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Postpartum Whole30


CaseyD

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I have a beautiful week-old baby boy and so many reasons right now to do a Whole30. I tried to make the whole "gluten-free" lifestyle work and then experimented with the autoimmune protocol after it seemed I was reacting to practically everything I ate, and eventually that started down a depressing path of making deserts and eating way too much sugar. Now I just feel pretty out of whack. I think pregnancy hormones have played a major role in some of this. I went half my pregnancy suddenly not being able to tolerate eggs, and then I discovered the same was true for nuts, shellfish, and peppers. Suddenly, I am finding that I can tolerate nuts, peppers and a small amount of eggs again. It is very weird. That whole pregnancy was just weird, I have to say.

 

Since I feel so unsure of what the heck is going on with my body/food intolerance, I'm just going to do a straight Whole30 and go from there. And, I once again need to stop eating sugar. You'd think I'd eventually learn as many times as I have quit sugar. You would seriously do a face palm if I told you just how many times I've quit sugar only to reintroduce it again with disastrous results.

 

Oh, and my very non-paleo spouse suddenly decided to do a Whole30 (well, he's only committed to 2 weeks at this point) with me. This is huge. This man thinks he thrives off processed foods like party pizzas and grilled cheese sandwiches. He is on Day 5 and going through all the classic first week troubles. I'm hoping that will pass for him in time to hit the two weeks and he'll decide to commit to the full 30 days. I think that's what he's leaving it up to - how he feels.

 

I am on Day 3 of my Whole30 (I had a hard time giving up diet soda again). I'm feeling incredibly motivated right now. After having a migraine for a solid week (never had one that bad before) that landed me in the ER, my mantra is, "I hate hospitals and pain killers, so do the work to stay healthy and away from that!" 

 

So this is my post-baby Whole30 log. May my amazingly easy newborn remain so easy. Hey, I can dream!  ;)

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Thanks!

So far, we've been lucky with a baby that sleeps all the time, so we've actually not experienced the newborn exhaustion yet. I'm pretty shocked, actually, but I know there is no way this will last.

 

I think logging in a timely fashion may be the biggest challenge. I should bite my tongue now before I jinx myself further!

 

Day 3:

B: chocolate chili

L: steak on salad with homemade creamy dressing and banana/strawberry salad

D: more leftover steak, roasted carrots and broccoli

 

This morning I took my daughter to the park. They hold a farmer's market/concert series there over the summer right next to the playground. I screwed up and didn't bring cash, which is bad news when your toddler skipped breakfast and then is around tons of people snacking on stuff. The only place that was taking cards was our awesome local chocolate makers. I ended up getting her some raspberry candies and pretended to not see the basket of dark chocolate. That was some will power! But, I feel good about not even considering it. Next time, I need to remember to bring our snacks!

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Day 4 (which is today):

 

B: ground pork, yellow and butternut squash, and onion scramble with a nectarine 

L: a few bites of chocolate chili.... which my daughter promptly stole and claimed as her own, then leftover steak, carrots and broccoli

D: the best pork ribs ever (my brother is a chef and made these for us to have after the baby), cauliflower and mashed sweet potato. 

 

Today has been a very long day and is really testing my willpower. This is one of those days that I would normally emotionally eat, especially because there isn't going to be a real chunk of me time at any point. I'm hoping in about an hour the baby will allow me to do a short yoga sequence so I can get a little bit of my sanity back. But, I'm staying strong and I'm not going to eat sugar to cope. Sugar doesn't actually make you cope with anything, so that's a dumb thing to even say!

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Day 5 was yesterday:

B: leftover steak, carrots and broccoli

L: can of tuna and avocado (I had meant this to be a snack, but never got around to eating lunch!)

D: leftover ribs, zucchini noodles and sweet potato

S: some almond butter and a banana

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Today is Day 7! One week!

 

Day 6 (yesterday):

B: bacon, zucchini noodles and 1/2 a scrambled egg. I don't think I reacted to the egg, so I may experiment with more again soon.

L: chocolate chili/ leftover ribs and green beans

D: chicken, spaghetti squash, and mixed vegetable Thai stir fry

 

I shared every meal I ate yesterday with my daughter. She just kept stealing my food! That's why it looks like I ate two lunches because I kind of did in order to get enough. She took out my chili and half of the green beans I cooked. 

 

I also took my son out for a walk. He seems to tolerate riding in the stroller, so hopefully that sticks. My daughter has always hated stroller rides. It feels good to do some form of exercise!

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Day 9!

 

I got behind logging and yesterday I literally snacked instead of eating meals. It was a hectic day and we went to a funeral for my sister-in-law's baby who passed away part way through the pregnancy. That was a very weird and sad experience, and I have some guilt knowing she met our baby the day before this happened.  :(

 

Anyway.... I'll log today later but I've stayed on track, so that's good. I'm starting to feel good emotionally. It's been rough since the pregnancy in that department, but today I feel together, happy and calm. Plus, I have lots of energy today. I can sure use that!

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Congrats on your baby--and on your husband joining you! 

 

I am with wheat how you are with sugar. I'm also like that with sugar, but I have so many more immediately felt reactions to wheat. And yet I still put it in my mouth. One day we will learn. At least I have to believe that. 

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Yeah, my husband jumped ship about 9 days in. Bummer, because I noticed a dramatic shift in his stress levels by that point and he's back to his old, hyper-stressed out self. And, sadly, he really didn't think anything changed. Oh well.

 

I'm terrible at logging this time. I wanted to at least get on here and log my food each day, but sleepy newborn little boy suddenly realized life is so much more fun when you're awake all the time! I knew it couldn't last. So, my arms are literally full most of the day now. Also, it is pretty fun that he and his sister are on different sleeping schedules. That's sarcasm there.

 

I'm fairly certain postpartum depression has hit me and right now I'm having more bad days than good, but I'm staying true to the clean eating. I have to. I'm trying very hard to take good care of myself. I know there is nothing I can eat that will immediately wipe away the depression, so I might as well eat clean as that is the best option. 

 

Today, I actually got back on my bike after almost 9 months off it. I rode about 14 miles at a slow pace and it felt really good to do that. So, I'm getting some exercise back too now. I hope between the clean eating and the exercising, I can beat this depression sooner than later. Plus, my very amazing husband is going out of his way to make sure I get enough sleep because the doctor told him that was important. That does help quite a bit too. I think I'd be much worse off without all these positive things right now.

 

So, today I ate slow cooked chicken from the Nom Nom Paleo app with broccoli and sweet potato for breakfast and lunch, and dinner was salad with burger patty and avocado. 

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