Why am I craving crap?

[AustinMom]

Ok, not literally, but some stuff, might as well be.

I'm 8 wks preg, and with my last had HG and didn't eat hardly anything for about 4 months, then I craved veggies, fruit, cheese, all good stuff.

NOW, I'm very nauseous and the only things that sound remotely good are things like cheeseburgers, not homemade, like jackinbox ultimate cheese burger, chicken fried steak, sausage....yeah, what's up with that? Yesterday it took everything in my power to not get a burger, I settled on subway (we need to go grocery shopping, that's why I did fast food) so that was good, but 2 hrs later, I wanted a cheese burger!

I thought greasy nasty heavy food was to make morning sickness worse, why do I want to eat it?

Someone give me some tips.

[MaerynPearl]

i wanted junk food with my son... and fresh fruits with my daughter...

what i did with my son was ate things to trick me into thinking it was junk food but was actually healthy. granted he turns 7 tomorrow so i cant think of what all I did but im sure you can find recipes online for healthy versions of all sorts of junk food!

[BlackSheepPDX]

They say protein helps with morning sickness, so I'm guessing it's partly the craving for MEAT. The heavier foods may also make you feel satiated longer, and morning sickness can have to do with blood sugar drops, so that may be another factor. I know if I eat fruit and veg, I have to eat them near continuously because i just get hungry again two seconds later.

I, too, am fixated on things like Burger King double cheeseburgers. I had one last week, as an afternoon snack, and it's all I can think about. Last time Mexican food was my "thing" but this time I want pizza and cheeseburgers. And also tart citrus....loving the grapefruit.

[Lauren31]

I think if I were you I would be making homemade versions of your craving food. That way you can eat a delicious, healthy cheeseburger that is not full of artificial hormones and other bad stuff. I bet you are craving protein, fat, etc and that will probably make you feel better then some crappy subway sandwich full of nitrates.

[Jelinifer]

Sometimes people will just crave weird stuff. I wish there was a reason why I could explain why I just had to drank gallons of grape (and only grape flavored) Kool Aid a day for a month a while back, but I'm pretty sure grape kool aid meets no nutritional needs or points to any deficiencies that can be explained

[etsdtm99]

i always crave cheeseburgers when i'm pregnant (mcdonalds mainly) .. so far i am resisting .. but i'm only 5 weeks :P

[AFWife]

I craved Taco Bell for the first several months...

Let that sink in....Taco.freaking.Bell...gross, right? But it sounded (and tasted) so good!

[busymama77]

Originally Posted by Lauren31

I think if I were you I would be making homemade versions of your craving food. That way you can eat a delicious, healthy cheeseburger that is not full of artificial hormones and other bad stuff. I bet you are craving protein, fat, etc and that will probably make you feel better then some crappy subway sandwich full of nitrates.

I agree. I went through a short phase of that in my 1st pregnancy - Wendy's, Lion's Choice, Taco Bell - at least once a week. Now, I probably eat some sort of fast food one or twice a month! Each pregnancy is different, cravings are different, but if you can turn them in to a healthy alternative, the better. You'll feel better overall.

[meganlisbeth]

i don't have much in the way of morning sickness...i feel more seasick a lot of the time.

that said, i'm craving MEAT MEAT MEAT too. particularly chicken. they were giving samples of grilled chicken at whole foods the other day and i about kissed the guy handing them out i was so happy to see them!

today i've been thinking about meatloaf all day. meatloaf. ummmm.

[COgirl19]

I have also been craving a lot of crap but mostly sugar related, the thought of meat makes me gag with the exception of bacon.

[finnegansmom]

I eat crap too. With #1, I only wanted Mr and Mrs T spicey bloody mary mix... how gross. I drank like half a liter a day... (I hate bloody marys). I would wash that down with a bag of Jelly Belly jellybeans. Hideous.

i've been craving Cheese Balls. NOT puffs, and not the crunchy cheetoes. BALLS. And my husband bought the puffs and I was pissed! LOL... he said they were out of balls...

Pffft....

I went through an avocado stage early on, when I was super nauseous. Yummmm

[Friday13th]

For me it's Bagel Bites. Ew....but oh so good. And the ones I make at home with whole wheat bagels and organic sauce don't even come close.

[AustinMom]

Originally Posted by Friday13th

For me it's Bagel Bites. Ew....but oh so good. And the ones I make at home with whole wheat bagels and organic sauce don't even come close.

Yes! This is it! We are VERY pro-home cooked meal. We RARELY (once every few months) eat out including fast food, and I've recently before being preg cut out all flours and sugars except occasional agave nectar.

Anywho, I can make a cheese burger pretty darn good. We made some last night that we stuffed with feta cheese, but the didn't compare to the white bread, it could be meat that I'm eating ultimate cheese burger from jack in the box. I wanted that. I seriously couldn't nap because that was all I was thinking of. The only reason I didn't go was I have my 17 mo with me and couldn't stand to see him eating that.

I'm doing better, I bought some protein bars to eat first thing in the morning before I get out of bed, so hopefully that will help. I know low blood sugar ads to it, and by the time I get up, it's usually 10 hrs or so since I ate last. We'll try that, it's better than saltines, and hopefully I won't be as hungry as soon.

[lach]

With my daughter all I could eat for weeks was fried dough. Like those giant globs of batter you buy at a fair? The greasier the better. There was a stand near where I worked and I got 2 or 3 a day. I'm sure the guy thought I wasn't pregnant, I was just gaining weight from eating nothing but 2000 calorie lumps of fried dough 3x a day.

[claddaghmom]

Hmm, I am worried. I feel I'm too informed about fast food. It's sickening just to think of eating it.

But today I finally got hit, hard, with pregnancy symptoms . I was sitting there forcefully tightening my throat and the only thing that occurred to me was: I NEED McD's french fries. ??? WTH is up with that? I can't remember the last time I ate those things. I tried to eat several other foods first, gagging on them. Finally gave in and DH got me fries. Instantaneous relief.

So yeah I have the same questions.

HOW did my body know?
WHY french fries?
Before the age of fake food, what did women do?

[AustinMom]

I have a theory on that PP. It seems, what ever "comfort" foods you had at a "comforting" time in life, that is what you crave when you are at the most uncomfortable time in life. Seriously, i can't remember the last time we ate mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, biscuits, fries, etc. But I do remember growing up, not that that's all we ate of course, we ate traditional southern food, like fried pork chops, shepherds pie, chicken and dumplings, etc, and that is what I want.

I do go to sonic at one point, on half price burger night, (I figured if I'm gonna buy trash, I better not pay full price LOL) and ate a burger. Then, I wanted veggies. Fresh, crispy carrots, celery, broccoli, yumm.

I think the crapier the food, the higher it spikes your blood sugar and the faster, so the more instant relief you have. I think that's the science behind it. I'll carry peppermints in my purse and grab one when I get tummy troubles...

[claddaghmom]

Ok granted, that makes a lot of sense and a good theory. But McD's has no good connotation for me whatsoever! My parents were very anti-mcd's growing up. I'd say the only time I ate there was on random "gotta grab something on lunch break" days.

But the blood sugar thing...that might be something I need to watch. Because we ate dinner at 6pm last night. I got hungry around midnight but told myself NO WAY it's unhealthy (nail in the coffin here eh?) So around 2am I fell asleep without any food. Then it was about 1pm today when I almost puked but I hadn't eaten anything except fruit for the day.

So I brought it upon myself. I should have snacked but I kept putting it off.

[Sweetiemommy]

Here is another thought, I know a girl who has the WORST diet, I mean she eats nothing but fast food and...no morning sickness. Weird. Maybe frankenfood is good for something. Anyway, I know that with my first child, I craved McDonald's egg mcmuffins (so disgusting). But it was the only way I could make it to work, I had to stop on my way there a few times. And I think I had those disgusting hash browns with it. But otherwise my diet was very low fat, so I wonder if it wasn't my body craving something fatty. I did eat eggs, but something wasn't the same. I did not have the same craving with my next two pregnancies, so there is hope! I recommend trying the five guys burger and fries place, at least they are using real meat and they make the fries with peanut oil??? Oh and I also know, from being a runner, that there is a place for quick carbs, like white flour. Sometimes the body really does need something like that. Good luck!

[JamieCatheryn]

Totally the protein, those burger and sausage cravings. Try and figure out what's nutritional in the things you crave and get something with that. Fries? Starchy carb things like potatoes can help m/s. Taco bell? All kinds of great stuff about Mexican food, though maybe not from that particular place. I craved that all through 2nd and 3rd trimester with my 2nd babe.

[lach]

Originally Posted by Sweetiemommy

But otherwise my diet was very low fat, so I wonder if it wasn't my body craving something fatty.

There is probably something to that. Babies do need a lot of fat to develop. Not, obviously, the kinds of fats we're talking about here, but our evolutionary urges probably haven't caught up with the practical options available so when our body decides it needs a quick hit of fat it thinks of the most fatty food it can possibly remember ever imbibing.