Guest Post: Lauren of Ginger is The New Pink

Hi Bloggies,

So over the next few weeks the Hubz and I are going to be crazy busy with moving and various events. I am taking this busy time as an opportunity to feature a number of different guest bloggers who will be covering a number of different topics. I will be blogging whenever possible and will keep you up to date on the pantry challenge but for now enjoy the upcoming guest blog posts.

xo. Lindsay.

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Hello Cook. Vegan. Lover. readers! My name is Lauren, I’m a blogger and I chronicle my journey towards healing Crohn’s disease through a high raw vegan diet, on my blog, Ginger is The New Pink.  I’ve had crohn’s for 5 years and became a vegan shortly after diagnosed and noticed a huge difference in my symptoms. I am now pregnant with my first child, due in November and staying vegan, or healthy hasn’t been much of a challenge at all.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I felt great for 2-3 weeks, I was eating well, exercising, meditating, doing all my usual “rituals.” Then came the morning sickness. Or as many call it, “all day sickness”. I found myself not hungry or wanting to eat at all. Exercise.. ha, and anything else that involved moving from the couch, out of the question. I’ve seen a lot of people leave veganism at this time. They tend to crave more bland protein foods like eggs, fish, or chicken, but not me. I had no cravings, and leaving veganism was never an option for me. I got through this time with lots of brown rice and other grains. My doctor assured me that the baby would be healthy because of how I ate before I became pregnant. Phew! What a relief! I knew my mostly veggie, high raw, vegan diet would help the baby thrive, while I couldn’t.

My dear pug Ginger got a lot of use out of my rebounder!

Luckily this phase did pass. At around 10 weeks my appetite started coming back and I was craving kale again! Happy day! Since then I’ve started working out again, doing prenatal yoga, cooking, un-cooking, and just all around enjoying feeling good again! I was so happy to be able to provide my baby with the right nutrients and vitamins I know he/she will thrive on. My doctor questioned my diet at first, but when she realized how much I knew about veganism, and what I should be eating for the baby, she stated that I knew more then she did about nutrition! Score for vegans! I do take a B12 shot once a month, vegan DHA oil, a vegan prenatal and a few other supplements as “insurance.” But I am pretty confident that as long as I eat a wide variety of fruits and veggies and make sure my protein is a little higher then normal, that I will be fine. For iron, I use spinach daily in my green smoothies and Sunwarrior protein powder has made it very easy to make sure I am getting enough protein. Normally, I am not a protein gal, I feel that I get enough protein from different vegan sources, but with pregnancy, I have been extra cautious.

Green Smoothie with spinach, mango, DHA oil, Sunwarrior protein, Maca Powder and Almond Milk

Now I am 16 weeks and loving ALL vegan food! I’ve even been eating more raw then ever. The baby seems to have a fondness for watermelon and kale! I’ve been having some minor aches and pains and exercise definitely helps improve that. I can’t imagine myself eating junk at this time. My baby is thriving on my diet! When he/she comes into this world I will teach him or her to be kind to all living beings, and why would choose not to eat animals. Most children don’t even understand that the chicken they are eating is the same chicken that they learn about in school. I feel it’s very important to educate my child on this, hopefully when he or she is old enough to make his or her own choices he or she will remember kindness and appreciate all that I have taught them about empathy towards animals and the environment.

HEAVEN!

Kale Salad with cherry tomatoes, raw pickles, raw sauerkraut, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, avocado, olive oil and lemon.

Thank you Lindsay for letting me share! I hope you all stop by my blog and watch as my pregnancy progresses, I promise vegan food only! 😉 Lots of love to all your readers! 🙂