Feeling guilty about not eating right...

[Leewoss]

Anyone else have this problem? I want to do what is best for the baby, but I was raised with a very poor diet and took those habits into adulthood. I never have fresh fruits or veggies and that is what is killing me! I have my "pregnancy diet" recommendations on the fridge and every day I am checking off whole grains, protein, and calcium but I am noticing the pattern of barely any fruits or veggies checked off. I tried so many kinds, but can't seem to stomach the taste - not sure if it's food aversion or what. I make sure to take my pre-natal each day, but know that is no substitute. Does anyone have tips for eating something that you really can't stomach?

[maisiedotes]

I am right there with you! I try to do little things through the day to get in fruits and veggies.. I bought some V8 Fusion- one 8 oz glass has a full serving of fruit and a full serving of veggies. I am working on a bottle of passionfruit tangerine right now.. I mix it with seltzer (8 oz of each in a pint glass) and there are 2 f+v servings! ta-dahhh! I am trying to kick my soda habit and I find that the seltzer helps with that.

Then i try to have a salad either before lunch or as my lunch- today I had one wtih craisins, walnuts, mandarin oranges, strawberries and pineapple with poppyseed dressing. I was actually sad when it was gone!

Other than that, I am not at all proud of how I am eating these days. NOTHING appeals to me. I am going to try to make some veggie soups and stuff on my days off and I will freeze some of it. I try to sneak things in little by little. But I secretly want pizza all the time.

[mamatolevi]

My basic rule is that I eat what stays down. You're doing the best you can. Have you seen "the sneaky chef" book? it has great ways of sneaking healthy foods into kids' diets, but would work for adults too.

[MamieCole]

I pretty much give myself a free pass for the first trimester. I tried very hard with each pregnancy to force myself to eat healthy foods, but the reality is that sometimes it just wasn't possible to keep down fruits and veggies each day.(or bread or meat or water...heh) I am at 12 weeks now and have started in the last week or so to be able to eat fresh fruit and keep it down. I still can't stand the thought of raw veggies (salad repulses me) and can only stomach a few cooked veggies: broccolli, corn, carrots and potatoes. I've been craving and eating a ton of legumes though. I am hoping that I continue to be able to eat better foods, but as long as I am trying my best I just can't beat myself up about it. (Says the girl who just ate an entire jar of green olives then drank the juice.)

[jenjenl18]

those frozen fruit bars made with real fruit are really good (I like strawberry).
You could make shakes.
Try mixing some fruit in your cereal or yogurt. Blueberries or strawberries in your pancakes/waffles. Apples or grapes in chicken salad with pecans is really good. Apple sauce, unsweetened?
I second the Sneaky Chef book. Your library prob has it. I got a copy at Marshalls for cheap. Things like pureed carrots in ground meat for tacos, meatloaf, meatballs. Pureed spinach and blueberries in brownies (yum surprisingly). Pureed cauliflower and/or carrot in mac n cheese. Cheese sauce over veggies used to help me as a kid. Nut butter with apple slices.
HTH

[jess5377]

The shakes idea is a great one! You could try those pre-made smoothies, like the Odwalla ones, or making your own. They taste pretty awesome.

Oh, or things like tacos or pizza where you get to combine veggies with other tasty stuff (really, putting cheese on anything just makes it taste better).

Also, salad has been repulsing me lately too (I think someone mentioned that in the thread). However, I've been all over fresh soups - Tomato Bisque, Minestroni, etc - this is a great way to get your veg without having to stomach the sometimes too-fresh stuff.

[november]

Oh man, I'm there too. But not because I don't WANT to, it's because I can't. I've been so sick with so many aversions. All I can stomach is poptarts (I know, I know), crackers, pretzels, toast, and popsicles. *sigh*

[kismetbaby]

From the Sept DDC but wanted to say that I wouldn't stress about this at all in the 1st tri! I am a huge, huge fruit and veg eater and suddenly hated veg until about 13 weeks. It really distressed me that all I wanted to eat was bread and cheese. . .but now at 17 weeks I am back to my normal eating habits.

So give yourself a pass to eat whatever you want for now, but once you start feeling better/move in the 2nd tri I would definitely try to add fruits and veg back in as much as possible. The body has enough vitamins and minerals etc. stored up for the LO in the first tri, but after it is more important to eat right to grow that healthy baby!

[mommy2two babes]

Not so much feeling bad about my eating habits here. It doesn't make difference in what I can eat.
When I have been able to eat I either want salty kosher dills including some of the juice or cucumbers with vinegar and salt. Tostitos with salsa con caso (sp?) I ate mushrooms and onions but couldn't bring myself to eat the broccoli and asparagus I made the other night:Puke
I know I will do better when I am feeling better.

[CarrieCo]

I, like you, wasn't raised with a steller diet! I have made some changes since I've been married that I feel good about .... not that it has shown on my waist line. I drink organic milk, eat sarah lee's soft and smooth whole grain bread, and eat whole grain spaghetti. They are just little things, but life style changes take time!

I'm not doing that well either. For some reason McDonalds and Burger King sound really good when I'm nausous or starving.... which is pretty often.

We'll do better second trimester!

[Krystal323]

i was just thinking about this this morning. my diet used to be pretty stellar but not lately, and esp. not since I found out I was pregnant!

I've been sick with a cold or flu-type stuff like 4 times already this pregnancy, and I know it's cause I'm not eating enough fresh, live food.

For me it's a time thing, and probably also a money thing. I don't have the time to make a weekly salad like I used to, or chop up a fruit bowl to snack on all day. I'm barely home long enough to boil up some velveeta noodles and rush out the door again. Sometimes DH cooks, and I eat great but it's not really enough.

I'm gonna check out the diet guidelines in that hateful What To Expect book online...while much of the advice in there is stupid at best, their diet stuff might give me a kick in the butt as to how much more carefully i could be eating

i remember someone saying they'd actually made an excel spreadsheet of all the stuff they were supposed to do daily: eat leafy greens, kegel, RRL tea, etc. I think I might need to do that too!

[Sara268]

I've been stressing about this lately too. I am trying my best to stay away from white sugar and rice and bleached flour etc. It is in everything though, I have been reading labels like a manaic. I am trying to buy most everything organic or natural and avoid HFCS which is stuff I used to be pretty good at. Then came the first trimester!

[penguintattoo]

I have been eating horribley the past 4 weeks and felt really bad about until my doctor said it didn't matter as long as it was staying down. He said later on is when I need to eat healthier. I have been eating a lot of cereal lately which has some extra vitamins in it, I can always pretend my french fries with gravy did too

[Sara268]

I have been craving rice crispies lately and thinking they couldn't be too bad I've been eating, well low and behold they have HFCS in them! There goes another thing that I like, but is now on the bad list.

[beebalmmama]

Don't worry so much about it during the first tri, just eat what you can.
I normally eat very healthy. But during the first tri I just cannot eat veggies! With my first pg, I had been a vegetarian for years and started to cave and eat Wendy's cheeseburgers. Although this time I haven't gone for fast food (yet) I've still wanted bacon and ham (I don't eat red meat normally). I've been wanting proteins (eggs, bacon, and beans), some carbs but more like crackers and cereal and fortunately fruit still sounds really good. I also eat cheese like crazy during the first tri. My midwife suggested upping my protein intake and so I'm trying that to help with the nausea. So if dinner consists of cheesy nachos with beans, so be it!

[shakenbake]

i cant keep anything but arbys down =-( ive tryed everything! but cant do it!

[ShwarmaQueen]

Originally Posted by Leewoss

Does anyone have tips for eating something that you really can't stomach?

It's very difficult for me to eat well during the first trimester. The second trimester is better and hopefully your food aversions will lessen so that you can incorporate more fresh fruits/veggies. No worries mamma.

[Leewoss]

Ladies, thanks so much for all your awesome advice! You gave me some great tips and most of all, the reassurance that I am not alone in this.