I eat like a freak. Really. I am probably the most annoying person to try to go out to eat with these days. Remember when Atkins was the brand new craze, and it was next to impossible for low-carb dieters to eat at a restaurant, and the servers would look at them all confused and judge-y when they would order their hamburger with no bread?
Yeah, so, multiply that times like a hundred-thousand-million, and you'll have the slightest idea of my experience trying to eat out in a restaurant. For the most part, I can't eat at normal restaurants, which is a bit of a pain, to say the least.
For the past three months I've been following an anti-fungal diet, which seeks to eliminate: a) all fungus, b) all things that create fungus, c) all things that fungus feeds on inside the body, and d) all things possibly contaminated with mycotoxins (poison emitted by fungus).
To tell you what I CAN eat would probably be easier than telling you what I can't eat. But I'm going to provide a basic list of both, so you can maybe get an idea of how difficult it is for me to be in public, or to grocery shop. Here are the NO's and YES's to my diet...
NO:
*Mushrooms (they're a fungus, duh)
*Peanuts (universally accepted to be contaminated by mycotoxins)
*Pistachios (same as peanuts)
*Corn (mycotoxin city)
*Soy Beans (hello poisonville)
*Grains (after induction phase, certain organic psuedo-grains move to the yes list)
*Yeast (therefore, most bread)
*Distilled Vinegar (therefore, most salad dressings, and lots of cooked entrees)
*White Rice (fungus feeds on sugar and carbs)
*Pasta (carb city, population: fungus)
*Potatoes (carbville, fungus heaven)
*Refined Sugar (fungus food)
*Meats or Animal Products Fed by Any of the Above (corn, grains, etc)
*Wine/Beer/Booze (fermentation/yeast city)
*Kombucha (see above re: booze)
*Hard Cheeses (hello mold)
*High-Sugar Fruits (grapes, bananas, etc)
YES:
*Organic Produce (options severely limited by season, carrots highly encouraged)
*Grass-Fed AND Finished Beef, Not Treated with Hormones or Antibiotics (lots of "grass-fed" cows are stuffed with corn/grain to fatten up before slaughter...not OK)
*Pastured Free-Range Chicken (have to still be careful about "vegetarian diet," which generally = corn/grains)
*Pastured Free-Range Eggs (see above re: chicken)
*Wild Caught Fish (no farm-raised due to antibiotics, the lower on the food chain the better)
*Organic Sourdough Bread (only if no yeast or vinegar used, good luck finding it!)
*Organic Spelt Tortillas (see above re: sourdough)
*Organic Legumes (after induction only, no added ingredients from the "no" list)
*Organic Sweet Potatoes (after induction phase)
*Organic nuts (except peanuts and pistachios -my favorites)
*Organic seeds
*Apple Cider Vinegar
*Organic Coconut Oil, Coconut Flour, Etc (capryllic acid is a natural anti-fungal)
*Organic Walnut Oil, Almond Flour (etc)
*Raw Organic Honey, Organic Stevia, Xylitol, Organic Pure Maple Syrup (aside from fruit, my only sources of sugar or sweetener)
*Soft Organic Cheeses (in moderation)
*Organic Dairy Products (provided only by grass-fed, non-hormone treated, etc animals)
*Bottled Water (only)
Both lists could be a lot more extensive if I took the time, but you get the idea.
The induction phase did not allow any bread products, grains or pseudo-grains (organic quinoa and oat bran now allowed), any rice (organic brown rice now allowed), any legumes, etc. Let me tell you, I did the Atkins diet back in its hey day. This was harder x1,000.
For a while, I had trouble keeping weight on. Now that I've been able to add in some bread, rice, legumes, etc, I've been able to stop LOSING weight. I'm now maintaining at a steady [weight so low, I lied UP on my new drivers license].
Now, don't get me wrong. I love the way I eat. I feel healthier, and my body feels cleaner than ever before. Plus, I am learning so much about what's in our food supply. What I don't like is being this thin, mainly because none of my clothes fit me -- literally, none (I haven't been this thin since before I went to college), and also because I miss all my hard-earned muscle-tone.
Fitness-wise, I was in the best shape of my life the day I entered the hospital. Now, with regard to stamina, it may give you an idea of my condition to know I went grocery shopping by myself last week and had to sit down with my bags in the middle of the parking lot for a breather on the way to the car.
The other "problems" with my new food lifestyle are: a) finding items I can eat (I spend a lot of time on the "raw foods" aisle of Whole Foods), b) affording what's in my shopping cart (eating this way is very, very expensive, and that's a real shame), and c) spending time with people who aren't fighting fungus.
If someone wants to go to dinner with me, the restaurant options I can give them are very limited. And once we get there, it's still a matter of dissecting the menu, asking the server a million questions, requesting modifications, and on and on. If I go to a gathering where there will be food (i.e. this week's live draft for my fantasy football league), I have to eat beforehand, or bring my own vittles. If I plan to be away from the house for more than one hour, I have to pack a snack bag.
Aside from being expensive, this lifestyle is a lot of work! Having to prepare almost all your meals, plan ahead snacks and meals for every hour of every day, anticipate road blocks at social functions, and shop non-stop because real, organic, whole foods do not last long, is relatively exhausting. At times, feeding myself feels like a full-time job.
The point of the diet is to eliminate from my blood stream the things any fungus remaining in my brain would feed on, and to make my body an inhospitable environment to new fungus. There's a lot more to this, like avoiding antibiotics, and it's a lot of work. I am trying in the midst of it all to maintain some sense of moderation, but that's a tough tightrope to walk.
So for now, I'll just continue being the unabashed freak at the dinner table, carrying a purse full of organic snacks around town, toting my water bottle around the birthday party, and obsessively reading labels in the aisles of Whole Foods. And I won't mind a bit because I'm alive and well, and my body is healing!
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers...
Love,
Molly
Yeah, so, multiply that times like a hundred-thousand-million, and you'll have the slightest idea of my experience trying to eat out in a restaurant. For the most part, I can't eat at normal restaurants, which is a bit of a pain, to say the least.
For the past three months I've been following an anti-fungal diet, which seeks to eliminate: a) all fungus, b) all things that create fungus, c) all things that fungus feeds on inside the body, and d) all things possibly contaminated with mycotoxins (poison emitted by fungus).
To tell you what I CAN eat would probably be easier than telling you what I can't eat. But I'm going to provide a basic list of both, so you can maybe get an idea of how difficult it is for me to be in public, or to grocery shop. Here are the NO's and YES's to my diet...
NO:
*Mushrooms (they're a fungus, duh)
*Peanuts (universally accepted to be contaminated by mycotoxins)
*Pistachios (same as peanuts)
*Corn (mycotoxin city)
*Soy Beans (hello poisonville)
*Grains (after induction phase, certain organic psuedo-grains move to the yes list)
*Yeast (therefore, most bread)
*Distilled Vinegar (therefore, most salad dressings, and lots of cooked entrees)
*White Rice (fungus feeds on sugar and carbs)
*Pasta (carb city, population: fungus)
*Potatoes (carbville, fungus heaven)
*Refined Sugar (fungus food)
*Meats or Animal Products Fed by Any of the Above (corn, grains, etc)
*Wine/Beer/Booze (fermentation/yeast city)
*Kombucha (see above re: booze)
*Hard Cheeses (hello mold)
*High-Sugar Fruits (grapes, bananas, etc)
YES:
*Organic Produce (options severely limited by season, carrots highly encouraged)
*Grass-Fed AND Finished Beef, Not Treated with Hormones or Antibiotics (lots of "grass-fed" cows are stuffed with corn/grain to fatten up before slaughter...not OK)
*Pastured Free-Range Chicken (have to still be careful about "vegetarian diet," which generally = corn/grains)
*Pastured Free-Range Eggs (see above re: chicken)
*Wild Caught Fish (no farm-raised due to antibiotics, the lower on the food chain the better)
*Organic Sourdough Bread (only if no yeast or vinegar used, good luck finding it!)
*Organic Spelt Tortillas (see above re: sourdough)
*Organic Legumes (after induction only, no added ingredients from the "no" list)
*Organic Sweet Potatoes (after induction phase)
*Organic nuts (except peanuts and pistachios -my favorites)
*Organic seeds
*Apple Cider Vinegar
*Organic Coconut Oil, Coconut Flour, Etc (capryllic acid is a natural anti-fungal)
*Organic Walnut Oil, Almond Flour (etc)
*Raw Organic Honey, Organic Stevia, Xylitol, Organic Pure Maple Syrup (aside from fruit, my only sources of sugar or sweetener)
*Soft Organic Cheeses (in moderation)
*Organic Dairy Products (provided only by grass-fed, non-hormone treated, etc animals)
*Bottled Water (only)
Both lists could be a lot more extensive if I took the time, but you get the idea.
The induction phase did not allow any bread products, grains or pseudo-grains (organic quinoa and oat bran now allowed), any rice (organic brown rice now allowed), any legumes, etc. Let me tell you, I did the Atkins diet back in its hey day. This was harder x1,000.
For a while, I had trouble keeping weight on. Now that I've been able to add in some bread, rice, legumes, etc, I've been able to stop LOSING weight. I'm now maintaining at a steady [weight so low, I lied UP on my new drivers license].
Now, don't get me wrong. I love the way I eat. I feel healthier, and my body feels cleaner than ever before. Plus, I am learning so much about what's in our food supply. What I don't like is being this thin, mainly because none of my clothes fit me -- literally, none (I haven't been this thin since before I went to college), and also because I miss all my hard-earned muscle-tone.
Fitness-wise, I was in the best shape of my life the day I entered the hospital. Now, with regard to stamina, it may give you an idea of my condition to know I went grocery shopping by myself last week and had to sit down with my bags in the middle of the parking lot for a breather on the way to the car.
The other "problems" with my new food lifestyle are: a) finding items I can eat (I spend a lot of time on the "raw foods" aisle of Whole Foods), b) affording what's in my shopping cart (eating this way is very, very expensive, and that's a real shame), and c) spending time with people who aren't fighting fungus.
If someone wants to go to dinner with me, the restaurant options I can give them are very limited. And once we get there, it's still a matter of dissecting the menu, asking the server a million questions, requesting modifications, and on and on. If I go to a gathering where there will be food (i.e. this week's live draft for my fantasy football league), I have to eat beforehand, or bring my own vittles. If I plan to be away from the house for more than one hour, I have to pack a snack bag.
Aside from being expensive, this lifestyle is a lot of work! Having to prepare almost all your meals, plan ahead snacks and meals for every hour of every day, anticipate road blocks at social functions, and shop non-stop because real, organic, whole foods do not last long, is relatively exhausting. At times, feeding myself feels like a full-time job.
The point of the diet is to eliminate from my blood stream the things any fungus remaining in my brain would feed on, and to make my body an inhospitable environment to new fungus. There's a lot more to this, like avoiding antibiotics, and it's a lot of work. I am trying in the midst of it all to maintain some sense of moderation, but that's a tough tightrope to walk.
So for now, I'll just continue being the unabashed freak at the dinner table, carrying a purse full of organic snacks around town, toting my water bottle around the birthday party, and obsessively reading labels in the aisles of Whole Foods. And I won't mind a bit because I'm alive and well, and my body is healing!
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers...
Love,
Molly