Eat What You Need on the GAPS Intro

by brenda on November 14, 2011

Excuse the blurry picture, I took it on my iphone! This is Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride at the 2011 Weston A Price Foundation Conference in Dallas, TX. I got to sit in the very front row for an entire day, listening to this brilliant doctor. She is my favorite doctor, EVER. :)

I took 40 pages of notes, front and back, at this conference!!! AND I bought the set of mp3′s so that I can hear it all again and also listen to the sessions I did not attend. I’ve got several post ideas in mind, to share what I learned. For now, I want to give you a nugget of wisdom that I learned from Dr. Natasha.

Eat what you’re craving, no matter what stage you are on.

If you are on Stage 1 and you’re craving a tomato, listen to your body.

This was good for me to hear, because when we were doing the Intro, my body craved CHEESE. My body thrives on raw dairy, and I feel like I need it. Have a mentioned that I have a small mouth & it takes me forever to chew meat? I just can’t get everything I need from meats & veggies because I can’t chew quickly enough (I guess, unless, I want to stop everything and eat all day!). Dairy is a great way for me to get what I need–I can chew it easily (or plop some sour cream in my soup!) and I feel good. I feel nourished, and satisfied when I have dairy.

So, eat what your body needs. Your body is SMART (after all, it was created in the image of an Intelligent Designer!). :) You don’t have to say that you were “cheating” on the diet and feel guilty because you skipped ahead a bit. If your body needs it, eat it!

There are exceptions to this, however! The exceptions would be:

  • grains
  • refined sugars
  • starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn

Because frankly, you don’t need them!

Dr. Natasha said: “I haven’t seen a patient who needs grains. We can get carbohydrates from vegetables.”

So, if you’re on the Intro, you don’t have to be religious about the introduction schedule. Eat the foods your body needs–if you’re avoiding sugar and foods that turn into sugar in the body, your body will know exactly what you need. Listen, and eat!

Does this help you? Are you excited to learn this? What do you think about this idea?

 

This post was shared at Fat Tuesday.

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  • http://realfoodforager.com Jill

    Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. This was very interesting! Hope to see you next week!

    Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!

    http://realfoodforager.com/2011/11/fat-tuesday-november-15-2011/

  • Mira Dessy

    Loved this talk, took massive notes. Hoping to one day take the certification. She is just awesome.

  • Emily

    Thanks for sharing this, Brenda! Sounds like such an amazing experience you had! Dr. Natasha is, in my opinion, one of the top MDs in the world. I love that she emphasizes to honor body wisdom. I took extensive notes at the GAPS training too, including gems of quotes from her, like this one. Body wisdom combined with GAPS wisdom is such a winning combination!

  • Brenda

    This is onderful to know. Thank you so much for all your work educating yourself on this diet. You have been a greqt encouragment and insperation to our family!
    We can not wait to hear what else you learned. What a blessing that you got to go! I am excited for you!

  • guest

    This is interesting. I’m wondering though if all Gaps foods are allowed to eat if a craving comes. eg During intro, I craved and still do, nuts, honey and dried fruit. I’m not sure if these are ok to eat too much of though. What do you think?

  • Kristina

    I have been doing that ever since I started GAPS on Labor Day. I attended a “champagne and sweets” party last night and was a bit tempted to try some things – it was grain city at their house! – but I just headed for the one plate of cheese on a nearby counter and nibbled on that. The hostess told me that I “looked great – different – healthy” and a couple of others said something similar later on in the evening. I told them about GAPS and shared your website. I have never felt better – truly better! I feel younger (I’m 53), have more energy, my skin is no longer dry, my hair and nails look wonderful, I feel calmer, no more gas or bloat, and I’m sleeping very soundly. I am so excited about this program! Thank you for sharing all that you do. My family is also eating GAPS and they love it. Keep it all coming, especially over the holidays when lots of junk abounds!

  • http://www.wellfedhomestead.com brenda

    Kristina, good for you, nibbling on cheese with so much temptation in the room! I am glad you are feeling so much better on GAPS! Don’t you just want to tell the world??? :) That is why I blog! :)

  • http://www.wellfedhomestead.com brenda

    I think, if you’re craving them, eat them. As long as they are GAPS legal, of course. :)

  • http://www.wellfedhomestead.com brenda

    Thank you, Brenda! :) P.S. I like your name. :)

  • http://www.wellfedhomestead.com brenda

    Emily, I totally agree! How awesome that you were trained by her! :) :)

  • http://www.wellfedhomestead.com brenda

    Mira, me too! I asked if I could take the training and they said no. :( You have to be a nutritionist, dr., nurse, or have some kind of title behind your name to take the training. I guess “mom” and “blogger” didn’t cut it! :)

  • http://www.scdkat.com/2011/11/wise-traditions-talks/ Kat's Food Blog » The Talks at Wise Traditions 2011 Conference

    [...] but Brenda over a Well Fed Homestead sat in on the talks and offered some really good advice here: http://www.wellfedhomestead.com/eat-what-you-need-on-the-gaps-intro. As much as these diets are detailed and thought out in books, it’s impossible to heal unless [...]

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