Primal family - Page 22

[NapClanMama]

Hey all,

Have had this sitting in my email to look at for a few months now.  We eat Primal/Paleo as a family.  We have 5 kids ages 10 to 7months.  I have a couple blogs that I have made to help others out.  You can check out www.NapClan.com.  I just finished posting our daily meals as we did the Whole 30.  I also have four full weeks of meal plans for the Whole 30.  For those of you that don't know the Whole30, it is super strict Paleo program for 30 days to just rid your body of all the junk.  http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/  I also have a blog that I keep all my recipes on if you just want to browse around at www.iCookFree.com. 

We all feel so much better eating this way.  Everyones bodies are functioning better and are stronger. My husband is down to his college volleyball playing weight and I am back in my smallest pre-preganancy clothes with only 15lbs to go before I reach my college weight as well.  The kids are happy and I have seen their palattes change.  Just get rid of all the no-no foods in your house.  When they are hungry, show them the options.  But if they know that there is a box of cereal in the cupboard or a stash of cookies in the pantry, they can hold out for a long time.  You just need to completely remove the temptations and give them a couple weeks to adjust. 

Good luck on your eating ventures!!!  Stop by the blog and leave me a comment or any questions if you have any.

[NapClanMama]

I have all my Primal/Paleo/Whole30 menus up at www.NapClan.com if you want to check it out.

[mandomom]

Originally Posted by craft_media_hero 

Question: how do you handle food for kids in social situations ie a sleepover at friends house, neighbor gave candy, etc.?
I have been reminding myself 80/20 is great (and dd's diet has been nearly 100% primal since we went gfcf a few weeks back andpredominantly tf before that) so if she has pizza or a piece of candy, it's not going to destroy her . . .
I just have this extra stress with it coz we havent yet figured out what caused her bad food reaction a while back, and we have been doing GAPS to heal her gut and hopefully resolve some of the ASD symptoms.
So I dont want to be crazy overcontrollng about what she eats or make her feel socially isolated (always the different one who doesnt get the goodies), but I am genuinely concerned about setting back her gut healing or having another food reaction.

I may not be the best person to answer this (I'm really the only one in my family who is eating primally) but since no one else has... I think you should do whatever you have to to give the GAPS diet a chance to work.  If your dd has food allergies you have to protect her. Maybe offer alternative treats, or try to avoid those situations for a while, if you can.  My dd doesn't have any noticeable allergies, and I try to limit her sweets, wheat etc. mostly at home I try to just offer meat, veggies, eggs... and fill her up before she thinks of cereal, pasta, etc. I don't stress too much at social situations, just try to keep her from going crazy. she actually self regulates fairly well.  We tell her that "sugar bugs" are going to eat her teeth (to get her to brush), and she will say she doesn't want too many sugar bugs... anyway, good luck. hopefully some others will have more concrete advice.

[Lazurii]

Wanted to resurrect this thread.  How is everyone doing?  Me, not so great on the Primal front.  I went into a depressive tailspin and good eating flew right out the window.  I'm just getting back into eating well.  The other day I made something really simple for dinner but it was divine.  Caramelize an onion in olive oil, throw in some cubed pork (mine was a steak-type thing with a bit of bone), and then toss in 1" chunks of fresh asparagus.  Flavor with salt and a bit of ground ginger.  Really really tasty.

[lovestolearn]

Nice!  Sounds divine...

I cook really simply.  Ground beef browned with cumin, salt & pepper & stir in some spinach at the end.   I eat it as is, or sometimes with salsa & sour cream,

[JayGee]

Doing well.  I did a Whole30 (strict paleo for 30 days) and felt so great!  Of course, when my 30 days were up, I reintroduced chocolate, and dairy, and wine....  Still feel wonderful though.

[Lazurii]

JayGee, that's awesome!

Okay, kind of a TMI question.  I love being primal and how it makes me feel, but I often fall off the wagon due to depression/lack of motivation/lack of energy.  Whenever I introduce myself back onto a low carb Primal diet I get a bladder infection.  Does this happen to anyone else?  What could be causing it?

[lovestolearn]

Don't know, but if you are getting recurrent infections, it's worth getting your Vitamin D level checked and sunning or supplementing to get to a blood level of 50-60 ng/ml.

[ocelotmom]

So we started paleo when I was 3 months postpartum. Now I'm 19 months, and I have yet to get my period back. While I've been trying to not look a gift horse in the mouth, we've been thinking about TTC, and I'd like to know that everything is in working order and be able to establish a schedule.

With my other two kids, I got it back by 12 months.

For a while my weight dropped pretty low (BMI 19 - so low, particularly for nursing, but not underweight), but it's been back up to around BMI 21 for several months now. DD is still nursing, but she's been night weaned for 6 months, and I'm regularly away from her (without pumping) for 12 hour stretches. My others were nursing much more frequently at this age, with AF long since returned.

I'm not eating purposefully low-carb (I suspect I'm low-carb about 50% of the time, and moderate-carb the rest), nor am I trying to lose weight/body fat. I'm pretty sure I'm eating enough calories (I'm maintaining my weight). I don't think adrenal fatigue is the issue. I'm not sedentary, but I don't exercise excessively by any stretch of the imagination. I rarely get sick (and never get sick, despite working with sick people, when I don't cheat on the paleo), and have adequate energy in general.

I think the last pregnancy may have depleted my reserves a lot - I lost a bunch of weight during my first trimester, and basically only regained to my prepregnancy weight, then dropped quite a bit more after the birth.

Any thoughts?

[lovestolearn]

If you are still nursing, this is not uncommon.  Tribal folks use lactation amenorrhea & avoidance of intercourse to space children 3-4 years apart because moms need to replenish their nutrient stores.

Use this time to boost your zinc, iron & magnesium, get your D level checked and catch up on sleep as much as possible.  Since your new baby will rely both on your reserves & your diet to build his/her body, it is really important that you get replete before conception.  It will also help your egg quality.

So nutrient-dense foods like liver, gelatin, oysters, grass-fed lamb & beef, eggs, salmon & dark leafy greens will help rebuild your stores.  You may also want to take a Magnesium supplement, since it can be difficult to get enough from food sources. 

If you suspect that you have any gluten sensitivity, best to go completely gluten-free, so your gut can heal, otherwise you won't be absorbing all the good food you are eating!
 

[cocobean]

I am currently 13 weeks pregnant and follow a mostly paleo/primal diet.  Curious if anyone had issues with milk supply while eating this way.  I hear talk of low carb kiling your milk supply but I don't eat that low carb.

[TIFF4NY]

Glad to have found this thread (via search) and hope you will consider joining and participating in the Primal/Paleo group. It's kind of quiet over there!

[yitlan]

Originally Posted by miss_sonja 

(subbing)

I've been casually primal (didn't really know it had a name when I started) since late June. I just had a feeling that I should start avoiding grains. Since then, I've been moving the rest of the family to a mostly-primal style.  I'm not super strict and refuse to be--I'm not giving up coffee or my glass of wine. And, I haven't gone through and thrown out a bunch of existing food. We'll just use up the non-primal stuff slowly and not buy more. I don't have any health problems such as diabetes or high cholesterol/blood pressure, but I do want to lose about 10 more pounds--lost about 10 in the first few weeks of doing this. DH also doesn't have health issues, but diabetes and depression run in his family and those are both linked to a conventional SAD diet. 

We don't do totally organic/pastured because of cost. We eat mostly meats of various kinds, some dairy, eggs, vegetables of all sorts (avoiding the really starchy ones though), all fruits, nuts & nut butters. I'm easing into coconut oil and lard for cooking. 

I like Mark's Daily Apple a lot; the forums there are full of information. I also love Gary Taubes--his books are the ones I recommend to folks I talk to about low-carb/primal because his writing is so precise and he has references for every assertion. 

Read a tasty-sounding pancake recipe recently on MDA...mash up ripe banana. Add an egg and some almond butter. Blend. Cook like pancakes, but turn carefully as they are delicate. Haven't tried these yet as I need to get some smooth almond butter for the kid who doesn't like crunchy stuff. 

Slowly making my way through this.  Wasn't going to post but this could have been written by me.  Everything from starting in the summer, not being super strict, where I am health-wise,  and my admiration for Taubes' well researched books.  My moderate approach includes raw dairy.  I've lost 10lbs, which I don't do easily, and my digestion has improved GREATLY by cutting grains.  Now back to slowly plugging away....

[organicviolin]

I just had a baby (5 days ago) and am healing very well. This is our 3rd baby boy. He's healthy as a horse and I'm recovering very well. I'm not strictly paleo/primal, but have noticed that with each child that our diet improves overall and that my recovery is better. 

[Peacemamalove]

Primal family here as well. We have been eating this way for a few years now and it seems to be working wonderful for our family! Thanks so much for starting this !

[Blueriver]

Hi all you primal eaters,

 It is grate to hear what you are all doing. Here in north california the pine pollen is comming on and my mother and I are going out often to gather enough for a year hopefully. It is our first year we pland enough to catch the pine polen as we are new to the area. Last year I had my first experiance with the acorns and did a lot of self teaching as well as learning with my survival skills teaching Uncle, but I think it is good for every one to get a few seasonal wild foods into their diet, not just for survival. Making acorn flour edible is a time consumming prosses with picking, drying crushing (I use a hollow stone and punding rock) and leaching the tanens, it might not be for every one who has acorns but if you want, start looking around your home inviroment. What would be easy for your family? Maby berries, roots, nuts, or wild hearbs. Eating the foods out of our marshes, forest, hills ect. is not only local, but free and the foods areadapted for where we live!

 When gathering wild foods of cours allways be sure of what your picking and that it is a place free of polution.

                                                              Happy spring Foriging

[mandomom]

You can eat pine pollen? That's a new one to me! Black berries, dandelion greens, rarely mushrooms are all I have gathered. I have gathered acorns and made flour years ago. It was fun. Made me feel connected to ancient women :)
 

[gardenmommy]

I need some help mamas.  I am almost 24 weeks pregnant, and having the hardest time with food lately.  I went through about 3 weeks where I was starving all.the.time, and all I wanted to eat was carby, sweet, and generally non-primal/paleo foods (think breakfast cereal, sandwiches, and the like).  Needless to say, I've gained way more weight than I wanted to, I feel yucky, and I know I need to haul my big ole body back on the wagon.  My DH is going out of town for a few weeks, and I will be here with the kids, which brings me to my biggest problem:  feeding 5 kids on a fairly tight budget while keeping myself on the wagon.  I would totally appreciate any suggestions, encouragement, or inspiration.  

[mandomom]

Sweet potatoes! If your budget is really tight you can eat white rice (fairly benign as far as "anti-nutrients" go). You are pregnant. Don't be too strict with yourself. Don't worry about eating too many carbs. Root veggies, bananas... Trust your body, and try to relax about food. Give yourself healthy options as much as possible. Good Luck!
 

[crayfishgirl]

Originally Posted by mandomom 

Sweet potatoes! If your budget is really tight you can eat white rice (fairly benign as far as "anti-nutrients" go). You are pregnant. Don't be too strict with yourself. Don't worry about eating too many carbs. Root veggies, bananas... Trust your body, and try to relax about food. Give yourself healthy options as much as possible. Good Luck!
 

This.  With my first pregnancy all I wanted was noodles, and ate way more rice noodles than I liked,  but it was truly what I craved.  Eggs are great too...if you can stomach them.  So many ways to prepare them, and a cheap protein.  I agree about trusting your body and relaxing.