This is an example of a meal I ate yesterday.

A few posts back I talked about my skin giving me a hard time. Well, it got way worse this week and all signs lead me to believe it is a Candida overgrowth. Some of the symptoms I have had: cracked and peeling lips, scaly peeling forehead, dark circle under one of my eyes, extreme itchiness in armpits and under breasts, sick more often than the normal person, excessive fatigue, chemical sensitivity (I can’t be around strong chemical odors), crazy sweet/bread cravings, brain fogginess sometimes, migraines sometimes. As I said in the last post, I had a bad experience with a dermatologist, which soured me to going back to one. Yesterday, an acquaintance gave me her naturopath’s card and I am considering making an appointment.

What I am doing to combat: I am on the strict version of the diet. I did not do the Cleanse because I could not imagine doing so. I started taking Candida Clear and Ultimate Flora RTS Women’s Probiotic. I already ate a ton of garlic, but now I am eating even more (much to my fiance’s chagrin). To try to kill the yeast on my face, I am now moisturizing with olive oil with a few drops of tea tree oil. Then I will rub coconut oil on my lips for added moisture. I just shampooed today adding a few drops of tea tree oil added. I am staying on my birth control pills (Desogen generic) for the time being, because I just picked up new pillbacks a month back. I will be talking to my lady doc about another option when I see her later this fall.

Basically, this has been my life since Thursday. I have finished Day 3 of the strict diet and I have been having a hard time getting the 1,880 calories I need, so I have decided that I am going to eat poultry while I am on this diet. I’ll be on it until the Candida dieoff period is over. I just hope I can make it to that happening. I have seen pictures and it is gross. Anyways, hopefully my blog will be back to its normal fun self soon. For the moment, I’ll be eating a ton of vegetables, tsatsiki, duck, and mountains of garlic. Also, I will be pretending that chia seeds soaked in almond milk is “pudding” because I am craving sweets like there is no tomorrow. I have been so good, but I do not know how long I can do this.

Other than this whole skin/diet thing, I did have a bit of a life. I went with co-workers and the founder of the company I work for to the John Howard Association Annual Meeting/Luncheon. The guest speaker last year was great, but Pete Earley was even better. He spoke about his book Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness, which he wrote about his son’s mental illness. We are going to have a book club at work to read the book because his speech was so thrilling. I got teary-eyed because there were moments in his son’s story that truly reminded me of Jeff. He explained how the system is broken in getting the mentally ill the help they so desperately need. Also of note: I went to see Angel Olsen/Cains and Abels/Mount Eerie last night at Co-Prosperity Sphere. Angel Olsen BLEW ME AWAY. She has such a unique and otherworldly voice and very feline features.

Let’s end on some really exciting news: Rhymes with Twee will have selected goods at the SMALL (Small Manufacturing Alliance) pop-up shop that will run at the Chicago Cultural Center from October 12th through January 1st. I dropped off my items to the organizer today. I am so thrilled to be a part of this! I can’t wait for the opening to see all of the other maker’s stuff. This reminds me a lot of DEPART-ment, which I miss so much. Huzzah!

Films watched 38th week of the year:

Father of Invention
Fixation*
Public Housing*
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold*

*documentary

I have only wanted to watch documentaries lately. thought I wouldn’t be into The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, but it was quite enjoyable. I found myself belly laughing a ton. Fixation is a doc about fixed gear bicycle riders. It was terrible; just terrible. Strung together with no rhyme or reason. At least it was a shortie.