GAPS Update: Day 5

Hello, world. 

This will be a short update tonight, as there isn't much to tell. It went about the same as the previous days. I cut up 3 of the 5 butternut squashes that I bought yesterday. They are resting comfortably in my freezer, along with all the broccoli I chopped yesterday. I still have carrots and cauliflower to cut up, but I'm not too worried about it.

We went to my parent's house for our hebdomadally (there's your word of the day: it means "weekly" and it has a red squiggly line under it, but I promise it's spelled correctly) get together with the fam. Jon and I ate boiled burgers with a pureed carrot and cauliflower sauce, cooked carrots, and soup. I didn't even cheat! (By the way, I'm really proud of myself for how well I've been doing. I know God must be helping me, because I could never have done this before!)

Tomorrow (and Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday) are work days... a little nervous about that... but with God's help it will be fine. I just need to bring lots of food. I mean, Lots. Of. Food. *Sigh* At least I get to eat on this diet...

So, I have amazing news for you all! As you know, I weighed myself Wednesday when we started the diet, but we usually weigh ourselves on Sunday, so I weight myself again today. I lost .2 pounds shy of 5 pounds in ~4 days. (I weighed myself this morning.) CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? FIVE POUNDS. I haven't lost weight in a long time! I'm very happy. Maybe that will help me stay on target this week! I was lying in bed last night, thinking, "I can't get my hopes up. 1.5 lbs a week is my goal, and I'll be happy if it's only that much." But wow! I blew that out of the water! So happy.

I hope you all are 1/19th as happy as me about that, because then the world would be a happier place! (Yes, I know, I'm a dork. A crazy dork. But you still love me. ...right?...)

Now go to bed, you crazy people! It's late!

GAPS Update: Day 4

I love a good farmer's market.

My sister and I went to our local farmer's market today and I spent 40 bucks! Do you know how much you can get for $40?

A cabbage: 

5 Butternut squashes:

 Something like 9 heads of broccoli:

 What must be close to 5lbs of carrots:

 A bunch of dill:

 Some Sage (this smells so good!):

 Some parsley:

 And a pie pumpkin!:

 That's all of this! (not pictured: Pie Pumpkin):

Can you believe it? That's a TON of food. Oh. And I didn't get a picture of the cauliflower. But you can see it there all snuggly with the broccoli and sage. I got 3 heads of cauliflower. I hope this will last us until next weekend! Haha. When that, broth, and boiled meat is all you can eat though, you go through it quick.

Today was pretty good. I was weak and tired this morning, and I didn't want to go to the farmer's market, but we needed the food.  After I got back I spend several hours chopping carrots, making soup and cooking carrots, and chopping and bagging broccoli. I didn't get to the cauliflower before my friend Andrea came over for a visit. Tomorrow I'd like to get the cauliflower and squash chopped and in the freezer. I need to figure out how to eat the pumpkin... I guess we'll see what happens. The cabbage is for sauerkraut; we can't actually eat it yet. (Next stage we can have that and the herbs though.)

I did feel like this, all day today, though:

My menstrual cramps are really bad. I thought no sugar = more mild cramping, but nope... just as bad as usual. Only I don't want to take pain meds because I've been reading in my Gut and Psychology book and those wreak havoc on your gut. So, that's been fun. (Note: this picture is not mine. I found it at Agent 3Z via Pinterest.)

I haven't cheated. Even though I was offered a cheese curd and I'm craving oreos. I know if I give in I'll just crave them longer. Did you know there is no milk in them? That just is wrong, since they have the cream in the middle. But they taste ssssooooo good. Okay. Enough ranting. I can't have them, and that is that. (Where did all this self control come from?)

I have no clue when we'll be moving to the next stage... bowel movements are supposed to be your indicator, and I haven't had much of a problem in that regard, but I also don't want to move too quickly... So, we'll see.

Anyway. That's my day. Fun, huh?

GAPS Update: Day 3

You know you're on the GAPS diet when you're deboning a chicken at 10 pm. I wish I had a picture.

Yes, ladies and gents, I got to debone a chicken last night. Thankfully it took all of 10 minutes. Then I was off to bed.

Apparently, mid-day is the hardest for me. I'm hungry and I get really tired and weak, and my muscles feel heavy and like I can't use them. Today I could barely stand; my legs felt like jelly and were shaky. I feel pretty good in the morning and evening, though.

Today was good! I went and bought some chickens for stock (couldn't get the feet... dang it! Who buys just chicken feet? I guess I'll have to... since I'm going to be making some calls next week about me getting some!)

I noticed that when I get really hungry is the worst for me, in terms of wanting to cheat. I did well today, though, and was able to stand fast! I know that if I cheat, it will just take longer for me to get healthy. And my cravings aren't bad at all, I just want to eat when I'm hungry. And I get hungry FAST. Like, I'll be fine one minute, the next I'm starving. So I need to come up with some snack ideas I can take with me when I go out. Mashed carrots would be good; they're delectable cold or warm. Or even some cooked, unmashed carrots could work. I'll have to think about that.

Tomorrow is officially Farmer's Market Day. I'm going to buy out every single vendor and spend all weekend figuring out where to put all that food. Our freezer is not very big.

I found out there's a farmer's market all winter long, too! And indoors, so we don't freeze our butts off! I will definitely be checking that out, too. I'm not sure what they would sell in the winter...

Jon said he felt pretty good today, to. I'm actually surprised at how good we're feeling, considering. I may need to plan some mid-day naps, though, as my body heals. I'm assuming that being unable to move is my body's way of telling me to rest and heal.

So that's it. Boring update. But I guess that's good. I'll post some recipes soon. They're all pretty straightforward, though... "Cook [squash, carrots, onion, cauliflower, broccoli or meat] in stock until very tender. Puree, mash, or leave whole as desired. Salt. Consume." Yeah. Sounds great, right? Ah, the things we do to heal our bodies! But you wait. I'm gonna be healthier than 90% of ya'll! Just you wait [Henry Higgins]!

GAPS Update: Day 2

I'm so hungry seemed to be my mantra of the day.

Well, that and I have to pee. Because, as you should know, I always have to pee.

I worked today, so I had soup for breakfast and brought some (a lot) of mashed carrots, a cooked onion, more soup, broccoli, and broth to work today. And I was still hungry. I guess, to be fair, I couldn't eat the whole onion... something about sitting down to a bowl of an onion and broth just isn't all that appetizing. So I tried putting it in my soup. That will be better. I thought. More variety. I like onion in soup. Yeah. There was one piece of carrot, a few scraps of meat, and like two pieces of pepper in my soup. The rest was onion. Even before I added the onion. So that didn't go over so well. But I choked down as much as I could and was hungry. All. Day. Long. Planning for work is going to need some... well... work.

Also, I cheated a bit today. No, wait, no quantifiers. Cheating is cheating. Period. I had like 6 baked chips and a vanilla wafer cookie. They were sooo good. I wanted something crunchy after mush. I'm going to have to get used to mush though... that will be a large part of my diet for a while. Tonight we're having burgers, though! With a carrot-cauliflower puree on it. Sounds good to me. Speaking of which... *Goes to check on the food*

Okay, I'm back. Food is done. It looks like mustard. The puree. Tastes good, though.

So, over all today I had pretty good energy and was in a pretty good mood. I did get tired and irritable in the middle of the day, but was able to regroup while the kids were napping and had a better time in the afternoon. Jon didn't have to do a whole lot today and he said he felt really good all day. Huzzah!

I still feel really overwhelmed today. I have so much to do. The food requires quite a bit of preparation, and we go through at lot of it, because it's so easily digestible and we get hungry quickly. Then there's the cleanup and planning food for work and everything... Plus we're almost out of acceptable food already, and I was just at the farmer's market... I'm going to go to the farmer's market again this weekend and just buy them all out, then spend the next couple days chopping, freezing, and making food. Maybe that will help my stress levels. I hope so!

All in all, a good start, I think. I'm sure it will get worse before it gets better, but I can't wait to feel better!

Soup Recipe and GAPS Update

Earlier today I promised a soup post. I really don't want to do it. Haha. But a promise is a promise, so here goes.

 I first made some beef stock that gelled marvelously! I don't have a picture of the beef, but here's a picture of venison stock:

So, then I took my filtered beef stock and added carrots, an onion, a red pepper, a bit of broccoli, and meat from the stock. Then I let it simmer until the veggies were soft and added some salt. It was really good!

Breakfast and lunch on Day 1 of GAPS

I added some sauerkraut juice (probiotics) and some crushed garlic to my soup. (Jon should have, too, but I didn't realize it until later.)

(I don't know why all the pictures turned out reddish. It was night time, and I had bad lighting. But the soup was not red at all. Very nice brownish color.)

We had butternut squash soup (pureed) with boiled broccoli and a bit of venison. Pretty decent dinner. All the food has to be "well boiled" and very soft, so it's all the same texture, but flavors are varied and some are really liquidy while some are more solid.


I was doing really well this morning, feeling really good. My sister and I went to the farmer's market and got lots of broccoli, squash, onions, carrots, leeks, and an acorn squash (never had one before... wanted to give it a try). Then we went to Weaver's, a store in the area, and I got some cauliflower. We got back around 2, and by 2:30 I was feeling really tired and my muscles were heavy. I was surprised that it's already affecting me.  I have no energy, I'm suddenly overwhelmed with everything I need to get done, and I'm just... tired. I still feel good about the diet as a whole, I think. The food is pretty varied and tastes good, but it is a lot of work and requires a lot of preparation. With work and other household chores, that seems daunting. Hopefully I'll find a rhythm soon.

HOLY COW DO WE GO THROUGH STOCK. Wow. I think I'll be making stock 4 or 5 nights a week for a while. Anyone want to give me some meat bones?  We go through so many! I do have two chickens, and some more beef bones though, so that should make 3 more pots of stock. Then I'll have to buy more meat and bones. Maybe I should call around to a few butcher shops, see if they have any extras they want to give to me...

Please pray for me for tomorrow. I will be working all day, and they have LOTS of JUNK FOOD in their house that will be calling my name loudly and incessantly. I'll have to make sure I have a lot of good food available to eat. Which is going to be hard, because I'm going to have to make it tonight, and it's already after 7. *Sigh* Did I mention I'm tired?

Jon's had a rough day, too. He does hard physical labor, and by mid morning he was really tired, had no energy, felt weak, etc. So we'll have to figure out a way for him to get more food more often, with as many [veggie] carbs as possible. Another learning curve for us.

So, over all I'm still pretty optimistic about this whole endeavor. But I was so not ready for it--no food made in advance (except stock), I haven't been able to read much in the book, and I didn't expect it to hit me this fast. But we'll figure it out. I should have expected few rough days in the beginning. I'll be sure to do more updates and post more recipes.

There you have it. How my day went. Hope yours went well, and please try to remember to pray for us tomorrow!

Getting Ready for GAPS

Pretty colors at Hoffman Hills

Frustrated. Irritated. Mad. I'm not sure irate would be too far. Okay, yes it would, if only just a little. I bought Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride ON SEPTEMBER NINETEENTH. I got an email on the TWENTY-EIGHTH saying that it had been received on the TWENTY-FIFTH in NEW JERSEY. I have still not received the book! Maybe irate is a good word here. WHERE IS MY BOOK!? I wanted to read it before we start, but now I don't know if that will actually happen or not. Bah-humbug.

We have decided to go ahead and start the GAPS diet this Wednesday, October 3rd. I plan on taking a pregnancy test that morning, and if it's negative will go ahead with the diet. Tomorrow I am going to go through our food stores and get rid of everything we can't have. EVERYTHING. We will have bare-bones cupboards. I've already been working on using up what we have already. (Plus we ran out of food money for the month... no comments on how much of a pig I am. [Except that one.])

My camera is zoomed in all the way here. That farm was waaay far away.

SO. I am frustrated. I'm scared. I'm so looking forward to this. I know it's going to be hard. I know I'll be grumpy. Irritable. Heck, I'll be a witch with a capital B (bwitch. bahaha. I'm so clever). But I want to be healthy. I want to lose weight and get in shape. And I KNOW this is going to be beneficial for both Jon and me.

Jon at the top of the tower using our binoculars.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention this! (And I totally forgot to take pictures... AGAIN. Maybe I won't ever learn...) I made beef stock! It smells good. Haven't tasted it yet. But I will need to make a LOT more. And I'm not sure where I'll get all the meat! I plan to get some chickens (Knelly!) and make some chicken broth, too. We'll need to stock up on veggies. Bam. Our food for the rest of eternity (just kidding. Kind of. Mostly.)

My ham of a husband, "whom I absolutely adore!"

From the top of the tower on the top of the hill.

You can see why I need to lose weight!

Okay. There you are. and in parting, these are the pictures I took when Jon and I went to Hoffman Hills (a county park) and walked through the gorgeous woods and up murderous, 174 degree hills (lies and propaganda. They weren't that bad. But I'm out of shape and it was hard! My calves are so stiff today!)

All Is Going To Change (Come October)

This last weekend was sad. Dearest Elaine, my cousins real grandmother, and my "adopted" grandmother, passed away on Saturday, the 15th of September. Only in her 70's, she was quite young, but she had so many health problems it's a relief she's not suffering anymore. Her passing is made much more bearable by the fact that Grom, as we liked to call her, loved Jesus so much, there is now no doubt where her eternal soul came to rest--in the bosom of her beloved Savior.  Grom, you will be missed. 

But that wasn't the only thing that made the weekend sad. At least, not for me. 

To start off, you should know that this month Jon and I are trying the Sperm Meets Egg Plan. 

Sunday night I made a big decision, and was in mourning Monday. (Today I feel better about it, but it will still be difficult.) Sunday night I was praying to God. I told God that we would continue to try to get pregnant this month, but that if we didn't, I would take it as a sign that I need to lose weight first. Meaning that after this month of trying to get pregnant, if we are unsuccessful,  attempting to achieve pregnancy will be put on the back burner for a while while I lose weight.

I have long been overweight and sick of it, but it's gotten to the point where I need to do something about it, not only for myself (eczema, embarrassed to be in public, feeling distinctly unattractive, etc) , but for my husband and future children as well. Hence, we will be starting the GAPS intro diet in October (if I don't get pregnant this month). The goal of this diet is to cleanse out our innards; to heal our bodies; to gain health; and for me, to lose weight. Once we complete the intro diet, we will move on to the full GAPS diet, and go from there. I don't know how long it will take us to heal our bodies. But I am committed, despite the Holiday Season coming up, that I will do this, that I NEED to do this. And it's now or never. 

SO. My plan is to lose at least 80 pounds, then wait 6 months, before we try to get pregnant after this month. I am anticipating that it will be at least 18 months, then, when we can start trying again. I am giving myself a year to lose the weight (that's only 1.5 lbs a week! Doesn't sound so bad, then! And I'm thinking I'll probably lose quite a bit right at first) and then I want to wait the 6 months after losing the weight to allow all the toxins to be flushed out of my body. (Note: if I lose more than 80 lbs, I wouldn't mind... wow, I'm fat! But that is ALL GOING TO CHANGE.)

This was a surprisingly easy decision to make on Sunday, but I was really depressed Monday, thinking that I will have to wait so very long for my dream of a family. But then I realized: I'm still working toward achieving that dream! I could sit here, over weight, trying (in vain, more than likely, as I believe my weight is what is hindering pregnancy) to get pregnant each month and then being depressed it doesn't happen, OR I can do something about it! It won't be easy, but I feel good about having a plan and knowing that this has so many AWESOME repercussions. Not only will I start to feel better about myself, but healing your gut helps with anxiety, depression, IBS, and moodiness (all of which we both suffer from) , as well as joint pain, eczema, food allergies and intolerance, and increasing energy levels. It can also minimize the symptoms of autoimmune diseases (which Jon has not been diagnosed with, but his mother has, and he has many of the same symptoms as she does).  

I am not looking forward to going grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, but I know this is what I need to do. I doubt it will be permanent. I like my rice and bread, my cheese, and cookies, cake, cupcakes, cheesecake, brownies, pies, and bars way way WAY too much. But for now, that's where we are. I will do updates weekly on how I'm doing weight-wise (we weigh ourselves Sunday morning, so it will probably Sunday that I update) .

I AM USING THIS BLOG AS MY ACCOUNTABILITY.

 ENCOURAGEMENT ENCOURAGED. 

Please pray for us.