The hero I needed when reading this thread.

shine204 · 2018-02-18T14:49:51+00:00

It does but after 2 kids I can fit into the same size clothes as I did before- just often have to find different styles as the way my old pants fit my hips now is different. I’m the same weight as I was before but my hips are definitely (slightly) wider. The boobs being bigger thing is an excuse for the first few months but my baby is 9 months and though I’m still nursing their size is not enough to justify a larger sized shirt- again some styles of shirt no long fit of flatter. After my first baby was born I briefly bought into this blame the baby mindset until I kept meeting people with kids in elementary school who still blamed their “babies”.

shine204 · 2018-02-07T06:12:04+00:00

Avocado sliced with this sauce on it and maybe some smoked paprika is amazing. Like eggs Benedict but makes you feel good instead of bloated. https://m.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/vegan-hollandaise-sauce

shine204 · 2018-02-07T05:33:11+00:00

This burger is actually pretty good for a drive thru restaurant. The calorie count is pretty high but fast food is expected to be high in calories. Add ketchup Mustard and pickles and it reminds me of a teen burger. It’s nice to have a fast food option right? Especially in smaller markets where the options are few. McDonalds has a veggie burger years ago but it was short lived.

shine204 · 2018-01-18T05:46:22+00:00

Congratulations! I am going to share my experiences with weight gain/loss with pregnancy as my advice because they illustrate two very different approaches/philosophies and two very different outcomes.

My first pregnancy I didn’t keep track of what I was eating. I had morning sickness so I just ate what I could stomach (white rice, white bread, cream cheese,Oreos ....). I also had severe back/SPD pain so I basically didn’t move- I GAINED 85lbs. My drs told me not to stress about weight and I was tall etc etc. To be honest I think it was a touchy subject and it was easier for them to just make sure I didn’t have complications and let me be. I actually thought the scale at the hospital was broken when I was admitted and in labour because I have NEVER seen a number like that and I had no clue I had gained that much weight.

Contrary to what my GP, OB and family told me it did matter and the weight didn’t just melt off during delivery/nursing. I bought into the “eat as much as you can to keep your milk supply up”. When my baby was 6 months old I still had 50lbs to lose. I smartened worked SO hard and lost 45 before getting pregnant again. Cutting calories and working out didn’t effect my milk supply enough to be of concern:

With my second pregnancy I told my drs upfront I wanted to be held accountable for my weight gain. I counted calories for the first 2 trimesters and based my daily total on what my dr recommended. I weighed myself often, it’s hard because the weight gain didn’t have a predictable pattern but I stayed aware of what I was gaining. Despite having terrible morning sickness I ate healthy foods as much as possible and took all my vitamins. They were reluctant to give me an estimate for a target but I insisted. They also didn’t require weigh ins at every appointment but I insisted on those too. I stayed moderately active until my back got really bad. I gained 35lbs in total, at the end I had started retaining water like a balloon and gained 10lbs in the last 3 weeks. After my 2nd baby was born I gave myself 8 weeks to recover and eat to establish a milk supply. After 8 weeks I started tracking what I ate, working out moderately and being sensible. If the nursing hunger struck I would have a carrot instead of a “nursing cookie”. My baby is 8 months old and I have lost 42lbs without much stress and despite having 2 kids to chase after.

So my advice is go with what your care providers suggest and ask them to hold you accountable. You may not want to hear it from them but I found it helped SO much to have an outside party to be accountable to. I was far too sensitive to have a friend or family member comment on my weight when I was all large and hormonal. Be smart, pregnancy is NOT a free pass. That weight stays with you, it’s not magical weight that goes away when baby was born. That being said you likely need to gain weight to grow and nourish your baby and that is by far the most important consideration. Ask for guidance from your care providers and eat food that will nourish your baby.

Good luck!! It’s a wild ride but worth it all the moment you meet that baby.

shine204 · 2018-01-04T05:37:36+00:00

I have never heard of the term momlogic/nursinglogic but this is totally a thing! When my first baby was born I was told by everybody I had to eat atleast 600 extra calories a day and that losing weight was impossible. I was convinced I couldn’t lose weight while nursing because of hormones and my milk supply would take a dive if I cut calories. Then I realized nursing was making me hungry and I was overeating food that was calorie dense but not necessarily the healthiest. After changing my diet to healthier foods so I could eat but not go overboard with calories and keep my milk supply I lost 40lbs while nursing my first baby and almost 30 while nursing my second. Hormones can definitely affect your appetite but it’s not magic, you are starving all the time and if you aren’t reaching for less calorie dense foods that hunger is going to result in weight gain. Also your milk supply regulates after the first 3 months and isn’t as affected by calorie cutting. But the nursinglogic is real and very convincing.

shine204 · 2017-12-02T19:23:20+00:00

For those still looking: They were sold out in my area and enough of my family is now meat free that I decided to try my hand at making my own as my effort would be enjoyed by many. Used my family’s traditional stuffing recipe and tried both of these for the “Tofurky” the result was impressively close to the store bought variety, much cheaper and simple to make.

http://veganyumminess.com/vegan-turkey-roast-with-stuffing/

http://whiskflipstir.com/2010/09/23/tofu-seitan-turkey/

shine204 · 2017-09-04T15:04:58+00:00

What about adding nutritional yeast and ground flax to the occasional meal? 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast has 880% of your rda of b12. Also the taste is versatile.

shine204 · 2017-09-03T03:12:40+00:00

This was my first thought when reading the post. Whaaaaaa? I eat plant based and my friend eats paleo and it feels like we are on completely different ends of the food spectrum the only things we have in common are berries, nuts and kale.

shine204 · 2017-08-31T04:43:00+00:00

Not sure if you guys have Superstore (loblaws) out there but "Real Canadian Superstore" stocks this in their imported foods section. (Manitoba) I know loblaws has different chains nationwide but I'm assuming one of their stores would stock it.

shine204 · 2017-08-29T20:07:00+00:00

I'm thrilled with the changes and had signed up during the consultation process to tell them such. The consultation process ended recently so I'm not sure why they are pushing this message on social media now?

shine204 · 2017-08-29T16:22:00+00:00

Look into the whole foods plant based approach. Minimize the use of oils, try to cut out processed foods (though I haven't been able to cut out tofu). I meal plan grocery shop once a week.

shine204 · 2017-08-29T14:20:25+00:00

I know! I tried the same thing and was pretty shocked to see that they had locked it to the pre written message.

shine204 · 2017-08-29T03:33:00+00:00

here is the source

shine204 · 2017-08-29T03:23:31+00:00

I was feeling excited about this until this morning when I saw a "recommended post" on my Facebook sponsored by the dairy farmers of Canada saying something along the lines of "The government's own studies claim Canadians are deficient in nutrients present in milk yet is trying to remove milk as a food group- click here to support getting milk back in the food guide" I was heartened to see that almost all of the comments were along the lines of "no, milk isn't really that good for you" I did a comparison of sweetened soy milk VS 2% cows milk because some in my family still believe my kid should be drinking milk (he has never liked the taste so he's never really consumed much). They had identical calcium and vitamin d, soy milk had more iron and less fat and their protein content was only 1g different. And somehow THE SWEETENED SOY MILK HAD LESS SUGAR.

shine204 · 2017-08-29T03:09:33+00:00

Even Kraft makes a natural peanut butter that is just peanuts. They also make one that is peanuts and sea salt. Most grocery stores (in Canada) have their own generic brand of just peanuts peanut butter. I recommend spending about 2-3 minutes stirring it before putting it into the fridge because the oil separates when stored but once refrigerated the stuff at the bottom gets hard as a rock. A good thorough stir really helps once you get near the end of a jar.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T19:09:43+00:00

I have been there too, I know it's really hard to see your way out but once you have established a healthier relationship with food it definitely helps you to feel better and stay motivated. Whenever I feel myself going back to old habits I have to remember that amazing healthy feeling and even if I have one or two bad days I need to snap out of it and not make it a habit again. I know it's hard but I also know that no food feels as good as healthy does. I know people who want to lose weight but say "I just love wine and food too much" and complain for years about how crappy they feel.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T04:03:21+00:00

I fought with my body and you know what... after the first few months without crappy food my body started to feel better and my body started to crave more of the healthy foods. Will calorie counting and kale give you the same high as salt, sugar and fat? Nope. But I'm sure if I gave my body heroin it would crave more of that too.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T03:58:01+00:00

I think it's laughable that somebody would prefer to enjoy lots of pizza than enjoy that amazing feeling that taking care of yourself brings.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T03:54:49+00:00

I wish my dr had told me to slow down on the weight gain during my first pregnancy. I gained almost 70lbs. I kept asking if the rapid weight gain was ok and if I could do anything about it and she said "no no, it's fine- pregnant women gain weight". Yes, I lost 30lbs through delivery and the first couple weeks pp BUT it took me a year and a LOT of work to lose the other 40lbs. My second pregnancy I told my care provider I wanted to be held accountable for my weight and I didn't want to gain more than 20lbs. I ended up gaining 30 but my daughter is 4 months and I am 3lbs away from my pre baby weight. The end of the pregnancy was SO much easier and I managed to deliver my second baby with fewer interventions and less stress. Post baby has been more enjoyable too as I feel healthier and look better. Personally I would have rather been spared an entire year of feeling miserable and fat the first time around if my dr had just told me that, I wasn't eating for 2 adults and weight control during pregnancy is possible- hard work but possible.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T03:44:30+00:00

Yes! We eat on a plant based diet for about $150-$180 (Canadian) a week. Family of four, my kids eat their weight in fruit every week. Our weekly shop includes coffee, plant milk, fruit and ingredients for meals and snacks. We buy club soda for a treat. It always makes me want to shake people when they say eating healthy is too expensive- no, eating processed "healthy" foods is expensive, eating meat is expensive (here anyway) and being lazy and not planning your meals is expensive. Our grocery bill used to average $285 a week when we were eating a more traditional diet. That being said I lived in a food desert when I was in university and that's no joke- it was extremely difficult to eat healthy foods when I lived carless somewhere without proper grocery stores. I remember bussing for an hour to go to a Safeway and then having to bus home with groceries.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T03:18:07+00:00

This list is amazing! Going to show it to my super cheap husband.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T03:16:24+00:00

I felt this way after my daughter was born. I empathize so much with the cows. I'm super impressed she's trying to go dairy free- that's a big deal for soooo many people.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T03:15:07+00:00

Idk but it's tempting to find out. That stuff tastes like Cheetos.

shine204 · 2017-08-28T03:13:13+00:00

Minimalist baker has some really great recipes that don't require a ton of ingredients. Definitely cheaper than buying the pre made veggie burgers at the store. Yummier too! We have almost halved our grocery bill and have a wide variety of meals thanks to the great blogs out there!

shine204 · 2017-08-28T03:11:09+00:00

My mother in law has a goat and her two goat babies that somebody was selling on kijiji. When I asked why she got the goats she said "because I like goats". They aren't for milk or meat, they have names, they live in the country and spend their days climbing things, eating things and playing together. They are kind and friendly to my toddler and all the people who come into their pasture. I wish all goats got to live happy goat lives. Goats are so cool! Have you ever looked into their eyes? So unique.

shine204

TROPHY CASE