Well, the news is mostly shared now, so I'll toss it on here! We're just about 17 weeks pregnant presently with baby #3.I realize it's been a very long while since I've posted on this blog! Allow me to enlighten you about what i've been up to the last year and a half or so.
shortly after we moved to Springfield, I continued to struggle with weight loss. I had done the "maximized living advanced plan" detox several times. This plan is a sugar detox where you dont eat anything that shows up on the glycemic index for about 30 days or so. It's supposed to reset the immune system and digestive tract. Unfortunately for my own digestive system, it uncovered some issues that can best be described under the category of "leaky gut syndrome". Leaky gut classifies a serious of bizarre and seemingly random digestive issues such as skin conditions, arthritis, allergies and the like, that all stem back to having an inflamed intestinal tract from eating the wrong things for your body type, or medications or illness etc... For me personally, my body began reacting specifically to gluten, in ways so severe I actually got tested for Celiac (which was negative thankfully). The best treatment for leaky gut (by my research anyways) is to eliminate common foods that cause inflammation for a long enough period of time (4-6 months) to heal. Then you can re-introduce foods slowly to figure out what's really damaging your body and what you're okay with. So I ended up doing this. I basically ended up eating Keto (a diet where you get 70% of your calories from fat, 15% from protien and 15% from carbohydrates). This diet releases ketones into your body and drastically reduces inflammation. On top of this, I also did not eat any caffeine, or dairy for the first 2 months of the 4 month cleanse. It took about 6-8 months and suddenly my tolerance for gluten slowly began to increase until eventually I could fully integrate it again. After that I did keto on and off for another 8 months or so. about a year and a half all together from start to finish.
I stopped eating Keto at about 6 weeks pregnant, because my body was very obviously refusing that diet during pregnancy. I love the way I feel when my body is in Ketosis, and I would have loved to stay that way. I did a bunch of research which told me it is possible to have a Keto pregnancy, though you should increase your carbs slightly in any case, and you will still be able to remain in ketosis. however, my body began to show signs that this would not be possible. And knowing that a person's blood volume increases by half over the first 20 weeks, I made the decision to simply stop eating keto.
The decision was easy but the process was not so simple. There is a very reliable diet that is suitable for all pregnancies called "the Brewer's Diet" based out of research done by a man whose last name is Brewer. The diet involves eating foods from all the food groups, with a heavy emphasis on getting enough leafy greens, and proper meat-based proteins, along with 2 eggs a day for their unique "choline" vitamins. In the end, its a very large amount of food, and they are quick to say on the outset that the weight gain is more like 40-50 lbs as opposed to the recommended 20-30 lbs. However, the diet covers any dietary restriction that could cause birth or pregnancy issues such as blood pressure, diabetes, or defects from lack of folic acid. It's well researched and proven, and a well balanced diet.
However, for me, coming off a keto diet, it began to be an issue. I was gaining easily a pound a day on the brewers diet, and couldn't remain on it.I switched over to eating a keto breakfast and lunch, and then a regular supper. Until eventually, the weight gain slowed down enough to allow me to phase into a regular diet.
Now that I am about 3 weeks away from that 20 week mark, I am beginning to re-assess how I will eat for the remainder of my pregnancy. At first I thought of trying keto again, however I'm hesitant about it simply because of how my body reacted initially. So next I thought perhaps Paleo would be a better fit (The cave man diet). However I still don't like the idea of eliminating grains all together, and also dairy. Also, given that it's garden season, the idea of not eating our home grown potatoes, beets and carrots, seems silly! So then I carefully orchestrated a list of what I could and could not eat... But even that... was not quite settling with me...
This afternoon I had a friend over and the idea hit me as simply as a breeze when you're outside. Breakfasts will be grain-less... either an egg dish, or a smoothie of some kind. Lunches need to either be salads or primarily a veggie dish with a simple protein. Snacks will need to not be junk food. Either something from a proper food group, or a highly nutritious snack food like a candy-free trail mix. Suppers, will be simply suppers. Whatever I make them.No snacks after supper on a regular basis. perhaps once or twice a week for social situations or a special movie night or something, but otherwise, not to be made a habit.
As simple as this sounds, its a bit ground-breaking for me... I work best with extreme boundaries like Keto, Paleo, Advanced plan, whole 30, etc.. So having a specific structure in place is key for me to have success. Having real limits not just "choose something healthy" is essential for my success. Otherwise I can justify everything under the sun! So this was an ideal choice.
In addition to the diet changes, I intend on trying to get in at least some moderate amount of exercise daily. I stopped exercising some time in my early second trimester, simply from fatigue. So my expectations are pretty low. A proper walk, some squats and arm curls, etc... just something to keep active.
anyways, thats a pretty significant update for now! Hopefully I'll remember to update this blog as I go along! :)
The end!
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