Monday, September 3, 2012

Broth, Bath and Beyond

I debated for awhile about whether I wanted to just try out the full GAPS diet or if I wanted to go for it and start with the intro, which is SUPER restrictive.  What ultimately made me decide on the intro was that when I looked at the John Kender diet (which is supposed to help with hair-pulling), there were some things allowed on full GAPS that weren't allowed on the Kender diet.  If I did the intro though, I'd basically be trying both diets at once, plus I just wanted to find out right away if it would work or not vs. taking months to ease into it.  

So I said goodbye to any cooking method but boiling, and started eating vegetable and meat mush.  I bought Cara's ebook to make it easy for me to see what I should be eating and to give me ideas.  I realized I probably should have gone off caffeine before starting the diet, but I don't want to kill myself so I'm weaning off of it as I go through the first week.

My breakfast the first day (Friday) was surprisingly flavorful.

Butternut squash soup, half strength coffee
 Then Charlotte and I headed down to pick up our CSA box for the week.  I was hoping to get some GAPS-friendly veggies, but it looks like Will'll have to eat quite a few veggies himself this week.


Charlotte visiting the birds
 Then, on the way home we stopped by Hedgeapple Farm to get some yummy grass-fed organic beef.  Now THAT I'm allowed to eat!



It was weird, as I went through the day I never really felt super-hungry, but I also never really felt fully satisfied.  I think my body is pretty dependent on carbs to feel full, so it'll be interesting to see how I do with only carbs from starchy veggies.  

I just cooked up all the foods for the day and nibbled whenever I was hungry.  The unappetizing-ness of the food made sure I never ate too much :-)

Dinner:

Boiled broccoli, boiled onions, boiled chicken, broth

I was surprised that I felt like I had enough energy all day.  I even summoned the energy to go for a jog that night.  I ran 2.47 miles (I have a 5K coming up in November and I HAVE NOT run much recently!) and left Maxx in the dust :-)  I didn't even feel like snacking at night either, which is weird for me.

Day 2 breakfast:

Broth, boiled hamburger, cauliflower and carrot soup
 It was right about now that I started wondering if I would be able to stand this diet.  Since everything is either broth or cooked in broth, it all tastes pretty much the same and I was getting quite sick of that taste.  I started pre-preparing some food for day 3, and I questioned my decision even more.

Oh God...
 I told myself that I would soon be adding different flavors, and I was, after all, feeling pretty good.  Dinner was....more of the same flavors!

Leek onion soup, boiled chuck roast, butternut squash

And so was breakfast on day 3.

Broth, 1/4 strength coffee, boiled carrots, boiled cauliflower, boiled hamburger
 It's helpful for me to get out of the house, so we did what is becoming our Sunday tradition.  Dog park and playground while Will works out.

The line at the water fountain


So many cute dogs!
After I had exhausted Maxx, I came back over to help watch the girls while Will, Brad and Kim made everyone on the playground wonder what the heck was going on with their functional workout.


Maxx is MUCH less naughty when he's worn out, and the dog park always does the trick.


AND THEN!  For the first time in 2.5 days it was time for something that doesn't taste like broth!

Sauerkraut juice!

Will totally didn't believe me when I told him I was truly excited to drink sauerkraut juice, but I had him take pictures to prove it.

Ridiculously excited about sauerkraut!!!
Just a teaspoon at first
The anticipation is building...
Slurp
Mmmmm?

My favorite part BY FAR about the GAPS diet is compulsory detox baths every night :-)  I've never been a big bath person (in fact, I've used my bathtub MAYBE twice since we moved in 4 years ago) but I have really been enjoying them now.  I put my cell phone on the Pandora spa music station, and relax.  It's great!



Even if my bath buddy does occasionally tries to drink the bath water while I'm relaxing.


It has been far from enjoyable so far, but I haven't had a problem sticking to it yet.  I'm pretty sure I have the Prozac to thank for that, knowing my history :-)  It wasn't even that difficult drinking only water when we went out to lunch at the Roasthouse Pub with Will's family today, I just busied myself wrangling crazy girls and didn't even really miss the food because I wouldn't have had much time to eat anyway between all the bathroom runs and taking girls outside when they got too rowdy.  Well, there was ONE difficult part.  They had Southern Tier Pumpking on tap :*(  My favorite beer, and I haven't had it in almost a year!  Will ordered a case though, so there will definitely still be some for me to drink when I'm finished with GAPS.

The toughest thing so far has been remembering not to take bites of the fruits or veggies we always have laying around in our kitchen, either because the girls have only eaten half of their apple or because Will only needed part of a carrot in his lunch.  I am used to considering most fruits and veggies (and tea and my Zevia sodas) as "free" calorie-wise thanks to my days on Weight Watchers, so it's almost habit for me to just pop healthy food in my mouth whenever I come across someone's leftovers.  I know it wouldn't ruin everything, but as long as I'm suffering through nonstop broth I might as well do it right so I know with 100% certainty whether it works or not!  The first phase is the toughest, so it'll only get easier from here on out!

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