That’s a question I am currently asking myself starting this blog, is where do i start? From the beginning would be obvious and I will get there. But the question I have had from so many lately is “where do i start?”
Overwhelmed? Yep. Been there friend. In making this transition I was dealing with a lot of things (anxiety attacks, working full time, raising a 3 year old and a newborn). Life. As if I didn’t have enough to do, lets add a major lifestyle change to the equation. Changing how I shopped, where I ate lunch, how much time I spent cooking, where to eat out (or could I ever eat out again?) . No worries! Almost a year and a half later and life is basically feeling normal again. A new normal.
My best advice right now is to start slow or all in, whatever works best for you and your budget/season of life currently. Eliminate one thing at a time, or eliminate all foods at once cold turkey. Buy one supplement at a time as you can. See if you notice a difference. Change one household product at a time when you see it on sale or have a coupon. Change doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. I did so much gradually. I didn’t get where I am today overnight and unless you are super human or insanely rich, you won’t either.
If you need more direction, I highly suggest finding a functional medicine doctor or naturopathic doctor to run the appropriate tests to see what supplements you may benefit from depending on whats going on. If you really don’t have that ability or need something specific, then change your diet, find a good probiotic and go from there. My favorite way to give people a starting point is to take Dr. Josh Axe’s 5 gut types quiz. It’s very thorough and can give you an idea of what is going on and point you in the correct direction of how to change things up. He even has a book entitled “Eat Dirt” I highly recommend. I will link the quiz here: https://draxe.com/5-gut-types-quiz/
When I changed my diet, I was also weaning off anti-depressants at the same time. I was withdrawing from those chemicals and also caffeine, gluten, dairy and refined sugar. It was not pretty. I will have a post about my onset and battle with PPA another day. Needless to say, I must have been a wreck but my husband was so supportive. The next two pictures are some posts around that time and I’m still laughing over it and such a lucky girl. I was so thankful so many stores like Aldi, Target, Food City, Wal-mart and Publix carry so many allergen friendly foods to help in the transition period.
So, start with the gut type quiz and go from there. Read labels. Understand that you won’t starve! Focus on all the things you CAN eat, not what you can’t. Bring your own food or something to share to parties. Earth fare has amazing little GF/vegan cakes in their fridge section that are to die for. I would be happy to tell you any food options I can. I make a lot more from scratch now but when I first began it was to much. I plan to have more posts on my top ten go to’s for gut health, go to snacks, meals, cook books, people to follow on IG. The list goes on. But I have motherly duties calling so 2 posts in 2 days may be a miracle. My goal will be for weekly posts on the blog. I post on my instagram more frequently what I am eating or fitness activities. Follow the hashtag “the gut gospel” to make sure you don’t miss a post. But I am always a message away. In fact, if you take the gut type quiz, I would love to know what your result was. I had candida gut which was so obvious once I read about it. Dr. Axe’s book goes into detail of each type and gives specifics on foods, supplements, etc.
Rome was not built in a day. Give yourself grace. Ask for help. Have a good support system. My husband and mom even with gluten free with me when I began all this which made it so much easier.
Love your guts,
April
The Gut Gospel 