Our food life is (mostly) back to normal!

Stage Six consists of adding back in raw fruits, and slowly introducing “extras” like coconut products, coffee, dried fruit, and legumes/beans. This has been going very well, though these “rich” foods are definitely more difficult for me to digest without the supplementation of stomach acid. Hooray for apple cider vinegar! A few delicious chocolate (healthy!) treats are sure in order!

My Conclusions

I'm glad we did the Intro. Strangely enough, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Upon reflection, I think a big part of our success was having done Full GAPS for so long before starting. My die-off of bad bacteria was pronounced when I started Full GAPS; for several weeks I felt very ill and had a lot of stomach pain. It was nearly as bad as the health problems I was aiming to bring into control by starting GAPS in the first place! However, this allowed a lot of healing early on for me. When I started the GAPS Intro, I didn't have much bad bacteria to die off, though I still have the need to heal and seal the lining of my gut. This is will continue to take time and commitment to a healthful diet.

Goals for the Near Future

Your Homework

Wait, what? Aren't you a grown-up out of school, reading a blog in your spare time? You didn't sign up for homework! I’m certainly not your authority figure and I have no way of checking up on you, but ...

I hope you've been following my GAPS Intro journey because you care about me. But really, I’m writing these blogs because I care about YOU. GAPS is hard enough for a family of seven, without me needing to chronicle it! I should really be working in the kitchen, not sitting on my duff! So, I hope you've also been reading because you care about the stewardship of your body, your health, and the health of your family. I hope you've learned a thing or two and been inspired to try something new (or, should I say old, as in ancient?)! Here are some suggestions of where you might start:

Choose one of these healthful choices for yourself and your family! And when you've mastered it, try another! That’s where this all started for me. Before you know it, you’ll be on your own journey to better health—and maybe you'll even blog about it!

 

Mrs. Marie K. MacPherson, vice president of Into Your Hands LLC, lives in Casper, Wyoming, with her husband Ryan and their children, whom she homeschools. She is a certified Classical Lutheran Educator (Consortium for Classical Lutheran Educators), author of Meditations on the Vocation of Motherhood (Old Testament vol., 2018; New Testament vol., 2023), and editor of Mothering Many: Sanity-Saving Strategies from Moms of Four or More (2016).