Monday, November 4, 2013

Adventures Continue

So it has been far too long since I wrote a post. I will admit I became a little overwhelmed this summer between my home business, babysitting and becoming pregnant.

I am happy to say we had planned this pregnancy but hadn't really expected to be expecting so soon lol. I just stopped taking my pills and a short 3 weeks later unbeknownst to me I was officially pregnant. I didn't know what happened of course until the morning sickness hit me like a bolt of lightening in August. I all of sudden needed to sleep 20 hours a day, was beyond nauseous all the time and became a little more than irritable because of the way I was feeling and not having the time to take care of myself as I should.

It is amazing how quickly one can go from being energetic working from 6am to 10pm everyday to feeling drained of life and overly exhausted. Unfortunately not only did my body and my health suffer a little at first but so did my relationship with my partner. It is too easy sometimes let yourself become overwhelmed with life and its daily challenges.

After a few heated discussions and my partner firmly expressing is first and foremost concern, my health and secondly his feeling unwanted and unloved due to my lack of communication and time for him. I quickly realized he was not the only suffering, so was I. I had not had the energy after trying to force myself through my normal daily routines to work out or make proper meals for myself, mind you take time for others. I could barely make it through my day sometimes but I kept reminding myself we needed the money and I just needed to refocus and reorganize.

However after my discussions with my partner, who although loves me had thoroughly lost his patience with me, I decided I had to make changes before I sacrificed more or inadvertently hurt myself. This was hard for me to admit I couldn't do it all. I wanted to be strong, healthy, and in the past was proud of my abilities. I now felt week and unable to feel proud of my daily accomplishments. I really didn't want to admit I couldn't do it all. But I didn't see any other option. I was no longer happy everyday has I had been all year up until the morning sickness.

One hears stories about how some women worked 12 hours of hard labour a day while pregnant, kept a clean house, drove kids to soccer practice etc. etc. etc. I didn't want to be a weakling. I do not normally compare myself to others but when it comes to determination, strength and endurance through life I have always prided myself as a strong woman. It took me a while to believe I was still a strong woman even though I had to admit I needed more rest, more time to just relax and take care of myself.

Part of being healthy and feeling healthy is taking the time to rest. Not just eat healthy and exercise. This is a hard lesson for me. I watched my Step Father, who was self employed like myself, work 18 hour days as a child and learned wasted time is wasted money. What I failed to notice was he did not do this 365 days a year. There were months when he worked like a crazy man but than there were months when he would take whole afternoons off or sometimes several days. We all need down time. However we choose to do it we still need it and it does not make us week.

Until the morning sickness hit full swing I had been putting in very long and busy days. I had taken time for juicing, make raw vegan meals and preparing food for the week for myself and my growing toddler. It was hard to make the sudden change to cut back on my daily activities. Lucky for me the friend I babysat for was very understanding and soon found someone else to help her with her kids. I had to admit that I needed to just rest some days, shortening my walks and letting the weeds grow in my gardens. It took a few weeks but I slowly started to feel better.

I am now in my 2nd trimester and of course feel 100 times better but I still take naps sometimes and on the odd occasion take a day to just sit and read or play with my daughter. I am slowly making things up to my partner and my house almost seems in order again. Most days anyways lol. I had to simplify as well as modify my work outs for the day. Sometimes I just dont have the energy for more than a 45 work out and that is ok. I just barely made it through a month of some serious cravings with out gaining 20 lbs lol.

I have introduced a little more meat into my weekly diet. I find I crave a lot more protien and feel better for it. I still like to eat as much raw food as possible but I think my body knows what it needs and I plan to listen to it. I know some would disagree but I think to feel and eat healthy is an individual thing. As well as educating ourselves we also need to remember to listen to our bodies and be aware of how we feel. If you are trying to force yourself to eat vegan after being raised on a high animal protien diet you may not feel good for the switch. Or you may feel great! It just depends on you.

I came across this article recently and I highly recommend reading it. There is a new study out, which I haven't been able to find the full version for free yet, but I think it still deserves some credit. The study appears in the October edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, entitled "Meat intake and cause-specific mortality: a pooled analysis of Asian prospective cohort studies." This new  study is direct contradiction to the conclusions of the previous "China Study" by Colin Campbell's.

To be fair and well informed I think both studies should be read and acknowledged. Once the information is in your hands obviously the choice is yours. Just don't forget to be extremely greatful to be in a position to make such choices as what to eat and how to eat it. I get so caught up in my health goals I forget some people are simply just greatful to be fed ... regardless the quality of food. We are blessed to be able to choose to eat healthy. And we all need to remember to respect each others choices. If you are a pure vegan your a not a better person than the meat eater... unless of course you live and act like Mother Teresa. Just as a raw vegan is not better than the vegan. Sometimes all the knowledge we gain makes us overly judgmental and overly opinionated. This video is a little reminder for myself.


Being pregnant has also been a good reminder for me that everyone is different and your body is your own to master and feed. Listen to it and feed it accordingly. Using educated choices and common sense helps but I immediately started to feel stronger when I reintroduced some meat into my diet. My body thanked me. I still don't eat it every day mind you but I know if I did I wouldn't feel very good. I am also lucky to live in a rural area where local meat is accessible.  I am not a fan of the mass murdering meat producers. I prefer to support local farmers who let there cows roam the fields or chickens who are allowed to go outside and peck at the ground and run around. I believe there is a food chain for a reason but there is no need for cruelty either.

Moral of the story: Rest when you need it - it's ok to admit you can't do it all, if feeling stressed and overworked make the changes you need to be happy and remove the stress, adjust your diet according to your bodies needs and don't care what others think about it, remember to be greatful for what you have and the choices you are able to make and don't judge others based on their diets. What works for you may be wrong for them.

No comments:

Post a Comment