Approaching the End of Intro...

Day 22:

Wow. What a journey so far. Where do I start?

I think the biggest thing I've noticed is just how good we all feel. Andy and I were talking about it last week and we noted how light we feel. Mainly physically, but mentally as well as emotionally. I had read about how people think more clearly after going through Intro and by being on GAPS, but I didn't really understand what they meant until now. I have such an easier time concentrating, I don't get overwhelmed as quickly, and I just feel like my brain is sharper. My energy throughout the day is steadfast...I can't say I don't get tired because, lets face it, I have an 8month old that still isn't sleeping through the night...but whereas before I would have periods during the day where I would just crash, I don't have that at all. It's steady, and it feels awesome.

A huge changed I have noticed, particularly in myself and in Vienna, is our taste for food. We must have had a lot of sugar-thriving-bad-bacteria die off because my whole taste for food has changed. I feel like I'm actually tasting food now...whereas before, I never noticed the richness and flavor of simple foods--I just wanted the sweetness of stuff. 1. My constant sweet craving is entirely gone. Daily, several times a day, I would just want something sweet...even if it was a lick of honey. Though at times things might sound good, I don't really miss it. I haven't had a drop of sugar in 22 days...(and besides a handful of cooked apples I've eaten and a couple tastes of honey in the beginning, I haven't even had sugar in the form of fruit.) The more I don't have things, the easier it is not to even think about them. I have never seen Vienna so excited about food. She has always been a foodie and a good eater, so I'm not surprised that she is savoring the flavor of things as well. She has gotten more excited about her meals than she ever has before, and you can just tell while she's eating that she is entirely enjoying the flavor of everything on her plate or in her bowl. We recently had our first outing to a family members house for the night and I was pretty nervous about Vienna, seeing all the goodies and things she couldn't have. I was so entirely impressed with her...my chest is still beaming. She asked for a few things, but understood when we said she couldn't eat them yet. She handled herself amazingly and seemed to really understand that she could only eat the food that we brought her. Of course I brought her favorites, but where I was expecting meltdowns over cookies and breakfast cereal, she had none.

Which leads to me to point out how I am still shocked at how much food affects our mood, emotions and thoughts. I can feel it in myself, but I can clearly see it in Vienna. Recently I tried to add honey into her diet (after we cheated and she had it on her birthday...) it was like a light got switched. Within the hour she was melting down, throwing tantrums, and couldn't control herself. It is insane to see how one simple thing can make such a difference...and it's been easy to pinpoint what her body isn't quite ready to properly digest yet.


UPDATES:
ANDY- he's done with all six stages of Intro and has moved onto the Full GAPS. He, apparently, had the least amount of digestive issues as he barely reacted to anything and has been able to add things with ease. Though, the healing and detoxifying will still continue on deeper levels the more he keeps on GAPS and slowly adds more foods back into his diet. I haven't asked him when he's going to add coffee yet...shockingly, we both haven't missed it too much.

VIENNA- she's currently in stage 5. She seems to be tolerating raw veggies, and olive oil well, but I can't seem to get her past honey and cooked apples/applesauce for her. They seem to set her off and she seems to get a bit gassy when she has them too. The next thing is for her to start adding raw fruit and until she can tolerate cooked apples/applesauce I am going to hold off trying any other kind. I will probably start adding other options of things like nut butters and different raw veggies while we wait a few more days.

ME- it's been quite a mess of things for me...apparently I must have the most digestive issues out of this bunch. Things went great in the beginning, and then I started having issues eating almost anything except soup. I was tempted to quit several times and just see my family through the rest of Intro, but I knew that if I just went on ahead and started on Full GAPS I would still be dealing with stomach discomfort. I am currently on stage 4. I've had trial and error with almost everything I've added, and I keep going back to the normal soup regime to give myself a couple days and try again. I can't seem to tolerate avocado at all, for some reason, it sends my stomach in serious pain. Since that's one of the first things you add I've just decided to cut it out entirely and keep moving forward, I'll try it again after I complete Intro. I just tried a raw veggie today at lunch for the first time, so we will see how I handle it...it would be nice to progress onto stage 5. I think I could really benefit from going through Intro even slower than I am...however, it is really hard to have everybody on a different page and it's hard to try to keep up my calorie intake for nursing with limited variety. So right now I'm trying to go at a steady pace as slow as I can.


I can't believe we've made it 22 days already. It's been long, but yet it has FLOWN by. As with all diet changes it takes awhile to settle in and for things to feel normal, but I am feeling like I am there. We have a good array of things to eat, we all seem to be enjoying the food a lot, food prep and cooking is not nearly as hard or as time consuming as it was two weeks ago, and heck...grocery shopping is so freaking easy because you blow it all on the same produce and meat and just start cooking things differently. It's really nice actually and less of a headache! We have all gotten used to soup and even Andy said he could eat soup for at least one meal a day in the long run--it really is quite tasty and we are really feeling amazing. :)