We are of The Day!
I yam what I yam... Greatly Blessed!
"I'm tired of being tired!" I'm sure we've all said it at some time during our life, but personally, I'd lost track of how many times I'd cried the words to my husband in the last two years. We have always joked that he has never known me when I wasn't in a "time of life" where I wasn't sleep deprived. We would blame it on the job stress, the wedding planning, getting use to having someone else in the bed after the wedding, the pregnancy that soon followed, the nights nursing that came after, and on and on. I always wondered how other women did it. You know what "it"is: worked outside the home, met their husbands needs with enthusiasm, cooked all meals from scratch, kept a perfect house, went to all the kids practices with every hair in place, churned their own butter... okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the point. I would feel great when I got up, but by mid-morning wasn't sure how people survived without multiple naps a day! This was just what it was to be Ambre for the last ten years. I despaired that in reality I was a lazy woman who failed miserably at the Proverbs 31 standards and that things were the way they were because I just refused to apply myself and "do better". Frankly, if it wasn't for my amazingly supportive/understanding/hard working husband and the comfort that the Proverbs 31 lady had servants, I'm not sure where I'd be right now emotionally.
Praise the Lord that is not the woman I am today.
A month and a half ago our family started doing the GAPS diet. I had been doing some reading and research on food allergies and was leaning towards a gluten free trial when I came across a blog post on the book Gut And Psychology Syndrome that I got really excited about. In brief, the GAPS diet is similar to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) with a strong focus on rebuilding your gut flora. As everyone in our family has been on either antibiotics and/or steroids in the last two years I felt that was a vital piece of the puzzle of our path to good health. The diet removes all grains and sugars with the exception of raw honey. Also, the starchy veggies are out- farewell, mashed potatoes! All in all, I would say it's pretty extreme. There is also a very heavy emphasis on bone broths and meats. Over the past few years our diet had looked more and more vegetarian for a myriad of reasons and the fact that I was willing to eat meat everyday really caused Erik to believe I was convinced this was the best route for our family at this time. With his full support after a lot of prayer, we started the agony of carbohydrate withdraw. I'll tell you how that went at another time, but I do want to share now that within 72 hours of removing grains from my diet, I had more mental clarity and alertness then I have had since I was seventeen. The Lord is Faithful!
This is where we are in life: grain free, sugar free, meat eating, God fearing. My recipes I share will reflect this as we seek to find comfort foods in a new kitchen. Never fear though! I still adore my veggie dishes!
Let me know if you have any questions. i will either answer them or try to steer you towards someone who can!
I was just thinking, "I wish Ambre would start blogging again." I'm looking forward to reading!
Dear ambre, This is beautiful and made me laugh! God bless the work of your hands, sis :)
Wow, super interesting! I'm looking forward to hearing how the process goes. And really interested in what sort of recipes you'll be adding... wondering what they'll consist of - can you have dairy?
Thanks, Kelsey! I'm excited to be back to sharing in this forum. :) Yes, Kelly, we are eating dairy right now. I can't wait to start adding recipes soon! Lissy, you make me laugh too! :)
You're doing the GAPS diet too! Sweet. I'm actually about to start it within a few weeks (or as soon as I get the GAPS guide and book back which I lent to a friend.) I wish your blog had some way of keeping in touch better! (FB page, google friend connect, twitter, rss subscription..anything! Just an idea..
Hey, Leah! My blog is currently under construction, but when it has its new face on (hopefully at the end of next week) it will have an RSS feed option. Thanks for the suggestion!