As I ruminated on and stewed over why I’m diverging off the path of true intro – when I normally tend towards perfectionism -, I think something – or many somethings – must require the enzymes in raw food to heal. Much of the healing the must take place in hubby’s organs to start producing insulin and process glucose comes from raw foods, so there must be something inside me that is requiring the same. Sugar and carb cravings are pretty short-lived when they pop up (amazing with my sugar addiction). Those I avoid like the plague, but they often just require a glass of water or something to eat to disappear. Sweet. I have trouble avoiding the raw food though since we’re craving it. It just feels wrong to not eat it, so I’m definitely in a different spot that many people going through intro. Since Katie and I are so similar, and she did get her gut flora from me after all, I’m taking her on a modified version of my path. She seems to get whiny after fruit and had problems with gas all day, so I’m going to try to limit it to nonexistence for awhile. Her diet is much closer to intro than me.
“And then the witch doctor he told me what to do. He said ooh ee ooh ah ah ting tang …”
I ran out of bone broth this morning, so I’ll have to whip up another batch tomorrow using chicken feet. Those are going to be fun to process. Guess what folks? It pays to be a kooky witch doctor. Katie’s cold is GONE. Besides her chicken broth, ginger tea, and elderberry syrup that is part of my routine for illness, I put a teensy bit of my probiotic on her tongue just before bed and gave her nothing to eat or drink after. I’ve been reading about it on the Yahoo! GAPS message boards for things like ear infections and thrush, so I thought it may help. She woke feeling perfectly fine, and I can only hear a bit of congestion in her sinuses when she drinks or eats. Right on! I’ll do a steam tent if it’s not gone tomorrow. I also added the probiotic to my tongue and woke up to some crazy die off at 1:30 am. My mind was so fuzzy I could hardly figure out how to walk into the bedroom when Katie awoke again from congestion. She was sideways in my bed and hubby had the other side, so I slept in the guest room until she woke me up. There was no way I could make it back to the other bed after getting her to sleep, so I shuffled her over and hugged the edge. Did I mention we have a king bed and none of us are very big? My brain was amazingly clear this morning. Pretty crazy stuff. Plus, my vocabulary is back. It’s been strangely absent lately and has made me sad. I LOVE words. Ever see the movie Threesome with Stephen Baldwin? Kinda like Lara Flynn Boyle’s character but without the weird kinky twist.
Today was pretty uninteresting. We played and watched a bit of tv. I did dishes and made dinner while hubby and Katie played outside. Hubby’s off work for the next four days for the Easter holiday, so we’ll be working on the to do list and having some fun. SO ready for him to be home for a few days. I’m hoping to soak up a bit of culture that has sorely been lacking with a toddler in tow and praying for a visit to the DIA, our main art museum in Detroit. I am happy to proclaim that it’s one of the top six in the nation. Though strangely that reminds me to mention that anyone feeling a little stressed may want to look into buying a coloring book and a pack of crayons or grab some lying around the house. The most calm I have been is when Katie and I are coloring. I’m debating on getting a couple of coloring books that remind me of my childhood (Strawberry Shortcake anyone?) and a fistful of crayons to hole up with when I need a sanity check. 🙂
first meal: pear for Katie
second meal: boiled chicken for katie and mugs of chicken broth for both of us
treat: ginger tea with elderberry syrup (it’s nice when a cold treatment becomes a treat!)
third meal: leftover hamburger ‘soup’ for Katie (hamburger, chicken broth, peas); soft-boiled egg mashed with frozen spinach and lots of butter with my first teeny bit of saurkraut since starting GAPS for me
snack during naptime: mixed nuts and glass of raw milk for me (why can’t I stop eating them???)
fourth meal: last of hamburger soup with 2 small jarred artichoke hearts
fifth meal (dinner): turkey thigh (GAPS illegal since I pressure cooked it) with sage, rosemary and sea salt – 1st time using herbs since we started the diet -, spinach (I’m craving spinach), and broccoli for Katie and hubby; butter on my veggies and olive oil on theirs added after cooking; veggies cooked in water
last snack: apple for Katie (her belly hurts & she’s asking for Colic Calm and an apple; we’ll start with the apple) and a glass of milk and any leftover apple that may remain for me
7 Responses
Don't be afraid of the chicken feet! I don't skin them, just wash them, and put them in with the rest of the stock makings. I do that with heads too (feathers and all–I am a lazy woman!) You might want something a bit more meaty to go with the feet–backs and wings work great, and will get more mileage out of your precious feet. Or lots of bones, with bits of meat on them (leftover from roasting). I will be interested to see how a foot-only broth turns out (very gelatinous, I am sure! Yum)Justine
You are an angel to share that with me Justine. To my overwhelming relief, they're now going in the pot with nothing but a good scrub with the bones and leftover soft bits from my last two batches of broth (3 chickens worth). I never got around to pulling off the soft bits for pate this time and I read that some people are using their bones twice. I figured this is a good way to try that theory out. Plus, for some reason I'm not ready to toss them. I feel that they have some life left to give!
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I have a mandala coloring book (http://www.mandalaproject.org/) and I find it to be one of the most soothing things in the world. Did I mention I'm pushing 30?I also had a big problem stopping eating nuts when I first started the GAPS intro. I was finally able to lay off for about a week and when I ate them again, had a bad stomach pains. I never realized I had a sensitivity (even to soaked nuts) but yay GAPS for helping we figure this out. I am hoping that in a few months I can reintroduce them again.
Rufus, What a fantastic idea. The meditation of a mandala plus the soothing action of coloring? Genius! I bookmarked the site. Thanks! While in college, we were lucky to have a Buddhist monk visit us and create a sand mandala over 3 days in one of our buildings. He had many visitors throughout the day. It was wonderful to see the beauty he created with such focus and soak in the serenity. I think I have the same problem with nuts. The strange thing with me is that I hardly ever eat them normally, but I'm apparently now substituting them for sugary snacks. I'm going to keep you in mind along with my original inspiration, Starlene at http://www.gapsdietjourney.com, and quit! I'll have to send them to work with the hubby.
I get the substitution thing and I REALLY feel the need for SOMETHING during this transition. The physical cravings might have subsided but the emotional cravings and th HABIT is still there. I'm trying in vain to find a suitable 'bridge' (like methadone, no?). Here is on possible option: http://www.yolkskefirandgristle.com/2011/04/26/butterscotch-pudding/and maybe these marshmallows? I think they're intro friendly except for the coconut flour…http://thenewhuntergatherer.blogspot.com/2011/04/life-is-sweet-with-recipe.htmlIf you have anything that helps I would love to hear from you!
I posted about the pudding too! It sounds mouthwateringly delightful. And justine's marshmallows? I bet they're little pillows of heaven. I would love to have some GAPS friendly sweets around, but I think they cause more harm than good, although on second thought. It may be better to have that rather than nuts…or maybe not. There is no 'just one' with me. It's gorge until I'm sick and then wait until it subsides to binge some more, or eat everything and then get so disgusted I purge it all out of the house so I can detox. There's not usually a middle ground with me. Sound familiar? 😀 I can't imagine a life without them yet though, so I hope I can have them at least on special occasions. I make – made – quite a few allergy friendly desserts for munchkin that I adapted from traditional recipes, since I love, love, love to bake and they are only lightly sweetened with maple syrup or fruit. I'd love to incorporate those back in eventually while replacing some of the ingredients with traditional foods. Mmmm butter and eggs.