One Month Down …

Happy that we have made it this far on our low carb Gaps diet. The first week was frantic for me but now that I am into the schedule of cooking and have a few trusted recipes up my sleeve it is a little easier. We are on this diet for health so I am monitoring what we eat and any reactions. I am also trying to write down everything we consume which is not easy at the end of the day when I am tired. There have not been any major changes in health problems since commencing (and days where our bodies have been detoxing have been pretty miserable) but I am still hopeful.

So what are we eating?

Firstly the no’s: No grains, no unfermented dairy, no high starch vegetables eg potato, parsnip etc, no processed foods at all so no soy sauce etc, no sugars but little honey occasionally.
Now what do we eat: Eggs, non-processed meats, vegetables, a little fruit and nuts. And a basic for all is home fermented sauerkraut.

So what are the major impressions of our first month:

• I am spending hours in the kitchen now. Cooking 3 meals a day from scratch means that I need to spend 3 hours a day in food prep etc just to get by. I am trying to get ahead but have not yet been able to do so.
• Carbs are filling, we miss them and we still crave rice. You need much more food to satisfy hunger. I am struggling to fill growing teens.
• There is always a pot going on the stove or otherwise my slow cooker is cooking up a bone stock or soup. In everything I cook I make as much as the saucepan will hold.
• Only one of us has lost weight and then just a kilo. I cannot believe that people go low carb to lose weight. I gained 1kg my first week and one of the girls has gained 2kg. Supposedly the carb cravings should start to disappear soon. I hope so.
• I am learning to be more creative in cooking. With limited ingredients, I am really trying to make meals taste different. But how many ways can one cook cauliflower?
• Home made ferments are fun to make and taste great. I especially love my pseudo kim chee, carrot and ginger and cabbage/garlic/onion sauerkraut. Yum.

Here are some photos of a recent meal. Middle Eastern flavoured lamb stuffed capsicums. These were good.

Enjoy your week!

Lesson Learnt!

Do not ever talk about sickness in blog posts unless you want to be totally inundated with spam. I am so tired of rejecting comments from the usual internet spammers who obviously have no idea that this blog is not written from the States. Note to anybody reading this post – we have a government funded health system in this country and I am not in the market for cheap medications.

Now that issue is off my chest the obvious question is where have I been and how are my 365 photos going? Simple answer is that I have now jumped back into 365 photo taking as from today. I just do not know how some people manage to keep up with everything. Super woman I am not!

We are all s*** with colds at the moment. The usual nausea, dizziness etc has hit everyone. I have been preparing over the last couple of weeks to start on a new diet for all of us with the aim of both trying to identify allergies and rebuild all to healthy guts. We have been gluten free for well over a year now but this is not enough as we still manage to succumb to every virus doing the rounds and a few others as well. Combined with other symptoms which are worsening, we are going to try the most restrictive of diets to date. In the past we have tried low salicilate/amine/glutamate and also the dairy free and while this seemed to help, in time I just gave up as it all seemed too difficult. I guess it depends how large you perceive the problem as we are now starting the GAPS diet which seems to be modified carbohydrate diet.

A link to the Australian support site is here.

So we are off all grain, dairy, sugars, beans/lentils and starchy vegetables like potato etc. Also no dairy (fermented dairy introduced later down the track). In preparation, I have been cooking up pots of organic meat/bone stock and the house is really starting to smell like a soup kitchen. I have my cabbage fermenting in salt and have even tried to put together a pseudo kim chee. It smells pungent so I must be on the right track. Supposed to be full of good probiotics but all I remember is that when living in China the high rates of stomach and oesophageal cancers were directly tied to fermented cabbage. A case of too much knowledge is not necessarily a good thing. Anyway we will give it a try. So if you would like to join us for dinner over the next few days you are welcome. The menu is meat broth of 3 varieties: chicken, lamb and beef. Is your mouth watering?

Photos to follow.....