When I was in Boston doing a speaking engagement, I went to visit my friends Warren, Fatim, and their son Adam. You may know Warren from the blogs I’ve posted about his macrobiotic cooking classes.

I went over on the subway to visit them for lunch and to chat with Fatim about her beautiful birth and being a mom and all that exciting stuff! I knew I would learn a lot from her, so I wanted to hear about her experience. I ended up having a huge make out session with Adam! He was sooo sweet and his little belly was so cute!
Anywho, Fatim is beautiful, and a great mom. She’s a highly intelligent woman whom I respect, and had such a lovely afternoon with.
Afterward, Fatim sent me this note:
“When you left that day, in the evening, Adam was eating, and I was reading the beautiful note you wrote on our cookbook (I mean yours!). I showed the picture to Adam, and he said “Hug, hug !!” So he hugged your book !! He was so cute !! Oh my god!!”
Here is part one of my interview with Fatim:
Why did you become macrobiotic? And what was it like before? What amazing changes did you notice?
A friend of mine introduced me to macrobiotics while I was living in Paris. My first macrobiotic meal was in Spain, and right away, I loved the food. From there, I started to read more about it and got more and more interested. I was very fascinated, felt so much better in my body, cleared my skin (had acne since being a teenager), and stabilized my emotions too. I am so grateful for macrobiotics. It’s been 7 years now, and I am a total new person because of it.
What foods were hardest for you to give up? If any?
To be honest, there weren’t really any. I loved the food right away, but I was lucky to be able to experience some delicious Spanish macrobiotic food and then some food cooked by people who were experienced too. I trust my food palate a lot. Before starting macrobiotics in 2003, I already enjoyed cooking, French (where I was born), Moroccan (my roots from my parents), and other ethnic foods. So, for me, delicious food is the most important thing. I do include some fish in my diet.
What kind of foods did you eat when you pregnant?
I ate a macrobiotic diet, meaning grains, beans, tofu, tempeh, vegetables, nuts, seeds, seaweed, fruits. For the first 3 months, I couldn’t really eat brown rice, so I ate more cracked grains :white rice, polenta, pasta. I wasn’t too attracted to beans, so I ate tofu, tempeh. I was really able to eat more things in the 2nd and 3rd trimester. I loved orange juice during my pregnancy too, and a funny thing is that Adam smelled like citrus the first few days!!! I had a little fish here and there when I felt like it.
Did you have cravings?
Yes, I actually craved some cheese, maybe because I’m from France, the cheese country. So, I did have some going out, a couple times. While I talked to Warren, about it, he told me to increase fat and protein, so I ate more deep-fried tempeh, and tofu, and it really helped tremendously, to not need cheese.
How did you deal with nausea?
I had some nausea the first 2 months, in the mornings. That’s when I got into orange juice a lot, it really helped me. I had ginger tea, but it didn’t help much. Sometimes, I would have some plain crackers and it was helpful, but overall, I knew it would pass “. And it did ”
Did you have any acid reflux?
No, I didn’t have any.
Did you find it uncomfy to sleep sometimes because of positions and extra weight? What did you do?
I have to say that even our midwife was very surprised; I was able to sleep great, through the whole night, until I gave birth. She did suggest that I get a big, long pillow (a pregnancy pillow), and it was so nice to have that. It helped me to get in a more comfortable position.
Did you have a hard time feeling fully truly satisfied with food during your pregnancy? Like food just wasn’t cutting it?
What happened is Warren would cook some beautiful food for us, and I would say to him: “This is not what I want, sorry, honey!”