Pouring, not raining

A couple of months ago I was moaning to a friend that I don't know what I was going to do with myself when the boys finished their "schooling". During that time I was also looking for some part time work so help pad out our budget. The whole process was a slow one and I was feeling very disheartened.

After applying for about 10 jobs without success I saw an ad for a " Home Sustainability Assessor" training course with the federal government. I was very excited and even though the course was expensive and I was trying to make money not spend it, I decided to go put it on the credit card with the knowledge that I would re-coup the money.

That was two months ago and this week I started my first batch of home assessments. (Hooray!) Government departments being true to form, it has been a long process with a lot of red tape, and a considerable amount of stress over the visa balance, as I am not used to living in debt.

While I was waiting for my paperwork to be finalised for the HSA I was invited to a teen life coaching talk. A group of homeschooling families were considering organising a group life coaching workshop for their kids so I went along to see if it might suit Jordan and Luke. As the Coach was speaking to the group, he mentioned that he was looking for extra life coaches as they are rolling out the group coaching sessions in the schools next year and are low on coaches.

It all sounded so wonderful and while I was a little nervous, I decided that this was an opportunity to good to miss.

So again I produced my credit card for the training fee, and blocked out another chunk of time from my diary.

Then last week as I was stressing about how I was going to fit all of this in with homeschooling excursions, camps, tennis 4 times a week, music and maths tuition etc, I got a call from 2 agencies that I had previously applied for jobs with, offering me a job.

Still living in hock (I haven't earned any money as yet), I was very tempted to take one of the jobs for the short term, but the first job was too few hours to travel ratio and the second had training to be held in Melbourne on the dates that I am in Sydney helping my mum move house. I declined both jobs and then in a sudden rush of uncertainty I called David to see if I made the right decision

I commented to him that there is something very comforting about just going to work and getting a paycheck at the end of the week, and the second job could offer me that. (Both Home Assessor role and the TeenLife Coach roles are essentially my own small businesses, and while some work is thrown my way, and next year in particular there will be TLC work in the schools, I need to generate most of my clients myself).

Once I calmed down and realised that I would have to work 20 hours a week in a regular job to get the same amount as I would earn with the HA or TLC roles in approx 2 hours, I knew I had made the right decision; albeit a more stressful one in the short term.

As a result my life has become a blur of appointments in the last few weeks. I have not read a book or watched any television and I have hardly seen David.

I really need a maid and a chef and a secretary to make all the phone calls I make each day! The boys have been great, picking up some of the slack.

This week I have did 5 home assessments and had 2 training sessions with the Life Coaching team.

Aside from being exhausting it is quite invigorating. I know what lies ahead for me and it is a wonderful path. I was so fearful that I would just end up in some office job. This is so much more fulfilling. The life coaching is really confronting and Im looking forward to the personal growth that it will naturally bring as I progress.

What is success?

This week I have been contemplating and discussing with anyone who is willing to enter my contemplative process, just what is the measure of "success" in our society, and is it something I want to participate in?

Being a homeschooling mum, I have already taken a step outside of what our society considers normal, but I have always thought that my children would follow a fairly traditional path into adulthood.... Uni, career, children etc.

Well neither of my boys know what they "want to do with their lives" and who knows about children!! but they are quite opposed to going to University and this has lead me to quite a bit of soul searching. I suppose I have been a bit of a snob, or atleast just another sheep following the herd, as I alway thought that a Uni degree was superior to a Trade or Certificate course as a way to gain employment.

I have been forced to question my beliefsby my children, and over the last year I have been talking to other homeschool parents who's children have taken a Trade or TAFE course. Slowly my mindset has been shifting and it has been such a revelation.

While talking to other homeschool parents I have started to realise that I am not alone in my disquiet of the status-quo. However when I talk to parents of schooled children it is still all about Uni. This has made me wonder what the cost to benefit ratio of Uni really is! Here are some of my musings:

Recently I began to realise that Tradespeople make a LOT of money! (Of course I have seen this from a far but never really considered it and let it sink in). There is some urban myth out there that if you get a degree you earn more money, and I am starting to realise that that is just not true.

This has lead me to question why there is such a push towards Uni, if a Trade, or other career path may be just as well paid. Which made me question what is success? If a person finds a job/career path that they enjoy, it pays them enough to live, and they have a fulfilling homelife as well would that not be considered a successful life? Is a Uni degree an essential part of this equation?

"Oh but it give you more options", I hear you say. But does it really. I know LOTS of people who have degrees and once they finished they didnt like the field they had chose, or they couldnt get work in said field, or they enjoyed it for a while but then had to change because of life circumstance (eg: my friend who trained as a nurses and then her back gave out and she had to change careers).

When I worked for Optus there were several people in our area that had degrees (even double or triple degrees) and had given up their chosen careers to work in a Call centre!

So is it considered successful to spend 30 or 60 or 90 thousand dollars on a degree(s) to earn the same as someone who has not spent a cent on one? My husband earns double what my girlfriend does. She has 3 degrees and dear hubby has none. Both are equally happy with their choices, however she had the bosting power of THREE Degrees which counts for a lot in our society, but she has spent a small fortune getting to her $40,000 job and we have spent nothing. (Dear hubby climbed the corporate ladder and most courses have been paid for by his employer).

Of course there are plenty of people that do a degree and find the career of choice a wonderfully fulfilling journey. I am all for that! If my kids wanted to study something because they were passionate about it, I would happily pay for them to do so. But doing a degree for the sake of some future "better job/accolades/prestige/better pay is not something I would encourage them to do.

I have also started to wonder about a young person going into debt before they even start earning money. I would like to encourage my boys to step out into the working world and decide what they enjoy before they commit to study, and while they are deciding they are making money and (if they take my advice) saving towards a house while they are still living at home. I have always believed that if you can pay off your house then you can make whatever choices you like about your career and study goals. Being financially free is the ultimate success surely??

Today

Today my 16 year old passed the written component of his driving test and got his L Plates.

He has not very keen to learn to drive, primarily because it meant studying the Drivers handbook ad nauseum, and partly because he is quite happy to have me drive him around.

I have not been so enthusiastic about continuing this arrangement and so I have been pushing him for weeks to press on with his devotion to the handbook.

Well today was quite an event. I had no idea if he actually knew his stuff, but he seemed quietly confident so we went and gambled the $26 fee on the chance that he might pass. Once he passed (to all of our amazement!) we had to fork out another $47 to get his license processed. (Highway robbery!)

I offered him the keys as we headed to the car park, but he declined. As always, it will take him a while to build up the courage/enthusiasm/mental space to actually take the next step in his jouney to adulthood.

Baby step. But steps that are so exciting for me to see him taking.

Balinese Spiced Duck

I posted this recipe on my gaps blog but thought that my homeschool friends might also like it - And it is so delicious you wont want to miss it!!

This is one of my all-time favourite recipes and I wanted to share it with you all as it is so simple and a delight to the taste buds. I got this one off the web - one of the recipe sites, not sure which one.

Ingredients

8 duck portions
50g dessicated coconut
3/4 cup coconut milk
Deep fried onions and salad leaves (I caramelize our onions and we serve the Duck with Steamed or Stir-fried veges).

For the spice paste

6 shallots (I use 12 spring onions)
2 cloves garlic sliced
2.5 cm fresh ginger root pealed and sliced
1 cm galangal peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1-2 red chillies seeded and sliced
4 macadamias or 8 almonds1 tsp coriander seeds dry fried

Method

Whiz the ingredients for paste in a food processor until a paste forms.
Rub over the duck pieces and marinate for 3-4 hours or over night (I often skip the marinating as I forget!)

Preheat oven to 140 C.
Shake off the paste and mix the coconut milk into it
Place duck pieces into a glass baking dish and pour over the sauce
Cover and cook for 1 hour (longer if you are using legs and wings - I use breasts with skin on and 1 hour is plenty)
Dry fry the dessicated coconut until crisp and brown
Remove cover from duck
Turn the oven up to 190 C and cook 20-30 mins brown and crispy. I usually leave it longer than this
Sprinkle desiccated coconut over meat

Serve with caramelized onion and stirfry veges and drizzle with I often add a tsp of salt and a tablespoon of honey to the sauce at the end to boost its flavour!

Today

Today was a typical unschooling day for us. Crazy busy!

I got up early to help dear hubby build the carport we have been "meaning to" build for several years. We had to try and weather proof the motor of the roller door as we were told very firmly by the guy that installed it that 'if it gets moisture in it, it wont work'.

The rain clouds were rolling in so the first thing the boys and I did was glad wrap the motor while David raced against the clock to get the cover on.

We had put up the frame the day before but ran out of day light before we got the roof on. Once the motor was somewhat water proofed we went up and down, and up and down, ladders for several hours hammering and drilling. Yelling for the boys to come out and hold one thing or another as they were needed.

At 11am the boys had a tennis meet so they headed off with a friend to do that while David and I focused on the carport.

12:30 came and so did the rain that had been threatening. I raced all the power tools back inside and then raced down to pick up the boys as the courts dont have any shelter.

Back home we all grabbed a bite to eat and then it was off to a gymnastics competition that the boys had entered in. (David managed to finish the roof just as it was time to leave - phew)

Three hours of sitting on the very hard and uncomforable benches while we watched the boys vault, jump, role, spring, tumble and flip on various apparatis (as well as a lot of sitting around waiting for their turn!!) and we were ready to go home. Both boys came home with ribbons. Notably Jordan with first place in his class for the vault.

We tossed up whether to stop at a Thai resaurant on the way home to celebrate the win and David's birthday, but decided that we would prefer the BBQ that we had planned at home.

Wonderful conversations about fitness, and army stories (dh used to be in the army), and questions and laughter all the way home.

Unschooling focus

I have decided to add another blog to my repertoire separate my blogs so that those that want to follow my GAPS journey exclusively can do so and my family and friends can hear about what is going on in our homeschooling journey, without having to read about enema's etc!

That way I can also share non-gaps recipes with you all. Yesterday I made some delicious cookies for David's work, I couldnt eat them of course but they were some of my favourites pre-gaps and they smelled and looked so great I thought I should share the recipe - but that is for later.

So here is the link for the other blog if you are keen. http://healingwithgaps.blogspot.com/

For the love of Liver

I used to hate liver.

Just slicing it would cause me to gag. Eating it produced the same effect and I would have to spit it out. The dogs enjoyed my attempts at various liver recipes. They would go nuts for it.

Then I found some wonderful resourses that explain how to prepare it properly, and now I cant get enough. (And the dogs dont get a look in).

So here is a breif explanation of the benefits of Liver, and some simple ways of preparing it.
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This excerpt is from "The Liver Files" on the Weston A Price Foundation website: http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/liver.html

So what makes liver so wonderful? Quite simply, it contains more nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food. In summary, liver provides:

• An excellent source of high-quality protein
  
• Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
  
• All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
  
• One of our best sources of folic acid
  
• A highly usable form of iron


• Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper


• An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
  
• CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
  
• A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA.

Here is my favourite way of preparing the Liver - again from the Liver Files:

Marinate slices of liver in the fridge overnight in water mixed with a little vinegar or plain lemon juice, plus lots of garlic and bay laurel leaf. After marinating, pat dry and fry in lard and/or butter until well done (really brown on the outside and slightly rose inside). The key is marinating to take away any unpleasant taste.

Once the liver (I use lamb liver) is marinated and patted dry I cook it in one of the two following ways.

1. dip the slices in egg and then dunk in almond meal mixed with a little salt (you can use flour if you are non-gaps). Then gently fry on each side . These little schnitzels are divine. They dont taste like liver at all. I use them as snacks when we are out.

2. saute some diced onion and bacon and when almost cooked add some diced liver and losts of garlic and saute until just cooked. Fry or poach an egg leaving yolk runny for maximum nutrient value, then serve with liver mixture. I like to have this with a little salt and home made tomato sauce. Again this is sooooo delicious. Really it is worth a try!

Be brave and reap the rewards.

How Im making my soup

I have discovered a delicious way of making soup. (Well after 4 weeks of eating it you would imagine that I would stumble upon some sort of discovery!!)

Basically I start with making a huge batch of bone broth from 10 litres of water, 2 full beef necks and 2 marrow bones cut length and cross ways.

I simmer that for about 24 hours and then pick off the meat and scoop out the marrow. I add the marrow back to the broth and reserve the meat. The dogs get the bones (which they leave scattered all over my lawn!!).

I then freeze the broth in batches.

I then get some more meat - lamb chump chops are my favourite, but I also use chicken thighs, lamb bones with a lot of meat still on, beef chops etc.

I saute an onion and some garlic and the meat and water to just cover the meat. Simmer for 3-4 hours until soft. Remove any bones and grizzle. The water will have simmered down quite a bit so I add a nice big dose of bone broth. Maybe a cup or three.

Then I add the veges of choice and simmer - ready for eating in about 30 mins.

I sometimes remove the veges and puree and add back to the soup to thicken. Depending on how much meat was on the second lot of bones I might also add meat from the stock making process. The double boiling of meat seems to really enhance the flavour.

I didnt set out to double boil meat, I just found that each batch needed more meat, and often times I was simply adding veges etc to yesterdays batch to make todays soup and I definately needed more meat.

This soup works really well for me.

Bringing some moderation into my healing journey

One of my dearest friends has moved to Victoria and I have been keeping her updated on my GAPS journey (including all my woes), via email.

A few days ago I recieved this response from her in relation to my ongoing soup consumption and lack of progress (I was continuing to struggle with a chronic sore throat despite sticking to the diet). Alice is also following the GAPS diet. Id been on soup for about 4 weeks and it was seriously effecting my emotional balance. This is what she is referring to when speaking about "4 weeks".
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Hi Stephanie,

I’m thinking of you. make sure it’s only 4 weeks. It could be die off – but it could also be lacking something else that you’re not getting in the soup. I agree and totally support you. I can see that you want to get it done once and for all and do it right. I’m like that too, so I relate.

So you’ve been having the soup for 4 weeks and you’re going to carry on with it for another 4 weeks??? I don’t know what the yahoo group members suggest, but I reckon even if you still have the sore throat and allergies after another 4 weeks, you should still go onto the next stage.

It might be that your sore throat takes longer to go away, so don’t loose hope if it’s not gone in 4 weeks, there is still a good chance it will go away within the next 2 years of being on the gaps diet.

I say this as I know what it’s like to live with ongoing low level depression – it’s miserable. It also has an obsessive, anxious streak in it, which I think you also suffer with, like me. So it’s good to keep a balance when the obsessiveness is overtaken… in other words carrying on with the soup on and on because you think it is the ultimate….

I know myself and I’ve always liked to do things well and have good attention to detail. So I have to watch myself for heading over the edge of obsessiveness. It’s a fine balance.

Love Alice
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This letter helped me so much.

I was really getting overwhelmed by the diet and as I love to eat, I was really suffering with the lack of variety.

Both broth is very cleansing as well as being immune boosting, so it was probably adding to my die-off symptoms.

As of yesterday I decide I needed to follow my own path to healing and while I am still following GAPS guidelines, I am not introducing the foods in the sequence that GAPS suggests, and I am have introduced several foods all at once.

I expected to have a reaction to the foods I introduced but surprisingly I havent. I can only guess that by adding more enjoyment to eating has stopped me craving (and indulging) in foods that I know trigger me (like fruit!).


I have also added more supplements and have started having DAILY epsom salt baths. Both of which I imagine are contributing to my success.

In case you are wondering the epsom salts help to remove toxins from the body, so that die-off symptoms are lessened.

So what am I eating:

I really felt I needed more iron, so I added liver (with onion, eggs and salt cured bacon) for breakfast, and a nice big steak with salad for dinner . I still had soup for lunch and bone broth in the evening as well as 3 glasses of warm water with coconut oil mixed in, throughout the day.

I have also introduced saccharamyces boulardii to kill off the candida, fish oil (Nordic Naturals brand) to help with the depression, and niacin for detox and immune boosting.

So far so good

GAPS Intro Stage 2 continued

This week has been a hard week. The die-off is leaving me feeling tired, depressed, anxious, fat, trapped, hopeless, foggy....

Not very pleasant.

Prior to stage 1 I was enjoying cooking and was planning to make cheese and yogurt for my kids. Now I cant be bothered.

I keep reading posts from other GAPSters to keep going and have faith in the program, and I am trying to keep my spirits up, but I am sick of soup and even a mouthful of fruit gives me a sore throat.

I feel like Ive become allergic to everything!

Apparently this is normal. I need to go slow and steady. More slowly than I have been! Just about every day I try to add a new food in the hopes of expanding my dietary repertoire. Obviously this is not working and in fact I wonder if it is slowing my progress?

I have cut back on all dairy. Ghee has not caused me problems in the past however I have cut this out for now as obviously the detox has made me more sensitive.

I have cut out the sauerkraut but I am having a probiotic cabbage rejuvelac drink (basically sauerkraut water without salt). This is from Bee's Candida Diet, recipe is here: http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/articles/pre1.php

I have ordered the Saccharomyces Boulardii to help kill off the candida, and am starting on the fish oils to combat the depression.

To be honest the only thing keeping me going is the knowledge that people like Baden have had such wonderful success.

Well that is where I am up to. I dont feel up to writing anymore at the moment. Will post those promised recipes soon

GAPS Recipes

I have been scouring the internet for GAPS recipes, because although I am only on intro my 16 year old son and my hubby are doing full GAPS and I wanted to offer a decent variety of foods (mainly to stop the complaining that was emitting from said teenager!).

So Im posting a few recipes that I have found and tried over the last week, and one that I made up when I needed to use up some left over ingredients.

Ill post them in separate blog entries and that way they will be easier to find under the labels (for future reference).

The first recipe is from Grainfree Foodies- The original recipe is here:(http://grainfreefoodie.blogspot.com/2009/04/banana-caramel-sticky-buns.html)

These girls are kitchen geniuses. I use a lot of their recipes. They call these tasty morsels "buns" I have renamed them muffins as that is what they more closely resemble in my opinion.

I have also tweeked the recipe slightly. We dont eat coconut flour at present as I have heard it is high carb so I subsituted almond meal for the coconut flour. These muffins are the most delectible GAPS foods I have ever tasted. Not quite like a sticky date pudding but close.

Banana Caramel Sticky Muffins

Ingredients for buns

1 Large very ripe banana, mashed
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Mix all ingredients with a wire whisk. Pour into a well-greased muffin tin or use silicone liners (I used cupcake papers. They did stick a little bit so you could spray some coconut oil on the papers if you find this an issue)

Ingredients for topping

• 1 cup chopped crispy pecans (from Nourishing Traditions or WAPF)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon almond meal
• 2 Tablespoons shredded coconut

Mix all ingredients for topping with a fork. Crumble topping on buns.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.

GAPS Intro, Stage 2

There is only one word for what I have been experiencing over the last 4 days.... Detox, or as gapsters like to call it Die-off. (Also known as the Herxheimer Reaction)

It is not an enjoyable process, as my dear husband and children will tell you! Basically when the body starts to kill off bad bacteria, and cleanse toxins, it goes into a healing crisis, where all the symptoms that you are trying to overcome by doing this diet come back in greater intensity than normal.

So for me this has meant a week of being very grumpy, critical, depressed, overwhelmed by small things (like a teen trying to show me how many push ups he can do, for the FIFTH time - and all Im thinking is "I dont care let along have time for this, Ive got to make more soup"!).

Well you probably get some understanding of my state of mind! Ive also been tired a lot and had a sore throat on and off even though Im not eating any illegal foods.

It has not been easy but my GAPS support group have been great and it helps to know that this reaction is normal (when I feel like Im going crazy!!).

As the title of this entry states, I have moved onto stage 2. Mainly because I really needed more than just soup. I was always hungry. So I have added, avacado, saurerkraut and ghee. Ive also been drinking copious amounts of ginger tea, and have started really enjoying the flavour of it.

Ive been doing the enema's every other day, and am feeling brave about increasing it to the daily regime. (The next bit of info is for fellow Gapsters who need info on enema's, so family and friends can skip this bit!)

Now about enema's - everyone has a different tale to tell, and I have heard that "it feels great", "it is so easy", "I can hold a litre of water a time" etc.... well I havent found them to be particularly easy or great, and I can only hold in about 200-500 mls, before my insides are gurgling and Im crossing my legs and testing my resolve to hold on for a few minutes more.

What I have found that helps is to do a systematic, hold then purge, hold then purge approach over about an hour. This seems to work quite well and I have it on authority from a long term enema user that this is the best way! I can hold a little bit more fluid each time and for a little longer. Still a lot of gurgling and leg crossing but I feel like Im getting the hang of it.

What I have been eating:

Breakfast:

• Mineral supplement and RO water first thing
• Hot water with 1 Tablespoon of Coconut oil
• Soup with kraut and ghee

Lunch

• Soup with half an Avacado and kraut
• Ginger tea

Dinner

• Two bowls of soup with Avacado, kraut and ghee
• More ginger tea
• Hot water with coconut oil

Epsom salt bath before bed (1 cup of salts - soak for 20 mins)

Great things about this week:

• I know my body is responding as it should be.
• I have actually been enjoying the soups
• Detox baths
• Im loosing weight
• My gaps group!

Not so great:

• Having to cook food for the rest of the family that I cant eat. (When you feel like Im going out of my mind anyway, this can really do you in!!)
• Having the children remind you what a grump you are being! (Very little sympathy here)
• Enema's - yuck

GAPS Intro - Stage 1

Well I started off on the GAPS Intro diet 4 days ago.

To be honest I havent done very well at sticking to the "soup only" policy and therefore Stage 1 is taking me longer than expected to complete.

The first day I ran out of soup and got hungry after dinner. I munched on a banana and some butter with coconut. The second day I went to a wedding and although I didnt go to the reception David wanted to go via the UNI library on the way home and the whole thing ended up taking such a long time I was starting to feel dizzy from lack of food (I had only had 1 bowl of soup for breakfast), so we stopped at the bakery!!

The third day, I did really well but again ran out of soup and ate some fruit. I also did a lot of baking for Jordan (I started him on the GAPS diet 4 days ago, but he is not doing Stage 1 yet. So I have been very busy in the kitchen trying to keep up with the quantitiy of food that he needs to eat), and it is very hard to bake and not taste the food to see if it turned out ok. All the recipes I am trying are new so I want to know if I should repeat them, chuck them or tweak them to re-use another time.

So here I am on day four, still eating soup!!

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Lessons I have learned: Make the next batch of soup when Im still half way through the current batch.

Take soup in a thermos even if only intending to be out for a couple of hours.

Postpone Stage 1 if trying new recipes!!

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Having said all that, I am definately seeing some detox results regardless of my adhoc approach. Last night I was extremely nauseas at bed time and even when and got a bucket to put beside the bed. Fortunately there was no need for the bucket during the night.

Today I had soup for breakfast but at lunch time I tried to eat some and felt sick again, so just drank some water.

Tonight I am feeling better and getting my soup ready for tomorrow!

As far as the enema situation that I mentioned in the last post - that hasnt happened yet. I thought I would just pop down to the chemist and pick one up, but I ended up needing to order one on the internet!

The enema kit arrived today, so that is on the list for tomorrow. (Dont want to try it before bed!).

The amazing thing so far is the improvement I have seen in Jordan. For as long as I can remember, Jordan has had a constant runny nose and an equally constant (and annoying) habit of picking it. Well, since he started GAPS his nose has stopped running and I havent seen him even scratch his nose let alone pick it!! Whooo hoooo. Im such a happy mumma.

I havent seen any impovement in his acne yet but I am expecting that to improve once his fruit intake is reduced. (He's still eating about a kilo of apples a day - even though that is not part of the GAPS diet!). I need to take baby steps with Jordan so he doesnt completely reject the diet.

Im off to take a detox bath and watch a movie with hubby.

GAPS Intro

Today I started the GAPS Intro diet. "What is the intro diet and why am I starting it now, after I have been a Gapster for several months?" I hear you ask.

Well basically the Intro diet is a cleansing rundown and I really felt that I needed to get in the swing of the diet before I did the cleanse. It has taken me 9 months of going on and off the diet to finally feel confident in what I am eating.

So why am I on the diet? Well, the full name for the diet is the "Gut and Psychology Syndrome" diet. Its basic premise is that people with unhealthy gut flora often have brain related problems like, autism, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety etc and by removing problem foods from their diet they can restore the natural balance in the gut and stop the gut-brain reactions. (That is a very simplistic explanation it is obviously more complicated than that. Its all very scientific - lots of talk of starch and sugars fermenting in the gut and causing morphine type recations in the brain or something. For more information see the links at the bottom of the page).

I suffer from varying moods, that sometimes feel like they have taken control of me. So when one of my girlfriends suggested the diet I was very interested.

The amazing thing is IT ACTUALLY WORKS! Just removing all grains, sugars and starches from my diet and I am a different person. Who knew it could be so easy!

My symptoms weren't just pshychological, I have also struggled with allergies for years, and had ongoing health issues like fatigue, chronic tonsilitis and sinus issues, eczema, hay fever... you get the picture.

So what can I eat? Basically I eat lots of fresh and fremented foods and lots of fat. Meat, veges, fruit, nuts, some legumes, loads of bone broth and sauerkraut and eggs. I eat butter, lard, coconut oil, but no vegetable oils as they mostly hydrogenated. The only exception is cold pressed virgin olive oil.

I usually make pancakes and muffins etc from nut meal instead of grain flour. I can use honey in recipes as it is a monosaccharide, whereas sugar, maple syrup, fructose etc are all polysaccharides and cause a bad reaction.

So back to the Intro diet: Basically the first day is all about soup! It wasnt nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

http://gapsdiet.com/INTRODUCTION_DIET.html

Breakfast: Reverse Osmosis water with liquid mineral suppliment and lemon juice. Beef and vege soup- stewed all day yesterday and then left on the stove (on low) all day today.

Lunch: more soup with a nice big dollop of ghee.

Dinner: 2 bowls of soup with sauerkraut on top.

Snacks: ginger tea

Bedtime: Soak in epsom salt bath (for extra cleansing properties - and it just feels good).

Tomorrow I brave an enema - wish me luck!!

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Links

A video with the author, telling how her son was healed of sever autism with the diet. http://www.healyourself.com.au/product/gut-and-psychology-syndrome-book-australia-gaps-dr-natasha-campbell-mcbride/

The book: http://www.amazon.com/Gut-Psychology-Syndrome-Depression-Schizophrenia/dp/B0016J7HZU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250164278&sr=1-2

Conditions helped by this diet. http://gapsguide.com/about/conditions-addressed-by-gaps/

A fairly good (and long) explanation of the science behind the diet http://www.sustainlane.com/reviews/the-gaps-diet-the-mother-of-all-diets/LTVKD7QC3RN23RUSRVX2DXV3R98X

French women dont get fat

I was in the library last week and on the "new books" table they had a copy of "Fench women dont get fat - The secret of eating for pleasure" by Mirielle Guiliano


I was intrigued by the name and because I was in a hurry I just grabbed it and brought it home to peruse.

I would not normally read a book about diet/weitght control, but after reading the first chapter I am hooked.


The author writes that French women dont get fat because they dont deprive themselves, but they do exercise restraint.

I found this idea fascinating. I have always thought that restraint akin to deprivation and this is probably where my problems with food have stemmed from.


So a little back ground about my situation.


I have had body and diet issues since I was a teenager. (As so many of us have!) And one of my chosen coping mechanisms was to deny myself food and then when I gave in (which I inevitably always did) I would completely over indulge, sometimes to the point of feeling bloated and sick.


I never considered this an "eating disorder" until recently when there was a discussion in my GAPS group about this very problem. Several women shared their own struggles and journeys, with "bingeing" (for want of another word) and I realised that I have been struggling with this same very powerful foe most of my life.

They say that knowledge is power and the the online discussion definately started me contemplating why I live this way and how I might change it.

Reading Guiliano's book I realise that it is a my way of thinking about food that has caused me grief. Because I think I cant have something I want it all the more, and because I am denying myself this thing that I desperately want, I have to eat as much as I can when I have the opportunity because it might be a long time before I get the chance again! (This isnt Guiliano's point it is just what I have discovered about my own thinking).

So back to the book. Guiliano spent a year in US during her teens and gained a lot of weight, eating the average American diet while living with a homestay family. The book is a response to that experience and the ensuing problems and breakthroughs she had when she returned to France.

Basically she had brought back an American diet mentality. One that sees "treat" foods as everyday foods. So her healing journey involved thinking like a French woman again, as they indulge in many fat/sugar rich foods but they only do it as a treat not every day.

I am finding the book fascinating and am allowing the new way of thinking to settle into my psyche. Maybe soon I too will be thinking like a French woman!

Decalogue for Daily Living

I found this list on the blog of another homeschooling mum.
http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com/ I am not Catholic but I thought it was so beautiful I wanted to include it on my blog. Only for today I will seek to live by its principles.

Decalogue for Daily Living

1. Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively, without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.

2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.

3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.

4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.

5. Only for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.

6. Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.

7.Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure no one notices.

8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.

9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.

10. Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for twelve hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

Bl. Pope John XXIII

Living outside the accepted "norm"

I have come home from my spinning group feeling yuk.

This group have never been the friendliest bunch so I have alway been careful with how much I say and what content is in that dialogue, but I have been away for the last 2 weeks and today I plum forgot to be careful.

I let it slip that I follow a Weston A Price style diet, after I was offered a biscuit and declined. This led to a lot of questions. Not the inquiring type questions that say "Oh, what is that? Tell us more". The type that say, "What do you mean by being different!! Are you challenging our mainstream lifestyle?!!!"

One of the ladies is a retired nurse turned teacher, and of all the people I have ever met these are the worst kind for thinking outside the box (sorry if any of you lovely people fit into that category - Im sure there are exceptions to my experience!). Well this lady was very offended by my dietary ideas and went to extreme length to suggest some (often bizarre) situations where this diet was not healthy.

I should have laughed, because she was being rediculous, but she was sooo rude to me I just felt angry, offended, and beligerent. What difference does it make to her if my lifestyle is different!!? So unfortunately I argued back, trying to explain some of the science behind my reasoning. I soon realised it was a lost cause and just went back to my spinning.

Obviously my attempt to withdraw from the discussion was not noticed and the next thing she started parroting on about was my choice to homeschool! She wanted to know if I was a qualified teacher, if I had a university degree (like that is any of her business), how would I know if my kids where up to the standard of school kids etc, etc, etc. It was a full frontal attack, and truly nasty.

I answered her questions, but each answer was scoffed at and the next one was loaded to the pistol ready to fire. I was trying not to be rude back but finding it hard to give her an answer without highlighting her own arrogance. (I could have said "gee you are really threatened by my choices", which I have done in the past, but I felt it would not go over well with this woman).

The sad thing was that one of the other ladies agreed with her and kept adding fuel to the fire, and I ended up leaving feeling like I was the one with the problem.

I obviously dont believe I have a problem, but the heat of that moment was so intense I got lost.

Ok, deep breath in, slow breath out.

Back home again and feeling better to have gotten all that off my chest and regain my equilibrium.

Now Im off to make some radical almond meal muffins and some recalcitrant pastries (made with lard!)