MEVY Diet, Day 10 and some canning boasting

I have had a diversion from the Skinny Bitch diet plan. SB is a good plan, don't get me wrong, but it does not take in to account several other things, namely, some ongoing health problems experienced by both myself and the husband.
I won't go into details about these health problems except to say that extreme itchiness on every inch of my body every moment of every day for about the past seven years tends to force one to try to find solutions to this problem. (Especially after seeing at least 5 different MD's about the issue only to be told that "some people just have this.")
Ok. But I didn't have this one day, and then I did have this the next day, and the onset of said problem roughly corresponds to when I got married. And the husband has had this problem even longer than I. This problem among others.
Needless to say, this has led us for many years to do our own research on the subject. The overarching conclusion of this research seemed to point toward the fact that we both had systematic yeast issues. Kind of like a whole body yeast infection. Gross, gross, gross.
And, in order to deal with this infection, you have to go on a very, very restrictive eating plan for an extended period of time.
We dealt with this knowledge by opening up another bottle of wine. :-)
Until recently. The problems have gotten extremely bad.
Enter our new pastor at our church who also happens to be a Naturopathic Doctor. (Yay!!!!)
Within about 15 minutes of our first serious conversation with the guy, he starts doing some initial testing on us, and guess what? Yeast problems. Bad.
Apparently, this is caused by lifestyle choices (like a steady diet of Mountain Dew, cigarettes, beer, and convenience store food for several consecutive years) and can be passed between people (like when people get married and have sex). Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......
After some more serious consultation, it was decided that husband and I would go on a supplement-induced, diet-aided major yeast cleanse. So, we finally got on the MEVY wagon, the one thing we have been dreading to do for years.
MEVY. Stands for Meat, Eggs, Vegetables, and Yogurt. The four things you can eat for an extended period of time. Sometimes this can last six-12 months. So, no sugar. No vinegar. No fruit except for watermelon and cantaloupe, no grains of any kind, no potatoes, no corn, no milk, and worst of all, no wine or any kind of alcoholic beverages.
For two Foodies--this diet is a total and complete joy killer.
We have been doing the diet for 10 days so far. Evidently, the first two weeks are when the highest amount of yeast kill-off occurs. This means that symptoms will worsen before they get better as the body is being flooded with the toxins of all of the dying yeast (Yeah--die you sons of bitches!!!) There is a name for this, but I can't think of what it is because my mind is extremely cloudy--one of the primary symptoms of systematic yeast problems, and one of the worst symptoms of the yeast die off. The other thing I have noticed is EXTREME muscle fatigue and weakness. In addition to this, I feel like I could pretty much sleep all of the time. I feel like I am living in 2-3 G's.
However, I don't feel entirely deprived. I am finding substitutes for a lot of things. Instead of wheat flour, tonight I made muffins with garbanzo bean flour. Not the best in the world, but better than nothing. And even though the symptoms overall are worse, I can also feel that I am starting to get better. I can feel that things are healing. And I am excited about the prospect of finally getting ahead of this problem and getting healthy.
An added bonus of the consultation with our ND was, for me, the discovery that my adrenals are totally shot. Well, I could have told him that, but he figured it out on his own. To help remedy this situation, he has me on a mega dose of vitamin B-5. This is my new drug of choice, I tell you. I actually do not miss wine that much, as the B-5 makes me feel about as mellow. I feel like my body is *finally* getting what it has been starving for since the onset of clinical anxiety problems a few years ago. Relief.
Relief is sweet.
I am extremely thankful for finding answers (finally) and for the fact that my husband is also doing this torturous elimination diet with me. Without him, this would be utterly depressing.
So, in order to distract myself from all of the things I can't eat and drink, I have been trying to be productive.
I have been canning. A lot. Perhaps obsessively. Rosehip jelly. Wild plum jelly. Crapapple jelly, butter, and sauce. V-4 juice. Tomato soup. Emeril pickles. Dill pickles. Earlier this summer it was peach butter. Brandied peaches. Canned peaches (in several different types of syrup). Etc. Etc.
I have also been knitting again. Late summer, with the cool evenings, causes one to wish for a bunch of yarn and a satisfying project. I have been making baby booties for several new offspring in our circle of friends.
And, Willie Green and myself have been dabbling in mead making...to the tune of 3 5-gallon buckets of different flavors currently effervescing in the basement. Soon, the lilac wine from earlier this spring will ready to bottle.
And then will come the canning and freezing of squash and pumpkins.
I *should* be working on my disquisition. But until harvest is over, and until all of this canning and freezing and brewing finds jars and bags and bottles nestled in to the root cellar for the winter, there isn't going to be one iota of writing done on that project.
As they say, I must make hay while the sun shines, and for now, the sun shines on my water bath canner.