Here we are. GAPS diet day 1.

GAPS Diet Day 1

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Like any other diet, this diet really does go along with all negative connotations of the word – “diet.”

Everyone is out there right now on the “anti-diet” diet, saying

There is no reason to diet if you are just eating whole, real foods – the way Mother Nature intended.

I was that person. I still am that person.

Just not for today, and not for the next 30 days.

I am dieting because I have hit a point in my life where I must again. There are more days with stomach bloat than not.

I went flare-free for so long, but months-and-months of burning both ends of my candle, stress and random eats caught up to me. (Note: the truth is that it was probably 90% burning both ends and stress and 10% random eats.)

And so I must diet.

It was (exactly to the day this upcoming Sunday, August 3), 5 years ago when I embraced the GAPS Diet for the first (and only) time.

On that day, like today, I began at the beginning via Introduction vs. Full GAPS Diet. I healed in ways I never imagined, but it was also the hardest thing I ever did for my health.

Here I find myself again today……ready to do this for me.

I am taking back my health.

Everyone always wants to know which food is making them bloat, but the truth is that when you are eating a million different things/ingredients on any given day there is no way to know unless you have a true allergy to something. Intolerances are damn tricky.

You know what? That’s the number 1 mistake you are probably making with food journaling.

Over time, if we continue to feed our body with things that make it go crazy, we become even more susceptible to an intolerance for things we should have never been intolerant to in the first place.

This is what we refer to as “Leaky Gut.”

But “dieting” in this way is so hard that most people aren’t ever really able to heal enough to the point where they are, once again, able to digest the things that we are MEANT to EASILY digest (i.e. fruits and vegetables, real and whole foods – you know, all the “normal” things).

30 Day Goals

My goal for these next 30 days is to document GAPS, to tell you about the diet and to help answer your questions. I will even share with you what I eat (or lack thereof), and not because anyone cares but because yes, you might care if you’ve ever had an inkling to try GAPS for yourself.

Personally, my goal is to see if it helps clear up my face, and to watch my bloat revert to gone again. These are the two main goals that will change my life drastically. If you’ve never battled with either, you can’t understand.

Day 1: GAPS Diet

I woke up at 5:50am. I was tired, but yet knew that due to the awesome excess of food we had for Ryan’s birthday, I had plenty of energy to get a quick workout in at the gym.

So I drank water and took 100 billion probiotic. The workout was good, not great, but my gut is weighted down with a lot so that’s all to be expected.

My gut smells like it’s rotting today, and I know this takes awhile to get out of my system. The weight is bloat, and again, I am okay with this. I have hope.

After I workout, I eat, and grab some broth for the road.

I have now almost completely nixed my coffee for these next 30 days so when I work all morning it’s simply a small coffee, filled only half way and drenched with coconut milk. That’s it. (Make note: on stage 1 in the Introductory Diet, you are not allowed coffee. This is the one and only exception I have allowed for myself because my gut has healed so much since 2009 and I know that I tolerate milked-down coffee just fine. You might not.)

I come home, eat more and work all day at my computer. I have a mild headache, and around 2pm I want something sweet. But no, no I’m not getting anything sweet today – maybe not even until Thursday.

And this is the hardest part for me – by far.

Yes, this is a diet, but gut healing is a not a diet so I don’t even go there. Soon enough, I’ll be eating 3-ish almost-brown bananas a day to keep my energy up.

I felt tired and hungry around 4:15pm, and a massive headache stopped by to say hello. Again, this is all so normal. It’s bringing back all the great memories.

I muster up the energy to go for a walk with Ryan, Samarah and the fur-babies. Sam and I nibble on duck broth and full-fat coconut milk when we get home, and I eat a small dinner.

It’s a wrap.

Day one has a check mark next to it.

ZERO bloat and a normal bathroom routine are my only positives, but they are huge positives. This, of course, means I’ll move to Stage 2 tomorrow.

What I Ate on GAPS Day 1

• Homemade Chicken Bone Broth (cooked all night, overnight in my slow cooker last night – this is an art I have been perfecting since 2009)
• Duck Bone Broth (fresh duck bones from my friend Jen which cooked all day today in my slow cooker), homemade
• slow-cooked chicken
• ground turkey
• coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coffee with coconut milk
• lemon
• wild salmon

Supplements I Took on GAPS Day 1

• 100 billion probiotic
• Cod Liver Oil
• Enzymes
• HCL

All supplements can be found HERE.

I am trying to just be present with this process, as difficult as it is.

No use in looking back to yesterday’s misery or what I might be able to add back in tomorrow.

I am embracing the now….it’s the best key to success for GAPS…and for life.

Xox,
SKH