"dance, dance feel it all around you, dance, dance, dance"

Today was a very very very good day!!!! I have little butterflies of excitement in my stomach just talking about it.

For those of you who don't know, I'm doing a Candida Diet. Basically, Candida is the overgrowth of yeast in the body, and many factors contribute to it. My main factors are a very high sugar and high carb diet (at least in the last few months). I did this incredibly strict diet back in April for almost 2 months and I swear to God I was superwoman! Then I went back to eating sugar and just spiraled down and went back to eating what I used to before. The past month or so I've kept getting these crazy symptoms that have been all over the place. Then my roommate Michelle said right before Thanksgiving that she was going to try to go back on the diet for a few days before Thanksgiving. That's when the light bulb came on in my head "THAT'S what all this icky feeling is from!!!" It's so insane what an awful problem Candida is in America. Shit, we put sugar in hot dogs. Who does that!?!?

I've done a lot of research since the last time so I know a lot about it and how to approach it. There is a great website called www.wholeapproach.com that is a good starter. It's for people who have severe severe problems with Candida and a lot of food allergies, but it's good to read about it and get recipes.

Last time I went on the diet (I prefer NOT to use that word, it's pretty evil!), *ahem* cleanse, I stopped wheat, dairy, sugar, fruit, tea, coffee, soy, grains and starches all in one day. Needless to say I broke out in hives and thought I was dying, so much so that I went to the hospital!!! Of course I finally figured it out, but it was awful and scary! This time I'm doing it gradually. Today was no sugar (processed, honey, maple syrup, any fruit, etc), tomorrow is wheat (bread, pasta, crackers) and Tuesday is dairy (yogurt, milk, cheese). Depending on how sick you are and what Candida Diet plan you are using, certain foods will vary. I am doing pretty strict so no tea (it grows mold), no mushrooms of any type, no grains or starchy foods (potatoes, corn). I get to eat most vegetables unlimited and all lean meats (no processed pig parts). I can have some alternative grains like amaranth and quinoa, but I'm going to skip those at least for 2 weeks. I can also have any nutritional oils and nuts (no peanuts), eggs, stevia, and some legumes. It seems extreme, but I need to be extreme in controlling this!!! I hope to do this very strict part for at least a month and then go from there. Last time I was the great shrinking woman, so I hope this can be a jump start to my new life.

Now here's the little section I'm going to try to do every day even if I don't do a real post...

Food: Absolutely NO sugar!!!! Little bit of cheese and a little bit of whole wheat pasta. Everything else was A OK.
Water: 32 oz x 2
Work: 11 -7, it was crazy and I got mean towards the end of the shift because of the sugar withdrawal. I swear sugar is a DRUG.
Exercise: that's right, I exercised AGAIN!!!! Yoga Booty Ballet Go-Go Live (don't hate on YBB). For some reason it had me in fits of giggles for most of the time. I'm feeling the muscles I've long since forgot so I know it's working!
Mood: definitely very up and down, but a general good mood despite the sugar detox
Music: lots of neil, he is depressing but makes me happy.

<3