SHINGLES?!?! WTF?!?!

Ah, I have shingles! Awful. They suck and I only have them mildly BUT they are on my eye.

I am pretty sure that it's because of the detox. There is no other reason for it. SO I am upping my veggies even more with red peppers, garlic and parsely in my salad to boost the immune system.

I am also using some homeopathic remedies and putting breast milk in my eye. It seems to be working. I am trying really hard not to use any anti viral medications because that's the very stuff I am detoxing from. Those and the anti biotics.

So I will let you know how I get on. So far, so good. I am getting some well deserved rest tonight and Daddy is on Henry duty for middle of the night feeds. I am hoping the detox is nearly over so my immune system bolsters itself and fights this horrible stuff off!! 

Day 5

ok- so the cravings are slightly less. I definitely need to up my veggie intake. All I have been eating is protein and more protein. I am starting to feel better. It's a weird feeling because I don't think I have ever felt well. I have always been sluggish and sleepy. Last night I slept well and today I feel clearer mentally. My stomach isn't bloated and I've lost 2.5 lbs in 5 days! I was at a meeting today where they had sausage rolls, quiches, chocolate cake and fruit juice and although I was starving, I wasn't tempted to cheat at all.

I know this diet is working already. I have never been able to say that before. I am excited to see what's going to happen next! :) 

Day 3.

UGH. I want want want sugar. I want it now!!! I can't stomach the idea of eating anything green so I have been living off of butternut squash, eggs, unsmoked bacon, lemon juice and water, quinoa, yeast free Rye bread and limited potatoes. I need to eat some green veg because I know I need the vitamins.

I would kill for a shot glass of fruit juice right now OR a chocolate chip! haha. I know that this will subside in a few days and my taste buds will actually change but right now it's hard.

My energy is kind of crap at the moment (even more crap than normal). I feel REALLY fuzzy headed and just want to go to bed right now (it's 8:15 p.m.). Thank goodness mum is here to help with Henry as it's the weekend because I just don't have it in me to entertain him at the moment.

The one good thing is that I find that I really think about food now before I eat it. Since there is nothing to eat that I am craving- I just don't eat. Normally after dinner I would eat a bowl of ice cream or have something chocolatey no matter how full I was. I do feel hungry all of the time but I think it's in my head.

Let's hope this clears in a few a days!!!! Thanks for the support :)

the herbalist and the diet.

So I went to the herbalist today and she confirmed what I thought; I have a candida issue. Basically it's when the yeast in your body mutates to its fungal form and creates havoc. Utter havoc.

I have been symptomatic for my whole life- as long as I can remember. It stems from eating a poor diet, taking antibiotics and being on birth control. The symptoms for me are: damaged thyroid, obesity, lethargy, exhaustion, thrush, fuzzy head, and a rampant skin condition. Fun.

So I went to see the herbalist today and she did some crazy Kinesthology stuff and basically found that I have a major candida issue but also have issues with dairy. The result: I am going to have to give up A LOT of food. I know I should focus on what I can eat and the positive results that will happen but I am still a little daunted by the list of foods that I simply can't eat- at least for a while.

Right now I am eating a takeaway pizza and drinking some elderflower cordial. It's my last supper if you will. As of tomorrow I will no longer be able to eat: wheat, dairy, seeds, nuts, fruit, SUGAR, alcohol, anything fermented, or anything with yeast.

WOW. So I will be eating meat, eggs, fish, vegetables, (no sweet potatoes!!! ahhhh), brown rice (in moderation), potatoes (in limited moderation), and quinoa.

Hopefully my energy levels should show up finally on this diet and obviously the weight will fall off. Those are the two motivators. I will update on my progress because I really want to keep track of how my body responds to this. Hopefully some of you will want to know as well :)

Right, off to bed!! 

Gluten free and Nourishing Traditions

It's been a while. I was home for 6 weeks and then I needed a little time to settle in back in the UK. While I was in the States, I tried my very best to eat well but found that it was extremely difficult to succeed. The cost of food out there is RIDICULOUS. I was in shock. To be honest, it wasn't even that great of quality either. So, I am VERY happy to be back in the UK and in the garden of England.


As a result of overindulging in American food, my skin condition (hidradenitis suppurativa) has gone completely awry. I was in agony due to the heat and the food overloading my system. I have now taken it upon myself to do some research into various causes for the disease and it seems that it is likely an autoimmune response to gluten and other not so nutritious foods that most people eat on a daily basis.

So I have decided to go gluten free and revamp my eating habits using recipes from the book, Nourishing Traditions. I will blog my journey through the recipes. The difficult part is not being able to eat any wheat flours. I find myself overwhelmed with the 6 different kinds of flour you use instead of just using wheat flour. I am not a terrific baker anyway and feel that I will never be able to accomplish baking again!

The first recipe I chose from the book was beef stock because it didn't involve any flour and is essential to a lot of the other recipes in the book. I must admit that I am very squeamish when it comes to animal bones but I got over it pretty quickly thanks to my lovely butcher offering to saw them up to fit in my stock pot. The end result is pretty tasty and according to the book is full of minerals and gelatin and all sorts of lovely fats that will help my body heal from the traditional modern diet.

I am also giving up refined sugar. I am trying to get my sweet tooth under control. It had free reign in America and I am paying for it with unbearable sugar cravings.

So, I have been gluten free for a week as of today. I have lost 6 pounds. I am still undergoing the detoxing and therefore am a bit lethargic and my skin is breaking out a lot. I have been told that it can take months for the skin to heal. I am more than willing to do this if my skin will get under control. I have learned so much from reading the book about the things we put into our bodies without even realising the effects they can have on it.

I will keep you all posted on how my journey is going and I will take some pictures along the way with my fancy new camera! My next recipe is to make cream cheese and whey from biodynamic yogurt. Whey is another essential ingredient in a lot of the recipes in the book. Lactofermenting really freaks me out but I am willing to give it a go! :)

it's been 2 months.

Agh, where does the time go? Seriously? I have been away from here for the last two months because I was busy writing the newsletter for the national charity that I am involved with. It is becoming a bit all encompassing and I am looking forward to the six week holiday I will be taking to go home at the end of June. 

For the first time in three years, I will be staying at my childhood house. I haven't really lived there since 2003 and it will be very strange to once again be living there. I have always avoided it because it reminds me too much of my Mom and it made me sad. I think that with the counselling I have received this year, it will be a good thing to go back and face my fears and sadness. I am slowly emerging from this hole that I have been surrounding myself with for the past nearly nine years. It is hard, so hard, to come to grips with the fact that I need to let my mother's hold over me go. I held onto it in fear that if I did let go then I would lose her somehow- that that piece of her would be gone forever. Becoming a mother has really showed me that I am my own person and that it's ok to not always wonder what my mother would think about my life. 

Today is her birthday so I guess she is on my mind. I had no intentions of writing something so serious when I opened up this page. 

On a lighter note, I am really excited to be able to be home for a longer period of time. I can't believe that it's nearly Henry's birthday. I can't believe how far we have come in a year. This time last year I had no idea how all encompassing raising a child would be. I also had no idea how much love a person can have for another human being. I can't imagine my life without Henry. It is surreal to think that there was a time when I didn't know him. I am so glad he chose me to be his mummy. 

I also am hoping to get a new camera when I am home this summer so I can properly document his life. These random iPhone shots just aren't doing him any justice.

It's easy being green.

So what if I stole my title from Bethany's photo album on facebook- I like it :)

The truth is that it IS easy (and cheap) to be green. My newest obession is soap nuts and they are both cheap and easy to use. These things are amazing. They are the dried fruit of the soap nut tree and they contain a substance called saponin. This magical saponin cleans things: everything to be exact.

The first thing I did was throw 6 nuts into the muslin bag provided and wash my laundry as normal. (It was just my sheets so I didn't really care how they came out.) They came out clean but there was no smell which I found highly unnerving so I went for a walk and bought some lemongrass essential oil. I then learned all about grinding soap nuts into a powder and putting them into a sock with the essential oils. I also added 2T of vinegar and 2T of baking soda to the drawer. My clothes came out AMAZINGLY clean and smelled nice too. The soap nuts even got the nappies clean and soft!! yay! :)

The next thing I decided to do was to make the soap nut liquid. You take 15 or so soap nuts and boil them in a litre of water for 30 minutes or so (I use spring water as I have yucky hard water which ruins everything). You then strain the soap nuts and are left with a golden soapy liquid! This can be used to clean your surfaces, be made into a shampoo or hand soap. My only issue is that I like suds and this liquid doesn't sud. Therefore, I am going to buy a foaming soap pump for my shampoo and hand soap. I must say that the liquid got my hair much cleaner than the baking soda fiasco from a few weeks ago! I also froze a lot of the liquid into cubes that I will be able to use as laundry detergent. I simply pop 3-4 cubes into the drum and then add my vinegar and baking soda combination!

My other "green" obsession is coconut oil. This needs to be the refined coconut oil. It is a but pricy but you can use it for EVERYTHING. I use it as my moisturiser (it smells AMAZING) and I have made toothpaste out of it. (Coconut oil + baking soda + peppermint oil = toothpaste!) I also cook with and eat the coconut oil. It tastes amazing when I make chicken korma. I throw two tablespoons into my smoothies to make it creamy and coconutty! It's awesome. It is supposed to help you lose weight as well so it's a win-win situation!

So at the moment, the only chemicals I use are the ones in my makeup and I use that sparingly. I need to find some good, chemical free makeup. Does anyone have any suggestions??