Paleo and Pregnancy

I know when you mention pregnancy and diets, most people freak out. Well, here goes nothing!

Over the past three months, I have drastically changed my diet. My sister and a few friends had started this Paleo diet. I had never heard of it and always thought it sounded nuts! No grains, no dairy... what?!? But I saw these friends lose lots of weight and keep it off. They also felt fantastic.

I on the other hand, had gained some weight since high school. About 25 pounds. Knowing I wanted to get pregnant, I needed to lose this weight and give my body some time to stabilize before gaining pregnancy pounds. So, I decided to try it.

The first week, I cut out grains. The next week, dairy. After that, I slowly increased my exercise regimen. This led to a loss of almost 20 pounds since January. My goal is to lose about another 10 pounds. But the better news is I feel awesome! I have twice the energy I used to! Normally, I would go to sleep around 9 every night (or earlier). Now, I can easily make it to 11 without feeling tired the next day. I still go to bed at a decent hour, but I can enjoy nights with my husband without feeling exhausted. Not to mention, I've lost 2 pants sizes and my clothes fit so much better!

So, what is Paleo? Paleo is the idea that we should be eating the way men ate thousands of years ago. Like cavemen. They ate meat, vegetables, and fruit. Grains, bread, chips, and cookies, these thing were not part of their diet. Our bodies haven't evolved enough to process these grains. Grains are processed. I have cut out all processed foods.

When you stop eating grains, you will no longer be starving. In the past, I would feel sick if I didn't eat every 4 hours or so. Now, I'm hardly ever hungry. Those hunger pains are long gone.

Also, grains cause your body to retain water. All of us are walking around with unnecessary pounds of water weight. When you stop eating grains, you will lose tons of water weight (pee a lot) and keep it off too.

I love eating this way and love the way I feel.

So, here's the drama...

I don't want to stop eating this way. I want to continue this diet when I'm pregnant and even after that. I don't want to go back to my old ways and feel like crap again.

So I'm going to keep eating this way. I've done lots of research and really feel like it's best. Most women eating Paleo and pregnant have found they have less nausea, more energy, and less weight gain. My friend gained 30 pounds when pregnant with her first two kids. Once she started paleo, she only gained 18 ponds for her last two pregnancies.

I'm really not even concerned about the weight. I just want to eat healthy food and feel healthy. Paleo is the way to do that.

I'm excited to see if I can keep it up and how this all works out for me.

Not to mention eatings boat loads of vegetables, fruit, and lean meat make you super fertile!

Just a few paleo resources:

onefitmom.ca

Paleo Pregnancy Blog

Paleo Diet Info

Everyday Paleo

LOVE,

BEFORE BABY LADY