3 weeks down!

Still going strong!  Skin is up and down. Bone broth consumption not where it needs to be.  But have to keep this super short.  In the middle of moving this week.  Planning to keep up the diet regardless of how stressed I get!!

2nd Week Over and things are looking up!

I completed my second week of GAPS.  So far so good.  The temptations are getting easier and easier to deal with.  Last night we went out to dinner for the first time in months.  We headed to Cracker Barrel our favorite place to eat. It's not 100% GAPS friendly as I'm sure the meat is not from grass fed cows and the veggies are not organic, but life is life and we need to make adjustments for those times when we need to travel or eat out.  So I kept to the meat and veggies and did not stray into the dairy or gluten areas.  It was hard given I LOVE LOVE LOVE their Mac and cheese! Oh and their dumplings!  But I held strong and got through it.

As for how I feel...well still tired but not exhausted like the first week.  No longer dealing tired at work... just when I get home I have little energy left for anything but getting my dinner ready and putting my feet up.  I need to start exercising soon but the fatigue at the end of the day is just too much. I think I'll do some exercising this weekend and pick just 2 days during the week like Tuesday and Thursday.   Hopefully that will be just enough to get me going and hopefully give a burst to my energy levels.

My skin continues to go through changes.  No more big sores.  Instead I'm getting tiny bumps that itch like crazy in small patches here and there.  There is no rhyme or reason to them. They are just annoying because of the itch.  Also my neck has been itching day and night.  I have no rash or eczema there nor any broken areas from scratching. It's just weird because it seems to be constant for the last 4 or 5 days and it won't stop.

I think if my skin doesn't calm down soon, I'm going to have to play around with my food.  Maybe take out ghee and fruit.  I'm not eating a lot of either, but I have a strong reaction to dairy so maybe the ghee itself is just too much for me right now.

Anyway,  that's it for now.

Beating temptation!

I think the hardest part with being on the GAPS diet AND working full time is the endless amounts of temptations at work. I'm a nurse and work in the cath lab.  Our job is very demanding and can be very stressful due to the critical nature of what we do.  With that said, food becomes a source of fuel when we are running on empty and have only 5 minutes to eat for lunch.  In other words we often grab and go.  Or we get take out paid for by the numerous drug and equipment reps.  Today pizza was ordered for us.  But thankfully they also ordered salads and chicken wings. I had a few wings and a basic salad with my own dressing I keep in the fridge.  It wasn't easy passing up the pizza but I knew when I started GAPS that this was going to happen so for weeks now I've been mentally preparing myself to just say no.  Oh...and keeping healthy snacks in my pocket keeps me from getting too hungry which helps from making the mistake of eating off the diet.  So far so good! 11 days down.  Yeah!

Week One Done!

I was too tired on Friday after work to blog, and yesterday I was super busy....you know grocery shopping and lots of COOKING!  I have had more energy the last few days than I had all week. Nothing spectacular, but I wasn't bone crushed tired.  Thursday and Friday at work were great because I no longer felt like I just wanted to sleep!  But the evenings of the last 3 days, if I sat down, I was done.  My work schedule has me up at 5 am so by 9 pm I'm ready for bed!

Food so far has been good.  I've been so hungry and thirsty the last 3 or 4 days as well.  I seem to be eating quite a bit but not worried about it.  I just eat more salad or meat or fruit.  I drink lots of good water and instead of bringing 2 regular water bottles to work, I'm now going to start bringing 1 liter bottles to work.  I haven't added anything new to my diet except cashews - which made me itch terribly last night.  So those are a no go for now.  I made some GAPS friendly muffins yesterday but they are made with almond flour.  Not sure I need to just stay away from cashews right now or all nuts.  I will take a little test sample today and see how I do.

Have been drinking more broth - just made 2 chickens yesterday in my big stock pot and added in onions, garlic, carrots, parsley, leeks, and celery.  My broth now has a green tint to it!  But I'm sure it is infused with lots of great nutrients!

Skin wise - almost all my sores are healed - just a few lingering in the end stage healing part.  My lips got super chapped 2 days ago and are quite sore.  But it has been only high of 20 degrees the last few days here so I'm sure the bitter cold has a bit to do with that.  My eczema patches are nearly gone.  I have a few on my arms and small areas on my face, but otherwise I'm still clearing up slowly but surely.

Day 6 - MUCH Better Day!

Not sure if it was just because work was busy or if the diet is starting to work, but today I did not experience any fatigue until evening time.  This is huge for me.  It felt so good to not be half asleep most of the day!

Skin is continuing to clear up....as are the sores.  Only a little itchy here and there at work but more than likely due to sweating as the temperature at work was off and super warm.

Diet wise...have been skipping the broth the last day which is not good.  But I've been having quite a few sugar and carb cravings and the broth makes me feel nauseated.  But no cheating and able to fend off the cravings with will power.  Feeling better is a HUGE motivator!!

Well that's it for now.

Day Five - Extreme Fatigue!

Still doing well food wise....eating what I'm supposed to and not cheating at all.  Skin is remarkably improved!  Sores are quickly healing with no new ones popping out.  No headaches or body aches.  But the fatigue is out of this world!!  I could just fall asleep at any point all day today and I slept over 8 hours last night. I really hope this passes soon.  According to others who have been on GAPS,  there's a few things that may be causing this.  The main one is die off from gut flora making drastic changes. If that's what it is then it should pass within the next week.  If not I will look into changing things within the diet as recommended by others.

The only other negative I'm experiencing is intense cravings for anything carb related. Fruit is not helping my cravings. I made a stuffed shells dinner for my kids and allowed them a few left over Christmas cookies. I was calling them names under my breath for eating it....even though I made all of it!!  Oy....I really hope the cravings pass soon.  The less itching and better skin are really helping to keep me on track so hopefully I can get past this and move on!

Day 4 - Back to.Work!

My first day at work on GAPS went well overall.   Slight cravings but no cheating. Felt hungry most of the day but able to offset the hunger with my banana and apple chips.  The biggest obstacle I will run into is the temptations at work. I work in a department where we get a lot of visits from drug and equipment reps who always guys us lunch.  Great....I know.  But most restaurant food is not GAPS friendly.   It will be a test of my willpower for sure.

As for my asthma....it kept getting worse.  My new insurance doesn't kick in until Feb 1st so I have to wait to see a doctor to ask for cromolyn inhaler.  I broke down at midnight and started back on my Singulair. It works so amazing for my asthma but I get horrible side effects.  I am considering going back to homeopathy for my health.  I think it would work better while I'm on GALS.  Other than my asthma, everything else is status quo.  My sores seem to be healing which is good.  My fatigue is the same...no better and no worse.  My skin seems to be improving overall.  The eczema seems to be fading. Still have hives on my feet.  But today they weren't bad at all.

My diet consists of meat,  cooked veggies, some fruit...not much, and a few cashews here and there.  Oh....and of course the broth.

Day Three - Preparing food for the week of work

I initially started GAPS over a week ago on a work day.  I lasted until lunch when I just couldn't function.  I knew the first few days were going to be bad with regards to detox so I stopped my foolishness and ate a "normal" lunch and decided to start GAPS this weekend when I had 3 days off in a row.  Much better plan!

This weekend has been very busy with food preparation.  Knowing I head back to work tomorrow has got me cooking and dehydrating. I made a whole chicken yesterday and then some more broth. Then I dehydrated some organic apples and bananas for snacks at work. Today I broiled up some grass fed steak and lamb chops.   I will next cook up some veggies to add to the meat dishes.  All these will go in the freezer so I can grab and go this week for work. I also made up some ghee as well on Saturday.   We already buy raw milk weekly and I make my own butter. I just took the butter and put it in the oven for an hour or so on 250.

As for my health...suffered horrible hives on my feet all night long.  I had been taking Benadryl on a regular basis since I was a kid.  I have a sneaky suspicion that the hives are from coming off the benadryl.  Typically my hives come and go.  They have never stayed in one area for 12 plus hours.  I broke this morning and took a Claritin.  My asthma is slightly better but still not great.  Hoping once I'm a week into GAPS that many of my allergens causing the asthma will be out of my body. It's so frustrating. I even started back on my Chinese herbs for asthma but no difference yet from yesterday.

My aches and pains are mostly gone.  Had a few muscle aches in my shoulders this morning but now they are gone. My fatigue is better. I feel able to get things done today and yesterday without lingering fatigue or having to push myself. Overall worse than yesterday but nothing like day one.  I remain very optimistic and will continue down this path full speed!

One other thing...I have noticed something bizarre about my skin.  I've developed itchy bumps that break open when I scratch.  The skin around these bumps is strong so it's not bad.  But the bumps turn into small sores that have a pink/red ring around them as if they are infected. None of them hurt or draining anything.  Must be toxins pushing to the surface and the redness is an inflammatory response to the toxins?  They are only on my skin where I have a lot of fat.  I have none on my face, neck, hands or feet.  Just an interesting observation.

Below are pictures of my apple and banana chips, my ghee, and my meaty bone broth.

Day Two - Detox in FULL Swing!

Yesterday was by far a very miserable day by evening time.  I didn't realize the extent of how much sugar and caffeine I was feeding my body on a daily basis.  I had beef bone broth, all natural, no preservative sausage, scrambled eggs (free-range, organic), a salad, and my beef and cabbage with tomato sauce dinner.  I drank clean water and at 10 pm drank some black, organic coffee (1/2 cup) to offset the horrendous headache I had.  I tried VERY hard not to take any tylenol or motrin but the coffee was not enough and I ended up taking 600 mg motrin at midnight right before bed.

Not only did I develop a severe headache, but I developed body aches all over by evening time.  I also developed over sensitivity to everything - sounds, voices, smells, touch, etc.  I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin.  Also my asthma became significantly worse which concerns me but going to give it a few days to see how it plays out.  So far today only needed 2 nebs compared to 6 or 7 yesterday.

This morning I woke up with all pain and sensitivity gone.  Just the asthma and occasional itching here and there.  Thant's it for now....off to cook some more!