GAPS Intro - The Continuing Story

Well, we have made it most of the way through the GAPS intro.  I will admit I have not done everything by the book.  On stage 1, I felt like I was just working through a simple checklist.  Make this, eat this, drink this, check!  But as I progressed through stages and added more things, I just couldn't do everything.  There are just too many things to think about and have ready and eat and drink, etc...  I have been faithful to the diet - the only cheating I did was drinking the juice for communion this Sunday (a friend on GAPS makes bread for us "special" people).  But I certainly haven't had my broth with egg yolk and a fermented veggie with every single meal.  Or garlic, avocado and kraut juice in every bowl of soup.  You do what you can, right?  I started stage 5 today which is where raw veggies are added.  I made dressing with olive oil, basil and garlic and had that over butter lettuce with cucumbers.  Yum!

I still don't feel very different; my abdominal pain is still there.  But I'm going to keep at it because I know my gut needs the healing.  I also have a metallic taste in my mouth which can be a sign that the body is not getting enough carbs, that it is processing and getting rid of metals stored in it, or several other things.  I have started cooked fruit for more carbs, and if my body does have metal stored, I am thrilled to be getting rid of it!

I have also experienced what I would call "GAPS fatigue" a few times.  Making all this food is a lot of work, and on days when I don't have leftovers or a plan I feel very tired.  I just want to grab something out of my fridge and eat, but it's not there!  I like cooking, but this is just so much cooking.  On Sunday I did make a meal plan for the week with a grocery list (shopped on Sunday too), and it has helped a lot.

Felicity is doing well with the eating, but not so well with the eczema.  I have been letting her have new things sooner than I have had them just to keep her happy.  I gave her ghee for stage 2 and soon after squash pancakes for stage 3 which have whole eggs in them both in the same day or so.  A few days later, all her spots of eczema had come back.  I immediately suspected the dairy since a relative has dairy allergies also.  But after cutting dairy back out for almost a week now, the eczema is the same.  So starting today she is off eggs too, and we'll see if that helps.  If I can't figure out the cause, I think I will do as a friend suggested and take her for a specific allergy test.  Now that I have seen the eczema go almost away and come back, I am concerned that she has been eating and reacting to something.