Day 15 Intro

Today we enter the third week of our GAPS journey and I do feel we are turning a corner. Master 11 is looking so much better every day, the big dark circles he has always had under his eyes are virtually gone and he had a better day today. His mood was much more moderate today.

I had a call with a GAPS practitioner and speaking to Arija and Master 11s improvement have made me feel much better about it all. GAPS is a hell of a lot of effort and work and research and has made me really feel the weight of being a single mum and having to do everything. I am blessed with 2 great and helpful boys though.

After todays talk with Arija we have figured out we have sluggish bile production and we need to increase fat to increase bile production so we are adding organic butter, we also have low stomach acid and need to focus on minerals to build that up with Himalayan pink salt, sauerkraut and sauerkraut juice. Food wise we are going to be sticking to poached chicken ( in chicken broth) and steamed veg- carrots, zucchini, broccoli and cauli. for a few days then we will add in some poached fish and coconut oil. I am going to be adding are Great Lakes Gelatin  so I will need to learn how to cook with this in jellies and gels but it can also be added to soups and casseroles. To help remedy our mineral deficiencies we need to start using Lugol's Iodine  and add Magnesium and start detox foot baths using epson salts, magnesium chloride, borax or bicarb soda. Overall I am feeling more positive about the whole GAPS journey now.

I also had an appointment with my GP to get a painful lump in my breasts checked out and need to wait a week until I can have a mammogram and an ultrasound - I am so over stress. Now I have more stupid worries in my head, I am a single mum and have very little support. I live quite remotely and have 2 dependant children and lots of dependant animals- I cant get sick!  I am trying to tell myself not to worry I will find out soon enough and if it is cancer I will be able to worry then, so the strategy is keep busy and try not to think about it and I suppose I should be thankful I have GAPS and all of its challenges to keep my mind occupied. 

Day 13 Intro

Yesterday (13) was a real challenge, Master 11 was in crisis he hates the food, he still has to go to the toilet all the time, my poor child I really feel for him and it is upsetting for all of us when he is so distraught. We have taken him back to stage 1 because he is so sick again. He had a big talk to me and said he is always hungry and the stock is makings him want to vomit. He wants to defor GAPS and eat normally for a while- maybe- he also knows how important it is and desperately wants to heal. In the end I took him back to a safe food and he devoured a pot of meatballs and was much happier.

I am pretty stressed about things and the cooking and cleaning is overwhelming and the food is disappointing considering all the effort and the lack of appreciation from the boys they ddon't like the food, we have had a few winners so I will make them again this week - the stuffed peppers ( capsicums) were the best so far and I have saved the bottoms off 3 butternut pumpkins to stuff them with the same mix and try them once Mr 11 can tolerate more veggies.

I discovered a cook book The Heal Your Gut Cookbook: Nutrient-Dense Recipes for Intestinal Health Using the Gaps Diet (Paperback) I have ordered it but it is still a month away on pre order. I watched  (  the sound was awful) video from the authors on you tube being interviewed by Dr Mercola and I am hoping we will still be able to be doing GAPS by then and that it eases the strain here.

I also contacted a local (ish) GAPS practitioner in Lismore, 2 hours away and we start seeing her on Thursday via telephone at this stage- another strategy for support for me I really am feeling the need for support right now.

And its another beautiful day I better get back into the kitchen and start my chores.

Day 12 Intro

The time is passing quickly 

and having the blog is quite good to help me keep track of how we are going, 

My little one is really struggling. He has always been such a good eater and tries everything and will eat anything, unfortunately he does not like any of the foods we are eating and he is sick of trying them. He is not feeling any different either, not seeing any improvement for all his effort,t I can see he is looking much better,but he is not feeling any better and is quite emotional and frustrated and thinking about apples and water kefir all the time.

This way of eating is suiting me really well and I am feeling better and better each day. My digestive system has not been this good for longer than I can remember and going to the toilet is amazing- sorry TMI but I have had toilet issues for a very long time and I thought I would be constipated eating this way and I am great - better than ever. However the kitchen time is difficult, I need to be super organised and I seem to spend many hours every day working in the kitchen, I am lucky I am home with the kids, home schooling and not trying to work a regular job.

I have been lactose intolerant for years and tried a little bit of yoghurt tonight on the stuffed peppers from the gaps book- delicious, I hope it agrees with me because I agree with it.  

Today was a much needed (by me) home day and I made my first ever mosaic using recycled tiles and dining plates. It was nice to just do my own thing and be out of the kitchen for a bit.

Day 8 Intro stage 1

Well we are still riding this roller coaster,
Day 8 and we have been all over the place emotionally and physically.

Yesterday Master 11 felt achy and shaky all day after a really rough night. He does not like the food at all and is totally opposed to anything with broth or stock in it. He will eat it, slowly and painstakingly when I do finally get him to sit but he is far from eager and is not enjoying any of it. He is also not eating his meals at all if he can get out of it and yesterday I had to go into town and leave him here with his brother he ate a frozen strawberry instead of his soup for lunch.  He wants to get all this healing over and done with right now and wants to know how many days for everything.

On the plus side for him his allergic shiners ( bags under his eyes) that he has always had are definitely lightening and shrinking I can see no other health improvements for him yet, For me I am amazed at the improvement in my skin- it had been so thin and dry and papery and now it feels like I have just put on moisturiser, it is so improved, even in my really dry places- my elbows and soles of my feet I can see a dramatic improvement. I can also see a real change in my hair, it too is feeling so nourished and soft. My 6 day headache has finally gone and body is amazing me, when I do work that would just last week have left me sore and acing for days I am having no issues at all.

We are both dealing with some fairly major ongoing emotional stuff before and during this week and the extra drama of the diet is not really helping either of us in that arena just yet.  We are both quite emotionally unstable, teary, overwhelmed and cranky. I am hoping we can move on to stage 2 very soon but Master 11 still needs more healing before we can.

Day 3 GAPS Intro

We are still in stage 1 

- I feel ok today to go onto stage 2 but Master 11 who started stage 2 yesterday has had a set back so we will both stay on stage 1 for a bit longer.

We have spent the last 2 days at home and that certainly makes eating this way much easier and I am very thankful we home school so I can prepare hot meals for my son and myself when ever we need them. Neither of us are hungry. we are finding the big cooked breakfast lasts us until way past lunch time, the fat is very sustaining.

Master 15 is struggling with the food with no taste but Master 11 and I are over that and are enjoying the flavours of our simple foods and using a bit less salt as well. We seemed to need a lot on day 1 and 2.

We are both having cravings for fruit and Master 11 is craving pastry and pasty and I am feeling really tired and missing my morning coffee, oh and a glass of wine at night as well.

Day 2 GAPS Intro

We are still on stage 1 here.
Master 11 chose not to eat very much at all yesterday and still had digestive issues. This morning though he had his meat balls for breakfast with me and we are about to have cauliflower soup with chicken. He is also enjoying the ginger tea with raw honey. Emotionally he is very up and down but feeling quite positive about the diet, just wishing he could eat more variety.

I am feeling a little better, my head ache is easing and I started at the gym today. We are also going out for the afternoon after we fill up on soup and I have a beef pot roast in the other slow cooker for dinner so when we get home I am hoping dinner will be close to ready.

This afternoon I will be reading the GAPS book at the skate park while the boys burn off some energy then we are going for a rainforest walk with the dogs.

GAPS Intro Day 1

We filled our chest freezer yesterday with lovely organic beef and chicken. I bought a side of beef and 4 chickens, we picked them up last night and when we got home I put a chicken into one slow cooker for chicken stock and filled another with beef bones to make bone broth.

The chicken stock was ready last night and I left the bone broth simmering all night and will keep it going for 48 hours, then I will strain it off and make a second batch of bone broth from the same bones. The only thing I have added to these are salt and pepper and a dash of apple cider vinegar.

Breakfast this morning was rissoles- meat balls made of 2kg of beef mince mixed with salt and pepper and  a finely diced onion, some garlic and a grated carrot. I cooked them in a pan half filled with simmering bone broth into the broth I also added 3 sliced carrots, cloves of garlic and 3 onions. Once all the rissoles were cooked the remaining broth and veggies were blended up into a sauce.

We have also had cups of the bone broth 

and added some juice from the cultured ginger carrots. 

It was ok - we are struggling with the fattiness of the stocks and the meatballs we normally eat what I thought was a healthy diet using lean meats. I am also struggling with the fattiness of the cooking utensils when I am trying to clean them and worried about my septic system- That might be my next research project.

Its almost lunch time here, I have a pounding headache and have just finished kitchen work for the morning, I was planning on making broccoli and chicken soup for lunch but we both feel a bit sick and there are leftover meat balls and bone broth bubbling away so we have decided we will continue with them for now if we are hungry and have soup for dinner.