Food Diary Evaluation / Suggestions

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mommyshortlegs
mommyshortlegs Posts: 402 Member
Pregnancy #2 - Week 13
EDD: October 11th


My day-to-day eating ideally (keyword: ideally) consists of lean proteins (turkey, chicken, tuna); fruits and vegetables (oranges, cucumbers, romaine, apples, cherry tomatoes, portabellos); good fats (eggs, Greek yogurt, avocado, cheese, olive and coconut oils); and preferably whole-grain carbs (pasta, toast, brown rice). Over the weekends (and lately amidst 1st trimester fatigue and aversions) I break from my usual attempts at scratch cooking and healthy eating to instead consume whatever glop my Former Bachelor craves, a compromise in tastes that works well for us. Recently I tend to be achingly hungry by 10:00 p.m. despite my typical 8:00 p.m. "dessert" of plain Greek yogurt with fruit, and I opt for a palmful of almonds or 4 oz. yogurt. As my food diary will attest, my appetite is not always what it should be, nor are my choices, and especially in cold weather, I struggle with my water intake.

Currently I manage to consume between 1,300 and 1,500 cal./day, with little to no intentional exercise (other than housework and toddler chasing), and have recorded 2-3 lbs. pregnancy weight gain since the start of official tracking in early February. As of my 1st. appt. <2 wks. ago, my OB was happy with the pace of my weight gain and with Baby's growth.

In addition to a prenatal vitamin with DHA, folic acid, and vitamin C, I recently began taking a probiotic supplement and incorporating extra fiber in the form of Metamucil.

Reviewing my food diary, what foods would you suggest for me at this stage of pregnancy? Feedback welcome! :)

Replies

  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    What you're eating sounds very good, and my thought is that if you are "achingly hungry" by 10PM, perhaps you're not eating enough for dinner/dessert (which doesn't have to be junk - your Greek yogurt with fruit is quite good!) I'm not sure how much tuna you're consuming, but I think that is supposed to be limited. (I ignored all that, since I don't eat fish, not even tuna.)

    My only big concern is 1300-1500 calories a day, especially now that you're in/about to enter the second trimester (depending on whose evaluation of trimesters you use). I don't know how tall you are or how much you weighed pre-pregnancy, so that's hard to evaluate, but my *maintenance* calories at 5'7" and 154lbs was 1800. The suggestion on here is setting your calories to maintenance for first trimester, 1/2-lb week gain for second, and 1-lb gain for third, all based on your pre-pregnancy weight. Unless you are very small, 1300-1500 sounds awfully low (especially after hearing that you end up very hungry), and now is the time when you should be upping your calories a bit.

    Overall, though, you're doing a great job of eating healthy foods!
  • igottaworkout
    igottaworkout Posts: 298 Member
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    I think you're eating very healthy food also, great snack of greek yogurt too. I don't see that much food with omega 3 in it though, so maybe add a supplement of that? Like RBX said tuna may have mercury in it, but maybe you can find something else to sub in for that, fish is healthy and some kinds are much lower in mercury.

    For me eating a late dinner keeps me full until I go to bed.. I eat breakfast at around 9:30-10, lunch at 1, and dinner at 6-7. Sometimes I have a snack before dinner but usually I eat a pretty big dinner.

    You could always keep some healthy snacks around (like veggies and greek yogurt based dip (I make my own using bacon bits and chopped garlic which I microwave a bit first, then add greek yogurt and some salt/seasonings, high in protein and low fat), frozen grapes (just strip them off the vine and freeze them in a kitchen towel and eat them like candy), dried seaweed (you can get it at any Asian grocery store, it's like chips but almost no cals and some protein as well), or air popped popcorn (30 cals per cup)).

    Oh, I usually drink a hot tea at night or in the afternoon as well as that keeps me full and happy too, sometimes with a bit of whole milk in it :)
  • aprilkida
    aprilkida Posts: 117 Member
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    In regards to the concerns about tuna: the recommendation is that you stay away from tuna steak because those are the larger fish. Canned tuna should be limited to 12 oz. per week, that would be about the equivalent of 4 cans per week, which I figure few people hit that amount. The chunk light tuna is lowest in mercury because they use the smaller fish. The smaller the fish, the less mercury that accumulates in its body. Hope that helps!