Happy Friday everyone! Please enjoy this testimonial from Amie R. in which she shares her paleo, pregnancy, and post pregnancy experiences.
My lifestyle pre pregnancy.
I’ve always considered myself to be a fairly health conscious individual. My Bachelors is in health science and I’m a certified health education specialist working with many dietitians doing nutrition education in northern California low-income communities. Prior to starting at Norcal Strength & Conditioning, I prescribed to the traditional food pyramid plan – a diet low in fat and chock-full of grains, fruits, etc. I struggled with my weight a bit as I was always within the “healthy” zone, but I felt soft and bloated a lot of the time. In ’04 I went gluten free and dairy free upon my chiropractor’s recommendations as I’ve always had severe stomach problems. This change almost immediately resolved most of my stomach issues; however, I was still struggling to tone my body. I worked out at a traditional gym 3-4 days per week with relatively few results to show for my efforts. I then started at Norcal Strength and Conditioning and began the Paleo lifestyle in Jan ’09, about 10 months prior to getting pregnant. Within the first month at I saw a total body transformation and drastic improvement in the way I felt and my energy levels. The following nine months were my healthiest ever and I continued to see marked improvements in my overall strength and health, as well as the toning that I’d desired for many years. 
During my pregnancy, I continued working out at NorCal 3 days per week and continued eating mostly Paleo. The reason I say mostly is because some days/weeks were pretty tough as I had morning sickness throughout the day everyday for the first 15 weeks of my pregnancy. I first tried increasing my carb intake while staying Paleo (e.g. eating more sweet potatoes, berries, etc.) and this helped quite a bit. Occasionally, I still experienced exceptionally challenging days where I was extremely nauseous, so I allowed myself some gluten free crackers or gluten free bread. I also went through a period of protein aversion (the sight or smell of meat products made my stomach turn) where I relied on high-quality protein powder to help me get through the day. 
Fortunately, that period of time was short lived! I also drank a lot of carbonated water (as opposed to soda) to help with the nausea. As soon as I hit about week 16, the nausea disappeared and so did the grains and protein powder. I was back to Paleo foods for the rest of my pregnancy, though I continued with the increased carb intake as I felt sluggish when I went too low-carb.
My cravings included mustard, vinegary foods like pickles and pepperoncinis, and dark chocolate covered almonds. I only experienced food aversions during the first 15 weeks while I was experiencing the nausea and it was mostly around meat and meat products. This was another factor which made it difficult to stay Paleo, but I found that I was able to stomach fried eggs and ground beef most days. We had a lot of casserole type dishes during those weeks – luckily my husband didn’t complain too much (he is someone who doesn’t like different foods to much)! For supplements, I took a prenatal, extra calcium & magnesium, vitamin D3 and of course lots of fish oil. I tapered off the fish oil a bit during the final weeks of pregnancy when I was gearing up for labor and delivery.
I continued my workouts 3 days per week with increasing modifications as I grew larger. In the early months, I stopped doing hand stands. Around 20 weeks, I stopped doing any activity where I was required to lay on my back (sit-ups) and I stopped pull-ups because I was having a tearing sensation in my upper abdomen (which continued for approximately 4 months after delivery). At about the third trimester mark, I stopped doing weighted squats as my doctor was concerned about my hips, but I found that simply doing squats without weight was still a fantastic workout as all the additional weight I needed was conveniently attached to my midsection. Overall, my doctor was very encouraging of continued physical activity, even weight lifting throughout the pregnancy. He only wanted me to gain a total of 30 pounds which, as it turned out, was exactly what I gained to a T. I loved doing the workouts while I was pregnant, especially in the later months as I got larger. I found it to be very empowering and I always felt ten times better when I left the gym as opposed to when I arrived. All of the coaches were more extremely supportive, encouraging and flexible with prescribing my workouts, especially on days when I wasn’t moving so fast – believe me, there were quite a few where a penguin’s waddle would have been faster that my hybrid version!
I ended up having a fantastic birthing experience which contributed to a speedy recovery and overall positive outlook on the entire birthing experience, but I attribute that fantastic birthing experience to the Norcal/Paleo lifestyle. I felt strong and empowered going into the birth. I remember laboring while complaining of sore hamstrings from a workout which concluded only 4 hours before I went into labor! 
After having my son, I continued eating Paleo (plus dark chocolate covered almonds – my total weakness) and I was back in my normal clothes within 2 weeks, my skinny clothes in 5 weeks (let’s face it ladies, our closets are made up of two entirely different wardrobes: our skinny day outfits and not-so-skinny day outfits). At my 6 week post-delivery appointment, I weighed in even less than my pre-pregnancy weight and clearance to return to my normal activity level. I headed back into NorCal that very same day! I’ve had a hard time regaining my strength, but I’m gradually seeing improvements week by week. I’m still nursing, which zaps my energy and strength some days, especially if my diet isn’t dialed in.
I exclusively breastfed my son until he was just shy of 6 months. Now he is 10 months and still nurses throughout the day (and often night too). He has not had a drop of formula to date and I have no intention of ever giving him any either. I’m a huge supporter of breastfeeding moms – it’s one of the most important things we can do for our children. It turned out that I was blessed with being an over-producer. Though this comes with it’s own set of challenges, I feel fortunate that I am able to nurse at all. I worked with a local lactation consultant to gradually reduce my milk production to align with his demand. His first foods were: squash, carrots, sweet potato, banana, and avocado – his favorites being avocado and carrots. We do give him minimal amounts of rice cereal and the rice biscuits for teething, but I don’t plan to give him other grains, especially no gluten. I’m still conflicted about this as I want him to be as healthy as possible. He is doing very well and thriving, so I’m not too concerned about changing things right now, but who’s to say how long I will continue allowing him rice.
Eli has had very healthy reports from each of his doctor check-ups. He is around the 70th to 80th percentile for height and fluctuates between the 25th and 50th percentile for weight. He’s made it through his first winter with very little illness and no medications or antibiotics!! Overall, he is a healthy and very active little boy (and I highlight very active). People are often impressed with how strong and sturdy he is, and especially how much food he can eat…he gets that from his mom!!! He is crawling and standing up now. Walking and, let’s face it, running (probably in the opposite direction) are not far off now.
ate it all. Here is what you do:
I have a 9 month old, Baby Olive. Yes, her name is Baby Olive. She will always be Baby Olive, or at least I tell myself that. She was almost entirely breast-fed until 6 months at which time my wife’s milk waned and her work schedule made pumping difficult so we began supplementing iron-fortified formula (Gerber Good Start brand). We also introduced soft foods at this time such as avocado for Olive to “gum on.” She is a remarkably healthy and happy baby girl. I made a decision early on that I didn’t want to rely on premade baby foods since a lot of them are so lacking in the fat/protein department and many are just glorified desserts with the amount of sugar in them. My wife agreed and we decided to basically give Olive what we were eating. 
