New to Paleo and 4 weeks pregnant page

[niki3323]

Hello I am a recent convert to the paleo lifestyle. My husband and I started our switch about 3 weeks ago. I also just found out that I am pregnant!!! I will admit that I am having a VERY hard time the past few days. If any of you can help with pregnancy advice and eating paleo I would appreciate it.

[Grumpycakes]

What has been giving you trouble the past few days?

My advice is this: this is not the time to investigate the various cults of the Paleo religion, like zero carb, VLC, leptin reset, whole 30, etc. Keep wheat and seed oils off your table (I'd even hold off on the olive oil unless you buy the expensive stuff), but eat as much as you crave of meat, veggies, fruit, dairy, everything, even ice cream if it has a very short list of ingredients.

[Jen AlcesAlces]

Hi niki & welcome!
I second all of Grumpy Caveman's advice about not jumping into any of the more "extreme" forms of paleo at this time if you were not doing them before... and will add intermittent fasting to that list. Although if some of the problems you've had involve morning sickness/nausea, you may be unintentionally IF-ing anyway.

Hope you can give some idea of what problems you are having... nausea? fatigue? constipation? (sorry if TMI, but it's one of the common problems in pregnancy I've learned). I'm about 4 months along with my first, and have been "paleo/primal-ish" for over a year with much success (weight loss, health improvement).

The first trimester very tough for me; sometimes I relied on dairy (esp cottage cheese, yogurt, and yes a little ice cream) and fruit because those were the only things I could keep down. Coconut milk with decaf tea also helped to soothe my stomach. Before getting pregnant, I would skip breakfast most days, as I wasn't hungry until noon or later. Now, I have to eat something in the morning or end up feeling dizzy and nauseous. Things are better now, and I'm back to eggs & veggies as my first meal.

Here was a recent thread on morning sickness: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread46182.html Some good advice from ladies who have been through this before. All the best to you and congratulations!

P.S. check out Dragonfly's Primal Pregnancy article too: http://www.primaltoad.com/primal-pregnancy/

[niki3323]

Hey Guys, Thank you so much for your comments! This is my first and I am not wanting to eat anything healthy WHATSOEVER!!!! The look of veggies and fruit makes my stomach want to turn. I kind of want to have the mentality to just suck it up and eat what I know is best for baby and me. But to say the least, I havent been successful I grew up in a family that lived off of junk food and dairy (mostly cheese) and LOTS of processed grains and sugary treats. Needless to say I have also always struggled with my weight. About 2 months ago when my husband and I were talking about having a child I went onto a kick about health and how much I do not want any child of mine to struggle with the weight issues that I have. I was then introduced to the "caveman diet" by a friend of mine who was trying to lose weight. She couldnt tell me alot about it because she hadnt done any research, so I, of course, went and bought 3-4 books on the subject as well as started doing as much research as possible. Now im in such a weak spot because I know that the first4-10? weeks are the most crucial for development and Im not sticking to the plan that I had orginally intended. I thank you so much for you words of advance. Also I was curious if you guys know if there are any added benefits of eating paleo during pregnancy that may help motivate me to stick with it when all I want is a donut???? Thank you again, NIKI

[Jen AlcesAlces]

The main advantage that I see with eating paleo/primal during this time is the abundance of nutrient-dense foods and good fats that you would give your baby as he/she develops. Remember that Omega 3s are good for brain development (think wild-caught salmon, grass fed meats), and fruits and veggies give a wide range of vitamins. Also, steering clear of the foods that cause inflammation and can interfere with vitamin & mineral absorption (grains/legumes) is another benefit of paleo/primal. In the last link I posted above, there is some good information, and it has a list of other blogs by paleo parents... strongly recommended reading.

I make a point not to beat myself up over things like eating a donut (or that cup of hot chocolate I had yesterday). There are worse things you could do, and if you can eat good whole foods most of the time, it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Just try your best to give the baby the nutrients he/she needs.