She’s the pregnant Gold Coast woman who was accused of putting her unborn child at risk with her restrictive diet. Well, get a load of this baby boy.
It’s the baby the nation has been waiting for, the birth of the baby from the woman whose restrictive vegan diet was blasted by health experts and the Australian public. Loni Jane found fame on Instagram after she claimed to eat up to 20 bananas per day as part of a strict vegan diet, which she says has seen her experience the best health of her life.
On March 2, 2014 at 2am the defiant mum gave birth to an 8.7 pound, 55cm in length, bouncing baby boy.
Not only is her boy a big baby in perfect health, but she was in such good shape after the birth that she returned home at 6.30am, just four-and-a-half hours after the big push.
Somebody, hand us a banana.
Her popular Instagram feed which was filled with photos of smoothies, spectacular salads, a huge range of fruit and endless selfies of her growing tummy now stars the baby boy she has named Rowdy Nash.
Loni says becoming a mum is "such a blessing". She told news.com.au that she is "living proof that you don’t have to become a whale when you’re pregnant”. Oh, zing!
“It’s just so good,” she said. “I had no idea what it would be like, I haven’t really been around babies very much, but it’s so amazing,” she said from her Gold Coast home. “Rowdy’s feeding like a machine, I have plenty of breast milk, he’s growing, he’s sleeping, he’s happy.”
After being labelled as 'narcissistic' and 'irresponsible' for her choice to drink raw juice every day, avoid eating any animal products and eat up to 10 bananas in one go.
Even the Australian Medical Association stepped up to defend her but she's always been confident in her choice to be proudly vegan. She previously told news.com.au that she thought the claims were “ridiculous, because we’re always told to eat more fruits and vegetables to be healthy, so it doesn’t make any sense. I can’t see how people can think that I’m depriving myself or my child. They’re clearly not seeing the amount of food I’m eating”.
Loni says she put on 17 kilos when she was pregnant but lost 10 kilos in the two days after giving birth and is doing yoga and cycling to take care of the rest. She says, "You don’t have to put on heaps of weight and never bounce back — you can stay really healthy." Rowdy is now five weeks old and is sleeping eight hours a night.
And the new mum says her son will follow in her healthy footsteps. “I’m thriving on a plant-based diet, so why wouldn’t he?” she said. “If I believe that the way I eat is the best way possible, then why would I let him eat any other way?
“I know that as a human race we can definitely survive on this lifestyle. Too many kids get sick, are underweight, overweight, all kinds of things, it’s just not right. I’m over people thinking that being sick and unhealthy is normal."
Her first photo of Rowdy on Instagram received over 2000 comments, majority of which were supportive.
She and partner Pete have definitely been getting snap happy with their little man. CLICK THROUGH these photos, courtesy of Loni Jane's Instagram account:
Has Loni Jane's story changed your opinion about healthy diets for pregnant women?