Reflections After 15 Months on GAPS: Part 4 – Lessons Learned on GAPS

In part 1, part 2 and part 3 I talked about what led me to GAPS and the progress I’ve seen so far. Now I want to share a few of the lessons I’ve learned during my 15 months on GAPS.

Lesson #1: Try not to stress about the day to day

I fall into a certain trap a lot when it comes to my acne. One day my skin will be looking really clear and the next day I’ll suddenly have several nasty breakouts. My instinct is to start freaking out: “What’s going on? Did I eat something that I’m reacting to? Should I eat more of [blank] or less of [blank]? Should I…?” You get the idea. Really, though, I think it’s most productive to just ignore the day to day. Instead, try to focus on overall trends. So yes, maybe my skin is looking worse today than yesterday. But it’s still better than it was three months ago. So overall I’m still seeing positive progress. I think that this philosophy could work for most GAPS symptoms.

Now, if you are consistently having worse symptoms then you’ll probably want to investigate to determine whether you’re doing anything differently that may be causing them. But personally I find that the day to day can vary so much that I try not to worry about isolated setbacks.

Lesson #2: Be patient

Gut healing takes a long time. Sadly there’s just no getting around that fact. I have heard numerous times that it’s best to think of GAPS as a marathon, not a sprint. Try to be patient. Believe me, I know how hard this is. When I was suffering with the worst of my acne I so badly wanted to just wake up to completely clear skin. It’s so easy to get discouraged when you’re not seeing optimum results right away. But I really do believe that GAPS will work for most people if given enough time. Instead of focusing on how slow my healing is going, I try to focus on all the great things that I’m doing for my body, like drinking my broth, eating my sauerkraut and drinking my kefir. I’m giving my body the tools that it needs to heal itself.

If you’re ever feeling really discouraged, I’d recommend hopping on the GAPShelp yahoo group to ask for support. There are many caring people on the forum who are always ready to offer advice or share some caring words.

Lesson #3: Cook in bulk

For the first few months on GAPS I made a new bowl of soup for lunch or breakfast every day. At some point I realized that I could save a bunch of time by making a big batch of soup one day and then just eating the leftovers for the next two or three days. The first pot of soup takes a while to make, but after that I have several servings of nearly instant lunch ready to heat up on my stove when I get hungry.

I also like to cook and freeze ground beef in bulk and always cook two stewing hens at the same time, both of which help to streamline later meal preparation.

Lesson #4: You can make a lot of your favorite foods GAPS-legal

Yes, you have to give up a fair number of common foods on GAPS. But we’ve found that most things can be made GAPS-legal by making certain substitutions. For instance, for my birthday this week my mom made chocolate coconut flour cupcakes with buttercream frosting  that tasted just as good as conventional cupcakes. And we love our chocolate mint ice cream just as much as we used to love conventional ice creams.

If you’re not up to modifying recipes on your own there are a lot of good recipes online. I usually have good results finding GAPS-legal recipes by searching for the type of recipe I want plus a search term like “GAPS,” “grain-free,” or “SCD.”

Lesson #5: Set yourself up for success

Take actions that help yourself stay happy while resisting the temptation to cheat on GAPS. This may mean different things for different people. For me, I need to make sure that I bring food with me if I’m going to be out and might get hungry. I would never eat something not on GAPS just because I was hungry, but I hate being hungry without access to food so to stay happy I need to make sure I plan ahead.

For you, this may mean throwing out all of your GAPS-illegal foods, if you think you’ll be consumed by the fact that they’re in your pantry and you can’t eat them. Or it may mean avoiding food-based gatherings for a while if you think you’ll be tempted to partake of what everyone else is having. Or perhaps you can bring your own GAPS-legal dessert to the party so you can have a treat, too. Whatever it is, make the effort to set yourself up for success. GAPS is hard enough without putting yourself into situations that make you miserable or test your resolve to stay on the diet.

What lessons have you learned on GAPS? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

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4 Responses to Reflections After 15 Months on GAPS: Part 4 – Lessons Learned on GAPS

  1. Eileen says:
    I so appreciate you sharing your journey, and I admire your patience and perseverance so much! One lesson you shared hits home for me today: "Try not to stress about the day to day." I am healing Rheumatoid Arthritis through GAPS, and have seen amazing progress over the 3 months I've been on the diet, but today I'm having a flare, and it's so easy to look for the "meaning" in the flare, and miss the forest for the trees. I also appreciate your sharing how GAPS was the key for your healing, over WAPF eating and elimination diets. My experience has been very similar. You're an inspiration, though, because you've been on this journey so much longer than me!
    • Meghan says:
      Thank you for sharing this, Eileen. It means a lot to me. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through a rough time right now. I've certainly had my share of those. I hope you start feeling better soon! It's so important to remember that we're still making progress, even when things aren't going so well at the moment.
  2. Rhianna says:
    I am on stage 3 of GAPS intro, after doing a paleo diet for 4 months prior. I have many food intolerances, acne, fatigue, bloating and other digestive complaints. I already notice a reduction in the bloating, although other symptoms are aggravated with die-off. Also, I live in Boulder. I am guessing you are still on GAPS? I saw a comment you made last year on Mindy's blog, Too Many Jars in the Kitchen, about how you were experiencing low energy and acne breakouts while on GAPS. Has the low energy resolved itself? Did you need to eat more carbs? Pleased to make you acquaintance!
    • Meghan says:
      Hello Rhianna! So fun to meet another Boulder GAPS person. Maybe we'll get to meet in person at one of Mindy's GAPS get togethers? Yes, I am still on GAPS. The low energy has been better for the last few months (although I'm still not super energetic). I had low energy before I started GAPS, so I think it was one of my GAPS problems, as opposed to something caused by GAPS. I've never noticed whether carbs influence my energy level. I'm still dealing with the acne, although it is a ton better than it was before I started GAPS. I think what's left is hormonal, which for some reason GAPS hasn't been able to touch. I recently started working with an acupuncturist, which I'm really hoping will be able to make a difference. Good luck with intro! I hope it's going well for you so far.

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