TF Pregnancy Club - Welcome to November! - Page 3

[thomlynn]

Originally Posted by wagamama

Did anyone else think that the WAPF guidelines for pregnant women were a little over-the-top? A quart of milk, plus two eggs, plus extra yolks, plus fatty beef or lamb daily. I tried this for a while, but it felt overly-rich.

I'm fine with it. I don't really eat it but I would if someone would make it for me. This weekend we went to my parents and my mom cooked and even though it wasn't great quality food I really enjoyed it. She made a roast with carrots and potatoes, pancakes and bacon for breakfast and meatloaf, corn and garlic toast for lunch. It was the best I've felt in awhile. Around here I tend to snack a lot b/c I don't feel like making stuff. So even though I'm snacking on good food (raw milk, raw cheese, smoothies, berries, toast with butter or peanut butter) I never really feel full kwim.

Anyhow it was nice to have more rich food.

[suzukiaustin]

Wagamama - "Glad to hear I'm not the only one who's only halfway-there with TF. I tend to pair TF and non-TF foods, thinking that some TF is better than none. For example, chocolate washed down with raw milk; salmon roe and nori on white rice; liver pate and raw eggs on supermarket bread. I'm not proud and strive to eat better, but do console myself that I am doing much better than my first pregnancy."

raw milk...salmon roe and nori...liver pate and raw eggs...and you're not proud of yourself?!?!?!?! holy crap, i wish i ate this stuff!!! i'm totally impressed, even with the white rice and supermarket bread!

i've been walking a lot too, and my hips don't hurt nearly as much as they did with my first pregnancy. it will be interesting to see how this birth turns out with the exercise and good diet!

[naturemama1]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

Are you talking about the Blue Ice brand? We like the cinnamon flavor. And you can get it MUCH cheaper than on Dr. Ron's website. This is where I buy it

Thank you for that link! I need to reorder my BO/CLO capsules and this will be perfect.

Originally Posted by wagamama

Did anyone else think that the WAPF guidelines for pregnant women were a little over-the-top? A quart of milk, plus two eggs, plus extra yolks, plus fatty beef or lamb daily. I tried this for a while, but it felt overly-rich.

I get that basic scope of nutrients but in much smaller quantities. We're about 90% TF in our kitchen these days. I (and the kids) generally eat 2-3 eggs, a few servings of raw dairy, some kind of pastured/wild protein, and a whole ton of raw veggies and salad, each day. Weekly we'll roast a whole chicken and sautee the liver, we throw some hand-milled/frequently-soaked grain products into the mix, and moving into the colder weather we'll be adding more traditional soups to our lunches and crock pot oatmeal to our breakfasts (especially with a new nursling in the house). I don't take a commercial prenatal but I do take the BO/CLO supplement, Dr. Ron's organ capsules, and his sea vegetables supplement. I give my kids CLO.

So far so good! My iron levels have been higher during this pregnancy than with any of my previous pregnancies, and although I'm definitely starting to slow down and ease into the third trimester, I still have plenty of energy; no complaints. This is my first TF pregnancy; during my first I was mostly vegetarian, and during my second I was a conventional whole-foods type. I did have an early bout of horrible morning sickness this time around (my first pg was worse and my second pg had none), and no stretch marks with any of them, so I'm inclined to believe based on my experiences that those things aren't affected that much by nutrition. I also used to eat a TON of sugar, especially with my first pregnancy, and my kids both have great teeth, so although I find Dr. Price's research compelling, it seems that their genetics passed on good teeth more than their prenatal nutrition did (although my mother ate TF when I was a baby!). This baby is feeling to be about the same size as my others. Hmm, what else can I add to the collective data here? I think that's about it.

I know we'll be temporarily shifting to a less-pure-TF balance as the holidays come in and we have fun with all our holiday baking (Rapadura and honey are, after all, still sugar), and that's okay with me. I'm feeling really good about our family's nutrition overall. This way of eating totally clicks with my instincts and our lifestyle.

[Junegoddess]

Originally Posted by celestialdreamer

I am really frustrated right now...

I'm a hungry grumpy mama tonight, sorry for the venting!

First off, I am with ya, CelestialDreamer! I became gluten-and-dairy-intolerant during this pregnancy (or at least it finally hit a crisis point and I realized it.) I miss raw milk SO much!! For whatever reason, it seems like I could only tolerate straight milk while pg, so I was really looking forward to that. I got two measly weeks before the intolerance reared it's ugly head. And then all the alternative foods are so bleepity-bleep expensive! We bought 1/4 of a grassfed cow in September, and I need to run an inventory on the freezer already... see what's left. I don't know if I can make it last until spring! Good chickens are just ridiculously expensive here (not that I'm all that interested in chicken but I can't make chicken broth out of air.)
I want to take good care of myself. I want to eat well. But it looks like I'll have to win the lottery first.
My stash of Vital Choice salmon is gone... the beef is dwindling... can't do milk... yeah, I'm feeling very sorry for myself. I'm so tired of being hungry. My cupboards never perform magic- every time I look in them they have the same ol' stuff.

As for the recommended diet for pregnancy... I would totally love to eat exactly what they say. Especially if I could get someone to teach me how to do liver pate. I fried up some liver once... over a year ago... and don't think I can make myself do that ever again. Blech.

For those that have said it's too rich, that's why I try to combine Dr. Mercola's ideas on metabolic typing with the WAPF stuff and TF. Lucky for me, I'm a protein type, so I really, REALLY enjoy a high-fat diet. Really, really, really... But, carb types don't feel well with so much fat or protein. I think it's really important to eat nutrient-dense food, but to tailor it to what makes YOU feel good.

[HerthElde]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

Are you talking about the Blue Ice brand? We like the cinnamon flavor. And you can get it MUCH cheaper than on Dr. Ron's website. This is where I buy it

Wow, thanks for that link, those prices are amazing! I've just started dd1 on a clo, butter oil regimen because I noticed her enamel is weakening, and I see they carry all that stuff!

I guess I couldn't say I follow the WAPF diet, but I think what I do eat is close macronutrient-wise. Honestly, as long as I'm getting what makes me feel good, I'm not worrying about it either - I did start taking CLO and am getting a bit more creative with eating this pregnancy compared to before I found out I was pg though.
We do eat a few non-TF foods - pasta, white rice, annie's mac&cheese and I've bought a few Annie-O's and Wolfgang Puck canned soups because frankly, the kids need to eat something and if I'm not feeling up to anything else, at least I can boil water or open up a can It's not ideal, but it's food, yk?

I'm trying to think ahead to the last couple months of pregnancy and the first couple months with baby. I'm not very organized (to say the least) and was never able to get it together enough to get enough food prepared to freeze with my last two pregnancies (rather, with #1, I didn't realize how necessary it would be, and with #2, I just didn't know how).
I'm always paranoid about making things too far in advance, etc.

So, anyone have any tips about feeding the freezer? I'm only (almost) 12 weeks, but I at least want to start planning - I don't want to go through the roller coaster I did with #2 - I had a week of staying with my parents at about 35 weeks, eating mostly organic but missing most of my good fats, and by the end of that had no energy whatsoever, wasn't able to get back to cooking for the remainder of my pregnancy, fell off the wagon, went through PPD, took MONTHS to start prepping again . . . and even at that, I've let my kefir grains and kombucha mushroom die and not replaced them yet
Anyway, I want to be much better prepared this time with a bunch of nutrient dense meals sitting in the freezer and perhaps instructions for dh on how to prepare fresh veggies and a dip or something.

[naturemama1]

HerthElde, that was exactly my strategy when I was 11 weeks. Total survival parenting. When I got a break in the nausea, I would go downstairs and make a big batch of something, 4-5 meals' worth (egg salad for sandwiches, pasta, chicken stir fry, make up hamburger patties) and portion it off into bowls in the fridge. Then during the rest of the time, all I had to do was stumble down and reheat something for them.

I also got a lot of mileage out of those expensive but really convenient pre-bagged, pre-washed raw veggies. Snap peas and baby carrots in particular -- just grab a handful of each, throw some down onto the plate next to whatever you've reheated, add a glass of raw milk, and voila, a balanced lunch for the little ones.

(((((HUGS))))) Hang in there!

[newcastlemama]

-- I am totally feelingthe pain. I told dh I don't want to go through anoMamas with food intolerancesther pregnancy until my milk and egg intolerances are resolved I survived on dairy products with ds #1. (The problem was they were conventional and low/no fat)

I am one of those people who will buy conventional meat if we need to because I will start to get depressed without animal protein, especially red meat. I think the important thing is that we are working towards local/organic as much as we can. TF seems to be a long gowing process for us. (We have being aiming for TF for about 1.5 years)

I am relieved to hear that other mamas are not "perfectly" TF. Sometimes when I read the boards I think that I am a TF slacker. If I aim to do anything perfectly it makes me obsessive and: I try and remember for a modern American mommy with limited funds and no tribe to help out, I am doing pretty darn good.

For those with morning sickness--I went to trader joe's and picked up frozen stuff (pizza, meatballs, enchiladas) for dh and ds for when I could not cook dinner. My dh cannotcook, but we can warm a pizza, boil noodles ect.

Herthe Elde--
I am 26 weeks and want to start prepping stuff for the freezer. I had PPD and don't want to start slacking on nutrition after the baby is born. I mostly ate cereal after ds was born because I was so tired and I think that accerated my PPD. I was thinking making a bunch of extra beef broth so I don't have to fuss with that. Some stuff I am hoping would freeze well are meatloaf with ground liver and chicken liver pate. I was also thinking on stocking the freezer and cupboard with ingredients so I don't have to run around shopping (I buy stuff from probably 5 different stores) for a while after we have the baby.

JuneGoddess--there is a chicken liver pate recipe in NT. You pretty much cook the ingredeints in a skilet, run it through a food processor and then refigerate it. I am going to make some today. If I eat a little with lunch it gives me so much energy. I still had morning sickness at around 16 weeks and ate some of that and it went away!

Jen

[HerthElde]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

Herthe Elde--
I am 26 weeks and want to start prepping stuff for the freezer. I had PPD and don't want to start slacking on nutrition after the baby is born. I mostly ate cereal after ds was born because I was so tired and I think that accerated my PPD. I was thinking making a bunch of extra beef broth so I don't have to fuss with that. Some stuff I am hoping would freeze well are meatloaf with ground liver and chicken liver pate. I was also thinking on stocking the freezer and cupboard with ingredients so I don't have to run around shopping (I buy stuff from probably 5 different stores) for a while after we have the baby.

I think I'm going to take a trip to the library and bookstore today and see what I can find as far as books about freezer meals, tweaking things to make them NT isn't usually that hard for me any more. I'll post what I end up coming up with
This book, The Big Cook, I'm particularly interested in flipping through (they have a few copies at the local Chapters). It may or may not be helpful, but they claim 1 day of cooking for 3 months of meals

Oh, and frozen pizzas . . . we bought one last week because dd1 had dance, I had no idea what to do for supper and otherwise I'm sure we would have wound up ordering take out (which I don't mind doing once or twice a month, but we've been doing it far too often ) . . . I was kind of disappointed. It was a chicken and spinach organic pizza, but it was so scarce on the toppings I actually wound up adding extra cheese. I think I'm going to try making my own pizzas and freeze . . . I'll just use my whole wheat/spelt bread recipe, make a pizza shell, put the toppings on and wrap in foil and wax paper, I think (I know, foil's not totally NT, but darn it, it's better than nothing). But I wonder how long they'll last without becoming freezer burnt . . .

[Junegoddess]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

JuneGoddess--there is a chicken liver pate recipe in NT. You pretty much cook the ingredeints in a skilet, run it through a food processor and then refigerate it. I am going to make some today. If I eat a little with lunch it gives me so much energy. I still had morning sickness at around 16 weeks and ate some of that and it went away!

Jen

I am soooo still on my "journey" to TF. I've been heading that direction for over 4 years now... but slow changes are permanent. And I have the tendency to get really obsessive and weird about it, and don't let reality get in the way. Like now I absolutely CANNOT eat grocery store beef. Can't do it. I know too much. But I also can't afford grassfed all the time, and I hate the ground beef from our current cow. Never had a problem before, but the one time I finally get the money together to buy 1/4 of a cow... blech. The steaks and roasts are fabulous. The ground beef tastes like turkey. What gives?
Anyway, I'm rambling...
I do not have a good source for chicken at the moment. We moved 2 1/2 months ago, in the depths of morning sickness (and then food poisoning and then food intolerances and a full-body rash...) so I'm still finding out what's around here. Organic chickens in the store are $20 a piece. And that's just one liver per chicken.
So... where's a gal to get good livers? OR should I just pretend I don't know and buy conventional? I've been trying to do that with what little chicken we eat, but I always end up giving one good shudder. I need to make more chicken stock now, too... but, but, but... conventional chickens are icky.

Oh, and blessings upon whoever that was that posted the link to the cheaper BO and CLO. I just ordered three bottles of the combo capsules. I have not yet done the BO thing, because I used to have a steady supply of deep yellow grassfed butter. *sigh* My bellybabe needs some buttery magic, and judging from my almost-bleed-to-death thing from my last birth, Mama needs some vitamin K!

Oh, and I've been thinking about this feed-the-freezer thing, and dug around on my computer. I have these 5 For the Freezer menus from Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner Menu Mailer thing. They aren't great, but... they seem pretty darn flexible for making more TF. Um... here's a link: http://www.savingdinner.com/about/di...r_recipes.html
Hope that works. The best part (I think) is that you can buy just one menu (five meals) at a time, see if you like it, then maybe invest in a big one. Some of KerryAnn's menu mailer might freeze well, too.

[HerthElde]

Vitamin K - I actually took liquid chlorophyll for the last month of my pregnancy with #2 and didn't hemmhorage (I did with #1). Liver also has a lot, as well as leafy greens.
Also, I made a shepherd's purse tincture to take after she was born, which stops hemmhorage.

[Junegoddess]

Originally Posted by HerthElde

Vitamin K - I actually took liquid chlorophyll for the last month of my pregnancy with #2 and didn't hemmhorage (I did with #1). Liver also has a lot, as well as leafy greens.
Also, I made a shepherd's purse tincture to take after she was born, which stops hemmhorage.

I took shepherd's purse. And something else (I think an actual anti-hemorrhage tinc) and some homeopathic stuff... everything in my doula's bag of tricks. Then I had to relent to some sort of shot in my butt that made me throw up... and then finally had to let them put my IV back in, to give me Pitocin.

I was trying to be such a good little noncompliant hospital birther. But the joke was on me. Apparently it's common with shoulder dystocia, which my son had pretty bad. (And no, I wasn't on my back... I was being properly disobedient.)

I've also learned since then that I may have Celiac disease (awaiting testing) and that gluten intolerance in general, due to the intestinal damage, can cause a pretty bad case of vitamin K deficiency. If you don't digest it, you can't absorb it, you know?

[pampered_mom]

I don't think they're over the to per se, but they're also similar (read here - 90% the same) as the Brewer Diet and I really do believe that there is some benefit to the extra fat/protein in the diet. I tend to do better with fat/protein anyway so it doesn't really phase me all that much.

Originally Posted by HerthElde

Anyway, I want to be much better prepared this time with a bunch of nutrient dense meals sitting in the freezer and perhaps instructions for dh on how to prepare fresh veggies and a dip or something.

I think that's a fantastic idea....something I think I'd really like to do as well, but I'm beginning to think it will be a bit doubtful that I'll actually do it. I'm sort of hoping that we can survive on crockpot meals (prolly from KerryAnn's mailer) instead.

I'd ditto newcastlemama on the NT pate recipe. I just made some today and it's sitting in the fridge chilling. It's really the only way (besides adding ground liver to ground meat dishes) that I can eat liver.

Oh...and back to the topic of freezer foods - TFOAMC Yahoo group has lots of TF friendly ideas.

[HerthElde]

Originally Posted by pampered_mom

I think that's a fantastic idea....something I think I'd really like to do as well, but I'm beginning to think it will be a bit doubtful that I'll actually do it. I'm sort of hoping that we can survive on crockpot meals (prolly from KerryAnn's mailer) instead.

That's something else I was thinking about - how to throw the entire crockpot meal into a freezer bag or something so that we can just throw it into the crock and turn it on, rather than chopping, mixing, prepping, etc. Having sauces like pesto or cheesy enchilada sauce premade and frozen (I've been starting to do this, I use silicon mini muffin tins - I have no ice cube trays or I'd use them - to freeze the sauces and then as soon as they're frozen I put all the cubes into a ziploc bag). And making up spice mixes for various dishes, freezing soaked or soaked and cooked beans, perhaps freezing bread dough . . .
I'm going to get Kerry Ann's quick dinners file too. I've been getting the menu mailer for the past month and ironically, while I haven't actually used it, simply receiving it has somehow made it easier to plan and cook suppers Also, I really need to figure out how/when to get dh involved in the kitchen more . . . he never knows what to do and I have a hard time explaining. I'm starting to really love the show Fixing Dinner and I realized that it's not so much the menu planning as it is the fair assignment of tasks within the house. My almost 4 year old and almost 2 year old always help me in the kitchen (the 3 yo can already peel onions and garlic by herself and can dump the pasta in the pot and stir it, my 1 yo is usually more interested in making a mess , but they're so hungry by the time dh walks through the door that waiting for him to cook after he gets home would be extremely hard.

Oh...and back to the topic of freezer foods - TFOAMC Yahoo group has lots of TF friendly ideas.

Thanks! I'll check them out!

[pampered_mom]

Originally Posted by HerthElde

I've been getting the menu mailer for the past month and ironically, while I haven't actually used it, simply receiving it has somehow made it easier to plan and cook suppers

I also believe that KerryAnn is involved in the TFOAMC group - probably the list owner... I'm sure that's not all that surprising to discover!

[HerthElde]

Originally Posted by pampered_mom

I also believe that KerryAnn is involved in the TFOAMC group - probably the list owner... I'm sure that's not all that surprising to discover!

I just noticed that - I had to send an intro email to her. But, since it was KerryAnn, I just told her my username here I really hate typing out intros, it's one of my least favorite things to do ('specially with a sleeping toddler in my arms and a fussy space bar - because said toddler likes tp pull keys off the laptop and the space bar is hard to put on). So I hope that was enough for her

[wagamama]

Originally Posted by suzukiaustin

Wagamama - raw milk...salmon roe and nori...liver pate and raw eggs...and you're not proud of yourself?!?!?!?! holy crap, i wish i ate this stuff!!! i'm totally impressed, even with the white rice and supermarket bread!

Well ... no need to be impressed -- I'm in Japan, where this kind of food is commonplace. Japanese people love raw/runny eggs, and all pregnant woman are advised to eat liver twice a week. The trick, of course, is chasing down pastured/organic versions of all this stuff. If I do manage to find it, it's incredibly expensive. The pastured eggs I buy work out to about $1 US each. I use them sacredly.

Anyone else find themselves spending a lot of energy trying to track down healthy food? My situation is even more complicated, since I alternate between Japan and Nigeria, so I'm always trying to adjust. And so many things are either unavailable or expensive. I'm currently trying to figure out how to cheaply ship organic rice, wheat and rye to Nigeria, where we'll be returning to in March. The local bread is awful, and I shudder to think about all the pesticide and fungicide residues on the wheat (which is shipped from the US). I want to make my own sourdough bread ... but how to stock enough supplies :

Originally Posted by suzukiaustin

i've been walking a lot too, and my hips don't hurt nearly as much as they did with my first pregnancy. it will be interesting to see how this birth turns out with the exercise and good diet!

Yes, we will all have to report back when the babes are born!

[RootBeerFloat]

CelestialDreamer--I totally hear you on the craving dairy but being allergic. That is me, too! My dh asked me what he thought I was craving about the dairy, and I noticed that when I increased my saturated fats (mainly by cooking in bacon grease), my cravings improved somewhat.

I am following the Brewer diet very closely, as I know it prevented me from developing preeclampsia during my first pregnancy. I never get in all the grains in a day (I don't tolerate them well and mostly avoid them, though I've been getting one or two servings in per day), but otherwise am doing pretty well. My midwife gave me some really nice checklists that help me track everything that I'm eating. It's really helping me get in everything that I need--I was eating too much sweet stuff (not tons, but was way heavier on the fruit and occasional candy or fruit leather than I should have been) and not enough fat and protein. Here's my today:

Homemade soaked almond milk with blackstrap molasses and rice protein powder
Mochi stuffed with sesame tahini mixed with a little maple syrup
Two deviled eggs (used safflower mayo)
Breakfast sausage
Homemade split pea soup (soaked split peas) with uncured ham and veggies
Chopped liver (pastured beef) with Mary's Gone Cracker's crackers
Grilled salmon over a large salad (romaine, arugula), with NT Oriental Dressing
Tangerine
CLO
Pear
(rice crispy treat--my MIL brought them over)

My enormous bummer is that, after being sick repeatedly for 3 weeks, I have a sinus infection and my left lung is infected. I'm on antibiotics, which makes me want to puke. I also can't breathe, and my DO, midwife, and I all decided I should do something, since I'm barely functioning. But I am BUMMED. I've worked so hard over the past several years to restore my gut health from my undiagnosed allergies and I feel like I have to go back to square one. While pregnant. Ugh.

[Taedareth]

Liquid chlorophyll has vitamin K? I'll have to keep that in mind. My midwife recommended taking alfalfa supplements to prevent undue bleeding after the birth. I took them throughout my pregnancy and incidentally had no problems with excessive bleeding when DS was born.

[newcastlemama]

Ally's mom-I really like the Brewer diet too and don't eat as many grains as they call for as well. I thank God I at least did the Brewer Diet with #1. I was pregnant though a summer of 100 temps and had almost zero swelling. Even with all that food I gained only 34 pounds (Ds was 8lbs 8oz) and felt great. I should have figured out then that I was a protein type back then!

I use rice protein powder also. I know it is not TF, but I can't go eggs or dairy and need protein in my smoothies.

Ds and I are munching away on the chicken liver pate with rice crackers with our smoothies this morning. I must have needed the B vitamins or something because it tastes so darn good. I sprinked sea salt over the top and that is making it yummier too.

Does anyone know if Whole Foods has a delcious and natural breakfast sausage? They are about an hour from me and I am willing to take the drive and stock up if they do. I am needing more than my smoothie in the morning.

About vitamin K--I take the Jarrow K2 supplement from iherb. It is 90mcg a softgel (I take 2 a day), but absorbed 10 times more than k1.

Jen

[pampered_mom]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

Ds and I are munching away on the chicken liver pate with rice crackers with our smoothies this morning. I must have needed the B vitamins or something because it tastes so darn good. I sprinked sea salt over the top and that is making it yummier too.

I'll remember that last part! Last night the pate was chilled enough to eat. The first cracker of pate I had was actually the hardest to eat, but then I couldn't get enough! Dh kept trying to eat my crackers plain, but stopped when I growled at him that they were MY crackers and he could only have some if he had them with pate. He didn't try that again!