Well, the third week is done and we're still just chugging along with this Whole30 plan. It's hard to believe that it's already been 21 days since we started. It some ways I do rather enjoy it. It's been forcing us to be a lot more creative in the kitchen, particularly concerning condiments. I think that is one of the things that will still well from this experiment. I now have a really good mayo recipe and I'll be working this week on mayo based salad dressings, such as ranch and thousand island.
But really, this Whole30 thing? I'm pretty sure we're going to be bailing on it later this week. All the recipes that we have planned are Whole30 approved recipes but we're making chili dogs on Friday and both Justin and I really want to have cheese on our chili dogs. So I think we're going to go ahead. I feel like I should feel badly about skipping out on the Whole30 a few days early but I have to admit that I don't feel bad at all. It just really wasn't doing anything for either of us. We've been talking about it for the last few days and neither of us feels different (either better or worse) than we did before we started.
One of the reasons that I wanted to do this Whole30 experiment was so that I could slowly reintroduce foods and see if I have any food intolerences. We're still planning on taking it slow as we reintroduce foods but I already know that I actually don't have any food intolerences. I started working with an integrative doctor a few weeks before we started the Whole30 program and I had my follow up last week where we went through my test results. And the stool tests that checked for food intolerences all came back as negative. My body can handle everything just fine.
However, the tests did come back saying that I have a bad balance of bacteria in my gut and moderate levels of candida yeasts which is a fungus. Which means that I'm embarking on a three month anti-candida diet to work on starving the candida down and replacing the good bacteria.
In practical terms this means a diet that is very similar to the Whole30 diet. Lots of meats, good fats, veggies, and whole organic dairy items in moderation. On the flip side, it means three more months of no sugar, almost no grains and definitely no gluten, nothing with yeast, avoiding starches (potatoes), no vinegar except for unfiltered apple cider vinegar, and, the kicker, no fruit for the first month and only berries afterwards.
To be honest here people, I am not looking forward to this. at. all. This diet is going to be hard. Really, really hard. I don't mind most of it too much. During the spring and summer months we tend to eat a lot of meat and veggies anyway. That's just our normal rhythm of eating. I can handle that part. It's just the no vinegar order. Do you have any idea how many things have vinegar in them? Our favourite brand of salsa, and pickles, and capers. My dear, darling little capers have vinegar in them! Our favourite salad dressings; italian and balsamic vinaigrette. Yeah. Cross those off the list. Mustard has vinegar and so does ketchup, barbacue sauce, and worcestershire sauce. I've yet to find a condiment that doesn't have ketchup.
So yeah eating will be a challenge for the next couple of months. But the results of my tests were seriously so much better than I thought they might be. I honestly, really thought I was going to find out that I was gluten intolerant. And quite frankly, I would much rather an extreme anti-yeast diet for a few months than a gluten free diet for several years. This is much more manageable.
And, realistically, I'm sure I won't be one hundred percent faithful to my anti-yeast diet because I have a life and relationships that are important to me. I'll do the best I can but I'm not going to obsess over if something has a touch of vinegar or gluten in it when I go eat at someone's house. I'll do the best I can to avoid the obvious things but I'm not interested in having my life revolve around food. We're going to a wedding in June and I'm already pretty sure I'll have a bite of wedding cake. And I'll be just fine. But things on the home front are about to get even more interesting for a little while. Wish me luck!
(Or better yet, wish Justin luck. He volunteered to do this diet with me as a show of solidarity. And, most likely, to help keep me sane. But seriously though, he's the best!)
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