Pregnancy: Vegan and Vegetarian

Throughout my pregnancy (I got pregnant in January), I have reverted back to my same junkie eating. Consequently, so have my husband and kids. Vegetables and Fruits were my main source of calories when we were attempting to be Vegan for the months of August-December 2010. In my first and second trimesters, vegetables made me want to gag, just thinking about them. Chris and I have gained quite a bit of weight :) Chris is up about 20-25 lbs from his lowest, and I have gained 30 lbs this pregnancy (and I am 31 weeks). Chris has begged me to cook Vegan for him again but I had NO desire. I told him if he wanted to eat healthier then he could do it on his own for breakfast and lunch, and just eat what I prepared for dinner. He didn't want to do that. I don't blame him at all. Its hard to do something 60% of the time. Plus, If a person doesn't cleanse out all the food our bodies crave, "dieting" is very difficult.What I am saying is that when we eat 100% good on most days of the week, it comes very easily and we don't have a mental battle every time we see a cookie or hamburger. Now, my third trimester, I feel more in control of my pregnant self. I don't crave things like a crazy woman anymore. In the beginning I CRAVED meat, cheese, cereal, and anything sugary. I decided that now is the time to take control of myself, not wait 2 more months until "I'm not pregnant anymore". For the sake of my overall health, and my out of control weight gain.


This Sunday, Chris randomly started watching some YouTube videos about a raw food couple. That means they are vegan and don't eat anything cooked. That's pretty intense! (Which, by-the-way, Chris' Mom is "Raw".) On Monday morning he started his new way of eating, with or without me. I really admire him for this because Chris doesn't cook or prepare anything in the kitchen for himself. I have been feeling so miserable (tired, headaches, sinus infections, move around like my limbs weigh a hundred lbs each) that I decided it was time to start doing better because I have NO energy to even live life. I have been using pregnancy as my excuse, but I woke up and realized that I really shouldn't feel this rotten! I know what food does to me because I experienced for a short time how good I can feel on the right diet. I first gave up sugar and white flour because those are the things that effect me most. I did that for a couple days, then decided I would cut out meat. I did that for a couple more days, and now I am thinking of cutting out dairy. This week hasn't been any better because my body is withdrawing from all the junk I used to stuff myself with. My eyes even look worse. I know from last years experience that the first week or two are really bad, then it becomes SOOOO easy.


So I was looking online to find info on "pregnancy and vegan" to see if it would be safe. I felt like an idiot when I read the following quote:


Vegans too can safely continue with their chosen diet. But you do need to pay attention to what you eat. A poor vegetarian diet could be just as harmful as a poor omnivorous one. (Feeding on food of both plant and animal origin.)


POOR OMNIVOROUS ONE!!! That was me! Why do people think that vegans/vegetarians cant be healthy, but the typical american diet low in fresh produce, high in meats, cheeses, processed foods, and plenty of sweets is perfect for growing a baby in the womb?! "Because at least you're getting your calcium and protien!" which are also in fruits and vegetables (in case you didn't know). I know that in order to be very healthy, I need to consume a lot of calories from fruits, vegetables, and some from beans to get all the nutrients  I should have. If I want to include some healthy dairy (I don't consider "yoplait" healthy with all the sugar added, or ranch dressing for example), I will. If I am feeling a bit low on energy or just cant get full, I will have meat.


I have produced nearly 3 babies living off lots of junk food, especially sweets. I don't think I can go wrong by eating tons more produce and cutting out the junk. So this is my argument FOR Vegetarians and Vegans! Who's going to disagree with me? Probably my dairy farmer parents :)