Adventures of a Primal Grazier in the midst of Reproduction! page

[natro]

Haha, hope you like my journal title - I swapped the term 'farmer' for 'grazier' as that is more what we do. Farming I guess is associated with annual crops and grain production, whereas we don't do any of that, we raise 100% grassfed beef & lamb, so it's more like ye olde herding. I tried paleo after a couple of customers introduced me to it and couldn't believe the results: I'd also swapped my dog onto a raw bone diet and he looke dgreat so I figured if he looked so good eating his 'natural' diet, I probably would too! It was also great to put my money where my mouth is, something I always like to do, and be grain free myself like the livestock are and TRULY eliminate grain production from my life.

I'm in the midst of reproduction because I just had my first baby 5mo ago and feel like paleo has really helped regain my figure and feed my humungous baby myself - she's exclusively breastfed and already well over 20lbs and I didn't experience the 4month blip like so many other seem to, she's never been hard for me to feed in terms of milk supply, I never once felt I'd 'run out'. It's been so good I'm also going for my second very soon, as soon as I can really, and I thought it'd be interesting for other paleo mums to read about my experiences. I'ma ware 2 kids so close together is going to be very hard and not really what a cavewoman would have done but let's face it, I DON'T live in a cave and this isn't some kind of reconstruction - I have a really good food supply and modern medical support and comfort, and I have a career to think about!

So - I'm Nat, I'm 26 in a few days' time, I have a 5mo daughter and I raise grassfed beef. I also really enjoy knitting and riding and driving oxen, but really any animal will do. Animal/pre internal combustion engine transport is my massive geeky hobby and maybe some of that will creep in here too...

[natro]

What's going on weightwise? Well, it's a long story.

I didn't really worry about my weight until university - up until then I'd been a well-built kid, ate fairly healthily, mostly vegetarian. I aspired to veganism due to love of animals but never really got there and now realise how dumb that whole idea is...anyway, I slimmed down naturally once my hormones settled in but then went to university with a houseful of really slim girls, and the pressure was on. I didn't realise it at the time, but I actually did really well! But, I've always been freakishly HEAVY. Not fat, but my BMI says I'm obese. Example - people guessed me at a size 10, but at my very very lightest I was only 11st6! Now nobody would put me at 'fat' or obese, but I've been over 14st for years! I'm so embarassed about it because peopel literally gape when I tell them my weight, I've studiously avoided my husband even finding out how much I weigh, so this is me confessing all.

Then I met my ex and he had the worst diet ever and I found how hard it was to eat well if your partner eats crap and he is the breadwinner so gets to decide everything. I ballooned - 12lb in one memorable month, 4st over the course of the relationship, from 11st6 to 15st6! Despite daily cycling and a physical job on a pig farm!

Through a little 6mo stint of paleo with my new partner I managed to keep that down to around the 14st6 mark, and a little lower pre pregnancy. I think due to paleo I managed to only get to 16st during pregnancy. Firs trimester the sickness stopped any kind of diet control, 2nd tand 3rd trimester were much healthier. 16st sounds a LOT, but remember, I weigh a LOT more than I look, and I started at 14st6, the heaviest I was before pregnancy was 15st6 so actually only 1/2 st more than my heaviest. Baby was 8lb7.5oz @birth.

BUT, I was very disappointed to have only lost 1st6 after 3months of breastfeeding and getting the baby out! I had HEAVILY relied on carbs, which I don't apologise for - I needed quick, easy food and had no idea what I was doing so just staying away from too much rubbish and learning how to do the baby thing was the priority!

The good news? Since going really paleo, and thanks to the structure given to me by this website - recipes etc - I have tripled my weight loss and at last weighing I was 13st8, having been down to 13st6, by far my lightest for 8yrs!!!

[natro]

Well I was on a high after my first month *properly* paleo and a stone and a half melting off, but then made the mistake of getting a bit excited and weighing myself and...2lb back ON!? Well, I knew I'd been a little naughty out of necessity at that festival and expected no more loss but...gain!? not fair! That sent me off feeling really low. Not low enough to abandon the whole thing of course, just to think 'well, I'll have to start rationing things and restricting myself if I ever want to get back to my 11st6 18yr old self. That wasn't an appealing thought, because for me, paleo is for life, not just until 11st6. I have to eat sustainably or I can't see the point at all - I've done low calorie diets, and they're a bag of crap.

I haven't weighed myself since, I'm trying to break myself of the habit or I get obsessive and any gain makes me upset and if I get upset I want jellybeans. But, what I noticed today was that even though I may WEIGH as much, or a little more, I FEEL so much better! I feel slimmer, I struggle to keep my size 16 jeans up, people compliment my new figure, and i feel strong enough to effortlessly do my chores and lug my enormous baby about!

Which made me think that maybe, I never will get back to my 18yr old self? I might get that slim again, but I may never weigh so little, because a) I am simply more mature now and have filled out and attained my full frame size, and b) I actually DO stuff now, not just sitting on a bus/behind a desk/on a beach.

And that made me feel happier, and I re-made my goal to just break this 13st barrier I haven't for years and be a size 14.

[natro]

good news - i bought sz 14 jeans that fit for the first time in 8yrs yesterday! now, i wouldn't say i'm a bona-fide sz14 yet, as it does depend on cut so i cant bin the 16s yet, but this is real, big progress! i also lost another 1lb, so13st5 and i've done quite a bit of cheating out of necessity lately, so that 13st barrier creeps closer! i may have been a bit too easy on myself in my redefined goals!

[natro]

Following on from the raw foodism thread I though i'd calculate ROUGHLY how many calories i get through a day. I'm not very well off and care about my diet being sustainable so the usualy arguments of 'i cant afford to paleo' and it being bad for the planet do rile me. as I suspected, on average I eat 2,604cals/day. Possibly a lot for a woman, but I'm breastfeeding which is supposed to be 500 extra cals/day, and i do a manual job with a lot of activity. i had/have a big appetite and rarely feel hungry - never is probably not accurate - so, i think that's really good going.

i spend approx. £50/wk in total on food for myself, 3 meals a day that's just £2.30/meal. grassfed meat, unhomogenised jersey milk etc - no skimping!!

[natro]

apologies for poor typing - feeding baby with other arm...

i've always loved my grub. let's face it, you don't really choose to become a farmer (or grazier) unless you love food and wanna feed people! in the past when i've done deprivation diets i've ended up in a food obsessed hell, so when i read about fasting i initially thought 'hmm, that's not for me!' however 8wks into my strict paleo diet and i'm noticing changes.....i find i'm naturally fasting without thinking about it. i'm a busy person and sometimes i can struggle to fit food in, which in the past has led to blood sugar crashes and spikes and another crash followed by another desperate binge and- you know the score!

today's been busy and physical, but i've managed on a spoonful of nut butter & 3 chicken thighs. it's mid afternoon and what happened to lunch? i don't know, but i'm not particularly hungry and don't have the shakes.

another thing i notice is that when i'm hungry, it's manageable. i feel it, but i can ignore it quite happily, i'm not instantly off on a carb hunt almost like my body's hinting i will need some food soon, but it's secure in the knowledge i will provide it!