Eating

[springbride]

How do you avoid just wanting to eat all the time?
I have (up until about 2 weeks ago) been one of those people who doesn't eat very well...sometimes it's 3pm and I've eaten a banana all day and finally get hungry enough to sit down for lunch
I am in no way under nurished (5'5 145lbs) I just didn't get hungry much!

Now, all I want to do is eat! I had a nice balanced lunch an hour ago, an my stomach is already growling!

I don't want to gain like 50lbs! what have you ladies who have been through this before done to keep a healthy weight?

[SheSpeeds]

Just plan to nibble all day, it helps with nausea anyway.

Yea, today I'm dealing with wondering if I'm hungry becuase I'm fatigued or if I need calories. I gained 40 last time, and it came right off, I believe it was the weight I was meant to gain for many reasons, but still, I worry about 70lbs! And I've been eyeing the box of convenience freezer waffles I bought, I want the whole box! I never have that in my house. I'm nursing once a day still, so I have no clue what I really need at this point. ...and I empathize with you, my hunger triggers I usually rely on seem to be broken in the On mode.

Just keep it healthy. I firmly believe that what ever weight you put on with quality nutritious calories will come off easier than twinky weight (even organic twinkies - ha ha!) --that's as much to convince me to leave the box of waffles alone as it is offering advice.

[mangofandango]

I'm beginning to wonder that, too! I'm hungry constantly.

I asked my sister-in-law/doula, and she said as long as I'm making reasonably healthy choices, I should eat what I want. Eating a small amount very frequently helps with nausea, and as your pregnancy progresses you need more calories. However, I am kind of becoming alarmed at how often I want an entire bowl of pasta or something, so here's what I've been doing:

I bought some salted mixed nuts, and I keep them next to me when I'm sitting here at my computer. They're fatty, but they're largely good fats and there's plenty o' nutrients in there. Also, I bought a box of organic tomato soup and I'm just pouring myself some, microwaving it, and carrying it around with me. I bought fresh green beans and a tub of cottage cheese, and put scallions, dill, and salt and pepper in the cottage cheese...then I can dip the green beans in. Basically, I'm finding reasonably healthy things that I can nibble on all the time. And then yeah, at meal times, I eat as much as I want of whatever we are making. It's not so much that I want to eat a ton of food at a time, small amounts are fine, I just want to eat constantly.

[sarahlynn83]

Right now, I am trying to eat several small meals. I said it one of my other post, I am diabetic, and I have been having trouble this week with my blood sugars dropping, so I have been eating smaller meals more frequently, which is helping a lot. If my sugars go above 120 I will have to go on insulin shots. I don't like shots or needles so I am hoping that small meals rather than larger meals will help. Try eating healthy snacks when your in between meals like some fresh veggies or fruit.

[curious&eager]

Even before I knew I was pregnant, I was sick. I actually had a mild pneumonia. I basically laid in bed all day for most of a week. With being so ill and using minimal calories, I was surprised by how incredibly hungry I was. Instead of having two plates of dinner, I would want three. In retrospect, that was my first tipoff that I was pregnant. I got on the scale after a few days of eating a ton and I was really surprised to see I had not gained any weight. I wondered, "Where did all the calories go?" The next day I learned I was pregnant.
I'm eating less now that I'm feeling better and back working. So I'm away from my fridge. But, I do eat pretty healthy. Lots of fresh veggies, fruits and now I'm eating more protein because I heard it was good for the baby. I still do eat a bit more than normal, I just eats small snacks in between meals and my tummy is doing pretty good. I've only felt nauseous once so far. It'd be so nice if it says away.

[eli's mama]

I've always been a constant nibbler. They tease me at work about it because I appear to always be eating but never gaining weight. I guess that is all going to change. But I've gotten used to keeping healthy snacks around, granola and yogurt are favorites. Fruit, nuts and stuff that I can just dig into whenever I want without prep are handy. Even though I am used to eating pretty much all the time, it's really intense right now and I do feel like I can eat at least twice as much as usual. : I'm actually hoping to keep my weight gain down this time. We'll see.

[ATruck]

I gained about 25 pounds last time (delivered at 34 weeks, so it probably would have been closer to 30 had I made it full term). I exercised a lot, drank a ton of water (about a gallon a day), and ate very healthily. I tried to eat a lot of protein, a balance of everything else, and ate as much as I wanted, as long as it was healthy stuff. I caved to some of my ice cream cravings at around 20 weeks, but not every day, and I forced myself to use a tiny bowl.

I'm sure a lot of weight gain is just what your body does, but you can definitely help it along by eating what your body needs. I am not sure that I will be able to be as strict with myself this time. It is just harder to feel as focused on this pregnancy- it was all I thought about last time. I think I am going to drink a 6 oz cup of coffee every day this time, instead of quitting, for instance.

[pinksprklybarefoot]

I try to just go with what my body wants when I am pregnant. I gained 40 lbs last time. I was working in a professional kitchen 40/hrs a week and I ate everything in sight!

Even now, 1 month in, I am starving all of the time. I wake up in the middle of the night hungry. It is ridiculous.

I figure I can always lose the weight once the baby is born. It took about nine months, but it came off with no effort other than nursing DS. Pregnancy can be so uncomfortable in so many ways, I am not adding sitting around hungry all day to that list!

[SheSpeeds]

Pinks, I like your response and think I have to agree. Besides, hunger is the body's way of saying it needs something. I'd rather gain an extra 10lbs in my quest of finding out what it needs than be deficient in something the baby needs.

I ate a pound of steamed muscles the other day (which is only about 200-300 calories at most) and I was the most satisfied I've been since conception. Iron, zinc, and calcium. mmm...I might have to go get some for lunch now that I bring it up again. For sake of convenience, maybe I need an oyster po-boy. I don't live on the seashore, I just have a pretty good fish store locally.

[turtlewomyn]

If you are hungry, it is your body's way of telling you you need to eat. I like to eat several small meals or even graze all day while pregnant. The key is keeping healthy food that is full of nutrients on hand. I keep plain almonds in my desk, or veggies and salsa on hand. This also helps with the nausea.

[jilly]

Also, remember that your metabolism speeds up when you are pregnant. In order to build a baby, your whole body basically morphs into an incubator. I find my metabolism speeds up, and so I need to eat more often. I have had a habit of using this as an excuse to eat lots of cinnamon buns and waffles in the past (becuase unrefined carbs just make the nausea dissapear . . . ) but this time I'm trying to bake whole grain bread and keep veggies and fruit on the table so that I eat healthy stuff. So yeah, I agree with the eat smaller meals more often.

I have gained about 40 lbs with both my pregnancies, and each time its taken me about 18 months to take the weight off again, but it has come off eventually. The main thing is to stay healthy and eat well, not to obsess too much about how much you eat in a day.

[LauraReaux]

I am definitely back to being hungry all day, but I don't mind. I love it! I love food. I'm another one here who keeps mostly nutritious foods in the house. I don't normally get enough protein (I rarely eat meat), but I'm making it a point to get as much of it as possible now. For instance, I just heated a bag of Uncle Ben's rice in the microwave and heated a can of Great Northerns (beans). About 20 grams of protein for the amount that I ate, and I put the rest in a jar in the fridge for later. I eat things like sprouted cereal w/skim milk, fruit, a granola bar or pepper jack cheese w/garlic. Yum! I seriously eat all day long... small amounts, bigger meals for dinner.

I'm going to try to keep up with drinking a green smoothie every day, too. They are delish and sooo good for you. My fav is 2 bananas, 2 cups of water, a handful of frozen berries, 2 big bunches of baby spinach or romain, and 2 stalks of kale. Blend and drink! You can add ice instead of water if you like it slushy.

[springbride]

Wow, that green smootihie sounds really good right now! I think I know what to make for breakfast!

[Ianthe]

Last time I was hungry All.The.Time. But this time, I am hardly hungry at all, and everything kind of grosses me out.

It kind of worries me because I am nursing DS too.

[Sophiasmomma]

UGH..
I have been hungry all the time with all of my pregnancies
I started my first pregnancy with DD at a nice 125 and Im 5/4ish
I was put on bedrest at 20 weeks and ended up gaining 60 lbs and a fe wmore(didnt weigh in on delivery day)
Next I had my DS and was 131 to start and gained 53 lbs
Now Im starting at 137 and Im eating too much already.
I soo need to eat alittle less.. I seem to be so busy then BAM it hits me that Im starving then I wayy over eat and the cycle goes on and on

At the begining you actually dont really need to eat extra calories if you are a healthy weight but then I believe your supposed to up it by 400-500cals a day in the 2nd and third tri
I probably did this from 10 dpo

[welldone]

i think you should feel free to eat all day. just don't eat full meal-sized portions all day!

i know from experience that i will quickly lose my appetite and probably won't regain it until the second trimester.

and be prepared for the last trimester. during my last pregnancy, my son took up so much of my body that i could only eat teeny portions at a time. yet i was still ravenous! it was actually pretty infuriating. i felt like i was eating all day. i'd cook all afternoon for a meal that i could only eat three bites of. and then i'd have to re-heat the leftovers in two hours to satisfy the rumble in my stomach.

[banana girl]

With each of my pregnancies I gained about 50 lbs and was able to lose the weight again without much effort. Nursing seems to help a lot.
I did however come into this pregnancy with a tummy, so it would be nice if my body used some of that stored fat to feed the baby!

[lindsayjean]

I follow a traditional foods diet (see www.westonaprice.org for info on it) and honestly eating high fat foods... foods that are more calorie dense... helps me to eat less and not be hungry so often. I loooooove this diet! I really attribute the reason for me being so fertile to it, as it took quite a while to conceive my daughter and became pregnant seriously like 3 months after my first PP AF now. AMAZING. They have a specific diet for pregnant and nursing mothers and I am trying to do it as best as I can.