Pregnant & Paleo?

4/30/2013 *Sara-Marie* 1 Comments

Before we were blessed with the news of our pregnancy, I already had all of these visions on how I was going to eat, exercise, and be generally awesome when the time finally came to grow a tiny human. Then, I got pregnant. 

Since going paleo last summer, I knew that I wanted to continue to eat real, whole foods for the benefit of my growing child.  All of the veggies and high quality meats would provide all of the essential nutrients, and I probably wouldn't even need to take a prenatal vitamin! (I know now, this is crazy talk.)

To my surprise, I quickly experienced food aversions to almost EVERYTHING I was eating on a regular basis. Eggs used to be my go-to source of high-quality protein that I could eat any time of day. Now - I can barely get myself to make them. Sweet potatoes didn't stir up in me the passion that they used to do. Neither did veggies or salad. Just the smell of my husband cooking a steak can make me gag.

For the first few weeks of my pregnancy, I could only manage to consume the following:

Lots and lots of watermelon with lots and lots of freshly squeezed lime juice

Sparkling/Seltzer Water with lots of lime wedges and cucumber slices

Green smoothies - at least I was getting some spinach and coconut milk in my system in addition to all of the fruit!

And random combos like organic strawberries and sunbutter

 Then on those days when I felt like I could eat a real meal, I craved BAD stuff. Since I was suffering from the morning sickness, my will power was low so I caved into some glutenous foods like:

At least I was able to eat some eggs!

The only redeeming ingredient in this meal were the crushed walnuts

Yes, that is real pasta and real Parmesan cheese. Face palm.

 While all of these tasted good at the time, especially after not eating things like bagels, waffles and pasta for such a long time, they only made me feel worse.

 Now that the morning sickness is subsiding a bit, I've been trying to get myself back on the paleo bandwagon. I've had a little bit more energy and I actually have the desire to cook again. I'm still not feeling eggs, steak, or sweet potatoes, but I have managed to eat the following healthy meals over the last week or so:

I've always liked my homemade salsa, but lately, I'm like in LOVE with it. With extra lime of course. Baby likes sour.

Random concoction #1: sweet plantains, chicken thighs, 1/2 avocado, drizzle of balsamic glaze

Random concoction #2: sweet plantains, brussels sprouts, chicken sausage, olive oil/maple syrup/balsamic dressing

Organic pork chop with roasted veggies

Roasted cauliflower and organic Italian chicken sausage. Btw, I had this for breakfast. Gotta think outside the box!

Spaghetti squash and baked garlic chicken wings

 I can honestly say that I feel better now that I've cleaned up my act a bit over the last week or so. Getting back in the groove is motivating me to continue on this path. I know it is healthier for our baby for me to eat the most nutritious foods possible, so I have to commit. The hubby and I are even going to attempt a pregnancy Whole30 for the month of May. Now that I'm past some of the first trimester craziness, I'm hoping I can continue preparing delicious and nutritious foods and be the paleo mom I so desperately want to be!

Wait - did I just call myself a mom? That's weird. Sometimes it doesn't feel real, but in about 5 months we will be parents. SO excited and SO scared all at the same time!

In terms of exercise, I again thought I would be a totally cool CrossFitMom by now, but that hasn't happened. Right now I'm celebrating the fact that they opened up the local park's nature trail and I took advantage of the beautiful weather this evening.

Baby steps, right?

Pun intended.