A GAPS follwup

It's been just over a month since the hubby and I have been full-blown GAPS, and there have definitely been some interesting changes since leaving the intro diet.

First and foremost, I seem to be putting on a bit of extra fat (or is it bloating?) around the mid section. With the more calorie dense foods and me still trying to figure out that happy medium between content and FULL (erroring on the side of full a little too often...), it's not too big a surprise that the body began storing the excess calories as fat. I haven't been super happy about that, obviously, so I've been working on recalibrating my general intake of food with some intermittent fasting (more on that to come), and figuring out how much is truly needed for satiety. It's a work in progress.

Another interesting development has been a reappearance of my period. It's been a little MIA since getting back from Cancun in March (2013). I do have a birth control implant, which explains in the fine print that periods may become very light or stop all together the longer it's in, so I didn't think too much of the irregularity. With leaning out a bit at the start of the GAPS diet, perhaps the development of extra fat has actually made the body happy enough to menstruate again and is actually a healthy change. I could almost be convinced of this, but since it's primarily centered around my mid-section, which is supposedly the least healthy place to be storing fat (and signs of potential/continued gut distress), I find it difficult to believe this is a healthy change.

Along with the period acne has also seems to have come back. Perhaps not as intense as pre-GAPS, but definitely more than I've had with the intro diet. The hubby has also started to see some more flakey skin, eczema-like patches again as well. This was another issue that seemed to have cleared up with the intro, and again while not as intense as pre-GAPS, is slightly disturbing that it's come back at all.......

Aside from those issues, digestion seems to be MUCH better for the two of us. For myself, I'm much more regular, far less gassy, and have generally just felt much better overall. It feels as though the body is finally able to digest all those nutritious foods we've been consuming! Energy levels are generally stable, though sleep is something I can always use more of...perhaps something to work on (starting with eliminating some of the many activities we're involved in....).

Issues or not, we continue pressing onward and upward! The food we've continued to try with this new diet has been amazing! With introducing new foods with the full GAPS, it's almost like color has been brought back into life again. Each new recipe is more awesome than the next, and we're getting to be quite the little cooks if I do say so myself! It's an exciting change, and I'm looking forward to sharing more about the different recipes and health changes here on the blog!