the pastor and the bartender: brewer(ish) diet updates

Original post at http://pastorandbartender.blogspot.com/2013/02/brewerish-diet-updates.html

I wanted to give a check-in on how our (as in, me and fetus) diet is doing this time around.  I really appreciated the emphasis on sound nutrition and whole foods that the Brewer Diet offered, when we learned about it as part of our Bradley classes.  What I didn't love was the scrutiny I had to pay toward how many grams of protein I was eating per day, checking foods off a list, and feeling some guilt about eating Chinese takeout now and again okay a lot.  There was a great deal of accountability because we had to turn our diet checklists in to our Bradley instructor each week, and she gave us feedback on what we should have more or less of.

I decided that for this second pregnancy, I would continue to implement the principles (many of which have just become a way of life for me now) of the Brewer Diet, without the strict attention to a very proscripted diet.

It turns out the accountability became an easy thing for me, because my own body is providing very clear checks on what I should or shouldn't be eating!  If I slip on my good diet for a few days, I feel awful.  Digestive troubles, low energy, skin breaking out, sore.  If I have too much salt or restaurant food, I puff up like a little muffin.

So, here's a sort of "day in the life," where I give you a snapshot of what and how I'm trying to eat.

Breakfast:  two pasture-raised eggs mixed with a little raw milk and salt, and scrambled in butter.  A slice of homemade toast with butter.  A clementine.  Coffee with a lot of raw milk.  Pregnancy tea.  I eat this same thing literally almost every morning.  I never get sick of eggs, toast, and coffee.  Sometimes I have fruit, sometimes not.  Sometimes I put tiny cubes of cheese in with the eggs to melt.  Sometimes I add bacon.  Every couple weeks or so I make pancakes so the family doesn't die of boredom. I figure that the fact that I eat this every day, and never get sick of it, and in fact crave it in the morning, means that this meal is doing really good things for my body.


Mid-morning snack:  At a meeting.  Homemade crackers, a few slices of cheese, some carrot sticks.



Lunch:  leftover cider-braised pork chop and cabbage.  Smoothie made with strawberries, banana, peaches and yogurt.


Supper:  taco salad.  Tortilla chips, shredded lettuce, sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, and ground beef and kidney beans with my special house taco seasoning.  Milk chai.  (I've been making our own chai concentrate and it is divine.  Recipe to come soon.)  (Also, sorry - I don't know that there's an attractive way to photograph taco salad.  It is just not a dish known for its beauty.)