Gosh, it's been nearly a week already since I joined Mike T.'s Holiday Excursion (which began on the 1st). And I'm pleased to say that it's all been going well....! I do feel like I'm eating lots (and lots! Too much?), but pretty much all of it MWL compliant and therefore 'legal'. And I can feel my clothes getting looser all the time, so I know I must be going in the right direction. In any case, I've been keeping a careful record of what I've been consuming during this challenge in my post on Mike T.'s 'Holiday Excursion FOOD LOG' thread (which can be seen here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=25461 -- for anyone interested, my post is on page 2)....
One small thing I have noticed lately however..., is that I have reason to believe I may be currently experiencing a bit of overgrowth of Candida -- just some itchy skin stuff going on that's more of an annoyance/aggravation than anything else. But it caught me a little by surprise, because these last 10 weeks or whatever it's been since I started McDougalling again I've drastically slashed my sugar consumption -- and I mean drastically...! As in, almost none of the refined stuff for sure -- nil, zip, zero. But then again, I've been happily tossing russet potatoes down my gullet until they're coming out of my ears, so could that possibly be fueling a flare up....? (we've all heard the 'potatoes turn to sugar' mantra).... Well before I do anything drastic (like get any OTC meds, or gawd forbid, stop eating potatoes (!)
), I'm going to try my trusty Garlic Cure -- that is, upping my raw garlic intake significantly in order to help make my innards an inhospitable environment for any potential creepy-crawlies
....
Anyway, back to the Challenge, as I said, I'm really pleased with how it's gone so far. I haven't been terribly tempted by off-plan foods -- really the only occasions that I might have been tempted, were a few times this past week when I was caught getting pretty hungry but without anything cooked or ready-to-eat at hand. But I think I've solved that problem for the time being though, since yesterday while I had time I baked up a bunch of potatoes for grabbing, as well as making a huge amount of homemade Bean/Oat/Veg Burgers (most of which I will keep on hand in the freezer)....
The burgers solved a two-fold problem -- I needed more quick meal options, but I also had leftovers piling up in the freezer that needed to be eaten, or otherwise recycled into something else to be eaten (because we are on a tight budget and as such I maintain a zero-tolerance household 'no-waste' food policy). I enjoy reading Melody Polakow's blog, 'Melomeals: Vegan on $3.33 a Day' (
http://melomeals.blogspot.com/). Although she's not McDougall (sadly. Really wish she was!) she's still quite passionate about Veganism, cooking, and healthful food and eating -- plus I really appreciate the frugal spin she puts on things. Well she's always making really delectable-looking veggie burgers out of her leftovers (leftover hummus, soup, you name it), and so I was inspired to try it for myself. Therefore yesterday I thawed several leftover containers from the freezer (of soup, misc veggies, refried beans), added some cooked white beans and oats, plus some spices -- letting it all chill overnight before shaping into patties and baking them this morning. I now have something like 3 to 4 dozen burger patties to munch on throughout this challenge, and to grab for quickie meals. And they are tasty, having sampled quite a few already today
(and with all the burger trimmings -- onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard. Just no buns!).....