Been lerking...time to be official!

Hello 30BaD's!!

So I have been lerking for a couple weeks and I decided it was time to officially introduce myself and finally start participating! I'm gonna try to not make this a million years long and here it goes....

My name is Brenda, I'm 26 years old, married to my high school sweetheart for 7 years now (he's been in the US Navy for 9 years), our daughter will be one year old in less than a month (WHAT?!?!), we are currently living overseas in Japan, I am a runner and am currently training for my second half marathon in October (first was September 2007), I'm working towards an associate's degree online, and my ultimate career goal is to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)!

Breastfeeding and natural childbirth are my passions! I want to educate and assist other mothers with both! I gave birth to my daughter completely naturally after 75 hours of labor and I am extremely proud of myself for that accomplishment! I want every mother to feel that! I struggled a lot with breastfeeding, but never gave up and that is what drove my passion for it and made me want to become an IBCLC! I am still breastfeeding my daughter and plan to continue until SHE wants to stop (I'm guessing at least 3 years)!

I have been on and off vegan/vegetarian since 2005, but came across the Raw Food Movement in 2008 and fell in love! I completed a 30 days raw food challenge and posted it all on YouTube, but I have since deleted those videos. For various reasons/excuses, I again went back and forth with vegan/vegetarianism and a S.A.D. I eventually and recently went through what I am calling a "food identity crisis," and was eating complete crap! I believe that was my "rock bottom" and I decided to face the truth and deal with my issues. For the first time in 10 years, I finally stopped denying that I struggle with serious eating issues. I binge on food and would either throw it back up, excessively exercise, fast/restrict later, or a combination of all of them. Once I was willing to admit it, I was determined to recover from my addictions!

It all started when tried to think of the last time I felt really good about myself and my health. I realized that time was when I was eating raw! I never felt 100% with all the nuts and fats, so when I discovered the low fat raw vegan lifestyle, I had no doubt that it was what I needed to do! On June 30th I started eating a LFRV diet and did 3 weeks of it. I felt so great! However, I started eating too many avocados and I believe it was part of what sparked the binge that followed. I couldn't believe how crappy I felt after my binge and I was ready to recommit, but knew it wasn't going to be easy. I decided it was time to start making YouTube videos again to help keep me accountable and that I needed to really commit to another 30 day challenge! So that is where I am today! I am finishing out day 4 of my challenge and am documenting everyday on my YouTube channel! Watch me if you would like as I show my life as a new mom, in a foreign country, trying out the LFRV lifestyle!

http://www.youtube.com/user/luvuhunny?feature=mhee

I'm happy to be here at 30BaD and I hope I can get a lot of encouragement and help! I also hope I can help and encourage others somehow! :D

(Pictures: First is the most recent picture I have of my daughter and me, second is the most recent picture of my beautiful baby girl, and last is a pretty recent picture of my happy little family!)

Tags: 30, Challenge, Day, Fat, First, Fitness, Health, Holistic, Japan, Living, More…

0 members like this

Attachments:

011.JPG, 128 KB
013.JPG, 69 KB
151.JPG, 4.3 MB

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Georgia on July 28, 2011 at 10:57pm

Welcome to 30bad bunny :) I too am a homebirthing, breastfeeding mum to 3 little people.

I would suggest getting huge numbers calories in as u will burn through them being a runner and breastfeeding mum. I have to have atleast 3500 calories a day and more like 4000 if I train hard. Otherwise you will find yourself heading off to binge city again and again and again!

Good luck and I hope u enjoy the community here.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by luvuhunny on July 29, 2011 at 12:12am

Thank you Georgia! I am so happy to hear you had 3 homebirths! I wish I had a homebirth, but I didn't convince my husband until we watched The Business of Being Born when I was 36 weeks along and by then it was a bit too late to switch! LOL! We did the Bradley Method of childbirth and he was a HUGE supporter of me doing it natural (he actually said he wasn't going to allow me to get an medicine because he was so against it! LOL!) and after watching the documentary he said any future children we have will be homebirths! I am super excited about that (even though I am not sure I want any more babe)! We were blessed to have a wonderful Midwife at the hospital, but educating ourselves and being prepared for the fight at the hospital was what allowed us to achieve the natural birth we wanted! My husband and I both want to become Bradley Method instructors together when we return to the U.S. because we loved it so much! And I also want to become a doula! I had a doula at my birth (she was also our Bradley instructor), but there were a lot of things that my husband and I didn't like about the way she was, and that made me want to become a doula and be better than she was.

Anyways, thank you for the suggestions! I have been focusing on getting enough calories. I currently have been getting about 2500-2800, but my training miles are low. I will be upping my calories as my training gets more intense. Bananas (and dates) are my friend! :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jack on July 29, 2011 at 12:40am

Welcome! I am a non-breastfeeding, natural everything dad to a 4 yo and a 7 yo, and you might want to check out my site www.lfrvfamilies.com as well :-)

Jack

www.lfrvfamilies.com

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by luvuhunny on July 29, 2011 at 12:52am

Thanks Jack! I totally just signed up! :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jaime on July 29, 2011 at 2:21am

2500-2800 does not seem like enough calories at all especially whilst breastfeeding. In order to stave off binges and to make sure you are getting enough calories and corresponding nutrients, I'd make sure to take in at a minimum of 4000 calories per day--and that is minimum minimum. Also, make sure to get sunlight everyday and I'd consider a B12 supplement and make sure you are taking in enough water and getting enough sleep (10-12 hours)--hard with a little one I'm sure. All of these factors are crucial to success on this diet. If you find yourself hitting the avocados or even thinking about eating them, nuts, or cooked food, you are not eating enough fruit. SO go grab some as soon as the thought occurs. Also, you may want to consider having a salad each evening as greens and veggies are loaded with minerals. I think your biggest challenge will be changeing your mindset of how many calories and how much food you need to take in. I know that it was for me! But once I changed my mind and allowed myself to eat, bliss!!!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by luvuhunny on July 29, 2011 at 2:32am

Thanks for the advice Jaime! I know my calories are still really low, but I am working up to more. I was only getting about 1800-2000 at first!! I'm getting better, but still working on it. I'm not depriving myself at all and am slowly (naturally) increasing my intake. It just gets better everyday! I do eat a massive salad every night (that is when I was eating avocado)! I very much enjoy and look forward to my big dinner salad! Sleep is something I don't (and won't) get enough of! I do take naps during the day with my daughter so that helps, but with life right now I am unable to get enough sleep. :( I definitely get plenty of sun everyday because I don't have a car, so I walk EVERYWHERE I need to go with my daughter in a stroller! LOVE THAT! :) Anyways, thanks again!