Food | Pregnancy Updates

Going Paleo

April 3, 2017
Last week at my acupuncturist appointment she recommended I start a Paleo diet- cutting gluten and dairy out of my diet specifically, to see if that will help manage my headaches. In the morning, I generally wake up feeling good, it’s once i’ve had breakfast the headaches start, and then after lunch my body completely crashes – fatigue, headaches behind my eyes for the remainder of the afternoon. She feels it has to be a food allergy that is a main cause to the daily headaches. I’ve never done well with dairy and when I did the Whole30 diet (which is very similar to Paleo) about a year ago it’s the best i’ve ever felt. I often would eat as a symptom of not feeling well, but that would just make me feel worse and I never felt full. On Whole30 I finally felt full, energized after eating, and wasn’t constantly crashing and going from fine to “hangry” in seconds.

Actually, the only thing i’ve been “craving” in this pregnancy is clean eating. I just haven’t had the energy for food prep. Now that I finally have a little energy back and am able to control nausea with my meds i’m going to get back onto a Paleo diet.

If you’ve ever thought about Whole30 or Paleo i’d highly recommend it. There’s some great sample meal plans on pinterest to make it easier to navigate. You can check out some of my favorite weekly meal plans & recipes on my pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/mrspelletier/whole-30/

It’s a great way to cut out bad habits and help you re-evaluate how you think about food. You start really looking at food labels, noticing how much sugar is in EVERYTHING and find some new go-to (clean eating) recipes (like spaghetti squash with meat sauce instead of using pasta).

The first week I tried Whole30 I went to 4 grocery stores to find all the ingredients I needed, spent probably $300 on food, it took me over 7 hours prepping everything (plus ALL those DISHES) and there was so much food waste. So let me save you the struggle, here’s what i’ve learned since then, and am doing this time around because this prego ain’t got time for that:

– Think of your food as protein, veggies and fruit – NOT breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you prep specific items for each meal, you’ll have surplus. Instead, pick a few items to prep for each category and then mix and match. That way, there’s always variety and you don’t have to eat 12 servings of something for every single lunch, unless you are into monotony.

Here’s what i’m planning for meals:

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Breakfast
Sweet Potato Toast, almond butter, coconut flakes and fruit
Hard boiled Egg
Turkey bacon or sausage
Make ahead Chia Seed Pudding- http://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/strawberry-coconut-chia-pudding/
Avocado

Snacks
Smoothie – coconut milk, spinach, fruit, avocado
Mama Chia Drink
Cucumbers
Pineapple
Watermelon
Apples w/ almond butter, coconut flakes, chia seeds
Plantain Chips
Lara Bars

Veggies
Sweet potato
Sauteed Spinach
Spaghetti Squash
Zucchini
Green Bell Pepper

Protein
Turkey Kielbasa
Ground Beef
Salmon
Meatloaf – https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Paleo-Meatloaf-Muffins-34341465

Dessert
“Fudge” – http://www.afitnurse.com/2013/02/clean-eating-fudge.html?m=1
Homemade popsicles
Fresh Fruit

 

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Here was my grocery list for this week based on the above, I already had some things on hand (like the ground beef):

Barney Butter Bare Almond Butter
Avocados
Bananas
Mangos
Pineapple
Watermelon
Frozen fruit mix for smoothie
Cucumbers
Spinach
Spaghetti Squash
green bell pepper
Raw Almonds
Dried Apricots
Plantain Chips
Shredded Coconut
Canned Coconut Milk
Lara Bars & individual almond butter snack packets
Agave
1/4c Carrot Juice

 

Follow my instastory to get real time updates on what i’m currently making & eating: @maria_pelletier

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Send my your favorite Paleo recipes please! And if you try Whole30 / Clean Eating / Paleo, let me know how you like it!

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