"Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater..."

Yesterday was not a good day for me, at least in one respect.  You see, I went to my office to get some work done, and in the process, I ended up eating a WHOLE BOX of cookies.  Yep, I ate a whole box of these puppies.  It is what I get for not cleaning out my office stash before I left.  Eating them was its own punishment, as it made me feel yucky the rest of the day, but it also means that I'm at least going to have to extend my time on the introduction part of GAPS in order to get the results I want (specifically the first phase).

The diet that I have started (and totally blew yesterday), GAPS, begins as an elimination diet. You start with bone broth and tea with a little bit of honey, then add veggies cooked in the broth, then the meat that you used to make the broth.  You stick with just this for a few days, while also adding probiotics (juice from fermented veggies and whey from yogurt that has fermented over 24 hrs--I'm not doing the whey because of my allergy issues, though) , then add egg yolk and ghee in the second phase (and full on yogurt/kefir, if you are doing dairy).

Third phase, you get to actually add the fermented veggies, not just the juice from the fermentation, scrambled eggs, and avocado.  You can also make pancakes using nut butter, squash and eggs (I've had them before, and they are actually really good!).

There are more phases, and you can read about all of them here, but basically, you get the picture.  The whole point is to make digestion easier for your body, while giving your body the building blocks it needs to heal itself....and cheating, like I did yesterday, undermines all of that.  So, I'm back on the wagon: I no longer have anything in my office that I can cheat with anyway.

I know that, if I can get through to the third phase, I will be fine, as my food choices will open up wildly, but these first days are a bit brutal.

Even so, I think that God has a particular sense of humor.  I tend to use Jennifer Fulweiler's Saint generator at the beginning of the year for a saint's life to focus on for the year.  This year, my saint is St. Wolfgang of Ratisbon. Among other things, he is the patron saint against stomach diseases!  I'm not sure my food allergies/digestion issues strictly count, but it is funny that he is the person who came up, not once but twice (I forgot his name the first time, and used the generator again a few days later--seeing it again jogged my memory)!

At least I'm walking my dogs daily, like I wanted to, so far!  I'm currently on a 4 day streak, and I'm pretty proud of that.  I even got up early to do so, which is quite a feat for this particular night owl.

The sunrise was rather pretty today.

The dogs are loving the walks, and they are slowly but surely figuring out that we don't go anywhere until they calm down.  Sassy is also learning not to pull on the leash, which is also nice. Sometimes I think Ginger is helping her to learn the way things work.  Now, if only I could get them to understand that getting their leash on doesn't always mean a ride in the car--they tend to make a bee-line for the car door in the morning!

Oh, I should mention that Ginger (the original Dig-dog) has had a new sister since right before Thanksgiving.  Meet Sassafras (Sassy, for short).  

This is her the day we got her. She now has more brown
 spots that are showing up on her coat.

Sassy decided that she didn't want to be near the other dogs
on the way home, so she crawled onto the luggage.

Another picture of her, just because she was being too cute for words.