I am happy to say tomorrow will be our first all day outing since starting GAPS. I’m also very relieved that I’m happy and not stressed about the food/lack thereof and the prep work. I think I’m getting the hang of this! We’re going to visit Greenfield Village instead of doing our usual lunch with the moms for Mother’s Day. It’s one of my favorite places, and we can take Katie to a Day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. Win win. 🙂
Tomorrow’s food:
- roast with mashed cauliflower
- zucchini ‘noodles’ in olive oil and sea salt (I boiled mine to keep the raw veggies to a minimum)
- sliced cucumber in olive oil and sea salt
- sliced radishes in olive oil and sea salt (I see a pattern emerging here)
- hard-boiled eggs (for hubby and me)
- apple (only for a Katie emergency if I can’t get her to eat anything else and we’re trying to go home; she will not sit in her seat and has a meltdown if she’s hungry before a car ride)
- almonds (for hubby; none for me thanks!)
- ginger tea
- electrolyte drink (for me)
- avocado (i’m still debating on that one depending on the ripeness of them and my mood)
Thanks to Baden for the food inspiration. Reading her post gave me a bolt of clarity. We need A LOT of food, and we need variety.
Yesterday’s drop of egg yolk in chicken broth did not make for a happy Katie today. She was up early, didn’t eat for two hours, then wanted a dose of Colic Calm and a nap by 9:30 am. Her skin looks quite translucent and is accompanied by the dark under eye circles that screams Warning! Warning! She was a much happier girl after her nap and ate mostly hamburger with a small amount of raw or very well cooked veggies all day. No tummy bloating or gassiness like the beginning of the week. Bringing her diet back closer to intro was the key. I removed fruit and peas temporarily and she’s none too pleased but her belly’s happier. What a lovely feeling to be able to help her so much now. Her really funky eczema patch is way down to my relief, but that has given way to another issue. A cold sore. Her first one. Both sides of my family were plagued by them as children, so I will choose to see this as her body ridding itself of the virus instead of the beginning of a painful affliction. She’s oddly had some seriously chapped lips lately. I’ve been shea buttering them like crazy, but it took me until today when they look much better to figure out they were caused by a cold sore. The crazy eczema patch and the emergence of the herpes virus feels like healing signs and I’m very excited. That and Katie’s improved sleeping – going back to sleep after light sleep slightly wakes her, duration of sleep without waking, and her level of noise tolerance from non-existent to a 2/3 -. The extended length baths are also a fantastic addition. I added a small amount of bentonite clay to her bath for the first time this evening. So far, so good.
On to me. I woke up like a raving lunatic this morning. I was not pleasant to be around. Same feelings as yesterday but today they magically disappeared. Ahhhhhhh. I did have to take it super easy today though and set aside my super long list of to-dos, because I was a big to-don’t. Thank goodness for hubby as usual. I tried coffee during the middle of the day, since I didn’t really have the luxury to rest all day. That just made feel just gross. I can now joyfully replace the happy memory of a nice caffe latte with the current one. One step closer to health! I really, really craved a detox bath today but it never panned out…again. Note to self: get in at least some detox baths. I will close out on my new discovery. I feel pretty darn good when I don’t really eat much. I discovered the electrolyte drink after avidly perusing Healing Naturally by Bee today and remembering the positive effects it had on Baden. It was exactly what I’ve been looking for!!! Today, I had fried eggs in butter with sauerkraut (needed to sleep after), water with lemon, mashed avocado with two or three celery pieces (a bit of belly heaviness and discomfort with lagging tiredness after), caffe latte – milk, espresso, small amount of sugar – (felt face tingle, expansion like described with nightshade reactions but probably a histamine response to milk, and a strange pressure headache), the electrolyte drink (felt relieved, nourished, and calm after that), then chicken broth with sauerkraut juice and sea salt (same feelings after the previous drink but a greater sense of nourishment). I have found another piece to my GAPS puzzle and I hope to be that much closer to intro after including my new wonder drink in for the digestion help. Wait, it just hit me. When did I start having digestive issues??? Ah GAPS, what a love/hate relationship we are developing. Luckily, today has finished off on a love note.
4 Responses
Just wanted to say 'hi', Jennifer! Continuing to totally enjoy your posts! The electrolyte drink is magical, isn't it? (I haven't been needing them since after those particular 2-3 days.) What one did you do?Best,Baden
Hi Baden! Thanks for sticking around. I am getting very excited about gathering the 'tools' that work best for me to do intro so I have some detox already finished and will feel as wonderful as you and Justine – excepting for awful week 4 -. I tried Bee's elecrolyte drink(www.healingnaturallybybee.com) with 6 oz water, juice from 1/2 lemon, and 1/4 sea salt). I seem to crave it more than food, so I'm in a semi-fasting state which my body seems very happy with. It makes my GAPS food feel extra nourishing.
Hey Jennifer–I saw you haven't posted in a while and I was hoping things are going ok for you guys…I will have to recommend the electrolyte drink to Tu–or you can stop by her blog and tell her it worked for you. She'd love to hear from some other folks who've been wrestling with Intro.Justine
I love that there are people checking in on me, especially one I so admire. It's so lovely to have this little community that Baden has inspired to keep tabs on each other, cheer on the gains, and sympathize with the rough patches. I hope Tu has felt a welcome part of the 'team,' and knows she can always hit my blog up when she's feeling imperfect. She'll be in good company here! 😉