Detoxing and trying to get healthy - need advice!

[boogiebearlove]

DH and I have just decided to TTC baby #3. I'm very excited, but I want to direct all of my energies to getting as healthy as possible before I get pregnant. I had hyperemesis gravidium for the first 5 months during both of my previous pregnancies, and I'd like to revamp my diet in hopes of lessening that. I'm sure I will be on Zofran, as that's the only thing that could stop the puking, but it doesn't stop the nausea.
I'm also planning a natural home birth, and I know that labor (length, pain, and recovery) can be directly affected by your health. I've been borderline anemic during both pregnancies, and had major iron deficiencies after the birth. I would love to have a healthy diet to be in optimum form.
However, I have a major sweet tooth. Major. Packaged foods and sweets make up my diet. I will often make my son lunch, and myself eat a candy bar. It's awful. I've actually lost weight eating this way, because I'm eating so little actual food. I've been reading up on sugar addiction, and it seems like something I (as well as most of the American population) can claim to have.
I would like some advice for detoxing the sugar, and some ideas (and book recommendations) on eating as healthy and natural as possible. I'm not planning to become vegetarian, but vegetarian cookbook suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to know how to cook vegetables so that I don't get sick of them. I'm not big on vegetables. But I truly feel that fruits and veggies should be the foundations of our diet. I just don't know how to do it.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

[ursusarctos]

I was addicted to sugar once too. The way I got off it was: every time I got the craving for a sugary snack, I would get myself something delicious to eat with the condition that it was not sugary. So for example if I wanted a sugary pastry I would allow myself a salty treat (a piece of pizza or a cheese filled pastry for example) in its place. As long as it wasn't sweet. After a while I managed to wean myself off of the sweet taste craving, and from there it was an easier step to healthier snacks than it would have been starting straight from being addicted to sugar.
I've also noticed that, even though I don't crave sweets at all anymore, if I am hungry and happen to come across, say, a box of cookies in my cabinet, that box of cookies will be half gone in minutes. I try to combat that by a) not having sweets around and b) trying not to let myself get too hungry. In order to keep yourself eating so your blood sugar doesn't drop and lead to a sugar binge, make sure you keep good snack foods around. It's important that you find them appealing because otherwise you won't eat them and you'll just end up binging on something sugary again (ask me how I know ). So don't worry about making your diet perfectly healthy straight off the bat, just concentrate on cutting out sugar first. Cheese, bagels, dried/fresh fruit, toast, eggs, yogurt, instant oatmeal, canned soup, pre-cut veggies and fruit, frozen pasta bowls, whole grain crackers, pita and hummus - these are all easy, appealing snacks to munch on before you get really hungry.
As for fruits and veggies: for me what works best is having fresh fruit around to eat for a snack or dessert, and veggies I like to roast with olive oil, salt, and dried basil and eat them as a side dish or snack. Broccoli in particular is extremely delicious that way, but you can pretty much do it with anything.
Oh, I forgot to add about the iron deficiency after giving birth. Have you considered eating your placenta? I've heard it can do wonders postpartum.

[nj's_mom]

I think I have a sugar addiction as well. I HAVE to have something sweet after dinner/before bed. I am trying to do fruit instead.

[boogiebearlove]

These are some really great ideas! Thanks so much for you response. I am definitely going to try to eat a healthy non sugary snack when I crave sugar. I do need to get some, though, because I tend to try and buy new health food things (like Kashi crackers or something) that I end up not liking and then eating some cookies. I am trying to get my hubby on board. He has a super high metabolism, and lives for eating whatever he wants. He thinks we're too young (21 and 23) to worry about this stuff now. He's not happy about my keeping sugars out of the house. So I'll need to make sure I'm stocked up on good snacks for him, too.
And I am actually planning on using the placenta afterwards, probably by encapsulating it. I'll have to look into how the different consumption methods affect its nutritional content.
Thansk!
Lisa

Originally Posted by ursusarctos

I was addicted to sugar once too. The way I got off it was: every time I got the craving for a sugary snack, I would get myself something delicious to eat with the condition that it was not sugary. So for example if I wanted a sugary pastry I would allow myself a salty treat (a piece of pizza or a cheese filled pastry for example) in its place. As long as it wasn't sweet. After a while I managed to wean myself off of the sweet taste craving, and from there it was an easier step to healthier snacks than it would have been starting straight from being addicted to sugar.
I've also noticed that, even though I don't crave sweets at all anymore, if I am hungry and happen to come across, say, a box of cookies in my cabinet, that box of cookies will be half gone in minutes. I try to combat that by a) not having sweets around and b) trying not to let myself get too hungry. In order to keep yourself eating so your blood sugar doesn't drop and lead to a sugar binge, make sure you keep good snack foods around. It's important that you find them appealing because otherwise you won't eat them and you'll just end up binging on something sugary again (ask me how I know ). So don't worry about making your diet perfectly healthy straight off the bat, just concentrate on cutting out sugar first. Cheese, bagels, dried/fresh fruit, toast, eggs, yogurt, instant oatmeal, canned soup, pre-cut veggies and fruit, frozen pasta bowls, whole grain crackers, pita and hummus - these are all easy, appealing snacks to munch on before you get really hungry.
As for fruits and veggies: for me what works best is having fresh fruit around to eat for a snack or dessert, and veggies I like to roast with olive oil, salt, and dried basil and eat them as a side dish or snack. Broccoli in particular is extremely delicious that way, but you can pretty much do it with anything.
Oh, I forgot to add about the iron deficiency after giving birth. Have you considered eating your placenta? I've heard it can do wonders postpartum.