Candida Diet Update November 2013 – Holiday Snaps!

candida diet update november 2013

3 Weeks of strict diet allowed for a few diet sins on Holiday! 

Last Month: I had a big set back because my candida problem returned with a vengeance after I had given into foods sweetened with refined sugar while in Germany. This resulted in big eczema wounds on my arms and legs just weeks before my booked holiday abroad. This was a real blow to my self esteem and completely ruined any warm holiday anticipation (Read more about last month’s update here if you’re interested).

This month: I spent the entire month in semi fasting – virtually ‘no carbs’ mode :( which led to me losing even more weight than I had before and feeling utterly miserable. I was super worried how I would survive on holiday with all the typical sugary, dairy, wheaty hotel food *sigh*.

Biggest Change: I went from eating “sweet foods” to “no carbs” and then stayed at an All Inclusive Holiday Resort, Uh-oh!

holiday snap

What I typically ate this month: Brown Rice & Veggies  & Fish

Breakfast:

  • Before my holiday: Ground brown rice pudding with rice milk
  • On holiday: Tinned sardines, slices of cucumber and tomato, scrambled eggs, pancakes and brown bread with butter (yes, yeasty bread, can you believe it!)

breakfast

Still proud of myself for not eating coconut yoghurt with fruit, bread rolls with jam, croissants and cakes for breakfast.

Lunch:

  • At home: gluten free breads (tried tons of making different ones, including coconut bread and combinations of Millet and Teff, Psyllium and Almond or Quinoa) with green soups (water cress or spinach) or bone broth.
  • On hols: Big salad including carrot, olives and raw cabbage with grilled white fish and tons of rice aka Paella.

Paella

Still proud of myself for not eating pizza and burgers at the pool bar (ok I admit it I did eat one burger *sigh* – it was on a good day and I hadn’t had one in five years – that’s my excuse anyway).

burger

Desserts:

  • at home: nada
  • on hols: most days none, except on the last 3 days: rice pudding with milk, passion fruit creme, orange jelly and chocolate ice cream – and Yum it was!

dessert

Dinner:

  • at home: brown rice or salmon/ cod with broccoli, fine green beans or peas
  • on hols: all kinds of cooked veg, a bit of raw salad and grilled white fish and tons of sauteed potatoes/ chips/ croquettes with green Mojo sauce (gosh I’m addicted to that stuff – I must find out how to make it. I believe it has oil, coriander, garlic and salt in it.)

salad

Still proud of myself for resisting the roast chicken and thousands of other meat dishes and the white pasta (it would have made my eczema worse due to the high acid content).

 What I snacked on:

  • at home: cooked brown rice :(
  • on hols: slices of melon :)

melon

Still proud of myself for not eating the cakes and coconut macaroons that were free in the pool snack bar.

What I drunk:

  • At home: water, ginger tea, dandelion tea and water with apple cider vinegar
  • On hols: camomile tea, sparkling water, water with apple juice, coco loco cocktail, cappuccino

cocktail

Lifestyle/ Activities:

  • At home: Once a week workout and every two weeks yoga – much too little really but my eczema was so bad at times that I didn’t want to rip it open with exercise (plus I felt self conscious about it in case people might stare at it).

swimming

  • On hols: Went swimming twice (wish I could have done it more often though) and did some aerobic and aqua gym and walked on the beach every day – much needed to work off all the extra calories from the foods I was eating.

star-jumps

Health Issues this month: (Don’t scroll further if you can’t handle a pic of my eczema!)

All month I’ve still been battling the consequences of last month’s overindulgence.

skin inflamed

  • I’m not going to lie to you – It was incredibly hard to get back on track. It was demoralizing and felt impossible to go back to no carbs. I was desperate though since my skin was so bad before the holiday that it looked like it would massively negatively impact on the holiday. In fact I wasn’t even looking forward to my holiday anymore it was that bad.

Eczema – on my arms and my legs, big raw areas – the horror (sorry for showing you this, but I’d rather be honest, I hope you understand).

  • On the last few days of my holiday I developed a skin rash on my belly. I presume it was part due to the hot sun and also taking antifungals while stuffing myself on carbs, naughty me! Not as bad as on my last holiday though mind you.
  • Between you and me, I had a bit of a wind problem the first few days on hols after dinner – I guess it was the tons of garlic that I ate and the high strength probio I was taking and the raw cabbage salad.
  • Virtually no thrush.
  • And all-in-all health-wise on holiday no turn for the worse, rather the opposite, which was a huge relief.

Due to the warm dry climate and relaxation my skin recovered super quickly. It was barely visible at the end of the hols.

JP&me

Unfortunately some of it returned after the long flight and temperature change. Yes, it’s freezing cold and dark in Cornwall now, brrrrh!

What Supplements I took:

  • at home: multi vit, evening primrose & fish oil, magnesium, chlorella, high strength probio, l-glutamin and gelatin to fix leaky gut to fix leaky gut
    that was causing my skin issues
  • on hols: soil based probio (Garden of Life – 2x daily) and a mild antigungal (thyme, garlic & Pau darco capsules called Candiclear with every meal)

To recap what I learned/ How this Applies to You:

over the clowds

You can make big changes in how you look and feel in just 2-3 weeks.

Just look at the before and after pics of my eczema – what difference 2 weeks and a change of perspective can make!

If you feel unwell now then it’s a good idea to go back to a stage 2 type diet with lots of vegetables and fish and bone or veggy broth and regular bursts of brisk walking and deep relaxation (preferably meditation or guided guided meditation for stress control.
guided hypnosis). Even just for a day per week. It will make a world of difference how you feel in a few weeks. You might even be able to enjoy a few “naughty” foods over the festive period without doing too much damage. So it’s worth putting the effort in during the weeks before Christmas.

I know it’s hard. I have faith in you though. You can eat a little healthier, right. No need to go all extreme here!

Leave a comment below the sign up box to tell me how you’re getting on with your diet at the mo. What works for you, what doesn’t? And if you’d like to receive my next candida diet update, health tips or recipes by email, then sign up for updates below.

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    18 Comments

    • Angela Knight

      Reply Reply November 29, 2013

      Thanks for sharing, its always good read your experiences on Candida journey . Glad your skin is on the mend Sandra, you look great in your photos.
      I think I have finally turned a corner on this and feeling many many benefits of enduring the challenges of the candida diet. I was missing Galaxy chocolate and a glass of wine. So…. last night I gave into it, a little packet of galaxy counters and 1 medium glass of wine. It was bloomin’ lovely. The good news is , I got away with it , I didn’t have a migraine and had a productive day today where I felt alive, well and alert. I gathered that a small treat wasn’t going to be a massive setback and undo months of food deprivation. So.. back to the usual diet, happy to have had a small treat and know that my body is healthier and able to deal with it. Keep going everyone, you will turn a corner and skip down the road waving your arms in the air :0) x

      • Sandra

        Reply Reply November 30, 2013

        What lovely news – I’m thrilled for you Angela. It’s so nice to be able to eat and feel “normal” again once in a while, isn’t it. Kudos to you for going back to the diet. That’s the way to do it. Hold onto these memories to give you the stamina to march on. And thanks so much for your kind comment – much appreciated. Also love the metaphor you used of turning down a corner and skipping down the road waving our arms in the air. Yay! Have a lush weekend :o) x

    • Jean

      Reply Reply November 30, 2013

      The comment you made about losing weight was the most reassuring thing you said. I have dropped so much weight on the anti candida diet and I am beginning to wonder when it will level off. 5 lbs was ok as I weighed 125 and I am 5’5″ but I am now down to 112 over 4 months. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I enjoy your updates very much.

      • Sandra

        Reply Reply November 30, 2013

        Thanks so much Jean, I’m glad you find my updates useful – makes me feel less like I’m talking to myself and exposing my weaknesses…

        Yes keeping on the weight is an issue. But the thing is, if you follow stage 2 strictly, you should be getting better rapidly, so you can start eating carbs again. And once you can do that the doors to eating pancakes, waffles, cakes and breads are open. We’re talking home-made, yeast- and sugar free of course but non the less baked goodies. Since that is actually enjoyable to eat, you’ll definitely find yourself eating more, feeling full for longer and also putting weight back on or at least not losing weight.

        Eating oily fish and adding good oils to your diet like flax oil helps immensely with healing quicker and adding healthy weight. Other than that eating a lot of brown rice and some rice pasta and things like coconut or almond bread which utilize tons of eggs. It’s the bulk that does it. Just eating brown rice and veggies will of course make you lose weight. But if you eat a chicken curry with a thick oily sauce with veggies and a big bowl of brown rice there’s a lot more substance to it.

        I’m 5’6” and went down from 130 to 114 in the initial stages of the diet. Quite similar to you. Now I’m 116-118 and quite content, just that most of my clothes don’t fit, I feel weaker and have humongous dark circles under my eyes. I would have mentioned that I got cold more easily, but I’ve always felt the cold, so that’s no big news.

        And now for once I have to pick photos of myself that make me look bigger and don’t show my ribs, which I find hilarious. It used to be me holding my breath for photos to appear thinner… Anyway, being thin is a nice problem to have in my eyes. Just start eating more, haha ? No, seriously, even just having green smoothies with soaked nuts, coconut milk and flax oil/ orange flavoured fish oil is a great start to get more nutrition in and ultimately find your ideal weight.

        Once again, thanks for commenting. It’s great to hear from you. Wishing you a fab wkend, Sandra

    • Kathy

      Reply Reply November 30, 2013

      God love you Sandra felt so sorry for you. I also have been off my diet lately a lot. You just sent me a great incourging message. If you can do it again so can I. I also have not had a hamburger in years, bot while visiting my son in Connecticut I had a hamburger on a lettuce bun. They used iceberg lettuce as the bun , place on it anything I wanted just like a real hamburger and it was fantastic. The illusion was perfect. Pull off about a 1/2 thick piece of lettuce for each side and enjoy. It was great no carbs and no side effects for our candida. Another place made a hamburger out of flour tortillas, we can make those our way also. And use paper thin for our buns. Thanks Sandra for your help from all of us sisters with health issues.

      • Sandra

        Reply Reply November 30, 2013

        Thank you lovely person :) I am amazed how much quicker the healing is going the second time round. I ate mostly fish, brown rice, bone broth and veg for 2 weeks and not even strictly no carbs as I was eating gluten free bread still and the rice… but low and behold I feel great. But with Christmas being on our doorstep I know it will all go downhill again. New year is where the healthy transformation will start.

        My skin trouble is to a huge degree emotional stress related. The new outbreak was a wake-up call though that’s for sure. I have already massively changed my lifestyle since a few months ago and have set my life and my relationship an ultimatum for next year. If I am still unhappy then I will move back to Germany. Until then I will do my utmost to make my life work here. It’s difficult being torn between two countries and nationalities…

        Wishing you a fantastic weekend – Happy Thanksgiving my friend.

        I’m glad you mentioned the lettuce buns again. I must try them with something meaty. I thought of you when I ate some with salmon on top recently and that tasted great as well. Sounds like the perfect candida diet snack!

    • Angela Knight

      Reply Reply December 1, 2013

      Hi, great to see lots of comments as its great to share. I recently saw a nutritionist who recommended soaking brown rice with boiling water for 12-24 hrs prior cooking. This makes it more digestible and halves the cooking time. When soaking the rice , I enjoy adding a few good shakes of turmeric as this has many health benefits, also rinse the rice again before cooking. I cook enough to last a few days for convenience. Once reheated I stir in the flaxseed oil. Found this has stabilised the weight loss and I live in hope to put on a few pounds back on x

    • Sandra

      Reply Reply December 1, 2013

      I agree it’s a fantastic community with a wealth of knowledge – we just need to find a way to get everyone talking and exchanging tips in one place.

      Thank you for sharing yours! It’s funny you mention soaking rice because I have recently started doing that (but with cold water so far). Makes sense to use boiling water though, very nifty. I noticed a big difference from eating soaked grains.

      I also soak nuts and seeds these days in water with a dash of apple cider vinegar or whey. I tried it with flours but haven’t figured out a way to rinse the water off afterwards ?

      Thought of you today Angela btw when I prepared lunch and thought of ways how to put the weight back on… Do you like dumplings? I think you’ll love them, and I can assure you that they are very fattening :)

      I had some today to make sure you’re not getting big without me haha. I used vegetable suet and a combination of gluten free flours, salt, garlic, pepper and fresh parsley. I really quite liked them although they were quite spongy soft, lovely flavour though. Perfect with a hotpot like beef stew.

      I really like cooked rice with flax oil. Coconut oil is nice too or cinnamon and rice milk. When I cook millet or Quinoa I add veggy stock to the water, then when it’s rinsed I add a bit of goats butter or olive oil and almond milk – very creamy, quick and nice!

      Have a great Sunday night; hey it’s the first advent we should light a candle ?

      Take care,
      San x

      • angela knight

        Reply Reply December 3, 2013

        Thanks for that , I will give dumplings a go when I am feeling brave. Last time I used a gluten free flour in the squash muffins I felt groggy within about 15mins. I expect coconut flour would just be too weird to use. Can’t have you getting fat without me though.
        I overdone it on the gf porridge and feel heavy today, going to invest in the grapefruit seed extract… (slightly bankrupt tho lol ). I am going to ask the bank to kindly remove the “minus” sign from my balance ? x

        • Sandra

          Reply Reply December 3, 2013

          Yes delicious little things – had some more for lunch today and just some toasted oat bread with tons of fatty salmon, goats butter and scrambled eggs which I’m sure will pile on the pounds lol.

          I’m not surprised you’re reacting to gluten free flours – the first few months on the diet that didn’t agree with me either (neither did millet, quinoa, porridge or even coconut flour actually!)

          Oh don’t mention banks – I went shopping last weekend (real shopping – the kind where you leave in the morning and come back late in the evening with 4 bags in each hand and rosy cheeks ? I’d better not look at my credit card bill at the end of the month, ouch. Ah well it’s Christmas time, what can you do!?

    • Kayla

      Reply Reply December 4, 2013

      Thanks Sandra for your vulnerability! It helped me a lot hearing about the emotional effect restarting your diet had on you. When I have to restart I seem to go into a gloom for a few days. I don’t know if it’s because I cannot be or feel normal, its also remainder of how long the road will be, and I know the die off making me crazy! To say the least when I restart my diet my Husband has to buckle down to handle all the crazy.
      Your blog post helped me feel not so alone in the emotional factor. Thank you for your vulnerability and encouragment!

    • Sandra

      Reply Reply December 4, 2013

      You are lovely, thank you Kayla – that means a lot to me and helps me to keep posting what it’s really like to have Candida…

      Yes my man has been through a lot with me and the yeasties too! I wonder what it would be like if we both had it. We wouldn’t get anything done and constantly sulk I reckon ?

      Don’t be disheartened – the recovery doesn’t have to take a long time. It really doesn’t.

      My circumstances are very unusual because I left my home country and started a new life with few friends and job insecurities and now miss my old life and family because I have had raging arguments with my partner the past year. This makes me incredibly uncertain of my future which in turn creates a lot of anxiety and causes me to constantly travel between the two countries and so much stress…

      I know it might feel to you now as if it will take forever to heal. But it can happen much quicker than you think. Chin up!

      Wishing you a cosy pre-christmas time with no more noticeable die off :)

      • angela knight

        Reply Reply December 4, 2013

        Emotions are nit to be underestimated on this journey. When I look back on some of the emotional states I have experienced, I can see how mental health illnesses can be connected to Candida. I have used Bach Flower remedies for quite some years, and thank god I have as they have helped immensely with the Candida journey. Btw Sandra , Honeysuckle is the remedy for missing and yearning of people, places and times gone by , might be helpful if your mind and heart is elsewhere <3

        • Sandra

          Reply Reply December 4, 2013

          Interesting, very interesting indeed – that might explain why I was so smitten with the bush of honeysuckle I found on my walk last year! Never tried Bach flowers but anythings that helps stabilize emotions and soothes can only be a good thing. Bless you Angela

          • angela knight

            Reply Reply December 5, 2013

            Hi Sandra, feel free to message me re Honeysuckle if you like. I have been aiming to be a Bach Flower practitioner and have a few years knowledge gathered on the subject, or google it and see if its the remedy for you. You can get a 10ml bottle for £4-5 on eBay. The fact that you were naturally drawn to it, speaks volumes <3

            • Sandra

              December 5, 2013

              Thanks Angela :)

    • angela knight

      Reply Reply December 10, 2013

      Just trying GSE for the first time , it works !! Felt heady ,lethargic and bit weepy, luckily not too groggy and able to see the tell tale signs of die-off. Pee always smells peculiar, so really mindful to keep flushing through with herbs teas, lemon water etc. I would imagine, if GSE was a first antifungal of the Candida journey, it would be wise to start on the low dose , just sharing my findings x

      • Sandra

        Reply Reply December 10, 2013

        Good idea to flush your system. I found nettle tea ways really helpful for that. My herbal teas cupboard is starting to look bigger than my wardrobe, haha. GSE worked for me, too, and like you said, it’s wise to start on a small dosage. It’s quite good value for the money as well, which is nice, considering that having Candida is such a strain on the finances (and everything else!)

        Thanks for sharing your findings and hope you’ll be through with die off in a blink x

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