Suggestions for Bland, Calorie Dense Foods?

merrycat

After fighting hard for every pound lost, I'm suddenly finding myself easily losing a pound a week ever since I got pregnant (about 9-10 weeks along). I don't throw up, but everything tastes horrible and eating more than a small portion (half cup to a cup) of anything makes me nauseous. I've lost 7 pounds in the last 6 weeks, and I'm scared to keep losing at this rate.

I've had to give up a lot of healthy foods that I used to love. Tomatoes and bell peppers have too much flavor and make me nauseous. For some reason I can't take too much meat of any kind. Fruits, aside from watermelon, leave a horrible after taste so I can't eat much of them. Hard boiled eggs are out, but scrambled or omelette is fine in small amounts. Mostly I'm down to eating potatoes and/or white rice, which can't be good for either one of us. I can handle steamed green veggies and carrots, which I guess is good.

Can anyone suggest healthy, calorie dense but BLAND foods so I can stabilize my weight?

PRMinx

After fighting hard for every pound lost, I'm suddenly finding myself easily losing a pound a week ever since I got pregnant (about 9-10 weeks along). I don't throw up, but everything tastes horrible and eating more than a small portion (half cup to a cup) of anything makes me nauseous. I've lost 7 pounds in the last 6 weeks, and I'm scared to keep losing at this rate.

I've had to give up a lot of healthy foods that I used to love. Tomatoes and bell peppers have too much flavor and make me nauseous. For some reason I can't take too much meat of any kind. Fruits, aside from watermelon, leave a horrible after taste so I can't eat much of them. Hard boiled eggs are out, but scrambled or omelette is fine in small amounts. Mostly I'm down to eating potatoes and/or white rice, which can't be good for either one of us. I can handle steamed green veggies and carrots, which I guess is good.

Can anyone suggest healthy, calorie dense but BLAND foods so I can stabilize my weight?

There is certainly nothing wrong with those foods. I think it's probably way more important for you to get calories in, then to focus on macros at this point. Throw some butter and cheese in the equation and that will help you with calories.

Peanut butter is a great calorie dense food. Can you stomach it?

Also, put butter on your veggies for more calories. Keep up with the eggs you can eat. Plain chicken is as bland as it gets, although you said meat is hard. Maybe chicken noodle soup?

Also, talk to your doctor.

rml_16

I had terrible morning sickness and couldn't eat anything with any acid in it. My doctor tried everything, but nothing worked.

I lived on pasta with olive oil and cheese. Fruits and vegetables were completely out. He was telling me to eat candy bars just to get the calories! At six months along, I was 102 pounds.

Good news is Mom and Baby were perfectly healthy and everything was fine. It's really a matter of figuring out what works for you, foodwise. Maybe try the pasta with cheese if you can find a cheese that doesn't bother you. This also may pass once you get to your second trimester.

Chief_Rocka

Mostly I'm down to eating potatoes and/or white rice, which can't be good for either one of us.

why?

neanderthin

Wear a swimmers nose clip........if you can't smell, you can't taste. :happy:

EmmaFitzwilliam

Farina (Cream of Wheat) cooked in milk? Oatmeal cooked in milk? That's all I can think of.

doozerbob

Losing weight isn't unknown in early pregnancy. I lost 28 lbs when i got pregnant. As long as the doctor isn't too worried, listen to your body. If it gets sick eating something, don't eat it. If it doesn't get sick, eat it!! You'll soon be complaining that your putting weight on!!

parsonsk64

My vote is for peanut butter sandwiches if you can stand the PB and you probably don't need to worry about the calories in a good bread. That's all I could stomach when I had bad morning sickness. Good luck!

Cliffslosinit

Cottage Cheese and peaches

Gidzmo

Maybe some brown rice? Or fruit? Bananas are fairly bland, but 115 calories a pop.


Have you been checked out by a doctor?

vegkitten

I hated most every food when I was pregnant with my last baby for the first four months or so. I barely gained any weight and lost in the beginning. I ate a lot of Lara Bars which was the best way to get good nutrients. A lot of protein bars are pretty calorie dense. I'd suggest any of them that you can stomach.

RodaRose

Eat the rice and potatoes. They are good for both of you.

AliceDark

White rice with butter and salt is wonderful. Could you add a little bit of scrambled egg and maybe some steamed veggies to make something like fried rice?

UpEarly

Fettuccine Alfredo.

The dish was invented by a chef whose pregnant wife couldn't seem to keep any food down. It was evidently one of the only things she found palatable. It's definitely calorie dense!

shaumom

FIrst, I'd take a look at making some fresh ginger tea - getting a few unpeeled slices of ginger and letting them steep in just-boiled water until they have cooled, then strain and drink (can dilute if needed).

A lot of pregnant women tend to find this settling to the stomach and get more of an appetite if they drink this daily, or before meals, sometimes. Although bizarrely, pregnant women who have hyperemesis, who are vomiting constantly, tend to find ginger makes it worse.

Fresh mint tea does the same thing for some women.

Another thing that might help just to get food down - fake your sense of smell out. Our sense of taste is so smell dependent that if you can find a few smells you REALLY like, you can sometimes trick your body by holding up that scent to your nose as you eat, to make the food more palatable to you.


But other than that, some of it is literally just trying difference foods to try and find one you tolerate. A possibility might be to take a look at farmer's markets and get food that has had very little done to it. Food at the grocery store can (and usually does) have something on it. For produce, as an example, it can have waxes, coatings, ripening sprays, ripening gases, anti-sprouting agents, anti-fungals, pesticide residue, and organic pest control residue on it. Grains have things added or sprayed on, meats have anti-bacterials added, all sorts of fun stuff.

There is a part of our body that basically 'tests' the contents of our stomachs to see if they are safe for us - they will trigger vomiting if certain things are detected, like some of the bacteria present when we get food poisoning, for example. It's been shown that this area is tremendously more sensitive to toxins and the like in pregnant women. So the possibility that pregnant bodies might be more sensitive to chemicals on our foods is not that outside the bounds of possibility.

So...if you can find more 'pure' foods, there might be a possibility you could tolerate them more, too, potentially.

Otherwise, I'd just make sure you get your vitamins, and try to get as many calories as possible with what foods you can tolerate. Good luck and hope the pregnancy goes smoothly!