Preparation for Intro...again!

There is one week until we move from mum's to my in laws house to house sit for them while they're in America for 5 weeks! This week I plan to pack for that five weeks, and for the first week while we are there, I am meal planning and batch cooking for us to do intro for a month while we are staying there!! I know! Huge but we need to do it. I'm seeing huge things happen in Pixi which I will detail in a later post.

TOMORROW!!! eeeeeeeeeee!!!

My beautiful hubby gave me a fabulous massage tonight and while he was doing it he asked me if I was nervous about tomorrow.  I thought for a bit, and said, " No.  I'm actually really excited.  I acknowledge it's going to be really hard at first and I'm going to hurt, but I know it's for the greater good, I'm looking forward to healing." 
I love the fact that he understands how important this is, and he isn't thinking it's just a fad.  He could think that.   I wouldn't blame him, I am the worst person for never finishing anything I start.  But I think this will be different.  I am driven this time.  And mostly for me but also partly to show others what good nutrition can do for your health, but also what GAPS can do for people with all sorts of problems.

My problems, as far as I can remember, are these:

*arthritis in left elbow
*heel spurs (from excess weight I think..)
*excess weight (I am 83kgs, I should be more like 50-60 according to my frame and height)
*many aches and pains in my upper back, shoulders, neck, head on a constant basis
*a history of depression and a fear of returning PND when I have another child
*many food intolerances, with symptoms ranging from bloating, cramping, gas, diarrhoea, nausea, dermatitis on my fingers and hands, headaches etc.
*poor eyesight that seems to be getting gradually worse - I am shortsighted and wear strong prescription glasses from when I wake to when I go to bed.  I'm not thinking this will be corrected, but perhaps it will halt the gradual deterioration I am experiencing.(?)
*foggy brain, a feeling of wading thru the day, every part being a lot of effort
*tiredness, sometimes overwhelming
*poor memory, very bad short-term memory, my 6 yr old son frequently tells me he is going to build me a memory machine when he gets his science lab going!! (LOL)
*sore feet, dodgy knees that dislocate easily. (again, I think this is a weight and/or poor amount of exercise issue)

Well, that was a huge list!!  Once I started, I kept thinking of other things!!

I made up another batch of beef stew this morning using beef broth, it was a good one as it had lots of marrow from the split marrow bones in it which I cut up small and popped back in, and it tasted very nice, I also used the Osso Bucco from the Boy on the Hill meat pack, which went verrrrry tender, melt in the mouth beautiful!  Then I put on another pot of beef bones in the slow cooker this afternoon (I wanted chicken but had run out) and I just put them on the hob tonight with some veggies and am now making my first lot of soup for intro.  It will be ok not using chicken as they say that the marrow and fat is very good for healing and this soup has tonnes of that in it.

So now I have made up a sheet of paper with Stage 1 etc on it, so I can see at a glance what I'm up to and what I can have and what I need to pull out of the freezer for the next day or meal.

Oh oh! I forgot to say I got my books from Nutrivene.com yesterday - the Gut and Psychology Syndrome newest edition by Dr Natascha Campbell McBride and Internal Bliss GAPS cookbook.  The cookbook is so good and full of very useful recipes.  I'm very excited to get over intro and try some of them out!

Well, I'm off to bed now, see you tomorrow!!

More Preparation for Intro

I have organised for the kids to be looked after for the first week while I do Intro.  So, the first two days, my hubby is taking RDO's and staying home to look after them, then he's taking them to my mum's house to sleep for 2 nights, and they'll be home again on Friday.  I'm hoping I'll be better by then, if not, I'll organise for someone down here to have them for me during the day.

I'm making another batch of chicken broth in the slow cooker tonight, I needed the slow cooker today to do the corned silverside I got from Boy on the Hill, OH MY GOODNESS!!!! The absolute most tender and beautiful corned silverside I've EVER tasted!!!!  No joke!! I'm sad there was only one in there, but it was a huge one so I've got some to freeze for GAPS too.  I'm allowed to have boiled meat on Intro - WOOP!

And tomorrow, once the chicken broth is done, I'll do another lot of stew, so I think I should have enough stores by then to happily start on Monday!  I'm so excited!

I am going to do before photos and measurements and a list of all my issues and we'll see how we do.

Intro Take Two - *Preparation*

I made a decision a couple of weeks ago.

I want a baby.

I want a baby but I want to be healthy enough to carry said baby, without all this weight, and without all the health problems and food intolerances that I have now.  This will, in my thoroughly researched opinion, all be resolved if I go on the GAPS diet. 

So.. I am starting GAPS this coming Monday.  I've been preparing all this week, I went to my mum's house Monday and Tuesday and cooked stew (she has a big kitchen so easier to prepare at her house than in my tiny kitchen!), so now I have 17 single serve beef stews in my freezer! (which tastes delicious btw!) 

On Monday, I put on a pot of beef bones to slow cook back home, and this morning I did a pot of chicken bones to slow cook. Tonight, I made soup with them, and they also taste quite good, I'm getting good at them I must say.  I'll figure out how to post recipes next and tell you how I did them.

So, I'll have a good lot of soup and stew to start with, I need to make sure I have the rest of stuff to go with for at least the first three stages.  I'm serious and prepared this time and that's what I wasn't last time.

I also got a big lot of organic, grassfed beef today from boyonthehill.com.au.  They have a farm in Donneybrook, and they are 50% Waygu. So very nice.  I'm very happy with them, It was just under 16kgs and was $292, so just over $10 a meal. 26 meals in all. Awesome!

So, the plan is this:

* 2 months on intro (hopefully)
* 4 months preconception care following the full GAPS menu
* try for a baby.

Ok, off to bed now,
night!