Today as I write, we are now on Day 30, our last day on the Intro Diet!!! 

My sincere apologies for being behind in my updates on our GAPS Intro Diet Journey.  Last week I was caught up in weaving through learning all of the technical stuff necessary to ensure I could proceed with my very first FREE Teleseminar presentation, which I presented for the first time on Thursday, October 27.

Besides the technical aspects, I still had to finish writing my presentation, finish creating my very first Power Point presentation, and created my FREE 13-page resource document to offer as a freebie bonus to all attendees after the presentation.  Whew!!  I will be presenting the same FREE Teleseminar on three additional dates: Tues., Nov. 1,Thurs., Nov. 3, and Tues., Nov. 8 — all at 8 p.m.  Look to the right-hand side of this page to see the info for registration!

As a result, I am now needing to update everyone on our GAPS Intro Diet from Day 15 through Day 30, but since today is Day 30, and the fact that I was not good about journaling our daily experience, I’ll update in a different format today.

If you’ve arrived here and have no clue what the GAPS Diet is all about, here are my other posts that will help explain what this is all about:
GAPS Diet: What is It and Does It Work?
GAPS Diet Introduction Challenge Begins October 1
GAPS Intro Diet: Update #1

Here is what the rundown of the second half of our GAPS Intro Diet journey:

Day 15 was our last day on Stage 3 of Intro.  We’re moving on through the Intro Diet very well without any big issues. By this point on the diet, we have both lost a bit more weight, with a total of 11 lbs. lost for me, and a total of 8 lbs. lost by my husband.  That is a good thing — I’m the one with more weight to lose, and he is the one who we expect will want to gain weight back as we proceed.  This diet program/protocol does help the body to gain balance on it’s own, and the weight naturally will adjust to where it is supposed to be.  Possibly, my husband will end up at a lower weight than what he thought was a good weight for himself.

Days 16 through 20 were Stage 4 of the diet for us.  This is where I first introduced avocado into our diet, though it was allowed to be introduced in Stage 3.  I did not mash it and add to soups, as recommended, but I did mash and and top our first grilled burger with it!  This was the most delicious meal we have had so far because of the flavors that our palates have normally been used to!  I much prefer grilled meat to boiled meat, and that was the big step we got to graduate to in Stage 4.

In addition to introducing grilled/roasted meats into our diet in Stage 4, it is also recommended to add in olive oil to the meals, beginning with a few drops on the meat, eggs, or veggies (or in broth/soups) and gradually increasing up to 1-2 tablespoons.  I found myself often forgetting to add in the olive oil with each meal, but we tolerate olive oil very well.

Another addition recommended for Stage 4 is vegetable juices, beginning with carrot juice.  I have a confession to make:  I have a juicer that has been stored away high up on a shelf in my kitchen, collecting dust — it lost out in favor over my blender for smoothies over the years.  So, I did get the juicer down, but I admit that I still have not gotten it cleaned/dusted off to start juicing because it takes up so much space on my counter top, which is very limited now with the crock pots taking up residence there.  Also, the clean up is more tedious.  So, we still have not yet introduced the juices.  My goal is to get some of those going for us this week.  They are highly recommended for anyone who is experiencing severe nausea/vomiting with their detox/die-off symptoms during the Intro. Also, these are highly nutritious!

We did add in the avocado in Stage 4, and we noticed that my husband may not be tolerating it well.  I realized that it was the one factor that was possibly causing him to have belchiness after a meal when we introduced it first for dinner with that awesome burger (picture provided here below).  I did not make the connection until we had the leftovers for lunch the next day — he had belchiness again, so put the two and two together.  I made a note that we would hold off on the avocado for him and try to re-introduce in another 7-10 days or so.

Another addition in Stage 4 is that of homemade ‘bread’ made with only 4 ingredients: nut flour, eggs, squash (winter or summer, peeled and seeded), and fat (such as ghee, coconut oil, or goose/duck fat or lard).  I still have not made a bread this way, but we’ve continued with our pancakes at least several times per week, and these are made with the same ingredients.

I find it interesting that upon starting this diet, I thought I’d be very anxious to add in the breads and baked goods, but I’ve not craved these as I would normally.  Also, nut flours are not cheap!  I believe we’ll be adding in baked goods very sparingly as we move forward on this diet.  Mainly I want to come up with a couple of good wrap recipes, so we can have burritos (our favorite, but will be limited on the type of beans we can use — most beans are too difficult to digest and not allowed on the GAPS Diet) and other wraps, which are a great alternative to a sandwich.

We moved on into Stage 5 (days 21-25), which I was so happy for because we finally get to add in (one at a time) raw vegetables!!!    First we started with soft lettuce, then I added peeled/seeded cucumber, then the small grape tomatoes. We both have been tolerating the addition of raw vegetables very well!  Another great addition during Stage 5 is that of cooked/pureed apples with the addition of some ghee.  This was the greatest treat for us — this tasted so sweet and reminded me of apple pie with the addition of the buttery ghee.

Now as I write today, we are on the last day (Day 30) of Stage 6.  During Stage 6, we’ve introduced some peeled raw apple, first in small quantities.  Actually, I didn’t have my first raw apple until two days ago, and my husband was out of town — he has not had any yet!  We also can start adding in more baked goods using nut flours and dried fruits, which I’ve not yet done.  That will be this next week as we move into Full GAPS.  My dried fruit of choice is dates.

Today I shopped for nuts to make homemade grain-free granola for breakfast on some mornings.  I’ll make this with soaked/sprouted and dehydrated nuts, including almonds (I’ll slice them up), walnuts, sunflower seeds, and some pecans.  I’ll make a date syrup for the stick sweetness to hold the granola together, and will also add some chopped dates.  We’ll eat this some mornings with my homemade coconut milk — made by adding hot water to shredded coconut and blending until smooth, then straining through a cheesecloth.  I’ve never tried this before, but will do that in the next day or so.  After straining, the coconut pulp left over can be dried in the dehydrator and ground into coconut flour, which I’ll then use for some baking.  I’m not yet sure how much pulp/flour I’ll end up with, so will be learning all of that as I go.

This past week, I also made my first kefir from my raw milk.  I then strained the kefir by pouring into a cheesecloth and hanging so the liquid whey could drip into a large bowl, leaving a soft cream-cheese-like cheese (this took about 6-8 hours).  This morning I used the kefir cheese to make a topping for our first omelet.  I cooked up the breakfast sausages and broke it up much like crumbled ground beef while I cooked it in plenty of coconut oil.  I set it aside and poured the 4 eggs into my omelet pan.  I would normally also add fresh chopped cilantro and green onion to the omelet, but I decided to add those to the cheese instead.  I also added some salt and pepper to the cheese to give it a wonderful flavor.  I served up the omelets on the plates and topped them with the kefir cheese, then topped the kefir cheese with the caramelized onions (simmered over low heat in several tablespoons of ghee).  The flavor combination of this was phenomenal!  (I’ve included a picture here below).

As of today, I have now lost a total of 14 lbs!!  My husband has lost in the range of about 10 lbs. at this point.  It appears that his weight is beginning to hold steady, and mine is not dropping as quickly — about 1 lbs. every 4-5 days at this point, which is good.  I really only want to lose about 6-8 more lbs. total, and we believe my husband will start to inch back up a little at a time.

After 30 days on the GAPS Intro Diet, here are the changes that we have seen so far:

My husband was having some chronic digestive issues, and he had been dealing with ongoing chronic nausea, which would take his appetite away.  He also was having lots of bloat and belching after meals.  In addition, he was experiencing some abdominal pain and tenderness.  This had been going on for many months leading up to our starting the diet.  Since starting on the diet, his nausea is now gone, the abdominal pain has nearly completely disappeared, and he has only experienced the belching a few times, and two of those times we attributed to the fact he was not tolerating avocado.  We’ve not yet attempted the avocado with him, but likely will this next week and will watch for the same reaction.

I didn’t have any serious health issues going into starting the diet, other than the need to lose weight with a hormonal imbalance contributing to that, as well as overgrowth of Candida.  Since starting on the diet, I have lost 14 lbs. and am full of energy.  My body temperature has risen a bit, which I believe is connected to thyroid issues, with my ongoing problem (for over a decade) being indicative of hypothyroid, despite normal results upon blood test.  I have also known that my adrenal glands have been stressed since I did saliva testing a little over two years ago with very high cortisol levels revealed, as well as high estrogen and low progesterone levels.  My research has told me that before trying to balance any of the other hormones, it is essential to first balance the adrenals.  The GAPS Diet is great for balancing hormones, and I believe that is going to be my answer!

As we move forward into the Full GAPS Diet, we must remember one thing:  be patient!!!  This is not a quick fix diet, which really is not a diet, but rather it is a “programme” as Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride says.  It may be yet another 1-1/2 years (at least another year minimum) to completely heal and seal the gut.  After that has taken place, then one can consider very slowly adding in some of the better grains, such as quinoa (one of my favorites), buckwheat, and millet.

Soon I will write more about why I believe that my family is what is referred to as a ‘GAPS Family’ and what that means.  My passion is to share what this diet is doing for so many people that I have learned from who are healing themselves and their families on the GAPS Diet.

I look forward to working with my clients to educate them about the extreme importance of gut health!!! This is the “seat of the immune system”.  Did you know that nearly 80% of your immune system is in your gut?  Many may not need to go on such a difficult and challenging protocol such as the GAPS Diet or the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD — GAPS Diet is based on the principles of the SCD with some additions and changes, as perfected by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride as she has used it in her clinical practice for many years.

I’d love to hear from any of you who have experienced either of these diets, or even the Body Ecology Diet.  I’ve learned of each of these diets, and I hope to assist clients with implementing any of these into their lifestyle.

Please share this post with anyone you know who would benefit.  Also be sure to connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.  I’d love it if you would comment below and let me know if this information has been helpful.

Until next time………….

Your Partner in Health,

Tagged as: autoimmune disease, celiac disease, cultured veggies, GAPS Diet, grain-free, Health, Intro, Leaky Gut, probiotics