Raising a Cavebaby!!

I have been spending the last month working strictly on my diet to get TIGHT control of my sugars this pregnancy. Why didn't I start sooner than a month ago....well that is when morning sickness ended and that is when I finally had the strength to get serious, research and work hard on getting good control. My husband has been doing Crossfit again for a few months now to get his body back into good shape and he mentioned the paleo eating that crossfit promotes. Apparently he had been reading a lot about the nutrition Crossfit promotes via their blog app. He said that it was very healthy and clean eating. I decided to do some hardcore searching and reading. I learned a lot. I added the app to my phone and started getting the updates each day which are encouraging to me. I read a lot about paleo pregnancies and how safe or healthy it was as sometimes you will end up in ketosis on a paleo diet. Everything I researched had plenty of studies to back that it seemed to be not only safe, but beneficial as it keeps insulin levels low which is much safer and healthier for the baby. There are some amazing things here at The Primal Parent, here at One Fit Mom, here at Growing Up Paleo and lastly IVillage Paleo.

I had been eating fairly clean anyways, but more vegetarian with lots of fruits, veggies, fresh grains, legumes and beans. This was working out okay for me until I became pregnant. The game changed almost immediately. My sugars started climbing at a scary rate to the point I almost needed to get on meds. Waking up with 151 as your morning fasting number is NOT good. I thought I was doing all the right things, but when you truly have a blood sugar problem, grains are not your friend. No matter how stone ground that wheat was or how healthy they claim the beans and barely are, my blood sugars said otherwise. They were not healthy for ME. I knew I had to do something drastic and fast. As much as I don't love meat much, I switched full fledged almost immediately to paleo eating and my sugar started coming down fast. If I had been on meds, I woulda been sick. Thankfully I wasn't yet. My fasting sugars are now in the 80s!!!!! Woooo. Midday, post parandials, etc are typically around 90-100. This is such a difference from 200 post parandial. My body loves this food.

Now if you have read my blog any length, you know my immune system is complete and utter crumbly crap, right??? WRONG, I fixed my immune system. I have always joked that I was a sticky fly trap for viruses. I caught everything all winter long, running fevers several times a month between November and April. Not the case this year. Guess how many viruses I have had since November......1 teeny cold! My kids have ran fevers, had sore throats, friends have been puking and I have been enjoying perfect, robust health. I also have been healthy enough to return to working out. I am currently getting into decent enough shape to start modified Crossfit WOD's. Normally, working out is the icing on the cake that kills my immune system the rest of the way off after the sugar and grains attack it first. The proof is in the pudding baby!

So what do I eat? Healthy, clean, primal.....no really, what do I eat? Good food! lobster, shrimp, fish, chicken, turkey, lean ground beef, vegetables galore, fruits in moderation(depending on the type), almonds/almond flour, cashews, walnuts, coconut milk/oil/shreds/flour, lots of amazing recipes to be had with these ingrediants. All you are cutting is beans, legumes, and grains. We aren't adapted for grains for the most part, especially if you are insulin resistant to any degree.  Some of my favorite new recipes come from Primal Palate, Here, and Paleo Mama. Yes I still get some sweets and baked goods and guess what, my blood sugar barely moves a notch from these amazingly better than regular choclate chip cookies. My kids prefer them to the old regular I used to make with stone ground wheat. Another one we love is this banana bread and this carrot cake. As you can see, being primal, some sweets can still be on the menu. Another thing to note is you can still have pasta, spaghetti squash pasta that is. You can also have rice, cauliflower rice hehe, and mashed potatoes, I mean mashed caulflower that tastes just like potatoes! The beautiful part is, they WILL not spike your blood sugar much at all even with a proven insulin issue.

Since eating this way, Nate has lost 10 lbs and counting and I have accidently lost 3 lbs(125 to 122) while pregnant between my last 2 Dr.'s appts. My Dr was extremely supportive of this eating considering my blood sugar issues and told me just to try to eat more so I gain by next time. I eat tons, but this is my body's way of getting to the ideal cavewoman's size I believe!