Eat To Live!

Today was my 6 weeks postpartum visit and everything looked good! I won't go back to the OBGYN for a whole year which honestly feels REALLY weird after seeing her so much over the past 9 months.

On the way out the door my doctor gave me a diet plan called "Eat To Live" which is essentially a vegan diet. I can eat unlimited raw veggies, cooked greens, beans, and fresh fruit but a limited amount of soy milk, flax, nuts, seeds and absolutely NO dairy, animal meat, salt, or sugar and no snacking!

I personally think that you can be healthy without a vegan diet and I think that healthy snacks are important. My doctor is a vegan and really likes to push that belief but I think that a healthy well balanced diet that doesn't eliminate any food totally is a much better way to go.

My eating plan would look more like 

UNLIMITED: veggies and fruit 

LIMITED: Everything else 

Now that being said I am doing a no dairy diet for the next week to see how it affects Emma. Since she has been so gassy and in pain I decided that as a breast fead only baby that I had to figure out what was going on with my consumption that could cause her discomfort. I found that the most common culprit could be dairy. You would be surprised how much stuff you eat that has dairy in it! I originally thought "no milk, butter, yogurt, or cheese", but lots of other foods are made with dairy that isn't as obvious until you think about it. Most baked items such as bread, crackers, cereal, and granola are made with casesin, dry milk powder, and whey. Other items that are surprising are some lunch meat, and vegetarian meats and cheeses so always look for vegan options and read your labels carefully. 

Other Names for Milk Ingredients

•   Beta-lactoglobulin

•   Casein

•   Caseinate (ammonium caseinate, calcium caseinate, magnesium caseinate, potassium caseinate, and sodium caseinate)

•   Delactosed or demineralized whey

•   Hydrolyzed casein

•   Hydrolyzed milk protein

•   Lactalbumin

•   Lactalbumin phosphate

•   Lactose

•   Lactoferrin

•   Lactoglobulin

•   Beta-lactoglobulin

•   Casein, rennet casein

•   Caseinate (ammonium caseinate, calcium caseinate, magnesium caseinate, potassium caseinate, and sodium caseinate)

•   Delactosed or demineralized whey

•   Dry milk, milk solids

•   Hydrolyzed casein and hydrolyzed milk protein

•   Lactalbumin and lactalbumin phosphate

•   Lactose

•   Lactoferrin, lactoglobulin

•   Rennet casein

•   Whey and whey protein concentrate

I am a huge dessert person. I have to have my sweet fix every night and it pretty much always has to involve chocolate. So to comply with my no dairy and my love of chocolate I set out on a mission to find vegan dessert options.

 

GUESS WHAT? OREOS ARE VEGAN! 

 I know my doctor totally approves of this decision.

I got coconut milk ice cream and oreos! I know this is not by any means healthy or helping me to lose weight but it does make me happy at the end of the day when I need something sweet. 

Here are the nutritional labels on these items 

Not too bad if you are able to just go with 1/2 cup once in a while. They do make a no added sugar version but I didn't get that one. The flavor and texture of this ice cream is AWESOME! Since its made with coconut milk its basically coconut chocolate flavor and its a lot thicker than milk based ice cream so I actually couldn't eat that much because its pretty rich. 

WHAT THE WHAT? When you go to eat an oreo usually you aren't concerned with how many calories and fat are in them so I was a little OMG shocked. At first glance I think OK well that is doable until I see the serving size. BWAHAHAH who the hell eats two oreos and says "ok done!" For this reason alone I will promise that this is the last time I bring oreos into the house! From now on I will make my own healthy vegan cookies if we continue to need vegan options. GURG 

Now coconut almond milk I can guiltlessly drink and this stuff is amazingly tasty and actually I love it better than regular milk for putting in cereal, smoothies, baked good etc. The only time I prefer cows milk is for straight drinking because almond coconut milk is thicker in consistency so it doesn't really quench thirst for me. 

So here is my unhealthy vegan indulgence.

 And the calorie intake on this bad boy is 450 calories! 

Apparently I need to buy this shirt! 

GET REAL MOMENT: When I was restricting things like oreos and sugar before I got pregnant I didn't crave it like I do right now. I think that you can help eliminate cravings by stopping the consumption of those items and finding a better option that satisfies. For instance my date fudge brownies are vegan, sugar free, and totally healthy. I could also make a smoothie with cocoa powder, peanut butter, and coconut milk. I truly find these things just as delicious as oreos so NO MORE OREOS ALLOWED! 

 

 

I am cleared to start light exercise so this week I will see how and when that will work as right now I can barely make a sandwich or do laundry! I have an exercise bike at home so I could essentially ride that while baby is napping but sometimes you just want to do nothing, or nap yourself, or eat without someone attached to your body, or finally wash your pants, or clean the dirty bathroom sink! This is why new moms cant get rid of "baby weight"! 

So lets set attainable goals. 

1. No dairy 

2. Lots of fruit and veggies 

3. TONS of water 

4. At least 20 minutes of activity twice this week (this might be doable) 

5. Don't eat the whole box of Oreos 

"GOOD LUCK MOM!"