What are you eating?

cat_nz

Hi ladies (and men?!)

I am 21 weeks pregnant (due December 8th) and having a wee bit of a downer. I LOVE being pregnant, LOVE that we are about to bring our first baby into the world, but at the moment I am really hung up on weight gain and all of the hard work it has taken to get to where I am now disappearing before my eyes. I weighed 59kg (130lb) at conception. I had finally reached goal and a place where I felt like I looked good - hooray! Current weight at 21 weeks is 64.5 kg (142lb) - which from all of the millions of websites I have read and LMC advice this seems to be in line with normal gain? (Although what is normal lol.)

This all comes from what I feel like is an impossible battle with menus every day. Since day dot I have been completely 'off' vegetables. I have never been the hugest fan anyway, but have always been a big salad eater and have made up for my lack of vege intake with lots of salads and fresh fruit. Since being pregnant even the salads have gone off my menu (doesn't help that it is winter here). I have gone off red meat, preferring chicken -0r takeaways, which I seem to be able to eat in endless amounts! I know that my diet is not helping with weight gain - or good for baby!!! (Although I am taking pregnancy supplements to help ensure I am getting the vitamins and minerals he needs.)

Has anyone else found their diet has changed much? Am I the only one who seems to have completely 'gone off' anything remotely healthy and good for me?

I would also love to hear your staple meals / menus to get some inspiration to improve my eating. I sometimes think all of the 'dos and don'ts' of pregnancy eating make it easy to feel like there is nothing safe or good to eat, so I am all for hearing what others are living off!

Also I am looking for some MFP friends who are also pregnant - at the moment my friends are all on wicked weight loss which is great for them but a little depressing for me since all my goals and plans have changed, so add me if you are looking for friends too!

Cat

lisapr123

Today is the last day of the 21st week for me....and I'm up 12 lbs also. I feel like I eat fairly healthy but am gaining a little faster than I'd like (I'm overweight to begin with). So I can't really give you advice as to what to eat, but I can say that I think we're going to gain what we're going to gain. Last week I was out with 3 cousins. 2 of the 3 gained 75 lbs with each pregnancy (both were a US size 6 prior to becoming pregnant). The other was overweight, on bed rest, and gained only 20. All were back to pre-pregnancy weight within a few months. One lost 40 lbs before she was even discharged from the hospital.

Try not to stress about the weight too much, instead think about what you're putting into your body. I was reading earlier this week that the baby is tasting everything I do via the amniotic fluid....that's helped me make a wide variety of choices lately (I do NOT want a picky eater!).

I do find that I prefer foods I ate as a child. PB&J, grilled cheese, fruit cups, etc... But I'm also way into ethnic foods right now. Thai, Indian, Mexican. The LAST thing I want is pizza or burgers. And I don't like my regular spring green mix for salads, I suddenly prefer bitter greens. Ugh!!!

SRBFit_Food

I eat Paleo (80/20 is the rule I follow). Mostly what I eat is beef/fish/poultry with veggies. I eat little grains-- I eat like this 80% of the time. The other 20 consists of my indulgences like ice cream, a hamburger from McDonalds, or really whatever I'm craving and can't seem to "get over it".

I'm 5'2'', 18 weeks and I've gained about 9 pounds!

queenmolly68

My whole world has become all about fiber. The worst pregnancy symptom ever is constipation and I'm doing everything in my power to not let it happen to me again. So everyday I am eating a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and a big salad at every meal. It may not always be what I want to eat, but it helps. It also helps fill me up so I don't over-do it on other foods. Plenty of smoothies with unsweetened almond milk, PB 2, and bananas helps me when I have a ragging sweet tooth.

michelleepotter

Congrats on your first baby! I'm 20 weeks with my 8th right now. I'll send you a friend request!

An important thing to remember is that most of what you are gaining is NOT fat. Aside from the actual baby, you're gaining blood volume, amniotic fluid, placenta, increasing your uterus, etc. And when you are gaining fat, it's necessary, like adding mass to your breasts in preparation for breastfeeding. IMO, that is not undoing your hard work anymore than it would be if you were lifting and gaining muscle.

Eating while pregnant is hard. It's totally normal for your tastes to completely change, making foods you usually eat less appealing, and causing cravings. Personally, I am eating a TON of chicken. I crave it all the time, and eat it at almost every meal. Chicken is pretty good for you, so if you're eating more of it, that's not a bad thing! I like to add some hot sauce to mine, for a no-calorie kick. (I never liked hot sauce until I got pregnant with my first, then I started craving buffalo wings all the time. Now I LOVE them!)

Basically, eat what you can. If there's something good for you that you like (like chicken), then eat it. If you're really craving something that's not good for you, just try to eat it in moderation.

Flybeetle

Hi, I have send you a FR. You can have a look at what I eat daily, my diary is open to friends

I went off the rails at first and then freaked out and have been sticking to relatively healthy foods since then, but I just make them really yummy by adding sauce and protein.

Also, even as a vegetarian, I find that eating protein helps SO much with any cravings. So for you, yes, go for the chicken (I eat kidney beans/ eggs/ cheese a lot)!

And don't beat yourself up too much please You're trying and that's more than most pregnant mums do!

Rubyayn

My diary is also open and I sent you a FR. Somehow I have managed to eat fairly healthy, but I sneak in homemade deserts daily.

I understand what it is like to feel like you are losing some of what you worked so hard to achieve. I lost 36 pounds and reached goal just before I got pregnant. I was in the shape on my life!! I second that the weight you are gaining is not all fat and that being at your goal weight before will make bouncing back that much easier!!

dandelyon

I don't always get in all my veggies or fruits, but I'm trying I also crave the carbs, and my guilty pleasure has been graham crackers with peanut butter.

My diary is open but I'm not sure I'd use it as any kind of a guideline. I've managed to lose a couple pounds then maintain my weight for the past 10 weeks strictly with calories in/calories out; my protein could be a lot better and I don't eat enough veggies right now considering that I'm a vegetarian.

igottaworkout

I agree with all the other comments, just eat really healthily and listen to your body. For me I just set MFP to maintain at whatever weight I became with pregnancy so my calories went up slightly over the course of my pregancy. But if I was not hungry I didn't force myself to eat more, and if I was hungry I did go over eating healthy things. I found protein keeps me full the longest and if I didn't have it with every meal I was reaching for unhealthy snacks

Overall in my pregnancy I had gained 21-22 lb (I didn't weigh myself the day of delivery but I think it must have been 22lb that day) I am 3 days post partum right now and have only 5lb to loose I had a huge 9lb healthy baby boy.

I kept stressing over my weight and now it's so weird having my belly gone.. I keep staring down there and it's almost flat, it's the weirdest thing. I wish I didn't stress over the weight so much because really it's just temporary. Take care and good luck!!