Diet questions....what to eat?? Really need some advice! « Back to Group Discussions

[JessNP]

Pre-pregnancy, I had a very healthy diet and was nice and thin. Lots of fresh fish (tilapia, tuna, shrimp, scallops, clams - I live in a coastal community) some chicken, occas beef, eggs, lots of veggies, healthy carbs. 

Now- ugghhh...all I want is crappy carbs and sugar. I CRAVE candy like CRAZY! I am so ashamed to admit it but I've been eating skittles, starburst, twizzlers, ice cream - all CRAP!  And...believe it or not...it actually helps with my nausea. My diet is AWFUL and very unhealthy. I am barely eating ANY protein. I don't know what to eat. I am afraid to eat too much fish and it just doesn't appeal to me at all. Cannot even think about chicken or beef and eggs...yuck! I can literally live off of just candy and crackers right now. And, I am terrified of the scale...I know it's bad news 

I would be so grateful for some suggestions on how to handle this disaster of a diet. I know I need more protein and much less sugar....please help! 

[Chloe'sMama]

I have also been craving the sourish type candy lately. I notice that fruit like grapes and watermellon seem to settle the same way. I also try and eat something a little healthier when I don't feel sick, even if it doesn't sound great. Smoothies may be a good option too. I can handle a small smoothie and I put lots of good stuff in it. I find by 12 or 13 weeks, I am back to eating good and it lasts almost until the end. Then when nursing I eat bad again.

[Teles]

Fruit is a good idea, berries can be pretty sweet and sour but have some nutritional value to them.

What about things like flavored yogurts? They're sweet and have protein and calcium, just make sure you're getting the normal, fat included kind. The rest have icky things like aspartame or sucralose in them. Lentils can also be a good source of protein, so you could get some kind of sweet soup (like sweet potato) with lentils, or add peanut butter to your crackers.

Whenever I've wanted something sour, I've been eating dill pickles.

My advice is to just try to get nutrition where you can, take multivitamins, and try not to feel guilty. Your baby will take what he needs from you, so you'll be the first to suffer from a lack of vitamins. You'll get past the nausea soon enough and then you can make up for all the candy. Who know, maybe you won't be able to even look at candy for the rest of your pregnancy!
 

[loveandgarbage]

I think you can chalk up most of that diet to the first trimester. I doubt ANY of us is eating how we ideally would be when dealing with nausea/food aversions/cravings, you know? I will say that I craved sugar like crazy with DS1. With DS2 I still had a sweet tooth, but it was less of a force. I would give in to a cupcake quite often, but would make sure that everything else I was putting into my body was healthy. If it makes you feel better, maybe choose more natural candy for the time being-- like Newman's Own licorice or Annie's fruit snacks? I have also curbed sugar cravings with dried fruit pretty successfully.

Are nuts appealing at all? That's been one of my protein sources during MS even though there's not THAT much in them. But we all do what we can.

[JessNP]

Wow ~ I feel so much better knowing that I'm not the only one who has craved sweets like this! Sadly, I have never made it past the first trimester with previous pregnancies (and those were 15-20 years ago). I just want to do everything right and have this horrible fear that the baby will hate veggies and become diabetic or obese! I've tried snacking on grapes and watermelon, but I still end up craving the intense sweetness of candy. Dried fruit is an excellent idea! I can have a healthy trail-mix...are soy nuts or edemame okay? Trader joes has awesome dark chocolate-covered soy nuts/beans. 

Also...I can't believe I didn't even think of smoothies! I used to make them with O.J. or apple juice, yogurt and tons of berries and bananas - such a great idea! 

And lentils and other beans for protein. I forgot about those also! I could make rice and beans or three-bean salad! Oh thank you!!! 

Everyone has been telling me "don't worry about it...just eat what you can keep down" but it's really helpful to hear it from other mommies-to be! I am 10+ weeks so the first trimester will be over soon - can't wait to get into the second trimester. Thank you all soooooo much!!  

[loveandgarbage]

Soon the nausea will be over! Repeat, repeat!!

[whoabethy]

SMOOTHIES! add greek yogurt, milk, nectarines/bananas and frozen berries. totally solves my sweet tooth problem!
 

[etsdtm99]

Originally Posted by loveandgarbage 

Soon the nausea will be over! Repeat, repeat!!

yes this is what i live by! 

I don't have any ideas that haven't already been mentioned - I am pretty much in survival mode at this point, i know i will eat healthier later on in the pregnancy (i always do).. i can't wait until i can restock my freezer with healthy homemade foods, but i just don't have the energy and it is too hot to turn on the oven..   so until then, i know i'm not dooming myself or my baby by eating what i can eat..  

[joyriders]

my diet is also all screwy, but my previously insatiable sweet tooth has all but disappeared.

my problem is that NO food sounds good ever so i'm not eating much at all. my doc pointed out a weight loss monday at my appointment. i'm not trying, it's just happening. i have cravings for things i can't have, like sandwiches at restaurants across the country where i grew up or a restaurant salad bar (not deli salads...which nyc has an abundance of). the only thing i consistently want to eat is like..fruit. mostly grapes or pineapple. i've been drinking a lot of fruit smoothies, too.

i've had some weird cravings occasionally like orange soda a few days ago and yesterday i ate an entire jar of green olives D: yikes. two weeks ago i had a craving for cheap ramen.

for the most part, no protein sounds good...nothing of substance sounds good, really. FINALLY this week i had a craving for actual food...moo goo gai pan, which i made from scratch tonight rather than ordering take out chinese and i ate more for dinner than i have in the past two weeks combined....and it was a meal with protein, vegetables and starch..unheard of lately!

i keep lamenting that i feel like food is never going to be enjoyable ever again. my SO and i love eating out and enjoying food, so the past couple months have been such a boring bummer. we were in mexico two weeks ago and most days i could barely eat, and mexican food is my absolute favorite.

[Teles]

I've had this really strong aversion to carrots recently. I'm not sure what carrots ever did to me, but even thinking about them makes my stomach turn.

I've been having what can only be described as a love affair with this specific kind of Pad Thai made at this specific kiosk in the mall near my house. It's all the same color and doesn't really have any veggies in it, but it's so delicious that I make involuntary noises whenever I can get my hands on some.

Also, I think I may have downplayed exactly how many dill pickles I've eaten recently. At least three jars in the past three months. I'm at work right now and sitting beside me is a container of pickles that I brought from home. I must be awfully stinky.

[loveandgarbage]

Originally Posted by joyriders 

i keep lamenting that i feel like food is never going to be enjoyable ever again. my SO and i love eating out and enjoying food, so the past couple months have been such a boring bummer. we were in mexico two weeks ago and most days i could barely eat, and mexican food is my absolute favorite.

That's sad. I feel the same way. We thought about going out to dinner for my birthday last week and I was just like WHAT'S THE POINT IT WOULD BE TORTURE.

[yummymummy2hannah]

I'm making myself eat healthy foods, but I nearly vomit throughout each meal and can't eat much at all in a sitting. I am relying on protein snacks like cottage cheese, yogurt, etc to make it each day. The only food that I can eat well and actually sounds good to me is strangely, frozen organic waffles with organic peanut butter and topped with agave nectar. I want it every day.

[odinsmama]

It will get better, it will get better, it will get better.
Soon, right?!

I finally went to the grocery store and just bought anything that sounded good. I was one of those people in the checkout that you look at their food and think "how can they eat that?". And it worked, I actually ate and most of it tasted good. I know I'll get back to eating well in the next week or so.

I'm slowly starting to be able to eat protein again which is good since I know that sticks with me longer than a bagel.

And I'm happy to say I am past the sweet/sour candy stage, woohoo! Smoothies definitely helped me for a long time and I'd even throw a bit of spinach in there.

Hang in there mamas!

[typebug]

I have a few cooking projects planned for next week. One is to make a big batch of gazpacho and have that ready in the fridge. The other is to make small creme brule sized baked egg custards (sweetened with agave) for high protein treats. I've been getting burnt out on yogurt and cheese and scrambled eggs. 

[becalive]

i made a nice omelet today , 2 eggs with some pre cooked sausage i had frozen, with homemade cheese, and spinach topped with a dollop of sour cream and salsa. i needed a change to the two egg i usually fry up during the week

[JessNP]

I'm still having issues with protein intake, so I've been trying to incorporate more eggs into my diet. I made a fritatta last week with zucchini (since I have tons right now). I sauteed the zucchini with onions and garlic, mixed it with 6 eggs, 1.5 cups of cottage cheese, 1 cup of cheddar cheese and baked it in the oven until it was cooked through. It was pretty good - I think I'm going to try again using broccoli or spinach and baking in a muffin tin. Maybe even do 3 eggs plus 3 egg whites to lighten it up. 

One thing I've been eating (since I'm over-loaded from the garden) is zucchini ribbons. I use vegetable peeler to make thin "ribbons" of zucchini, peeling it lengthwise and saute in Olivio or a tiny bit of olive oil until soft. Add some salt, pepper and grated cheese and it's so tasty! Gives me a bit of a pasta- fix without the carbs. 

typebug- I love the idea of gazpacho! In the next few weeks, I'm going to have tomatoes by the ton. Thank you!

Thanks to everyone for their posts - very helpful to know I'm not the only one with a *crappy* diet 

[HouseofPeace]

i have a huge aversion to salads and greens and most raw veggies.  thankfully, no nausea at all, and loving healthy grass-fed burgers on homemade sourdough with sauteed veggies or fermented veggies.  there was a brief juice drinking phase, where i craved lemonade and grapefruit juice and had to have it 3-5x a day.....  i also have done the squash strips to help combat my carb cravings, and found I felt soooo much better when eating those.  lately, my big meal has been a 2 potato hash brown w/ 2 fried eggs and kimchi.  if i have mushrooms, i throw those in too.  protein is the one thing i have to try and remember to eat.  thankfully, we have a farm share, and only farm foods in our house, so candy and treats are just not on the menu for me.  though i dream about skittles, starbursts, and other candies, i know i feel bad when i eat them, so i've been working really hard to eat foods that are good and make me feel good.  i'm gluten-free (for 11 years) and that really helps keep me in line with treats since gluten-free treats don't taste that good, and cheating hurts....  that said, i'd like to enjoy salad and greens again sometime!  

does anyone else find prenatals make them queasy?  i've been (mostly) great about taking them (was traveling for the first 4 weeks of this pregnancy, which is always great for diet, right?), but they don't always settle well.  so i avoid them until the evening before bed so i can sleep them off....

this is my 5th, and my 4th is still nursing and only 14.5 months, so i'm trying really hard to make sure everyone is getting everything they need.  thankfully, no morning sickness.  it's usually started by now, right?  i keep thinking maybe i'll wake up with it someday, but hoping that is an unfounded dread and that i'm pretty safe from randomly starting morning sickness at the end of my first trimester.

[typebug]

Originally Posted by Cassiani 

does anyone else find prenatals make them queasy?  i've been (mostly) great about taking them (was traveling for the first 4 weeks of this pregnancy, which is always great for diet, right?), but they don't always settle well.  so i avoid them until the evening before bed so i can sleep them off....

I was avoiding them till the evening like you and now they make my vomit immediately so I gave up. Too acidic I guess.

[ISISandOSIRIS]

Pre-pregnancy, I ate really healthful foods, but now my diet is comparable with that of a pre-adolescent girl at a sleepover party. All I can stomach are things like candy, ice cream, potato chips and Ellios pizza. I'm not used to eating junk all the time and I also feel guilty about it. One thing thats good is that I can't get enough fresh fruit... but veggies are blech to me right now. It's not that I'm craving these things, it's just that my m/s is so constant that barely anything is appetizing.

I also take my prenatals at night, which is supposed to help. I switched brands for a bit too. Just the smell of the rainbow lights, which I had been taking without a problem for years, was turning my stomach. My doctor prescribed me another brand that is easier to swallow and does not have a smell. This has helped a bit with the nausea.

[loveandgarbage]

I stopped taking vitamins after week 7 because the nausea just wasn't worth it. I did the same thing with DS2 and he turned out fine so that's how I justified it. Will start taking them again this week! I was able to drink vitamin water (the purple one with lots of B vitamins) with a meal, so as much as that's not ideal, it helped me get some vitamins in my body when I was really pukey.