Paleo Me vs a Baby Class

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We’ve been to a few baby classes and have a few more left. You can imagine the thoughts running through my head as a person who avoids grains, legumes, juices, and sugar. I’m not what you call “with it” when it comes to conventional diets. What has been most helpful to deal with these classes is having an open mind. As a Paleo promoter, you want others to have an open mind about your diet. It’s a two way street. 

While there were plenty of strange looks regarding what we ate, there were no attacks. Actually, the dietician was helpful in recommending other things to eat besides grains and dairy that would help get vitamins and minerals they provide. She also didn’t discourage me from eating fish, but recommended safer types of fish, which also happen to be more sustainable. That has winning all over it.

Next, we talked about exercise. Then I realized the intent of this class. It was for the average mother and/or father-to-be. What I did not know was the level of nutrition and exercise knowledge of the “average” person was lacking. The ladies around me looked ok, minus one with an obvious weight problem. Then I realized that’s what most people go for - how they look. If they look thin and slender, that’s acceptable even if they feel like crap and under-perform.  I managed to keep my mouth shut after I came to this realization and sat through the class upset and sad.

Why did the instructor say “…and you should do this throughout your life” after most of the exercise demos? Most likely because the population the class was geared towards does not exercise much. The instructor knew this exercise business would be new and wanted to encourage people to continue. I felt sad for her. She’s fighting a battle against nonsense. BUT individuals are also responsible for their own health and the health of their children. There are people who are not interested in finding honest information about their health. Despite my feelings on other diet and exercise lifestyles, give it some effort. I’m pretty sure most healthy lifestyle prescriptions do not advocate the consumption of fast foods, sugar, and sedentary behavior. It doesn’t take a genius, just someone that cares. 

It wasn’t all sadness. I had some positive takeaways too. The Movement U seminar, where Jessie Stensland blasted me about posture ended helping me still. I’m not a huge lady yet, but I also wasn’t one of the expecting mommies complaining of back problems even though I was the furthest along. I have gained A LOT of weight, but none of the pain. This may not be the case next month, but I’ll take the delay.  The instructor loved squats. "They’re good for labor" she said. Thinking about getting pregnant? Squat like hell. Then don’t stop. Where you start at when you become pregnant will help determine what you can do throughout your pregnancy. If you’re strong to begin with, you’ve got more leeway than the lady who doesn’t lift because she want to bulk up. And finally (and obviously), exercise during pregnancy is recommended. You may have to make adjustments, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m no expert, so don’t take my words as gospel. BUT, what I’ve heard so far hasn’t made me throw stones yet. Happy. Panda.

My first notion was this class was a fight to support my Paleoness and Crossfit addiction. I was wrong. I was the least of these people’s concern. They’ve got worse populations to address than the Paleo convinced and exercise savvy.  Don’t become part of that other population.