I Became Vegan While Pregnant - Here's Why

Don't worry, I'm not here to convert you to veganism or anything. I'm not one of those preachy vegans😉. I'm just jazzed to tell you why I changing my diet to a vegan diet while pregnant ended up being one of the best decisions of my life. Despite changing diets drastically in pregnancy not being generally advised.

This lifestyle change not only drastically changed my health and gut health. But completely changed how I see the world and the values I hold. As an individual and as a mother.

If you're curious about veganism or maybe your also pregnant then this is the post for you. Adapting to healthier lifestyles seems daunting at first but I'm here to tell you that it's not as bad as you think. Even if you're pregnant (or trying to conceive) you're not sure if you can do it, I'm here to tell you that you can.

Pst, veganism & the vegan diet aren't actually that difficult anyway. You can also read: Unexpected Ways the Vegan Diet is Perfect For Pregnancy!

What's In This Post?

My wild claims are not that wild! Let me explain:

• 1. The Initial Decision
• 2. Essential Nutrients
• 3. Candida & Gut Health
• 4. Gut Flora
• 5. Core Values

✨Psst, I detail more about my experiences with trying to conceive, pregnancy, babyhood and so much more in the full book: "Consciously Natural Momma: Natural Parenting Methods from Conception Through the Terrific Twos!".✨

You might be thinking veganism would make being pregnant more difficult but allow me to elaborate.

The Initial Decision

All right, you caught me. I was vegetarian first. But only for like 3 months prior to becoming pregnant and vegan okay. Trust, I will get to the point in a bit.

Why'd I become vegetarian? Well, I was just curious and already one of those read the label type of grocery shoppers.

A friend of mine was seriously in awe when we went grocery shopping together. "I've never met anyone who shops the way you do!" He meant "gives a sh!t about what you're consuming".

So, I was curious and already ate a lot of veggies anyway. I was trying to develop healthier lifestyle habits like yoga, sleep, quitting smoking and not drinking everyday. My meals were typically on a bed of spinach and I ate mostly chicken breast for protein along with other veggies.

However, my wisdom teeth had also grown in sideways, to my surprise. Which caused the teeth next to those to become infected and one shattered. 5 teeth including the wisdom.

If I'd eat meat it would get stuck in the shattered teeth and swell up so much my ears and head hurt for days. That was a lot of pain.

So, the chicken had to go. I ate a ton of eggs, yogurt and cheese. At the time, I thought it was necessary. I was also concerned about my skin. I'd get huge acne breakouts around my moon cycle and I had a condition called "perioral dermatitis" (google that if you dare) which is quite painful alongside ugly.

✨It all started with the book "Consciously Natural Momma: Natural Parenting Methods from Conception Through the Terrific Twos!" find out more here.✨

Essential Nutrients

I thought I was being healthy. I was trying to conceive for quite a while with one miscarriage so I had some "wake up calls" and wanted to be as healthy as possible for my baby.

In my young adulthood, I just ate food because I had to. I had no idea that food could actually affect the way I thought and felt on a chemical level. In my teens, I was so insecure about being rail thin as well.

By being mindful about what I was eating, and actually seeing it and caring I was able to get the right amount of vitamins and nutrients. Read:Unexpected ways the Vegan Diet is Perfect For Pregnancy! I also loved the idea of being a healthy mom for my baby. I was able to be more mindful about what I was consuming and how it affected me mentally, spiritually and physically.

My health journey had to start somewhere and slowly grew into where I am today.

Candida & Gut Health

Fast forward to when I actually became pregnant and was a few months into the pregnancy with W. I was still just vegetarian but curious about veganism.

A midwife had given me antibiotics early in the pregnancy for a UTI I'm still convinced I never had. I noticed my skin had become so clear & the perioral dermatitis was gone!

My skin had never looked like that since before I was 12! But it all came back later. I was fed up and knew the skin condition was not normal and I didn't have to live like that.

I wanted to cure this and landed on everything to do with candida overgrowth (the common type of yeast that causes a yeast infection) and the whole world of gut health. That time my skin was super clear? Was because the antibiotics cleared out all the bacteria and candida in my gut.

Only to come back full force because I didn't know how to foster a healthy environment for the "good" bacteria to thrive.

So, I dove right on into the world of Candida diets and Gut health healing. The candida diet was mostly vegan and raw except for fish and some animal products. I was already not down to eat animals so I just cut those. Doing this resulted in me realizing it was basically vegan and I may as well just go full force into a vegan raw diet and see what happens. I was already taking these vegan prenatal vitamins so well on my way.

Gut Flora

Gut bacteria can get all out of wack by eating processed foods, processed sugars and antibiotics. Guess who's heavily treated with antibiotics? Animals who are later slaughtered. Antibiotics are great for wiping out the "bad" bacteria but it also wipes the bacteria we want. With a heavily sugared diet, the bad bacteria flourishes. See what I mean?

You can also read: Pregnant? What to Drink Instead of Coffee

A Vegan diet, especially raw or mostly raw is devoid of processed sugars, chemicals and antibiotics. Done deal.

Now, gut flora is super important when trying to conceive. But also super important when you give birth to your baby!

You see, when a baby is born vaginally they acquire their initial gut bacteria from the mother. (read) So having a healthy gut microbiome is essential to giving your baby their first defense in this world.

My gut bacteria needed to be in top shape to nurse W. to pass along even more nutrients to support her gut health while breastfeeding as well. I was absolutely determined to make sure that happened for W.

✨Learn everything you need to know with "Consciously Natural Momma: Natural Parenting Methods from Conception Through the Terrific Twos!". Find out more here.✨

Core Values

I wanted to be a healthy and happy mother for my child and I initially thought that just meant eating salads and "being one of those fitness people".

Pregnancy changed me.

I did a 180 on my lifestyle (sobriety helped!) and started actually caring about what I really valued. I did not take this job lightly. I was not satisfied with the advice of "oh you just have to love them".

Quickly after changing my dietary habits for a vegan ones. I dove right on into the ethics. I watched all the documentaries and realized that the lifestyle really resonated with who was and who I wanted to be, spiritually, mentally and physically.

Moreover, I realized what I wanted to teach my daughter. To be kind, compassionate, grateful, happy and to be secure in herself and confident in convictions. Just to name a few. Which meant I needed to model these values for my daughter. I later got into the spiritual side and the rest was history.

Veganism completely changed my way of thinking, who I am, how I parent, what I believe and catapulted me into discovering myself. I felt confident in this decision which helped me to feel confident in other convictions, to stand up for myself and walk away from what didn't serve me.

I found people who understood me, I joined a community of "Crunchy Momma's" the majority are not vegan but held similar values to me. I wasn't alone. I later discovered a world of minimalism, sustainability and the like.

Which all seemed to tie right on together with the vegan lifestyle values I held as well. And hey, yay for learning!

And now I'm here. To teach like minded women how to parent with intention, consciously and using natural methods.

I'm so glad I did this.

Wrap Up:

Woo! Look at all that information. Thank you so much for reading why I became vegan while pregnant. Changing my diet to a vegan one in pregnancy not only changed my health but completely changed my mind set and who I am. I was able to balance my gut bacteria, my hormones and give that to my baby.

I was also able to determine and establish my values and what I really wanted for myself, family and my daughter for years to come. Without becoming vegan I would not have been here today. This completely changed my life and I hope maybe it can change yours too. Thank you so much for being here!

Xo,
Shannon

✨ Let me leave you with an awesome offer :✨

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This book is packed full of anything you'd want to know on natural and conscious parenting techniques. Methods that allow your motherhood journey to flow from conception through the twos and beyond.

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