I never could have expected. I assumed there would be organic food everywhere, farmers markets, etc, everywhere. Not true. Even though New Zealand doesn't grow GMO's, they still import them in products, and the organic section at the grocery store was TINY. Everything else was generic brand, pesticide laden, conventional. Depressing.
The grocery store also lacks many vegan foods in general, and this left me with no motivation to shop there really. It didn't help that it was about 40 minutes away, so a long round trip, including a ferry ride! I would shop once every two weeks and stock up on everything we needed, pretty easy to do for Matt since he can actually eat bread and he isn't strictly vegan. What happened to me is that I stopped eating enough calories without realizing it, was drained all the time, light headed, and overall just not well. I quit caffeine and coffee so my mid back pain was gone, and I had been doing plenty of relaxing, but now it seemed like feeling unwell was just my current state. I did a candida "spit" test, revealing overgrowth (which I've experienced before unfortunately), probably from eating so many packaged foods, so I decided to go on an anti candida diet.
Here were my symptoms for candidiasis:
- headaches
- brain fog
- bad memory / poor concentration
- light headedness
- itchy, crawly skin
- fatigue
- extreme pain in my hips - like crazy bad
- some problems/pain "down there"
Lots of people have rashes and skin problems but I never had any. I've hardly ever even had acne or any kind of skin problems ever in my life though, so my body must not purge toxins through the skin. If you think you have candida overgrowth, look into the symptoms and seek a health care provider that specializes in treating it. I saw an amazing one in Dallas during my first round of candida, but this recent bout makes me wonder if it ever fully went away - or if I've just continued to have ups and downs.
For the past 2 weeks I have been struggling with this "anti candida" diet. There isn't a sound one written for vegans so I've been piecing together what I can and can't eat on my own. Overall it is no sugar of any kind, including fruit. Terror for me. Not fun. Counter intuitive to say the least. I love veggies and grains, but just felt so deprived. I wasn't getting enough calories. Other people have had success with it, so I felt like a failure. Why wasn't it working?
I had a borderline migraine headache the entirety of these two weeks. Eventually I began to desperately SCOUR the internet for answers. I came across multiple blogs and videos on youtube of people claiming that they healing their candida by eating ONLY fruit. This is the opposite of what I had learned about candida, so I was hesitant to say the least. But I just kept finding video after video, blog after blog, even a forum dedicated to healing candida with this diet. The diet is known as 801010. 80% carbohydrates from fruits, 10% fats, and 10% protein. I didn't really trust the idea until I found a girl on youtube that healed from candida following 801010, after being on the anti candida diet for 2 years with no success. She literally described exactly how I was feeling, and she also had adrenal burnout. She was HEALED within 3 freaking days (THREE DAYS!!), and looked amazing. So basically I am so excited and pumped! This blog is going to be the perfect place for me to log my food diary.
DAY ONE 801010 (Mostly) Raw Vegan:
(Raw Till 4...I will be eating cooked carbs (root vegetables & occasionally rice, gluten free pasta) and greens in the evenings).
Friday August 22, 2014
Exercise: 30 minute walk & 20 minutes of Yoga + 30 minute afternoon hike
8 bananas
3 apples
2 cups blueberries
blended with water
= 1,072 Calories
Basically I felt AMAZING after I drank this smoothie.
(pictured is 1/2, I had to make two jars :)
6 oranges
= 411 Calories
SO freaking delicious, how did I not know how much I loved oranges??
(only 3 oranges pictured, I consumed 3 while peeling the rest :)
PS. I went and sat in the SUN to enjoy this amazing snack. Vitamin D :)
1 Banana
3 Apples
2 Pears
Vanilla Drops
= 591 Calories
This smoothie was absolutely dreamy.
(I think it was around a tsp or less of vanilla. Decided to let it charge up on one of our crystal grids before consuming :)
Red Potatoes (Baked, no oil, no seasoning. I drizzled them with lemon & lime juice!)
Cos (Lettuce)
Spinach
= 962 Calories
(I used a bit of chili sauce for dipping :)
24 grams of protein in potatoes! I seriously had no idea!
YUM! I am also drinking around 4 liters of water each day :)
I am tracking calories, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, etc with cronometer.com:
I obviously will have some kinks to work out with the diet/lifestyle but for the most part I'm super impressed with how much protein you can get from fruits, and how many of my vitamins and minerals are met by such simple food! I am hoping to get more active, more energy - part of why I started this lifestyle, and then I will increase the amount of calories to suit my needs. Also keeping fat as low as possible 5% or lower, until candida is gone. Just look at those results! almost 50grams of protein, ALL fruit and veggies! I used to always think I needed tons of beans and legumes, grains, protein powders, etc. All you need is plants! 82% Vitamins & Minerals met...pretty damn good for day one. I will easily be able to tweak that as I learn more and more about the foods and this lifestyle to bring everything up to my nutritional goals! Speaking of goals...
Goals with this diet/lifestyle:
- Not Weight Loss. I do not need to lose weight, and I will be watching my ass (literally) to make sure it doesn't shrink. (& I probably won't be the only one, lol, Matt has been clear that my booty is not allowed to disappear).
- MORE ENERGY! In my dream world I want to do 2-3 hours of yoga a day. I usually can keep up with 1 hour a day, but in my low calorie days I was hardly able to take on even 30 minutes. I just wanted to curl up on the couch.
- No. More. Headaches. I seriously want to be done with headaches for the rest of my life. I have been headache prone since I was 7. It "runs in the family." Well I'm sick of it. I spent high school with a constant headache on a somewhat healthy standard American diet, monthly headaches when I first became vegetarian (usually around THAT time of the month), & I've had a few months go by here and there with no headaches while vegan, but still about every 3 months. It seems like my low caloric intake & higher processed foods (even supplements!) during these months in NZ have caused my daily headaches lately. Sometimes, I just barely have a headache, but more often than not, it turns full blown migraine and I have to go to bed or puke. Not fun. I'm tired of it!!!
- Simplicity. Smoothie for breakfast, smoothie for lunch, grab some fruit for snack, and salad and root veggies for dinner? I always sucked at planning. I love cooking so I'm sure I'll get creative with my cooked carbs but the back up plan for no plan is beyond SOLID!
- Health is Wealth. I already rarely go to the doctor, but I would like to go never. I do get well woman exams yes, but sparingly (every 2-3 years) since I'm not switching up my partner - happily married! Hoping this candida goes BYE BYE - then I will definitely have no reason to go back!
- I love my body! I love animals. I love the planet. I love nature. I love the children of the future. Eating a non vegan diet will not ever be an option for me ethically and that comes with the perks of less environmental destruction, my health, prosperity for the children of the future (hopefully, if more people become vegans), and not contributing to animal suffering - the best part <3
So if you've heard about this diet and think it seems extreme or crazy, I will guinea pig for you! Day 1 was fabulous, no headaches, hoping to have my full energy back and no fatigue by Monday! I'm so excited about this lifestyle and I have felt called to it for quite a while now, so it is time. So happy.
Namaste,
Mary
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