the weight loss papers

I mentioned Saturday that I planned to follow the suggestions in the article about candida. So, I actually started following it Saturday and so far, so good. Haven’t noticed much yet but since it’s only been basically two days and not even quite three this morning, I won’t complain.

I have some healthy greens that you mix with water. They’re Isagenix and even though I don’t do Isagenix anymore, really (at least not the shakes), I still have some products and I do continue to use a few things (like the healthy greens and fruits). I just didn’t like the shakes after a while and had to stop using them. It got the point that the stuff just made me gag.

Aside from following the eating suggestions, I’m continuing the exercise - walking every day about 3 miles and will start strength training daily again here soon. With everyone being sick off and on for the past few weeks, I haven’t had much time (or inclination) to use the weight machine regularly.

So, that’s it for me. How are you doing and what’s your plan for this week? Post in the comments or feel free to write a post on your blog and link back here if you’d like.

Talk soon,

~ Annie

I got an interesting email yesterday about candida and how it can cause problems with losing weight. I have heard of candida causing such issues before but this article really got me thinking about my own weight loss issues over the past several years and I think perhaps candida overgrowth could be a major contributor.

Now, I haven’t asked permission from the author, so I’m not going to quote his article or anything but I will paraphrase what he recommends if you think you could have this problem. Recognize that I am not an expert and if you choose to follow these suggestions, you do so at your own risk with no warranty of any kind from me. I have not (yet) tried these suggestions, however, I will be in the coming days and will report any progress here.

So . . . the first thing that is suggested is that you do a cleanse to rid your body of the candida and get it functioning again. He recommends a vegetable juice cleanse of fresh, juiced veggies and says this should be done for at least 10 days and a maximum of 30. If it’s difficult for you to do nothing but fresh squeezed veggie juice every day, try 2-3 times a day and eating normally the rest of the day.

It’s also recommended to stay away from all sugars including honey, fructose, molasses and such and especially to stay away from foods like cakes, candies, sodas, fruit juices and the like. He does say using Stevia is ok.

You should also avoid white starch foods like white bread, cakes, white pasta, white rice, potatoes and etc. Whole grain flour is ok in moderation as is brown or wild rice and whole grain pasta.

He recommends no dairy products, though eggs are fine. Which actually makes sense because whomever said eggs were dairy products in the first place, must not know much about animals.

Then he says to increase your essential oils like omega-3. You can use fish oil, flax seed oil, borage or evening primrose. I used fish oil and flax seed myself though I have to be careful with the flax seed as it tends to upset my stomache. One tablespoon or 3 capsules daily is the suggestion.

Also increase your acidophilus intake or add it to your diet if you’re not taking it. He says to use it both after breakfast and dinner daily. Now, one can find these in good yogurt which is what I usually do but since that’s dairy, I guess I’ll have to get some supplements or something. Although I heard elsewhere that yogurt is ok in moderation as long as it does contain the probiotics and live cultures. So, it’s a toss up, I guess.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing how this works for me. If you try it, let me know how it goes.

~ Annie

I mentioned my 10-grain (or 7-grain works too) bread recipe a few posts back and haven’t had a chance to post it yet so here goes!

Add everything to the bread machine as follows:

• 3 3/4 cups Whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 2 tablespoons Dry milk powder (I have omitted this successfully)
• 3/8 cup 10-grain cereal
• 2 tablespoons Molasses
• 13 1/2 fluid oz Water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dry yeast

I use the whole wheat setting on my machine. I am not sure what size loaf this makes because my machine doesn’t have that option but it’s fairly big and quite a heavy loaf. I suggest taking it out of the bread pan as soon as your machine is finished so the crust doesn’t get too crispy as it tends to crips fairly quickly and can become quite hard if it sits in there too long.

I have also added 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce to this recipe with tasty results.

Hope you enjoy! If you make it, let me know how it turns out and what you thought of it.

~ Annie

Did you eat any Easter treats yesterday? I sure did! Not only did we get a couple of treats for the kids, my mom brought over a pound cake that was delicious. Yep, I had a piece and a couple of treats. My husband knows I like the Cadbury’s Mini Eggs A LOT so he got me a bag of them. I shared most of them with him and kids, though. In years past, I’d have eaten the whole bag myself - not all at once, though - but I wouldn’t have shared many of them.
I’ve said before that I think allowing yourself a couple of treats now and then is just as essential to weight loss as eating the right foods. If you don’t allow yourself a bit of wiggle room, you’ll fail more often than not. And probably crash a lot harder, too.

I like Easter - it marks the beginning of Spring and longer days which I really like. I like the decorations too. Cute little bunnies and chicks and brightly decorated eggs. Plus the kids always enjoy hunting for the eggs. Yesterday it rained, though, so we didn’t hide any but the kids didn’t seem to mind that.

We also had ham, potatoes, carrots, broccoli and rice. It was quite good! I threw everything into a dutch oven and cooked it at 250 in the oven for a couple of hours. Well, everything but the rice, that is. I cooked that in the rice cooker.

One of the highlights of my day was early yesterday morning - my 3 year old son came into our room when he woke up. My husband and I were laying there listening to the radio and I had forgotten my husband had taken him to get his hair cut Saturday afternoon. Almost didn’t recognize the little guy! He thought that was pretty funny and laughed at me for a while.

And then when grandma got to our house yesterday afternoon, she gave each of the kids a couple of candies. He then started racing around the house and as he got back to the kitchen where were standing, he began hopping. It couldn’t have been more on queue if he’d tried! Silly little guy!

Anyway, I hope your day was entertaining as ours and if you fudged a little on your food, don’t beat yourself up over it. Just get back on track today and remind yourself it’s all good.

Not sure what tips I’ll have in store for tomorrow but I hope come back soon anyway. Try subscribing to the RSS if you haven’t already. It’s a great way to stay up on the latest posts without having to check to see if there’s anything new.

Have a great afternoon!
Annie

One of the biggest things that has made a difference for me is ensuring that I drink enough water every day. Although the amount one should drink per day is disputed by doctors and other health experts, I’ve found that drinking at least four or five 32 oz water bottles full is about right for me. Personally I think it varies from person to person and what might be right for one, may not be right for someone else. So, experiment and see how you feel.

When I first started drinking that much daily, I went to the bathroom an awful lot! And this continued for a few days until my body got used to it. I also noticed that drinking bottled water did NOT help. I always went to the bathroom a million times a day no matter what. I eventually found out the bottled water isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

It wasn’t until we put a filter on our water line at home that I actually started feeling refreshed and hydrated and going to the bathroom less. I also noticed that my puffy ankles and stuff finally went away. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t retain water because you have TOO much, you retain it because you don’t have enough. And your body is trying to hang on to what it has.

This is the same thing with fat, actually - it’s the reason “starvation” mode diets don’t work. Your body hangs on to the fat because it thinks it’s’ not getting enough. The key is to eat regularly like I noted in some of posts previously - that’s why I started eating 5 small meals every day instead of the “normal” 3 that the FDA harps on.

Tomorrow I have a couple of recipes to share, one of which is my 10-grain bread recipe. I use a bread machine so if you don’t have one, you might have to adjust a few things but you’ll be glad you did because the 10 grain bread is delicious!

Bye for now,
Annie