Don't get me wrong, I would love to have a cup of coffee and "something for my left hand" right now but I don't "need" it and I don't have a headache. Yay!!  However, today I had a crazy morning where I locked myself, and my new clients, out of the office! I was seriously locked out, no phone, no car keys, nothing.  Well I borrowed a phone, called Dennis, my clients went home, I made a dozen calls and 40 minutes later the dentist came to work and let me in, whew!  Once I was back in the office and now had 40 minutes until my next client, all I could think about was a coffee and a treat, ugh it's such a habit.  I drank a bunch of chlorophyll water and kept myself busy until the client arrived, crisis averted.
On this cleanse you can't eat raw vegetables for the first 10 days.  The idea is to let your gut rest while the candida dies off.  Who knew I'd be craving salad?
After a full day, dinner and kids in bed I went back to work in the basement.

I finally did it, a day without caffeine.  I was out late last night with the kids and there was the threat of a teacher strike so I turned the alarm off and slept in.  When the morning twitter feed said schools were open there was some crying and some smiling in this household, then lunches were packed and kids were signed in just in time for first nutrition break.  

Breakfast or snack I always enjoy almond butter on a lightly toasted brown rice cake.  Be careful because these things burn if you turn your back for a second.

Since I had extra time today I decided to make homemade Flaxseed wraps for lunch.  I found this recipe in "Wheat Belly" by William Davis.  The wraps turned out amazing and satisfying with avocado and fried onions. 

As my life cleanse continues I'm working on the basement room.  This is a room has been an ongoing project since the other basement room flooded four months ago.  Again, it's amazing how much stuff fits into one tiny space and even though I've been purging the house of "stuff" for the past year, there is still lots to go.  My hoarding tendencies are not going to be easily overcome but this is the year!

Well once again I woke up with a mild headache.  The good news is, it wasn't that bad and it didn't last long.  I think tomorrow will be the day I can make it on 1/4 cup of coffee.  I miss the ritual of coffee making and the taste of drinking it but I don't miss the highs and lows of energy.  I'm not saying coffee is bad, it's just not a great feeling when you "need" coffee to get through a day.  
Today I had a very full day of work, home and kid stuff and I did not experience that usual mid-afternoon slump and I didn't even think about coffee or sugar until I started to write about today.  I was however VERY hungry at one point, but it was lunch time and I didn't feel tired or irritable, just hungry. Once you eliminate sugars from your diet, your body is able to keep your blood sugar steady, as it should be. 

For my life cleanse today I tackled a small pile of paperwork, baby steps for me :-)

It's very interesting how people react when they find out you're doing a cleanse.  I struggle with mentioning it to people because I don't want them to think I preaching some crazy "diet" or judging their diet, yet I want to share the knowledge and offer support and assistance if they want to try and feel better and even heal themselves.  Food is medicine.  

Day 6 - Almost Caffeine Free 

Well today I felt pretty good.  I seriously only had a few sips of coffee this morning and that's it.  The problem with caffeine is it has been shown to spike your blood sugar which then leads to a slump which means you need another hit and so it goes, up and down. 

Cooking on the cleanse is easy but boring, unless you get a Candida cook book or do lots of research on the web.  We tend to eat relatively mild tasting food anyway so it's not a huge stretch to cook on the cleanse.  The problem is getting creative with packed lunches, eating out and snacks.  

Lunches are usually soup, hummus or leftovers. I find it's better to not eat out at all because it's very difficult to find food that suits this cleanse.  We tend to do too much snacking, particularly late at night.  During the cleanse we snack on nuts and seeds and usually after all that crunching and chewing I'm pretty full and the snack desire has faded.  

Today I tackled a kitchen drawer, not the official "junk drawer" but one that had become the "unofficial" junk drawer.  I can't believe how much stuff one little drawer can hold!  It took about 30 minutes, but in the end everything found it's rightful home, baking utensils were moved and now I have an empty drawer in my kitchen! 

This morning I woke up with mild headache that resolved after I had half a cup of coffee.  I am slowly overcoming my coffee addiction.  I am down 3.5 lbs.  I'm not hungry because I'm eating lots of whole foods.  The early weight loss is just the excess water I was holding and the idea of this cleanse is to feel better, weight loss is secondary.  
One thing about a cleanse or any dietary change is you have to plan ahead.   I am not the best meal planner at the best of times so planning two or three days ahead is a stretch for me.  You have to plan to succeed. 
Today my goals were to get back on Twitter and to Tweet, and to work on my physical injuries, accomplished!  
You will now see a Twitter button at the top of this page.  I also went to my new RMT friend Nicola Carroll.  
Nicola does this very cool and interesting treatment called Matrix Repatterning.  I will tell you more about it as I learn more. 

Day 4 - Mild Headache
On day 4 I woke up with a mild headache so I had half a cup of coffee 30 minutes after my nasty tasting Dandelion extract.  Dandelion helps to support the liver which is now working hard to filter out the candida die off and toxins.  After breakfast I felt great!  I'm still 3.5 lbs lighter and I don't experience hunger, cravings yes, but not hunger.  
After lunch of a spicy soup I was craving sugar and coffee big time so I had to brush my teeth and go out with my daughter.
On this day for my life cleanse I wanted to spend 2 hours with my daughter Meredith and not get distracted by my BlackBerry, but I didn't accomplish this.  I did hang out with her but I responded to 6 messages while we were skiing!  Seriously, thats just silly.  I'm going to try this one again but leave the phone at home or in the car.  My phone is like junk food for me, out of sight out of mind.  I am happy to report that during the afternoon my coffee craving diminished and I didn't feel too tired.
Today's picture is of one of our favourite snacks while on the cleanse.  Its homemade guacamole and hummus with Mary's crackers.  Mary's crackers are so crunchy we call them "the loud crackers" and they're the only ones I've found that are fine on this cleanse.  

While everyone can benefit from a good candida cleanse, do the following survey to see if you have a more serious Candida or Parasite issue that we can help you with.  If you scored 10 or higher in Candidiasis or Parasites then you probably need to do a cleanse.  Contact us for assistance.  [email protected]mailto:[email protected]

If any of the following symptoms or activities apply please indicate by checking:

1  -  for mild or rarely occurring
2  -  for moderate or regularly occurring
3  -  for severe or often occurring
or leave blank - if the symptom / statement does not apply.

 CANDIDIASIS

                Extreme fatigue
                Recurrent vaginal infections
                Frequent use of antibiotics
                White coated tongue, oral thrush
                Crave sugars, bread, alcohol
                Headaches
                Neck and shoulder pain
                Tonsillitis, recurrent strep throat
                Itchy, watery or dry eyes
                Skin flushes 
                Chronic indigestion, frequently use antacids
                Always cold especially in extremities
                Female : PMS
                Pain in pelvic area
                Abdominal gas and bloating
                Loss of sex drive
                Cystitis, repeated bladder infections
                Increasing food and chemical sensitivities: severe reaction to    tobacco, perfume etc.
                Female: endometriosis/ovary problems
                Chronic diarrhea
                Hives, psoriasis, acne, skin rashes
                Rectal itching
                Abnormal muscle aches from exercise
                Excessive wax in ears
                Unexpected / unexplained weight gain
                Impotence
                Canker sores
                Athlete’s foot, finger / toenail fungus, ringworm
                Jock itch
                “Brain fog”
                Irritability
                Memory loss
                Mental confusion
                Depression or anger for no reason
                Anxiety / panic attacks
                Inability to concentrate
                Phobic / compulsive
                Lethargy
                Mood swings
                Itchy ears, nose, anus


PARASITES

                Forgetfulness
                Slow reflexes
                Gas and bloating
                Unclear thinking
                Loss of appetite
                Yellowish or pale face
                Fast heartbeat
                Heart pain
                Pain in navel
                Eating more than normal but still feeling hungry
                Blurry or unclear vision
                Pain in the back, thighs, shoulders
                Numb hands
                Drooling while sleeping
                Damp lips at night
                Dry lips during the day
                Grind teeth while sleep
                Bedwetting
                Lethargy, chronic fatigue
                Dark circles under eyes

Last night I went to a friend's house, she must have thought I was snooping in her bathroom cupboards as I went pee three times in 5 hours!  One of the side effects of a good cleanse is your body eliminates the bloat, which means it all has to come out somehow.   
This morning I woke up with a mild headache which was expected but I was still annoyed.  I hate being reminded that I'm addicted to coffee and sugar.  As I ate my giant bowl of steal cut oatmeal I broke down and had half a cup of coffee.  I figure candida doesn't drink coffee and my liver can handle it, but my family doesn't need a grump in the house.  Also, like I said before, you have to set yourself up success.  After breakfast my body continued with a big cleanse (okay, I'll say it, a big bowel movement).  One day of eating clean and I'm 1.6 lbs lighter.  I know it is all water weight, but this is good because that water was causing the bloat in my belly.  Along with our dietary cleanse, one of my goals is to cleanse my life along with my body. 

Today we set out to once more park both cars in the garage.  We have only had the mess in the garage since the flood in the basement forced the stuff from there to be moved to the garage four months ago.  Four months is way too long to let a pile build and it's such a slippery slope if you have hoarding tendancies like I do!  
Two hours, a few garbage bags, return a desk, put stuff away and done.