Last December, after I found out about all of my medical issues and my yeast overgrowth, I went on the Paleo Auto Immune diet, and I felt much better. I was faithful about following it.
Slip Sliding Away
However, as I’ve healed, that rigorous adherence has wavered. In April, I treated myself to some of the chocolate glaze on my daughter’s gluten free birthday cake. (I couldn’t have the cake because I’m still intolerant to eggs.) That one little treat lead me into a chocolate binge. It took me weeks to get it under control.
Then, I made my son the same chocolate gluten free birthday cake for his birthday in late June. This time, because I learned my egg intolerance is almost gone, I ate a small slice. And once again, I suddenly found myself eating at least one Enjoy Life chocolate bar every.single.day. Finally, on the 4th of July, I decided to give up chocolate. And I did. . .for 9 days. Then, I thought, just one bar can’t hurt. And I’ve had one every single day since then.
True, embarrassing story.
See, 10 months after I learned of my medical issues, I’m 70 pounds lighter, but that old addictive part of my personality that caused me to balloon up to a size 22 is still there.
For me, the only way to avoid temptation is to give up the food entirely.
When I was a teen (and going well into my thirties), I drank Mountain Dew every day. When my husband and I were engaged, he agreed to give up smoking, and I agreed to give up Mountain Dew. He stopped smoking 3 months before we got married and has been clean ever since. I FINALLY gave up Mountain Dew around our 9th year of marriage.
Sigh.
Why I’m Taking the 21 Day Sugar Detox
The 21 Day Sugar Detox can help me get my sugar craving under control. I’ve also been lax about eating as many non-starchy veggies as I should. I rely heavily on sweet potatoes, and recently processed sweet potato chips have become part of my diet. Ahem.
The cause of many of my health issues is an intestinal yeast overgrowth that I had for years which lead to the leaky gut and all my food intolerances. Eating sugar and starches, even a lot of starchy vegetables, just feeds the yeast.
Not to be too graphic, but I’ve had recurring yeast infections now since February. I’ve literally treated it at least a half dozen times, and it never fully goes away. My doctor says it’s because the intestinal yeast overgrowth is likely an issue again. The starches and sugars have to go so I can kill off the yeast and start fresh.
For the next 3 weeks, starting July 21st and ending August 11th, I’ll be eating meat and copious amounts of non-starchy vegetables. No fruit, no starchy veggies, certainly no sugar.
Hopefully, I’ll feel much better physically and mentally afterward.
At work, I would find myself occasionally buying a snack from the vending machine. So, I thought I’d save money by buying a larger size of it at the grocery store, then I could eat it on occasion and it would save me lots of money. Well, of course what happened is that I ate some every single day, as opposed to the once every week or two occurrence. So, I can DEFINITELY relate as I’m the same way as you in terms of, once the door is open, it gets slammed open.
Good luck!
I am not an expert on leaky gut, but I remember when I was suffering from yeast infections constantly and my doctor told me to take lots of vitamin C and that helped. Another thing that really helped was to drink Kefir everyday. I am not sure if you have a diary allergy, if you do this might not be an option. I have Crohns and drinking the Kefir everyday has pretty much eliminate my symptons. I would also suggest that you stop doing the over the counter treatments like monostat and ask your doctor for a treatment that comes in pill form. It is much stronger and works so much better to remove the infection. One pill it is gone, and no messy creams and stuff.
Thanks. I’ll try the vitamin C. My doctor was willing to prescribe the yeast pill, but last time I took it, my heart kept skipping. It felt like I was riding a roller coaster the way my heart kept leaping. Not an experience I want to willingly repeat. 🙂
As I sit here eating my second bowl of ice cream for the day… I think I might also need to do something about my sweet tooth. 🙂 Good luck in this detox! Are you allowed to drink unsweetened ice tea, or do you have to drink water only?
It’ll be water only. I’ve actually only had water since last September. 🙂
I’m thinking I should be doing the water only thing. Has it been hard for you?
It was hard at first because I missed rice and almond milk. Now, I’ve been doing it for so long that I don’t even think about it. When the majority of my food intolerances clear up, I’ll probably add back in some nut milk.
Good luck! I really need to go on this… I think I’m addicted to sugar! Btw, I wasn’t able to open your link to the 21 day detox?
Here’s the link: http://www.thepaleomom.com/2013/01/my-slightly-modified-21-day-sugar-detox-and-hitting-a-speed-bump-on-day-1-seriously.html
I’ll be following along with interest. We had an intern last summer that started a sugar detox towards the end of her time with us. Unfortunately, the internship ended before the detox did so I never heard how it all worked out for her.
Too bad. I’d like to hear how it went for her too. I’m just hoping I can once again break the sweet craving cycle.