Paleo Is IMPOSSIBLE!!!

I could never give up MY cereal.
I could never give up MY triscits.
I could never give up MY rice.
I could never give up MY ice cream.
I could never give up MY non-fat sugar free soy mochalatamacha latte!

Screw you and this "Paleo" you speak of!  It's IMPOSSIBLE!

Yup... I've heard it a million times.  I've said it a million times in my pre-paleo days (remember I was a cheese quesadilla, easy mac, betty crocker dinner in a box eating vegetarian just two short years ago).

Today I shall step off my soap box and appeal to a lot more people than I normally do.  I'll say the popular thing that people want to hear.  Do not fear, I am not sacrificing my dignity, for what I shall say next is truth that I cannot deny.

DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!
Do what works for you guys.  I'm so happy you are reading my paleo blog but don't feel cornered by my writing in thinking that it is THE only way to live your life happily and healthfully.  If the idea of cutting out grain and dairy and sugar induces anger and defensiveness in you then don't go paleo.... yet.  I encourage you to learn more about it, but don't feel like you have to label Paleo as impossible or crazy just because you aren't ready for it at the moment.  Maybe if Paleo isn't your thing, perhaps "Primal" is.  Maybe just "clean eating".  Or maybe just using a little common sense and eating more REAL food than boxed will work for you.

SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
Two years ago I preached the food pyramid and thought my paleo friends were insane.  Today, I preach Paleo and practically drown anyone who is unfortunate enough to ask with info on this lifestyle.  See... I know I'm crazy!

TAKE HOME MESSAGE
So here is your take home message.  Nutrition is important.  Food is human fuel.  Can't put diesel in a mini cooper and expect it to run.  Same goes for food and humans.  Food can either be the safest and most pure form of medicine for your body, or it can the slowest form of poison.  Learn, grow, take a vested interest in your own health rather than blindly following what your doctor, mother, friend, or commercials tell you about healthy living.  You are obviously interested in Paleo right now so keep learning.  Read a book about it.  Change if you are ready, or keep the information in the back of your mind for later use if you aren't ready.  Change slowly, change quickly, WHATEVER!  Just learn.  Grow.  Take interest in your health.

QUIT BEING MEAN
But remember this:  Don't beat yourself up for where you are right now and for not changing when you know you "should".  I should eat more veggies.  I should stop buying oreo's.  I should go 100% paleo.  You can "should" all over yourself but it will never change anything.   Quit beating yourself up, and do what you are ready to do and nothing more.  If you are ready to just read blogs, read on.  If you are ready to buy a bag of raw veggies at the store for a snack, buy on.  If you are ready to look for almond butter next to the JIF you usually buy, look on.   Just do what you are ready to do and nothing more, and be hugely proud of yourself for doing those little things that you didn't do yesterday.

Learn.  Grow.  Find what works for you.  And if nothing else, just eat food that looks like food.  Strawberries over Strawberry Special K Bars.  Eggs over Cereal.  Chicken from the meat department vs from a can.  Real fruits.  Real Veggies.  Real Meats/Seafood.  That is it.  If that is as "Paleo" as you ever go you will be reaping 80% of the benefits.

YAY YOU!
So be happy friends!  Just reading this means you are on your way to a healthier life.  Yay you for not just playing farmville and facebooking online!  Yay you for looking into something new!  Yay you for being awesome at being you!

Calcium and Paleo: It's not always about Intake....

I’ve heard it a million times. Heck! I’ve even thought it to myself a time or two.   How do we get calcium in the Paleo diet?  Calcium is especially important to the growing human inside your body. A human that will eventually have 206 different bones.  Yes, calcium is important.  Yet, what we’ve been told about calcium for the last 50 years has been muddied with corporate dollars, and profit gaining motives. 

IT’S A CONSPIRACY!!!!!

The dairy industry is one of the largest funders of research in how increased dairy intake increases calcium stores in the body.   Is it any wonder that the results of the research are in favor of the very people funding the research?  Does anyone else see the ridiculousness of this other than me?  Anyways!  What this tainted research has told us is that calcium is important to the human body.  It does the obvious, builds strong bones, but it also takes a role in proper muscle contraction function, nerve function, and keeps your heart beating normally.   What this research doesn’t tell us is that calcium intake in the U.S. is one of the highest in the world, but so is our rate of osteoporosis.  Huh?!?!  That doesn’t make any sense?  We should be super-people with bones of steel from our high intake of calcium filled dairy shouldn’t we?  What the research also neglects to tell us is that calcium levels in the body are GREATLY affected by not only calcium intake, but also calcium excretion (through your urine).   (Cordain, 2012)

Loren Cordain, the author of “The Paleo Diet”, has an amazing FAQs page that I reference often for research based answers on the paleo diet. Under his “Calcium and Bones” link I find a great explanation of this intake vs. excretion issue. 

IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE MAN:

Cordain states that bone health greatly depends on dietary acid/base balance.  “All foods upon digestion ultimately must report to the kidney as either acid or base.  When the diet yields a net acid load (such as low-carb fad diets that restrict consumption of fruits and vegetables), the acid must be buffered by the alkaline stores of base in the body.  Calcium salts in the bones represent the largest store of alkaline base in the body and are depleted and eliminated in the urine when the diet produces a net acid load (Cordain, 2012)”.   It is interesting to note that the average American diet based on the not-awesome food pyramid is FILLED with acid-producing foods!  What are they? Hard cheeses, cereal grains, salted foods (95% of packaged foods, yes even your “healthy choice” and nutrigrain bars), meats, and legumes (beans).  More food for thought:  the ONLY alkaline, base-producing foods are fruits and vegetables.  (Cordain, 2012)

DOUBLE WHAMMY:

To add insult to injury, while eating whole wheat, white bread, cereal, pasta and other grain products, you are also eating the anti-nutrients that come with them.  Anit-Nutrients? That sounds bad Cassandra.  Oh it is my friend!  One anti-nutrient found in grain is phytates, which Cordain points out reduces the absorption of not only calcium, but also magnesium and zinc.  So your Special K cereal with fat free milk = none of that calcium is actually getting into your bones.  You’re just pee’ing it down the drain!  Literally. 

There are actually a few more great points made by Cordain on his site about grain intake and calcium absorption/excretion. Check it out here. 

I CAN SEE THE LIGHT:

The Paleo lifestyle, on the other hand, combats this acid/base inequality with a high level of base (alkaline) foods (fruits/veggies), so you minimize the calcium excretion taking place in your body (aka the calcium you eat is actually absorbed and used in your body rather than eliminated through your urine). Don’t get me wrong, all acid-producing foods aren’t evil (meats, fish/seafood = Good), but consuming even more acid-producing foods (grain, dairy, legumes, processed crap) at the expense of the alkaline foods IS.

To ensure your paleo lifestyle is calcium rich for you and baby include plenty of dark leafy greens (turnip greens, collard greens, kale, spinach), broccoli, sardines, bone in fish, sesame seeds, etc.  And if you are still worried asking your doctor about a high quality calcium supplement may not be a bad idea.  I take one as a “just in case I don’t feel like spinach today” precautionary measure.  Note that calcium in supplement form does not absorb well into the body.  What the label says the pill contains may not fully get into your system.  Rely on food first, then a supplement if desired.  

It should also be noted that daily weight bearing activity will also increase bone density through the lovely concept of adaption. (That's me doing weight bearing activity! 17 Weeks and going strong!)  If the body is stressed it will adapt to that stress by rebuilding itself stronger.  That's why when you workout regularly what used to be hard, is now easy.  Specifically on the matter of bones: Ever see Wall-E the pixar movie?  When the humans have been in space for so long their bone density dwindled due to lack of weight bearing activity (walking, running, lifting heavy sh*t... aka using their bodies)?  It's the same concept... The more stress (weight training/exercise in general) you put on the body (bones), the more it will adapt and rebuild itself. So get off the couch and stress your bones!  (Insert health warning about talking to your physician before starting a workout program, especially if you're preggo.  Just remember: if you and baby are normal/healthy and you did it before, you can probably do it during with a few modifications as your belly grows.  Personally my rule is: If I feel pain, sick, or just generally weird when doing something that I did before pregnancy, I stop.  Now I lift weights for endurance (lower weight) rather than power/strength (max weight possible). It's not rocket surgery ya'll... =P )

MORE INFO:

Lastly, check out this awesome (short) article from Balanced Bites.  The author did a compare/contrast with a food pyramid day vs. a paleo day in a nutrient tracker.  On top of the calcium, you can see that the paleo day is STRONGLY ANTI-Inflammatory (meaning less sickness, disease, and medication in your future) compared to the STRONGLY INFLAMMATORY food pyramid day.   It’s a whole other article to talk about inflammation, but just realize now that it’s no bueno! 

Below is another fav from cavemancookingcreations.com to add to your anti-inflammatory, super baby growing arsenal! ENJOY:

Almond Strawberry Topped Chicken Breast  

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

·      4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

·      1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

·      1/2 Cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

·      1/4 Cup Lemon Juice

·      16 Ounces Fresh Strawberries, diced

·      ½ Red Onion, diced

·      1 Cup Slivered Almonds

·      1 Large handful of baby spinach

·      Cinnamon

·      Coconut oil

·Combine the balsamic vinegar, EVOO, and lemon juice and mix well, place in a ziploc bag

·Rinse your chicken breasts with cold water and pat dry

·Place your chicken breasts in the ziploc bag with the marinade and ensure you get a nice even coating

·Place in the refrigerator and let marinade for 30 Minutes to 24 Hours, your choice

·When your chicken is almost done marinating, preheat your saute pan on medium heat and your oven to 350 degrees

·Add coconut oil to our pan to coat and then add in your slivered almonds and red onion, ensure you are constantly stirring to ensure your almonds don’t burn

·Once your onions start to caramelize, add in all of your strawberries and continue to stir well, as your strawberries continue to cook they will break down which is ok

·Once your strawberries are cooked (almost completely broken down into a pink’ish mush), add in your baby spinach and continue to stir until it wilts, this should only take about 2 minutes and then shut off the heat to your pan and set aside

·Take your chicken breasts out of your fridge/marinade and place in an oiled baking dish.

·Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with as much cinnamon as you would like.

·Scoop the strawberry mixture on top of the chicken so all breasts are covered sufficiently.

·Cover the dish with a lid or tin foil.

·Bake for approximately 15 minutes covered.  Then uncover and bake for an addition 10-20minutes 

Remove from the oven and Enjoy

Warning:  Looks awful!!!!  Tastes GREAT!!!

Cordain, L. (2012) The Paleo Diet: FAQ. Retrieved from: http://thepaleodiet.com/faq

Equinsu Ocha! Equinsu Ocha! (White Devil White Devil!)

Medicine Man: Equinsu ocha!

Ace Ventura: What does "equinsu ocha" mean?

Ouda: White devil.

Ace Ventura: Well, tell him I'm not.

Ouda: I only met you. How do I know?

Ahhh my Wednesday is now complete with a nice quoting of Ace Ventura! =P

Oh white devil.... You are my frenemy!  Pregnant or not I want you in my life daily if not hourly.  Fruit, honey, maple syrup, tub of frosting.... it doesn't matter!  I love you in all your forms (more love for the latter though if I'm honest)!

We all "know" that sugar intake should be limited no matter what your reproductive state is.  We all "know" that it promotes weight gain and could be the cause of Type 2 Diabetes.  But did we all know that it also feeds cancer cells, depresses the immune system, and contributes to heart disease?  Momma's, did you know that you are also naturally insulin resistant when you are pregnant?  (Kresser, 2011)

DETOUR: 
"Insulin" in a very small, comically simple nut shell, go --> In a healthy person: You eat sugar or some simple carbohydrate (bread/pasta/etc), your digestive system breaks the substance down into its most simplest (smallest) form, called glucose, to be transferred through your intestinal lining and into your blood stream.  Now the glucose (sugar) wants to enter the cell, the basic structural unit of the body and the building block of which you and I are made up of.  Glucose must pass through the cellular membrane (aka outer wall that encloses all the cells inner'ds) to get inside and act as gasoline for the cell to do its job.  But glucose is not that popular and is not on "the list" for the party inside the cell so it has to tag along with the billionaire socialite insulin.  With insulin by its side, glucose is permitted to enter the party (able to get into the cell to fuel the work that needs to be done to keep you alive).  Glucose gets into the party, you stay alive, everyone is happy!  Now... Insulin resistance can appear in many different forms. One is when insulin is less effective at moving glucose from the blood into the cell.  When this happens the body produces more insulin thinking that a larger quantity will help get the job done.  This is not always the case... either you have a bunch of glucose and a bunch of insulin floating around your blood unable to get into the party (cell) to do it's job OR you have a sudden crash from high to low blood sugar because of the overload of insulin.  (Note insulin is a fat storing hormone... excess/high amounts in your blood stream = excess fat storing.  Also having sustained high blood sugar is dangerous for your health... Having sudden crashes in blood sugar is also dangerous.) The End.

BACK ON THE MAIN ROAD:
So if preggo's are naturally insulin resistant we are more susceptible to excess high blood sugar which can cause excessive weight gain and gestational diabetes (Kresser, 2011).

WRAP IT UP, I'M GETTING BORED:
What does this tell us?  We should feel SUPER guilty about the pint of Ben&Jerry's we just downed, right?!  hahaha Of course not!   What we should take from all of this is a general understanding that our bodies are in a bit of an abnormal state (like I really need to point that out! lol).  We need to be smarter about our food choices throughout the day, and indulge our cravings in a more moderate level rather than wolfing down any and all oreo's in sight!  These are a few things I try to practice with this knowledge:

• CHEAT DAY: I give myself a cheat day to indulge cravings.  It's usually once a week (sometimes twice if I am being honest).  This is the day that the knowledge of glucose and it's snobby friend insulin gets thrown out the window and I eat what I want!  It's good for the emotional side of my wellbeing. :D
• CHOOSE SLOW DIGESTER'S: During my non cheat days I choose foods that are digested and released slowly into my blood stream.  Proteins are the hardest/slowest nutrient for your body to break down.  This means a slow, steady release of energy into the blood.  Pairing a protein with a sweet is not a bad idea to help combat the sugar spike!  Chicken and Chocolate anyone?!?! =P Also veggies are a good choice in keeping that blood sugar from sky rocketing to fast/high. 
• BE PALEO: Going along with the paleo lifestyle, I avoid all grain (bread, pasta, rice, etc), and processed sugar (cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dehydrated cane juice, sucrose, fructose, anything with a -ose at the end of it's name).  If I am buying packaged food (can, box, bag, etc) I check out the ingredients list found on the food label to see if they contain any hidden sugars.  If it has it in there I put it back on the shelf.  
• USE GOD's SUGAR: I choose to cook/bake dishes using natural sugars like: honey, maple syrup, and on occasion stevia/truvia.  Although these are a better choice than processed white/brown/powdered sugar, it is still sugar and we shouldn't over do it.  
• EAT FRUIT: To curb the ever present sugar craving I seem to live with I keep fruit (frozen/fresh) around the house for those weak moments.  I do not feel guilty about eating my fruit even with my natural insulin resistant self because I know its a heck of a lot better than a snickers and has vitamins/minerals that me and my mini-me need!  I try to ensure I get more vegetables through out the day than fruit though.  I do keep juice intake to a minimum because that gets into the blood stream REALLY fast comparatively to eating the actual piece of fruit.  Again... better than soda, but still something to think about.  Oh and do 100% fruit juice.  V8 Fruit Fusion is crap.  Sorry friends, but it is. 
• DIET = DEATH:  Lastly (I promise I am almost done).... Very very VERY rarely do I indulge in a "diet" soda.  Remember this: IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A SODA, OR CANDY, OR COOKIE, OR WHATEVER HAVE THE REAL VERSION! NOT THE REDUCED SUGAR, OR SUGAR FREE VERSION!  Anything that is sugar free still tastes sweet right?  The company puts a chemical artificial sweetener in the product to make it tolerable.  So your taste buds register sugar being eaten when it senses a sweet taste.  Insulin is produced to regulate the supposed rise in sugar (glucose) level to come when that sweetness is digested, but no sugar actually comes.  Artificial sweeteners do not act like real sugar (glucose) in the body because they aren't real!  So all you get is an elevated insulin level floating around your blood with nothing to do... aka excess fat storage and insulin resistance in your future.  Kapeesh?  Diet = Death!  Just have the real damn cookie! =P  

Okay, I am done... for now! =P  

RECIPE:

To help combat those sweet cravings here's one of my FAVORITE paleo dessert recipes (I did tweak it a little to my liking):

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies 

by Civlizedcavemancooking.com!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Coconut Flour

1/2 Cup Almond Flour

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil

1/2 Cup Raw Honey (or natural sweetener of your choice)

 4 Omega 3 eggs

1/2 Tsp Vanilla extract

1/8 Tsp sea salt

1/2 Cup of shredded unsweetened coconut (I usually use a lot more than 1/2 a cup)

3/4 Cup of Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Process:

▪   Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit 

▪   In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, raw honey, eggs, vanilla extract, and sea salt. (To make your life easier, in a small bowl on the side, combine the raw honey and coconut oil and melt in the microwave before mixing it in)

▪   Add in your coconut flour and almond flour.

▪   Stir in the shredded coconut and chocolate chips.  I will add in the shredded coconut in small amounts until most of the liquid in the recipe is absorbed.  You want the cookies to stand on their own.

▪   On parchment lined baking sheets, drop heaping tablespoons of cookie batter.(Ensure you form them to look like the cookies you want for a final product as these do not rise or spread like conventional cookies, which also means you can place more on a baking sheet without worrying about them touching) 

▪   Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and then enjoy with a nice cup of coconut milk.

GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!

We're SOOO excited!  

Antibiotic Use In Our Meat Supply - A Broken System You Can Fix Every Time You Shop!

Hey Ladies, 

Antibiotic use in our animals is a subject I recommend looking into before going to the grocery store this week.  Below is a simple, one minute video that explains it in a nutshell.  Find "Antibiotic Free" meats in your grocers meat department.  It just takes a few seconds to read the label in more detail.  If it doesn't say "Antibiotic Free" in one way or another the animal was given them when it was alive.  Choosing the Anti-B Free meats will show the meat companies that they no longer sell to an uninformed public.  You can help fix the problem by learning more.  It's important for your and your families health.  

Debilitating Fear Of D-Day (Delivery Day): A different approach to labor/delivery that quiets the fear

NOTE this post has nothing to do with nutrition/paleo, BUT does have a lot to do with letting your body work naturally through labor/delivery.  And paleo is all about the natural right?!?!


DEBILITATING FEAR
Before I start let me give you a little background on me and my thoughts of pregnancy for the last 20 years:

Ever since I was a child I've had a deep, all consuming, full body fear of doctors/hospitals/etc.  If you've ever been so terrified about something in your life you will know what I mean when I say full body.  When I learned where babies came from I literally cried.  Balled my eyes out because one day I was going to have to give birth.  My thought at the time "F THAT!"!  The running family joke was "Cassandra won't have children until it doesn't hurt".

Of course I grew up (a little) and can now enter a hospital without feeling anxiety.  I can give blood without crying.  And of course, when you marry a man like my husband, eventually you really want to reproduce to see what kind of mixture of his crazy and your crazy gets put together by God.


With all that being said you would think that I was a shoe in for a fully medicated birth, yes?  Well yea.... at least up until I chatted with a girlfriend about her natural birth.  Initially the thought terrified me, but the more we talked the more it made sense.  What triggered my interest was her statement that she "used her body and different positions (rather than just laying flat on her back) to ease the pain, and actually aid the baby in coming out".  Hmm.  From a fitness professional perspective this appealed to me.  I love using my body and seeing what it can do.  If I can workout/prepare in a certain way to make the delivery easier I'm all for it!  So I began to read.....

Thus far I've only read two books (three more are already on their way from Amazon... love amazon).  I have learned so much about my body, what happens from a scientific point of view during pregnancy and each stage of labor, and how to practice for the "big day" that I no longer hold that horrible fear and anxiety about this upcoming event in my life.  Yes, the books advocate a natural birth, but whether I have a natural birth or not the education these books have given me have made something unknown and scary, turn into something beautiful and exciting.  I think going from "balling my eyes out scared" to "beautiful and exciting" is a pretty good indication of how great these books are.  And like I said, I may get into the working stage of labor and demand relief be given via a needle, but now I am armed with knowing exactly what my body is going through at each stage of the process.  I am armed with knowledge that my body was designed to do this.  My conscious brain may not have ever experienced this, but my body knows exactly what to do.  These books educate you on what is happening so the process is no longer unknown and scary, and allows you to work with your body rather than against it to make the process more enjoyable.  Yes... enjoyable!

PRACTICE BEFORE THE BIG DAY
To prepare for D-Day (Delivery Day) I am practicing contractions (yes, practicing them), and using certain yoga poses and stretches to prepare my body for the different positions during labor.  Giving birth is one of the most taxing physical and emotional trials I will ever experience.  It's like doing a CrossFit WOD for 14 hours straight!  There is no way in h**l I am not doing everything in my power to prepare for the big day.

THIS MAKES ME FEEL STUPID
When I first started reading the book the idea of different positions during labor/delivery kind of freaked me out.  We've been told our whole lives "feel a contraction, go to the hospital, lay on your back, and push".  The idea of squatting, or kneeling, or sitting on all fours made me cringe a little.  It just seemed weird.  And at a time when many strangers may be seeing my "funny business" I really didn't want to be considered weird!  Call me crazy, though, this makes sense...  The following is a mix of direct quotes and paraphrasing from "Active Birth" by Janet Balaskas:

"Common sense and recent studies suggest that the following are the advantages to the upright mother and her baby [during labor and delivery]:

1 - The pull of gravity assists uterine contractions and bearing-down efforts.  Since it is easier for an object to fall towards the earths surface than to slide parallel to it (according to Newton's Law of Gravity), it is mechanically more advantageous to expel an unborn baby towards the earth than to expel it along the horizon.  When the mother lies down, her involuntary efforts to expel the baby are inhibited; she must strain harder to push the baby "uphill".

2 - Drive angle of the uterus - The uterus tends to tilt forward when it contracts.  In an upright position the mother can lean forward, there by assisting her uterus to work without resistance, but if she is lying down or leaning back, the uterus has to work harder, since it is pulled back by gravity when it tries to tilt forward during a contraction.

3 - The direct application of the baby's head to the dilating cervix is also assisted when the mother is upright. With each contraction the unborn baby tends to sink downwards towards the cervix.  During rest between contractions the pressure on the cervix is sustained by the weight of the baby's body.

4 - Placental circulation is improved - it is common knowledge that lying on your back after a certain point during pregnancy can cause the weight of the baby to compress/close the descending aorta, decreasing the amount of oxygen supplied to the placenta (and in turn baby) as well as block the returning blood to the mothers heart.  Both parties are working with decreased blood flow (oxygen).

5 - Pelvic expansion - During pregnancy hormones soften the ligaments around the pelvic joints to make the joints more flexible.  As long as the mother is upright for the birth, the pelvic joints are free to expand, move, and adjust to the shape of the baby's descending head.  When the mother squats, the sacrum is free to move, allowing the anterior-interior diameter of the pelvic outlet to widen by AS MUCH AS 30% MORE than it would if the mother's weight were resting directly on it - that is, if she were semi-reclining or lying on her back.

SCREW IT! I DO WHAT A WANT!
All of that really makes sense to me!  Work WITH your body, rather than against it.  Screw being weird, or going against the norm.  Paleo people go against the norm everyday, and if squatting makes this baby get out faster, easier, and with less pain then by golly I'm gonna squat!  =P

 This is a scary event for a lot of women.  I fear a lack of control and pain.  These books have truly put me at peace and given me a sense of control over the process because it is no longer unknown.  I can do things now to make it more manageable come D-Day.  I recommend reading them and others even if you are not planning a natural birth.  The in-depth education about what your body does during labor/delivery will help no matter what you choose come D-Day.

RECOMMENDED READING
Below are the two books I've read, the few I've ordered, and some other ones that I've been recommended!

Active Birth: The New Approach To Giving Birth Naturally - Janet Balaskas

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way - Susan McCutcheon

Husband Coached Childbirth - Robert A. Bradley, MD

Gentle Birth Choices - Barbara Harper

Creating Your Birth Plan: The definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth - Marsden Wagner, MD, MS

Born In The USA: HOw a Broken Maternity System Must Be Changed To Put Women and Children First - Marsden Wagner, MD, MS

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth - Henci Goer

Wk 17: Exercise + Eating Right = Gaining Weight?! = Epic Meltdown!

Wk 17! Yay I finally look pregnant even without pushing out my tummy! And yes, I have been pushing out my tummy... I've been waiting for the moment where I went from just looking fat to actually looking preggo! =)

Pregnancy is definitely a wild journey to say the least.  I dare say mine has been a pretty mild wild though.  I have not had crazy mood swings or cravings or morning sickness etc.  I will admit I've had a few break downs from time to time about my appearance and weight gain though.  I think a lot of us have this issue.  Especially during the beginning when you don't actually look pregnant... You just look fat.  Its hard to see your body change but have no real proof of a baby in there other than your jeans no longer buttoning.  Advice for my first trimester moms, I have found that it gets much more enjoyable when you have a little belly to show off!  I'm sure I will regret that statement when I am 8 months and feel like shamu though! :D

To combat the emotional roller coaster of my ever changing physique, AND to make the process of bringing this kid into the world a little easier, I've been a stickler about my exercise and eating.  I've been exercising every day, eating very well (meaning paleo of course), and tracking a slow and steady weight gain.  I "cheat" officially once a week but I've found I indulge a little once or twice during the week too.  I track my weight gain by weighing in first thing in the morning on Sundays to make sure everything is progressing as it should.

This week I had a "wonderful" surprise and then an inevitable break down immediately after when I stepped on the scale and found that in a week I had gained 3.2#.  Usually I am about .5-1# each week.  AND after my last doctors appointment the doc said I should probably only gain about two pounds this next month total.  Of course, like all good husbands, mine walked in right at that moment which triggered the water works!  He played the comforting partner role so well, immediately holding me in his arms and threatening to throw away the scale. haha

SIDE NOTE:  I will admit, I am at the age where I still work out and eat right to look good.  I know I know, I'm shallow.  Don't judge me for being in my 20's!  The more I get educated on paleo the more HEALTH actually motivates me, but I still have those ever present motivators of "get your butt to spin class or watch your butt get bigger".  =P  So, when I work out daily, eat beautifully, and gain 3.2# I have a little freak out moment!

BACK TO THE POINT:  Although at the time it was a bit shocking to see the scale go up THAT much in one week, my husband pointed out an amazing fact.... "You are eating perfectly 95% of the time, and you exercise more than most non-pregnant people!  If you are gaining weight while doing all of that it is because your body is thriving!" He also asked why I would listen to my doctor on this one point of only gaining 2#'s when I don't listen to much he has to say on anything else anyways!?  (My next blog will be more about the lovely trends the U.S. has towards treating pregnancy like an illness rather than a natural process of nature.  I've gotten some "interesting" advice thus far that I passionately, but respectively disagree with.  Educate your self Momma!  Don't blindly trust the white coat!)

Thanks to my wonderful dad-to-be my melt down turned into excitement!  My baby is now the size of an avocado and people are actually starting to comment on my belly!  I have yet to play the "I'm not pregnant" joke on someone who mentions it to me though! haha I can't wait! =P

So I'm on my way up the roller coaster hill once again!  I'm sure there will be more downs but eating healthy and exercising makes me feel sane.  I would much rather gain weight on avocado and coconut milk than on McDonalds and Pizza Hut!  My baby brain function will like it more too! =D