Spring Break Spa Week + PIP/Candida Update

I’m on Spring Break! Well, the truth is, I teach for six colleges and only three of them have spring break…and they’re all at different times. I’m in spring break #1, which will be the best one, because it means I have a 95% work-at-home week (I still have 5 classes going on online, and I have 4 hours of wellness coaching scheduled on Thurs). I also have another smoothie workshop coming up that I’m really excited about!  It’s in Canandaigua (my future home), so anyone close by…please come! Email me if you want info.

I decided I’d make this week Spa Week, and I think it fits nicely into PIP (Personal Improvement Plan). Oh, and by Spa Week…I mean, at-home-spa-week. With my extra few hours, I might as well boost my PIP results and feel good, right?!

Currently on PIP:

• Less than 10g sugar a day (it’s coming from Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer and a tiny bit of 80% raw vegan dark chocolate). This has been surprisingly easy.
• A few (or fewer) bites of whole grains per week. Also surprisingly easy.
• Double or triple my prior protein intake (via plant sources—Sun Warrior and Vega, and some legumes)
• Anti-candida supplements, plus my usual Krill Oil, Chlorella, Vit D, Pycnogenol (a super antioxidant for hyperpigmentation)
• No coffee (except one cup on the weekend if I’m dying for it—hey, I don’t believe in restriction!)
• Cultured veggies in big ugly chopped salads at least 5 days a week, and also lots of sprouted foods
• One avocado per day
• Wider variety of workouts: using muscle confusion principles, circuit training, intervals
• Addressing small things to affect endocrine/hormone balance (more on that later—things like sleeping in total darkness, consuming food types at certain times, etc)

I found the most awesome anti-candida supplement. It’s called Syntol, and it was recommended to me by a client. I went to the health food store and found out more about it. The short story is that it’s high in probiotic spores (which, unlike probiotics, can withstand acidic environment and hot temperatures…so the absorption rate is incredible). It also contains enzymes—so when the candida dies, there are no die-off symptoms–the enzymes digest the dead gunk and it leaves the body. It has to be taken on an empty stomach, otherwise the enzymes will just digest your food instead. I have been taking it for three days, and feel a difference already.

The Results so far:

• My six pack is almost totally back. But you won’t catch me putting a picture of anything like that on the web! I know it was always there, but I’ve been so puffy for the last year…and now I can see my muscles again. It happened almost instantly when I cut out/down sugar and grains.
• My workout recovery time is close to zero—Meaning: my attention to my endocrine system has paid off, and my increased clean protein intake in the morning is not only boosting my metabolism but it’s causing fast muscle improvements.
• My joint pain has reduced significantly.
• My skin has not broken out since I cut down/out sugar and grains (note: I’m getting plenty of carbs via veggies and legumes. I don’t believe in low-carb eating…just low/no sugar eating!)

I have so many client emails to address today, and I really want to, but I don’t know where to start. I also have to grade final exams, make up a syllabus, and write a proposal. I’m eagerly anticipating getting immersed in it so I can feel accomplished tonight, and take tomorrow to work out and visit my lovely grandparents. They’re only an hour away, but I have so much trouble getting there to visit regularly. I also think that might be a justification for my upside down priorities (work over family?  That’s definitely not how I was brought up!). I’m admitting it here so that I can take steps to change it—I love them and care about them.

What have you done to improve your habits lately? Have you noticed a difference?  Do you strategize and take a scientific approach, or do you just choose things and see what happens? (I guess there isn’t a clear cut line between those two things anyway!)

Do you have grandparents still alive? Do you see them and spend time with them?

What should I talk about on the hormone casserole topic first? Sleep/metabolism? Stress/metabolism? Or should I address each hormone individually and talk about how to balance them and what they do for you?

Hope you’re having an awesome weekend!