Massage Warsaw- Massage Therapy – Warsaw Acupuncture

Category: Pain Management & Self Care

  • Candida Diary #9: Turning a Corner

    may 10, 2012

    Today was a good day.  I felt alert and energetic throughout the entire day.  I don’t know where I get the energy from.  When i start to feel this way, I start to doubt myself.  Did  accidentally eat some sugar somewhere?  Was there sugar in the fried chicken I made this evening?  Sounds impossible, but there must be some glucose, fructose, sucrose, galactose somewhere in there if I am feeling this good.

    I felt so good, in fact, that I made it to the gym.  If I can make a few more appearances this month I can justify the cost of membership.  Even in the workout, things felt good.  I never felt out of breath or weak once.  A sharp contrast to my first trip to the gym where I felt like I was a mini version of Niagara Falls.

    In other news, my mind is playing tricks on me.  I swear that my hair feels and looks like it is growing again after years of baldness.  I seem to have this hope deep down inside that this candida cleanse will cure everything that is wrong with me.  I know, rationally, that it is not possible, but when I notice a positive change my mind starts racing to connect the dots to attribute the cause of the ailment to candida, and thus, the candida cleanse to be the cure.  I can hardly be blamed.  The list of symptoms attributed to candida are surprising.  If things like mental fogginess, joint pains, and burning eyes can be caused by candida, why not baldness?  Maybe they wanted to add alopecia to the list of candida symptoms, but just ran out of ink or space?  Well, in the end, I succumbed to reason and accepted the bald truth, but it definitely was fun believing for those moments that at the end of this cleanse I might have a full afro of dirty hippiness all over again.  If only long hair on guys would come back in style again.

  • Candida Diary # 7: I’ve Become one of Them

    Friday April 26, 2012

    I haven’t yet mastered the art of cooking at home, but I have finally developed an understanding of how to cook for myself to avoid starvation.  It’s not pretty, but it’s legal.  Having conquered my apartment kitchen, I thought I might try my hand at venturing outside to eat.  Choosing the right place would be the most important part of this adventure.  Toronto restaurants are pretty familiar with vegetarian or vegan diets and can usually accommodate that vegan in your group, but what kind of reaction could I expect with a request of yeast and carb free?  I imagine it would be like trying to order vegetarian in the 60’s or My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Vegetarian? ….. It’s ok, we have lamb).  Fresh at Bloor and Spadina, was a popular vegan restaurant that surely would be able to accommodate my unique diet.   Full of confidence we set out that windy night to see what food tasted like when it didn’t come from my wok.

    The menu quickly dimmed my spirits.  This was going to be tougher than I thought. Most of their staples and standards were off limits.  Sandwiches were verbotten because of the bread.  Salads, for the most part were made with a vinaigrette or cream dressing.  Pasta and rice were not allowed, so that got rid of that part of the menu.  Their popular smoothies were all not allowed either for obvious reasons.  I gave up and asked the waiter for help, or rather HEEEELLLLLPPPPP!  With his advice, I ordered a Powerhouse Big Bowl with avocado, chick peas & grilled tofu steaks with sunflower sprouts, Toasted Nut & Seed Mix, tomato, red onion & spicy tahini sauce.  I was horrified to find myself asking him if the salad dressing contained any sugar or vinegar.  I really couldn’t believe what I was saying, or more importantly what I was becoming.

    I have always taken a personal self satisfaction in quietly mocking the hipster foodie.  Those people that believe being conscious of what you eat is worthless unless you can ask, in your loudest voice, “is the coffee fair trade?”, “is the spinach organic?”, or “was the chicken raised free range?”.  All those hipsterisms seemed to pale in comparison to “is there sugar or vinegar in the salad dressing?”.  Does this make it official?  Will I have to buy big black rim glasses?  Are my t-shirts ironic enough for this new diet I am embarking upon?  Will I have to now insist on eating chicken that was fit and free enough to cross the road? (BTW, the answer to “Why did the chicken cross the road?” is “because it was raised free range in a caring and humane environment that emphasized empowerment and following your dreams”).  My diet was soon to become far more hipper than any other part of me has ever been.  Any pansy can be vegetarian, lacto ovo vegetarian, or even vegan, but it takes guts to do the candida diet.  Salad dressing is suddenly poison. Popcorn could cause a relapse.  If you want to make a vegan cry, tell them they can’t have hummus because of the dangers of lemon juice.

    In spite of all the care and caution with which I ordered, the dinner turned out to be lethal.  My troglodyte vocabulary proved ineffective in understanding that tahini sauce was made from soy sauce which is filled with yeast and thus verbotten.

    Back to my kitchen I go.

  • Candida Diary # 6: Skin and Bones

    Wednesday April 25, 2012

    After only three days, weight is dropping off me. It is like seeing a new face staring back at me every time I look in the mirror.  I am discovering that I have cheekbones and a jaw line.  Who knew?  I haven’t seen them in years.  For the most part, I am enjoying it.  Who would complain about losing face fat, belly fat and back fat?  But  I can’t say I’m a fan of losing all the bulk I had built up at the gym.  Adding muscle and size to my skinny frame seems to take forever, but in the blink of an eye, I found myself suddenly skinny.

    The truth is that I really don’t know what I am doing.  I have my own way of cooking and eating.  I am used to throwing ingredients together to make a pot full of yummy.  And now that some of my standards like honey, maple syrup, Trinidadian browning, carrots, sauces, soy sauce, potatoes, and rice are suddenly off the menu, I am totally at a loss for how to whip up a quick meal or snack.  The result is that I am honestly not eating well at the moment.  It will take a bit of training and some trips to the super market to get the hang of this new style of eating.

    The one silver lining is that my taste buds are in overdrive.  Whenever I cleanse, the effect of taking all the strong manufactured tastes from my diet leaves my taste buds extremely sensitive.  Previously bland, boring food suddenly tastes amazing.  My taste buds can pick up just about every morsel of flavour in everything I eat.  So, yes, the diet is kind of boring, but my taste buds are not complaining at all.

    The other big deal is the brain fog.  That sense of confusion, dizziness or otherworldliness, has already lifted off like a veil.  My body is completely exhausted.  I have no energy.  Walking up a flight of stairs requires incredible amounts of super human effort at the moment, but in spite of it all, I feel more mentally alert than I have in ages.

    I should note that my excessive yeast die-off symptoms or healing crisis symptoms are exaggerated due to a few factors. Considering the number of years I have had candida, I thought it would be a good idea to start as fast and strong as I could.  This means that I am not easing into the cleanse, but rather jumping in with both feet.  Full doses of psyllium, caproil and bentonite.  Also, I took three daily doses of fluconazole, a pharmaceutical fungicide to help.  So, the yeast die off symptoms are a bit extreme at the moment, but so are some of the positive changes.  The changes in mental alertness came almost right away.  The sugar cravings completely disappeared after one day on my accelerated cleanse.  And kids, remember, “do as I say, not as I do”.  It is not recommended to take fluconazole or speed up the yeast buster schedule.

  • Beware the Sun

    Here is a picture of a trucker.  He drove his truck for 28 years, exposing only half his face to the sun.  Here is the result:

     

     

    http://estaticos02.cache.el-mundo.net/elmundosalud/imagenes/2012/05/29/pielsana/1338292453_extras_ladillos_1_g_0.jpg

    With summer almost here, remember to use sunblock and wear a hat and shades.

  • Candida Diary # 5: Learning to Enjoy Hot Wet Oats

    Monday April 23

    I started the day with the Yeast Buster drink.  That was the easy part.  Now, what the heck do I eat?  I usually start the day with a gigantic 1 litre smoothie made with yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, orange juice, and mango puree.  It is absolutely fantastic and a real joy to make and to drink, but now I find myself suddenly deprived of that and wondering what in the world I am allowed to eat.

    Perhaps I jumped into this thing a bit too quickly.  I should have studied the guide before, but there is no time like the present.  A quick scan of the yes, no, and maybe lists shows that my morning smoothie is entirely on the “no” list.  Even yogurt which is often recommended for its probiotic properties is off limits.

    Pancakes? … “no”.  Toast?….”no”.  Cereal?…. “no”

    I imagine myself becoming an airtarian, living off the good vibes in whatever wafts by.  This is not going to be easy.

    Finally I find that oats is on the “yes” list.  It is also on the “reduce” list, but as I haven’t figured out what that means (must read instructions soon), I decide to go with what I know, and a “yes” is still a “yes” in my book.  So, it is quick oats in hot water for breakfast.  Milk, sugar, honey are all banned, as are bananas and any fruit, so really, it is just hot, wet oats this morning.  I scarf it down imaging myself as an Irish peasant.  They wouldn’t complain, why should I? (After decades of hearing the “kids are starving in China” argument on many a TV show or movie, I think I am allowed to say this one).

    With breakfast out of the way, I find myself at a loss as to what my next meal will be.  Back to the guide I go.  Like most cleanses, ALL leafy green vegetables are allowed.  Oh goody!  Chicken is also allowed, so dinner is a stir fry of chicken and kale.  Not my finest creation, but not too bad.

  • Candida Diary # 4: A Single Step

    Sunday April 22, 2012

    As soon as I got  back from the Big Carrot, I tore open the Yeast Buster kit.  The drink was easy enough to figure out.  One teaspoon of the power (psyllium), two teaspoons of the caproil, and one tablespoon of the bentonite.  Just add water.  It went down easily enough.  I wouldn’t put it on my list of all time favourite drinks, but if it gets me better, I can’t complain.  In truth, it didn’t taste too bad.

    After drinking this potion that is supposed to poison all the fungus in me and tear them out of my intestines, I did a quick check…. nope.  Nothing has changed so far.  What’s taking so long?  Hmmmph.  I should get around to reading the instructions, but how important can they be?

    Off to bed.