What 7 days as a vegan taught me about life

I've been meaning to write this post for a few weeks now, and this is the perfect time to share. It's about self-care for us mamas with a kiddo in a challenging health situation, and just in time for Mother's Day! How can you prioritize taking care of yourself - can you find the space in your life for a little self-care?

Recently I underwent a weeklong cleanse. What on earth was I thinking!?! 

I’m a busy mama taking care of a 2-year-old with a really confusing set of symptoms and food allergies. The nutritionist we have worked with for over a year now offers seasonal cleanses as part of her practice. Each cleanse focuses on detoxing and supporting a particular organ and each time a cleanse has rolled around I’ve been equally interested and skeptical and 100% sure I was not up for it. But this spring I’ve felt a gathering strength as I’ve gradually gotten a handle on my adrenal fatigue and Hashimoto’s.

Putting our hopes in Ketotifen

Back when we started our SCD/GAPS adventure I really believed food could fix everything. I believed that if we took the right foods out and put the right foods in that we were guaranteed success. I was wrong.

A lot of people behind GAPS, the Weston A. Price approach, the raw food movement - whatever! - push the idea that food truly can heal all that ails you. And that's just not true for everyone. Believe me, I've tried.

There is something about Ellie's system that causes it to react to whatever she's eating. So we trial dairy and it seems fine, and then one day dairy's no good anymore. Ditto for grains, or soy, or whatever. Finally we got her on a very, very clean diet comprised primarily of meat, vegetables and limited fruit and what happened? She started reacting to fruits and vegetables. The explanation in GAPS is that in a situation like this we need to heal Ellie's gut with bone broths and fermented foods and a high-fat diet. Well, we tried that and we landed here anyway.