GAPS diary- Stage 1

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Day 1:

So far, so good. Started the day with room temp water followed by some yummy chicken soup. Dax says it is easier than he thought it would be. I guess in an effort to prepare him I made it sound even more difficult than it is. The Yeti was perfect for sending broth to work. It worked exceptionally well. He actually burnt his tongue on the soup several hours later. I should have made more broth ahead of time. We are going through it like crazy! Everyone was relatively detox-symptom free today which was to be expected since its day one. We were all tired by 8:30 but I stayed up later getting ready for tomorrow. I am sure I will feel worse and I want to be ready.

Day 2:

I dreamed about sourdough bread and Bluebell Ice cream last night 🙂 I was kind of surprised because I didn’t feel deprived yesterday. When I woke up all my joints/muscles were sore as if I had done a work out. I wasn’t expecting that.
Dax has congestion and a sore throat which worsened as the day went on. He says it feels like he is getting a cold. By the end of the day he said it felt more like strep throat.
Kids are definitely tired. I found S this morning laying at the top of the stairs while shouting “I am so exhausted!” in a dramatic fashion. The day went downhill from there. We had meltdowns from he and F about everything from not having cereal or oatmeal OR POPCORN to “my shirt keeps touching me!!” I know it will pass…hopefully soon. As S said at lunch “these bad guys are killing me!” That is how we explained the idea of good and bad foods (feed the good guys or bad guys) and we explained that the sick feeling we have is because the bad guys don’t want to die so they try and make us crave what feeds them and make us feel sick when they die. We watched a movie to help the time before nap go by more quickly. The ginger creams are helping too. SO yummy.
Baby had some crazy diapers. Her diet hasn’t changed that much, just no more cheerios or bread and no dairy for right now. She is still getting pumped breastmilk in the morning and at night. At 15 months she is able to eat what we are eating pretty easily. She won’t drink the broth but will take it if we spoon feed her.
At nap I discovered that S had pilfered some snacks (juice box from our beach trip and some lentil crackers) out of the pantry and was enjoying them in secret. Fun times-the little pirate! The Vita Clay has been awesome! I start a broth in it after breakfast and use it for the next days breakfast. Today I cooked a roast and it made a delicious broth with onions, garlic and mushrooms. I plan to use it tomorrow with cauliflower mash. It will be nice to have something that isn’t a broth for one meal. Everyone tired at 7 pm so we did detox baths and went to bed.

Day 3:

No one slept well last night. I woke up feeling kind of clammy, like when you have the flu but as the day progressed it went away. This evening I feel a lot better, almost back to normal. I still have some soreness in my neck. I noticed some digestive disturbance (read gas) which I hadn’t had since starting. I also spent a little time on the toilet. TMI? I know but I am trying to be real here people! I am trying to decide whether to move on to stage 2 (essentially adding egg yolk and ghee , increasing dairy and fermented veggie juice) but I am not sure if I should wait another day. My goal was 3-5 days per stage in the early phases since they are so similar. Dax thinks he isn’t ready. He said he felt feverish last night and worked from home today since he felt bad. This is definitely very individualized. I thing F, baby and I are doing the best in terms of die-off symptoms. I can tell a difference in F’s attitude for sure. She did have a couple meltdowns but by the end of the day she had a great attitude and was even encouraging others. She LOVED the mashed cauliflower.  S & Dax are struggling. I am sure the snacks S was pilfering are contributing. I found out there was more to that story involving the eating of about 12 stevia sweetened lollipops!! The fact that he is struggling so much with cravings only confirms that he needs this. I didn’t expect him to struggle so much but its easy for bad habits to set it. He is most sad that we can’t have cereal and is worried he won’t be able to have it for the rest of his life. Dax has a great attitude about it all and I am thankful he is so supportive. This would be hard if we weren’t both committed. I hope he feels better soon. In the meantime, we seem to be progressing and I am happy!  I think tomorrow I will try egg yolk for the girls and I and see how it goes. If we have issues we can always go back to stage 1 for a bit longer. Everyone tired by 8. Detox baths and to bed.

PS. I arranged for someone to clean all the bathrooms today so I would have one less thing to do. I hate cleaning bathrooms. My sister is helping me with the laundry. She is awesome like that! I highly recommend planning for a bit of help during this phase if you are doing GAPS with young kids!! The closest thing I can associate it with is postpartum when doing the smallest task is exhausting. Also, naps – take one everyday! I think it has helped me recover faster.

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About Thara Reinitz

First things first, "how do you say your name?" Thara (like Sarah with a "TH") Reinitz (imagine a loaf of rye bread knitting a sweater- Rye knits!) I am a second generation homeschooler and now homeschool mom. I live in West Texas with my husband and three kids in our forever fixer-upper house that will one day be our dream house. A crunchy mama at heart I love learning about and living a non-toxic life. That includes gardening, backyard chickens, healthy home-made cooking, using alternative medicines and clean beauty products. I LOVE to learn and I also love to connect people with resources and other people.

5 thoughts on “GAPS diary- Stage 1

    1. Yes, I am glad I am doing it. I hope it helps others and I think it will be interesting to look back on.

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