Day 1

You'd think since I have posted so much that we've been through the diet.  Well, we haven't.  All my postings thus far have been my attempt to organize what I've learned so Intro won't be so hard.  Yesterday, June 30, was Day 1 for us.

Breakfast -
Beef Soup consisting of:
beef broth
beef chunks picked from the soup bones
1 onion, diced super small
1 turnip, diced
several handfuls of baby carrots, cut to bite size

Everyone ate it more or less cheerfully.  I added a clove of garlic to my bowl, but not the kids'.  Also, I made the soup the night before and put it in the crockpot on low.  It was ready when we woke up!

Lunch
Butternut Squash Soup and boiled broccoli
The soup was pretty basic - some chicken stock with some water and butternut squash chunks all boiled until I could puree the squash.  I put some boiled, shredded chicken in the bottom of each bowl and ladled the soup on top.  We added salt at the table.

For the boiled broccoli  I added a few cups of filtered water to a pan with the chopped broccoli (stalks removed) and some sea salt.  I boiled until very tender, then drained and served.  It was surprisingly good.  One son had 3 helpings!

Snack
boiled, salted meat
One of the kids (5-yr-old) wanted a snack so I took some already cooked/boiled beef from the freezer and simmered it in salted water until they were warmed through.  He ate it in a bowl with a fork.  Several of the other kids picked at some pieces as they walked through the kitchen.

Dinner
Chicken "noodle" soup with green peas on the side
chicken stock
1/2 an onion, diced
a few handfuls of baby carrots, cut bite size
1/2 a spaghetti squash, peeled, de-seeded and then cut into chunks
the leftover soup from lunch (about 2 cups or so)

I put the squash in uncooked and let the soup come to a boil, then reduced heat to a simmer.  Once the squash was tender I mashed it with the backside of the spoon to make it separate into "noodles.  You could also bake the spaghetti squash in advance, but I didn't plan ahead.  I put boiled, shredded chicken in the bottom of the bowls then ladled the soup on top.

The peas were frozen and I just boiled them in salt water.  Some of the kids added extra salt at the table, others didn't.

Reactions:
Husband said the soups were good and it was "much easier than he thought".  The kids kept asking when we'd move to the next Stage.  I put a list of foods we could eat now and that seemed to help them.

I had a massive headache by bedtime so I took an epsom salt bath.  The headache didn't go away so I used my essential oils and that did the trick.

5-yr-old woke up during the night, puking.  He threw up 6 or 7 times throughout the night.  It COULD be because I let him eat some raw carrots after dinner.  He was sobbing that he was "so hungry" and I caved.

7-yr-old threw up this morning.  And 11-yr-old is threatening to do so.

I read up a bit on vomiting during Intro, especially with kids.  It could be a 'shock' to their system to go to such healthy foods.  It could be a reaction to a specific food.  It could be a stomach bug.  It could be that their blood sugar dropped because they aren't eating as many carbs as they are used to.  Dr. Campbell-McBride* says to try apple or orange juice in very small quantities if blood sugar is suspected so we'll be giving that a go today.  And we're going to try REALLY hard to make sure they eat more of the veggies in the soup and not let them just pick out the meat.

*this is her full statement from http://gaps.me  "Vomiting can be a sign of hypoglycaemia: as we cut out many carbohydrates in a person with an overgrowth of yeast, it is easy for the blood sugar to drop too low. In that case give your child some apple or orange juice and see if it helps. Freshly pressed juice from apple or orange with carrot is best, but if the situation is urgent use a commercial juice. If this measure helps, then use this juice in as small an amount as possible to remedy the nausea and vomiting, when it happens (ice lollies or ice cubes, made in advance from freshly pressed juice, may provide immediate help). In the long run stick to the diet and make sure that your child has plenty of animal fats: they will regulate the blood sugar level. Allow your child to eat often and in small amounts (to graze) to keep the blood sugar steady, rather than insisting on set meal times. As the die-off subsides, so will the nausea and vomiting. Ginger tea is a known remedy for nausea; use it as a drink between meals."