Returning to GF/Paleo: Days 2 and 3

Welcome back!  If you missed the first 2 posts of the series, you can see them here and here.

Day 1 was rough.  I felt like I was hungry all day long.  I need to start eating more raw veggies to fill up, but if they don't sound good, I can't eat them, or I get nauseous and won't be able to eat anything for quite a while, which is not okay with me.

I want to take a minute to talk about meat.  I'll be honest and say I don't concern myself with the fat content of most meat I purchase.  We eat a lot of uncured bacon, and we've been eating quite a bit of the 1/4 + 1/8 of the organic, grass-fed beef that's in our freezer.  Chicken is something we used to eat a ton of, but only have once or twice a week at this point.  Firstly, because of the cost.  And secondly, because it's so much more convenient to cook the beef we already have.

That being said, if I spot a deal, I SNAP IT UP!  Thankfully, we have a flex budget every paycheck that allows us to go beyond our usual cash grocery budget if need be.  I went shopping yesterday to round out a few things we needed for the coming week and scored a huge deal on free-range, organic chicken.  It was nearing its expiration date, but since we keep it in the freezer until the day we use it, I'm not worried about it going bad.  I grabbed 5 packs of chicken breasts, 6 packs of thighs, and a whole chicken, each pack marked down around 30%.  I also found some uncured breakfast sausage links, which are a rare treat for us, and a package of uncured spicy Italian sausage that will be perfect for the next time I make zuppa, also with a 30ish% mark down.  If you really want to be on top of great meat deals, ask the department what day/time they mark the discounts, that way you can be there for first pick.

All that out of the way, here's what I ate on Day 2.  I'm still including how often I'm drinking water, to give you a good idea of just how much you can get in during the day.  I keep my handy-dandy Dirty Girl water bottle with a straw-like spout with me at all times, so it's easy to just sip on it all day long.

Water

Scrambled eggs with broccoli and bacon
Coffee with coconut creamer
Water
Banana
Water
Greek yogurt with chocolate chips and pecans
Water
Chicken with sliced cucumbers (I kept one of those packs of chicken thighs out of the freezer to bake for a late lunch.  It was perfect!  The cucumbers, however, just tasted like chemicals, despite being organic, washed, and peeled.  Very disappointing.)
Water

Carrot

Water
Gf pizza (I used Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza Mix.  For sauce I just used some organic crushed tomatoes and seasoned it myself with red pepper flakes, garlic, and oregano.  Topped the kids' with cheese, uncured pepperoni and black olives while Captain and I had cheese, uncured pepperoni, spinach, mushrooms, pickled jalapenos, and black olives.)
Water

After dinner we scooted off to a ping-pong social with Captain's work friends.  We had Pirate Booty and some GF cookies for a snack.  With water, of course.

Here we are at the end of Day 3.  It was an odd day, since I spent half of it out of the house, but with a little preparation I was able to still make good choices!

As usual, I started the morning off with water and then my coffee with creamer.  I packed myself an apple, a bag of mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts, and macadamia), a to-go cup of chocolate almond milk, and a banana, then my local bestie picked me up and we headed to the Dirty Dash!

I had the apple and nuts before the race, for carbs and fat, but stopped drinking water about 40 minutes before the run.  There was no chance of me trail-stopping for a pee break.

Apparently, that's my "Look strong" face.  Yeah.

My dad's response to this picture was that we needed to go play outside.  What a funny guy.

Immediately after we finished I grabbed some water and a banana.  I rinsed off a teeny-tiny bit, then we headed over to grab a smoked turkey leg (They gave me 2!  What, did they think I needed the extra calories or something?) and I drank my almond milk before playing get-changed-without-anyone-seeing-my-goodies in the woods.  I think we were successful. 

On the way home I had water, my banana and a GF Cliff bar that they were handing out at the Dash.  Here's what I've had since cleaning off 3 layers of mud:

Water

Yogurt with chocolate chips and walnuts

Water and a 3 hour nap.

A carrot (and the first ripe pea from my garden!)

Water

Dinner: Grilled flank steak, mashed sweet potatoes (with butter and a touch of coconut sugar), roasted beets, and green salad with some dressing. With, you guessed it, water to drink.

Now I'm sitting/laying (it's really hard to type while laying on your left side, btw) in bed, trying to discourage contractions!  Whee!!  I do plan on sneaking down for a cookie, or maybe a piece of super dark chocolate once the kids go to bed.

Tomorrow is Sunday, which is Captain's day to sleep in, so I'll be making one of our favorite grain-free pancake recipes tomorrow and hitting the Farmer's Market for some local produce!

Double Whammy; The news that shook me out of my SAD diet stupor.

Being pregnant is hard.  Being food conscious is hard, too.  Being pregnant AND food conscious?  SUCKS.

My body has been craving simple carbs like mad.  Know what's full of simple carbs?  Crap.  Conventional, boxed, overly processed CRAP.  In a battle between hormones, sciatic pain, pelvic pain, and food cravings, the cravings are the easiest to take care of.

So instead of being our usual 80/20 selves (80% Primal, 20% not Primal but mostly clean with an occasional cheat thrown in), we've been more along the lines of 50/50 (50% crap, 50% whatever healthy thing I can manage to scrounge together).

The kids and Captain are LOVING it.  We've had crackers and cookies, bread for sandwiches, noodles and rolls with dinner, and take-out and fast food MUCH more than I am willing to admit.

I've been struggling.  Feeling guilty about allowing my family to eat this junk, feeding my family this junk, and every night I resolve to do better the next day.  Then, the next day rolls around and it's the same story.

Until yesterday.

**History break.  During each of my pregnancies my blood platelet count has dropped low.  Low enough that I hemorrhage after delivery and need intervention in the form of a clotting injection.   Anything less than 100 can cause extra delivery complications.

Yesterday my platelet count came back much lower than it has previously been at this stage in my other pregnancies; at 29 weeks my count is at 105.  Group F Strep was also found in my urine samples, meaning I have a urinary tract infection; not from e Coli, as most are, but from strep, pointing to an imbalance in my gut flora.

Low platelets AND a UTI.  Fun.

My doula picked the brains of a few colleagues and informed me that there are some inconclusive studies out there linking gluten to low platelet counts during pregnancy.  There are also a few connections between chlorella consumption and increased platelet count.  

So begins an experiment.  I'm officially going back to a strictly gluten-free diet, and at the same time falling back into a mostly Paleo lifestyle, with the exception of rice, red potatoes, and quinoa for simple carbs and Greek yogurt for extra protein and probiotics.  I'm also taking an spirulina supplement for chlorella and cranberry extract, to see if it helps my UTI in conjunction with focusing on gut healing foods.

In the spirit of camaraderie, I thought I'd share what we're eating the first few days of our re-adjustment, in case there are others out there needing some easy ideas, or a sympathetic ear.

If you live a gluten-free, Paleo/Primal, or clean eating lifestyle, what revelation(s) made you start?  Have you had any stops and restarts?

Check back tomorrow for the next post, which will include a curry recipe, meal plan ideas, and preparations for the first few days.