Days 46 to 49 - Not My Idea

It all started a few years ago when I found a dry powdered toilet bowl cleaner I liked at a farmer's market, then later at a local health food store.  I went to the store this weekend to purchase more, but the lady who formerly supplied the brand I like has stopped making it according to the store owner.  So even though it was not my idea (or something I wanted to take on right now), it appears I will be making my own toilet bowl cleaner.  I ordered the borax for it tonight, so I will post more about this later.

In GAPS news, I am continuing with Phase IV without carrot juice.  I also made my first batch of sour cream, and it is delicious!  I didn't realize how much I had missed it.  It's basically just like making yogurt, but starting with heavy whipping cream and leaving it in the yogurt maker for at least 24 hours.  I have been adding it to my scrambled eggs each morning and my soup for lunch. 

Day 45 - The Raw Deal

I was able to visit my chiropractor and undergo some testing, which determined that raw carrot juice was the problem with my allergic reaction.  We did an elimination treatment and acupuncture, and I will go back in a week for a follow-up treatment.  In the meantime, I have still been maintaining  Phase IV minus carrot juice. 

Following the morning acupuncture treatment, I had my first experience with eating out during GAPS.  The people at Local Harvest Cafe serve preservative-free organic food which is easy to customize for people with food allergies.  I was able to enjoy someone else making my eggs and ham for the first time in a couple of months!

Days 41 to 44 - Changing Things Up

I have eliminated carrot juice for 6 days now, and have also removed olive oil and butter for the last couple of days.  I plan to cut back on avocado tomorrow.  I will keep all of these items out of my meals until my allergic reactions are completely gone, and then will reintroduce them again one at a time with several days in between each one.  When I entered Phase IV the first time, I introduced some new items on the same days and others only a day or two apart.  Now that I am showing some sensitivity, I will have to slow things down.  I should mention that I did perform the skin sensitivity test on all these foods and did not have a reaction.  I also plan to go see a chiropractor on Saturday who performs NAET and other treatments for food and environmental allergies.  My hope is that she can do some muscle testing with some of these foods to see whether my brain or other organs are still having problems with some foods even if my skin has shown no reaction.

Days 38 to 40 - On the Go Again

I once again found myself packing up all my food for a weekend and heading out of town.  My husband's high school reunion was happening in his hometown, so we went to stay with my in-laws and take part in the festivities.  It was much easier this time in Phase IV than in Phase II when I was traveling previously.  Having bread I can eat as a snack makes such a difference.  I did stick to my plan to eliminate carrot juice over the weekend to see if it was causing my allergic reaction. 

Days 34 to 37 - Phase IV, The Good and The Bad

I have spent the last week thoroughly enjoying eating bread and having a few more foods in my meal plan.  However, I seem to also be having a reaction to something I introduced, although whatever it is has taken a few days to impact me.  To figure out which item is the culprit, I plan to begin backing off some of the new foods one by one to see if the symptoms (hives) subside.  Carrot juice will be the first to go, but I might end up going back to Phase III entirely for a time.

Days 32 to 33 - Bread has never tasted so good!!

I made my first batch of Phase IV bread today.  It included a bit of acorn squash with eggs, flour (homemade from sunflower seeds) and butter.  I made a double batch, so I ended up with 4 mini loaves and a medium loaf.  It does not taste like "normal" bread, but to me, it is completely delicious!  I think for non-GAPS people whose taste buds have not yet adjusted to being sugar-free, it would taste great with a little honey or jam spread on it.  For anyone whose family members are not eating the GAPS way, this would be a good item to try out on them to see if some GAPS foods could be incorporated.

Days 30 to 31 - More Natural Living

On the food front, things are still going well with entering Phase IV slowly. I have introduced olive oil into one meal per day and totally adore the fresh carrot juice first thing each morning.

To continue the natural living part of my plan, I mixed up two new items for "the bod" tonight.  First was an essential oil spray bottle of bug repellant (using doTERRA TerraShield, lemon and peppermint oils).  West Nile virus was confirmed in Illinois not far from where I live, so it was time to get my natural defenses up. No DEET for me, thank you very much... no need to poison myself to avoid getting West Nile.

The second project was making my own toothpaste, a trick I read about at www.healthextremist.com. It simply uses coconut oil, baking soda and an essential oil (I used my absolute favorite, doTERRA On Guard).  The toothpaste went very easily into a small GoToob I ordered from amazon. I had already brushed tonight, so will try my new product tomorrow morning for the first time.

Days 29 to 30 - Snore No More & Other Stuff - How To Tell If GAPS Is "Working"

In the early (first few) days of my GAPS adventure, my husband informed me that I no longer snore...granted, it was always that cute girl snoring, not sawing logs like men...but either way, I am apparently breathing a lot easier when I sleep.  I also enjoy that benefit during the daytime, due to GAPS easing my inflammation from allergies and the poor substances that used to BE my diet.

That brings me to a few other physical changes I have noticed.  People keep asking me if / how I know GAPS is working for me.  So I have compiled a list of improvements I have noticed, listed below.  Of course, this will vary for everyone based on the issues you experience before doing GAPS and your overall makeup.

• (obviously) Not snoring
• Less nasal congestion
• Fewer allergy symptoms (scratchy throat, itchy eyes, itchy skin, tiredness, headaches)
• Less achy joints (After playing volleyball and suffering from allergies my entire life, I have experienced a lot of joint pain and inflammation, as well as weak wrists and inability to grip as in when opening a jar.  All of these symptoms have improved.)
• Cleaner teeth (I have not noticed any teeth sweaters, as my husband calls them.  You would be amazed how much cleaner your teeth feel without sugar, caffeine, preservatives, etc)
• More radiant skin (fewer breakouts, other than the initial detox breakout, and firmer skin) which I attribute to a daily probiotic pill and probiotic foods throughout the day
• More energy (no more afternoon lull where I can barely keep my eyes open)
• Better digestion (everything digestion-wise just feels a lot better and more cleaned out)
• Weight loss (I have not talked much about this for a reason.  You will not hear me referring to what I am doing as the GAPS diet, but instead the GAPS plan.  The reason for doing this plan is not to lose weight, but to heal and seal your gut lining.  Losing weight usually goes hand in hand with this type of lifestyle change.  For some, like me, weight loss can occur rather quickly.  So far, I am down 23 pounds, but I truly had that many to spare and had been eating all sorts of grains, starches and sugars.  I intentionally moved to Phase III more quickly than planned to slow down the weight loss.  Other people will lose just a few and will be at their optimal weight.  Trust your body and do not invest in this plan for the wrong reasons.)

In addition to prepping for Phase IV (starting to use cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and fresh-pressed vegetable juices), I have also been learning more about DIY (do-it-yourself) natural home and body care items.  In addition to the avocado hair mask I did a few days ago, tonight I made an air freshener spray that I read about at thankyourbody.com (using my favorite dōTERRA oil, On Guard, as the main ingredient).

Days 22 to 28 - Super Free Me!

The accomplishment of being free of several substances prohibited by the Intro GAPS plan definitely gives me the feeling of being a super hero.  If someone had predicted a year ago that I would be able to avoid these items for 1 day, let alone 28 days, I would have seriously reconsidered that person's sanity.

For the last 4 weeks I have been strictly avoiding the following things in my meals:

• Sugar
• Starches
• Grains
• Preservatives
• Microwave food
• Processed food
• Fried food
• Most dairy
• Strong spices
• Caffeine

However, GAPS is not all about the food...I have always been passionate about using pure, organic products for body and home, but during the past week I simply enjoyed being in Phase III and refocused on going to the next level with the environmental factors too.  Last night, I did my first avocado hair mask for deep conditioning and preventing tangles.  It was a great success, and the recipe is below if you would like to try it at home.

AVOCADO HAIR MASK

INGREDIENTS

1 Avocado, mashed

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

DIRECTIONS

Combine all 3 ingredients in a bowl and blend until smooth

Apply to damp hair and let it soak for about 15 to 20 minutes

Rinse it out and shampoo as usual

Adapted from www.healthextremist.com

Another first for this past weekend was to try my new pan to make an herb roasted chicken with vegetables (photo included).  To begin prepping for other parts of Phase IV, I did a butter sensitivity test last night (success!) and will perform a few others with the hope of adding some new food choices in the next few days.

Mmmmm...GAPS breakfast!

Breakfast today looked & tasted so delicious that I had to share it!

Days 18 to 21 - Fantastic Phase III

For the last few days, I have been easing my way to Intro Phase III.  This includes eating avocado, yogurt, scrambled eggs cooked in ghee, pancakes (made of butternut squash, sunflower seed butter and eggs), and sauerkraut (instead of the juice only).  The pancakes are my new favorite.  Since I have not been able to have a peanut butter cookie in years, I told my husband I would pretend that's what my pancakes were.  I even made them really small like the size of a cookie to further the belief!  The other item I have truly missed is crepes, and these pancakes almost have the same consistency, so that became my other mental substitution, making them even more fun to eat.

I was out of town again this past weekend, and the increase in solid food choices made traveling much more desirable.  I was able to pop over to the in-laws and borrow a saucepan, bowl and spoon to eat my chicken and veggies for lunch.  Before driving back from Illinois, I even ate one of the pancakes chilled and it was actually really good that way too.  This includes continuing to drink broth with each meal and to eat soups and stews made of meat, broth and vegetables. 

This past week, I also purchased a roasting pan with a lid to prepare for Phase IV (when I will be able to make roasted meat with vegetables in the oven).  My other new devices are an electric coffee grinder and a battery operated flour sifter which I will use to begin making my own flour out of sunflower seeds on a regular basis.  I use sunflower seeds because I am allergic to all tree nuts and peanuts.  Almonds or other nuts would work well for those without an allergy.