Today I’m sharing a full day of eating from a gut health reset I did earlier in the winter. Read on to learn more about the reset, if one might be helpful for you too, or simply to see an example day of egg-free Paleo meals.

While I’m not a fan of restrictive diets, I finally decided to do the reset after several months of strange symptoms like random eczema breakouts, bloating, and a dry itchy scalp.

(Additional symptoms that could indicate your gut needs repairing include other skin issues like acne or rashes, constipation, gas, heartburn, mood swings, brain fog, and headaches.)

I’d also been eating eggs and sweet potatoes nearly every day for a while, which are two foods that people commonly develop sensitivities to when eaten regularly. I figured this would be a good time to take a break from eating them to see if I’d developed a sensitivity or prevent one.

Here’s what my diet included / excluded:

• all fresh Paleo whole foods + white rice
• no eggs
• no sweet potatoes
• no alcohol

Although white rice isn’t technically Paleo, I included it because it’s not a common food allergen and I’ve never noticed any digestive issues right after eating it. I also wanted to keep my carbs up and have a little more variety.

While this diet wasn’t too different from how I normally eat, staying 100% compliant was a tough mental challenge for me. Full compliance is key, however, when doing an elimination diet or true gut health reset in order to pinpoint what foods might be negatively affecting you. Remembering that it was only temporary — and being accountable to my nutrition coach — helped me avoid the many temptations that came up and stick with it.

Meal 1: ground turkey, baby potatoes, kale, cherry tomatoes, leftover brussels sprouts

Meal 2: chicken, bacon, greens, cauliflower, butternut squash, microgreens, jasmine rice, avocado, olive oil

Meal 3: ground beef meatballs, all-natural BBQ sauce, bell pepper slices, apple

Meal 4: salmon, smashed red potatoes, asparagus

Meal 5: frozen banana slices, almond butter

To start the reset, I first did a 24-hour bone-broth-only fast where I sipped on one of these at meal times. I fasted from 7 pm to 7 pm, which allowed me to start right after dinner the first day and still have dinner the next.

The point of the fast was to give my digestive system a break from solid foods, while the bone broth allowed me to continue taking in some essential nutrients, electrolytes, and protein. Bone broth is also rich in collagen, which soothes the lining of the digestive tract and can help heal leaky gut.

I also drank lots of water throughout the reset and took daily probiotics as well as a mucosal repair supplement.

After a few weeks of seeing symptoms improve, the first food I added back in was gluten-free oats. Then, one at a time, I eventually added in egg whites, whole eggs, sweet potatoes, and Greek yogurt.

The total reset ended up being about 6 weeks, though I rushed it a little at the end because of the holidays.

The total time for an elimination diet or gut reset can vary, but try to give yourself at least 3-4 weeks of clean eating or until you see symptoms improve. Then be sure to reintroduce foods slowly, adding in only one at a time every few days. This will help you take note of any negative symptoms that might come back and which foods trigger them.

Interested in trying your own gut health reset? Feel free to email me with any questions at hanna@contemporarycavewoman.com or let me know how it goes!