An "Oopsie" Bun in the Oven

After being bombarded with questions and comments the entire time I was pregnant, and continuously since my daughter's birth 14 weeks ago, about what I did to stay so fit and healthy during the whole production, it became clear to me that women are DESPERATELY seeking information outside the conventional medical thinking on the subject, which is to eat high carb and low fat during pregnancy.  In my view, with modern complications like gestational diabetes and cesarean sections on the rise, they're right to be so concerned as well as curious about the alternatives.  Thus, I decided to share my experience with pregnancy and eating Low Carb High Fat i.e. Real Food in an effort to provide some Real answers.  Take it or leave it.

This is a picture of me halfway through my pregnancy, 

on my 30th birthday with the love of my life!

Again, I was introduced to a LCHF/LCRF diet just a couple months before I became pregnant.  At that time, in January 2012, I was 15 pounds over weight (I had lost five pounds already by dieting and exercising for a month before that and had reached a plateau). I stopped exercising, because I got lazy, but continued to lose ten more pounds eating Low Carb, High Fat, Real Food. I got pregnant in March, still lost the last five pounds, and for the next eight months I gained baby weight and by "baby weight" I mean the WEIGHT of my BABY and other necessary pregnancy fluids. It must be noted that I also took a prenatal supplement that was packed with omega 3 polyunsaturated fats, including 500mg of DHA (I took a double dose) as well as a folic acid tablet.  In addition, I waited tables three days a week, but that was it as far as exercise was concerned. As you can see by the photographs, I didn't gain an ounce of excess fat and I remained healthy (not malnourished, which is essential when you are building a new human) and lean throughout my pregnancy.      

This is me at about six months. 

We went to see the wild flowers up the West Coast of South Africa.

So, what do I eat/did eat for the nine months I was pregnant?  For brekkie, either full fat organic greek yogurt with blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries when in season, just sliced banana if not, and crushed raw almonds, or eggs, bacon and avo. For lunch, last night's left overs or salad with mixed veggies and boiled eggs or bacon drizzled with olive oil of course.  For dinner, an herby roast chicken, salmon, steak (with the fat on it!), or the like, with a side of veggies (maybe a sweet potato). We use butter and cream for any sauces and cook in butter or coconut oil.  Dessert usually consists of fruit or various dark chocolate and whipped cream concoctions, such as hot chocolate or banana split... you get the idea.  Fat. Fat. Fat. With fat on top. Also, when either of us bake we use almond or coconut flour. No bread (Oopsie Bread is okay), pasta, rice or potato... no grains, no sugar aside from a dash of honey here and there and fruit from time to time.  

Seven month bump on our Babymoon to the Little Karoo.

What does all this mean for a pregnant belly?  The precious bundle inside as well as the glorious mound on the outside?  In my experience, nothing but success.  On a LCHF/LCRF diet, I was able to eat until I was satisfied, which was enough for one plus a little extra.  My blood sugar was relatively stable throughout the day, so I didn't have any nausea caused by spiking insulin, or any accompanying diabetes or unwanted weight gain.  Oh and as a special bonus, I'm sure that high fat diet, along with my high dose of omega 3's, left my skin supple and pliable, so I didn't get ANY stretch marks and my belly snapped back in just a couple weeks.  Interestingly, I saw several doctors during this time as well as my midwife and they were all amazed at how well everything was going, but the darndest thing was that they only ever asked me what I was putting on my skin, not one of them thought to ask me what I was eating... beautiful skin is built from the inside.

My Tree of Life at nine months.  I gave birth two days later...

I had a picture perfect pregnancy, an uncomplicated natural birth (without cutting or tearing) and when it was over, I had a picture perfect baby.  Jane was 7.7 pounds (3.5 kilograms), healthy, supple, super strong (already able to lift her head) and absolutely beautiful, I mean gerber baby gorgeous.  She had a lustrous head of hair and didn't resemble a shriveled old man in the slightest, which, sorry to say it, I think most babies do.  Sadly, many women use their pregnancy as an excuse to "eat for two" and/or "eat whatever they want", which usually means lots of junk food as well as lots of carbs in all its forms.  This couldn't be more misguided in my opinion. What you are putting into your body is the essential ingredients for the building blocks of a new life.  My advice would be to take a step back and really think about what you want to build it with.  I chose Real Food.

"Drink the Fat"

What is low carb, high fat (LCHF) or low carb, real food (LCRF)?  Whether you are talking LCHF or LCRF, the message is the same.  Don't eat processed food, especially carbohydrates, and natural fat is not the enemy.  I like to say Real Food because sometimes LCHFers use artificial sweeteners to get around the sugar issue and I despise all of that fake stuff.  If I ever need a slight sweet fix, I put a teaspoon (or 2...) of raw honey, which is Real, in whatever I'm baking as a treat every now and then.  It's a personal differentiation.  Now I am not a doctor or a nutritionist of any kind.  I'm just a rational woman who has lived in the world, a new mom to boot, who was introduced to this way of eating by chance right before I became pregnant and it has absolutely changed my life.  I have no motive other than to share my experience and talk about why this lifestyle works for me.  My favorite LCHF blog is written by a Swedish doctor, Andreas Eenfeldt.  He has an excellent page outlining the basic rules of thumb for LCHF beginners and I can't tell you how much it helped me understand the science behind eating fat and why it is not only healthy, but is actually the secret to staying lean.  It also keeps me on track when I feel the urge to jump off the high dive into a tub of pasta salad.  I highly suggest checking it out.  In the meantime, here is my LCHF/LCRF journey...

I was never an overweight person.  I never really indulged in processed food and I generally stuck to the perimeter of the supermarket.  I was also lucky enough to be blessed by the gene gods with an athletic frame so to speak.  However, my weight did fluctuate ten pounds from time to time and I noticed a year or so ago that I had been steadily gaining weight and was now 20 pounds heavier than I had ever been.  Well, so what? What's 20 extra pounds on a woman? Curves are nice right? More cushin'... etc, etc.  And that's completely true if that is your natural shape, but sadly most people nowadays don't know what their natural shape is.  Our bodies have become distorted by fat and we are unhealthy and we feel too tired, mentally as well as physically, to do much of anything about it.  Well, that was me in 2011.  It's 2013, those 20 pounds melted away effortlessly and I am now more energetic (aside from being a new mom-zombie or "mombie" as I like to call myself) than when I was a teenager and the (full-fat cream cheese) icing on the (almond flour) cake is that I'm more fit.  Oh and I had a baby in that same time.  I believe I owe it all to the fact that I stayed away from carbs and started eating my steak with the fat on it!

It all reminds me of an episode of FRIENDS where Rachel will only forgive Ross for yelling at her if he "drinks the fat" Joey found in the fridge.  The idea of it is not nearly as repulsive as it used to be, in fact I'd say "chugg, chugg, chugg"!  It all comes down to how our bodies evolved and what was available to us as it happened.  Think about it.  If you build a car that runs on fossil fuel and one day try and put potatoes in the gas tank and expect it to work properly, you'd be sorely disappointed.  Our bodies were designed to run on the diet of a hunter-gatherer and when you put potatoes in, it doesn't work properly!  We haven't evolved enough since hunting and gathering to eat sugar and starch and remain in peak physical condition. In fact, according to the experts like Dr. Eenfeldt and Mark Sisson, eating sugars and starches is what makes us fat and even kills us eventually!  It's all because our bodies need to release the hormone insulin in order to process them, which leads to excess fat, obesity, morbid obesity, diabetes, heart disease and maybe even cancer.  To avoid this, we should be eating as close to our original diet as possible and you can bet no one in the cave was cutting the fat off their meat and putting it to the side of their rock because of the cholesterol. I won't go as far as a paleo diet, because I love dairy plus butter and cream are really good (yummy) sources of fat.  It really is that simple, "drink the fat", Ross, "drink the fat".

How I Became the LCRF Mom

Hi there, my name is Lisa and I am a proud low carb, real food mom!  Before I try my hand at some more substantive blogging about my adventures in LCRF, I'd like to first chat a bit about how I have gotten to this point in my life.  The reason why I stumbled into a LCRF lifestyle and into new mommyhood is actually one in the same. The culprit is my lovely husband-to-be, James.  How James and I met is pretty sweet, at least to me, so I'll share...  I moved to South Africa from the States three years ago and during the first year, I was having a hard time meeting South African friends here in Cape Town.  If there was a contest for cliquiest city in the world, Cape Town would surely rank in the top three.  Surprisingly, a lot more Americans live here than you'd ever imagine, so I had no trouble building a little home away from home with some lovely ladies from all over the U.S. and that helped me get through some tough times.  However, I was still really looking forward to meeting some rad locals and putting down some new roots in the Mother City.  That wish came true about two and half years ago when my roommate and now great friend dragged me kicking and screaming (jokes) to a house warming party in town. And there I met the love of my life.  We became great friends first and one day, about six months into our friendship, a switch was flicked and he quickly became the only person I could ever imagine myself with (a line stolen from a beloved tv show).  It didn't take long for us to imagine settling down together and starting a family. Little did we know that that would happen sooner rather than later as I fell pregnant (don't you just love that phrase? "Fell".  Like, "whoops I fell and I landed in some pretty deep doodoo"!) with our little Jane the following year.  Though the timing wasn't as perfect as we would have liked it to be in terms of having a baby, it couldn't have been more perfect in terms of diet.

Just three months before I became pregnant with Jane, James phoned with some oh so exciting news...  It was Christmastime and I was back home visiting my parents in Florida (where else would you expect New Jerseyians over 70 to be?) when I got the call.  He had decided to lose the excess poundage.  At first, I was relieved.  I had also started dieting (some random low fat, calorie counting mumbojumbo) and exercising.  I walked two miles in the morning with my mom and my dog, May, and I biked five miles in the afternoon faithfully for two months.  So, this was good news!  I hoped that when I returned to South Africa that James would help me keep it up, because just like everyone else I have a tendency to start exercising like crazy and then ever so slowly but surely "crazy" turns into "lazy". Then, however, the conversation took an alarming turn when he said the most controversial four letter "c" word imaginable... "carb".  It made my insides twist. No more carbs?  Things couldn't get any worse.  Though I never had much of a sweet tooth (until I got pregnant that is) I lived (and live) for pasta, potatoes and not so much packaged sliced bread, but yummy home baked artisan type loaves oh, absolutely! Yes, please! Like french baguettes and ciabattas... even now my mouth still waters.  They were now off limits, labeled as harmful as cigarettes.  In fact, he boxed up all the carby items in his house, the sugar, flour, pasta, rice, etc. and took it straight over to his mother's and quit cold turkey.  I was in a state of complete shock. Who was this guy and what had he done with my "so what if he was chubby, at least he was sane" boyfriend?  All he wanted to talk about was this new low carb HIGH FAT diet and how it was going to save the world from obesity and disease!  He had "read up on it".  More specifically, he had read "Waist Disposal" by Dr. John Briffa.  I was skeptical. BUT.  I loved him, so I supported him as much as I could and I even said I'd try it too when I got back.  I did.  I'm not going to lie here, it was very slow going.  Eating was so boring and I cheated (on the diet, not James) A LOT.  Then, I started noticing things... number one was that I stopped exercising (like I new I would), but this time, I continued to lose weight and so did he! How could this be?  We were eating so much fat, it didn't make sense. Then I "read up on it" too, so I could better understand what was happening to my body.  It was the low carb, high fat diet that has been making waves in Sweden and slowly trickling its way around the globe and into South Africa. I had been back for less than two months, eating in this strange new way and was suddenly... pregnant. I now can't imagine eating any other way, for myself and for my child (a post on LCRF and pregnancy coming soon).  I love it!  That is why I chose to start this blog, so I can share my love of REAL FOOD and guess what? REAL FOOD has FAT in it.