Pregnancy Nutrition

[welldone]

So, are you taking a prenatal vitamin? What foods are you making sure to eat regularly? What are you skipping?

I'm taking Rainbow Light (the once a day, not the six a day) prenatals (Vitacost.com has great prices). As always, I'm avoiding white sugar, white flour, white rice, processed foods. (I find this easier to do when pregnant, actually.)

Here are some things I'm trying to eat regularly, just to name a few:

-cod liver oil
-flaxseed oil
-coconut oil
-80 - 100 grams of protein daily
-bone broths
-fermented veggies
-probiotics (currently, water kefir is what we've got brewing)
-2 eggs daily
-raw greens daily

And here are links to two very important pregnancy diets:
-Dr. Brewer's Pregnancy Diet (http://www.blueribbonbaby.org)
(This site seems to be down right now, so here's a link (http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/pfitness/0,,40hj,00.html) to a great article and interview with Dr. Brewer. The diet is summarized on page 7, I believe.)
-Weston A. Price Foundation's Diet for Pregnant and Nursing Mothers (http://www.westonaprice.org/children/dietformothers.html)

[StacieM]

Thanks so much for the link. I've been wanting to print out that diet, now I have it!

[Azuluna]

I printed it out as well. I am overweight presently, but I had started a new routine just before getting my BFP. I am hoping to lose a little or just maintain my current weight as far into my pg as possible. I am exercising every weekday, and although I was eating better already, I'm going to try the Brewer Diet, too.
So far, I've been doing a 2 mile walk M-F with dd (who jogs the whole way!) and on the days it rains, we do 30 min of yoga together and then I do 30 min on my elliptical trainer. Thank goodness it will be warm weather for the majority of this pg so I can get out of the house every day!

[Momma Aimee]

i am underweight adn nurseing a tot

so I am trying for EVERY calorie i can get -- includi8ng fat

I too take rainbowlight (now once a day, started a loooong time agao on 6 a day) as they do not have egg.

I shoot for 100 grams of protine a day, i was doing 200 a day with Theo's pregancy but i think a tiny part of my failue to gfain weight was in part living teh akinkin- like diet to get 200 grams of protine a day min. so this time i am shooting for 100 -- to cover baby, tot and me -- but still leave room in my eating for fat and calories.

i take

pre-nate
floice acid
fish oil for teh omega-3s

that is it.

last time i took so much .... it was kinda silly.

I might take more later, if there is a need.

I folow -- roughtly -- the bradely diet.

i limit tuna to once every other week, i get fish 2X a week. I make sure we get cow and chicken and pork each week for the various protines.

I am working on making my veggie intake more varied (it is not bad, amount wise)

Exercize will be the next hurtal -- it is tough to get enough, but not burn too much. I don't have much to brin (107 pounds now) so feeding me, baby and tot -- i need exercize but have to be caution as to weight loss -- that happened a lot in my firget pg -- I'd loose weight not gain it.

I am looking forward to hearing what the other momms are doing

A

[Isaac'sMa]

I also take Rainbow Light and love them!!
I follow the Brewer Diet more or less. I'm really working on amping up the veggies, though! Why is that so hard? Maybe b/c it's still winter...? We belong to a CSA and get plenty of fresh produce May-November and I really don't like buying produce at the grocery (even WF). It always seems so *old* and kinda stale, like it's been there a while...Prob'ly cause it has :lol Anyway, working on the veggies...:)

Welldone,
do you brew your own kefir/yogurt? I've been wanting to try it for the longest time. Does it save $? Is it hard? would you share your recipe? We eat organic whole milk yogurt and organic kefir and it's expensive!

[sorteep]

We are a confirmed paleo-diet huntr gatherer family . I do, everything i can to get organic, or nearly so, meat, fowl, eggs and raw organic cheese

100 gms min of high quality protein daily, low toxin fish, pulses, eggs, some cheese, meat, poultry, wild game (I am allergic to nuts.. grr)

plenty of high quality fat, fish oil, olive oil, organic butter, flax oil, coconut oil

whole fruit, all kinds

tons of avocados, yams, salad greens, carrots, broccoli, veggies, kale, chard, spinach, beans, asparagus , squash, potatoes,etc etc

some gluten free grains like brown rice, wild rics, millet, quinoa

OK OK so I just ate 1/2 a box of organic whole foods truffles.. oops, so nobody is perfect... I do my best.... I need to stay out of the truffle aisle...

oh and gallons of water and I take Metagenics Fem-Prenatal plus an EPA_DHA oil supp

I also have trouble keeping weight on (sorry, ladies, don't shoot me) at 5'9" and 120 lbs typically (this is by trying) I am really happy to be 125 already at 5 wks pg.. Hopefully I will not get sick this time and keep the weight on..

Now I am hungry..
Laura EDD 11/7/07

[welldone]

I also have trouble keeping weight on (sorry, ladies, don't shoot me)
Okay, Aimee and Laura, I'm trying veeeeeeeeery hard not to be jealous. :) A lot of people of weight/metabolism issues, right? It's just that being underweight is a lot more socially acceptable (and healthier!) than being overweight. I'm already overweight.

For those in the same boat as me--overweight to begin with--I urge you not to try to lose weight. Eat the best quality food you can, because even if you burn fat, your baby can't eat that. It needs the food you eat every day. Some women, when following the Brewer Diet, will lose weight. As long as you're eating high quality food (to the best of your ability), then don't sweat the weight loss. But I'd urge you not to cut back on anything.

Azuluna, your DD jogs the two miles with you? Way to go! I have a four-year-old who doesn't prefer to walk the mile I try very hard to walk several times a week! The difficulty is compounded for me, though:
*I also have a two-year-old who can't walk the whole way
*We live in hilly (mountainous, actually) western PA, in a very hilly neighborhood
*We live near the city, where the sidewalks are atrocious! Can't even push a stroller well, so the two-year-old is hard to talk along.

Okay, now that I'm done complaining about all the reasons I can't possibly exercise enough...

do you brew your own kefir/yogurt? I've been wanting to try it for the longest time. Does it save $? Is it hard? would you share your recipe? We eat organic whole milk yogurt and organic kefir and it's expensive!
Yes, I brew my own. But I brew water kefir, which ends up tasting like a fizzy fruity drink--soooo yummy! I find that dairy kefirs get too expensive, since we already do yogurt, so I stick to water kefir. To get great guidance on making kefirs and yogurt (and to have kefir "grains" shipped to you for only the cost of shipping), hop on over to the Traditional Foods forum here at MDC. There's a sticky at the top with lists of people who will send you their extra grains (for water or dairy kefir) and scobies (for kombucha).

[Momma Aimee]

welldone -- I try not to talk abut the weight too much -- my bestfreind and dh both would like to shoot me..... :) I see their stuggle and know it is a tough one too.

I am hopeing NOT to have the stuggle i did last time -- i was sick for 6+ months, lost weight, didn't gain, and ended up with a mal-formed 1/2 sized placenta and a SGA baby.

can any one advie me on Greens -- like a drink power or supplment pill i can get at the health food store to help with plcenta health? a nd general pregancy health?

A

[~Kira~]

Darnit, I knew I shouldn't have clicked on this thread! Now I feel even worse about the Sprite Froster (Slushie type drink) I'm having. :o


I'll make up for it tonight, we'll do some roasted veggies & chicken for dinner. :lol




- Kira

[Heather Marie]

I have issues with food and my weight. Over the last 7 months I have lost 50pounds doing Weight Watchers. I am still overweight, but much better than where I started. I am going to continue following that guideline with additional points so as not to restrict calories. I am definately not interested in restricting calories or dieting, but want a guideline. I find myself very easily consumed with food & nutrition and it lands me in a state where I feel depressed. I don't want that to happen. Following Weight Watchers is the least I have thought about food in years. Something just clicked with me.

My MW gave me all the info about the Brewer's Diet. I am lacto ovo, so she gave me the info about that also. It sounds like an amazing plan, but as I read thru it I discovered how overwhelmed I was becoming. I am going to eat a varied diet full of whole foods.

I am trying hard not to second guess myself. I just want to do what is best for baby and myself. With all the info it can be a bit overwhelming.

I am taking a prenatal vitamin, calcium, & B6. I felt nauseous almost immediately and the MW said the B6 would help with that. I have noticed a difference. We will see what happens at 6 weeks though!

[Apryl Srissa]

Way to go Heather Marie, losing 50 lbs! I was also working to lose weight, had just started in Jan. I feel the same, I want to keep my new healthier diet (as in what I eat, not a weight loss diet, if that makes sense?), but want to be sure I'm not restricing my calories. I'm going to talk to the midwife at my appointment, but for now am actually having to make myself eat more to get to a 'normal' calorie intake, I'm just not used to eating that much any more, so get full very easily and find that I'm not eating as much as I'm pretty sure I need to. So I've been adding in an extra snack, or other things, like adding peanut butter to my apples, to up them a little. I will just feel much better when I know what the minimum is, so I can be sure to never go below that. I don't want to eat like crazy, I really like the healthier way of eating, and having learned to eat real portion sizes, and have been working hard to let go of emotional and boredom eating, so I am trying to walk a fine line.

I take a prenatal, with extra mag, E, and Bs, and usually extra A (I am very easily deficent in that one but have cut it since finding out about 'spot'), the prenatal is Source of Life brand ( I think thats it)

[Heather Marie]

Thanks Apryl. Good for you for eating healthier. I definately feel like the last 7 months I have been trying to focus on eating healthy and I just need to continue that.

I am a very emotional eater and definately a volume eater. I finally feel like I have portions under control, but I have to continue to watch myself. I think the emotional eating will be an ongoing struggle.

I don't know why I second guess myself. I am eating well, healthy choices, and a good variety. I need to push the doubts I have out of my mind.

[sparkygirl74]

Morning sickness hit early for me and even though it wasn't that bad until this Sunday I have already lost seven pounds. I am tring to make what I can eat count but sometimes it is hard to even swallow. Tha same thing happened last time and I ended up gaining all of my weight in the third trimester. I am taking the one a day Rainbow lights and fish oil before bed at night.

[Apryl Srissa]

Thanks Apryl. Good for you for eating healthier. I definately feel like the last 7 months I have been trying to focus on eating healthy and I just need to continue that.

I am a very emotional eater and definately a volume eater. I finally feel like I have portions under control, but I have to continue to watch myself. I think the emotional eating will be an ongoing struggle.

I don't know why I second guess myself. I am eating well, healthy choices, and a good variety. I need to push the doubts I have out of my mind.

I'm the same way, I feel pretty good about my portions now, its pretty automatic most the time. But with as emotional as I get pregnant, I'm trying to get really aware now, early on before it gets so bad, so hopefully it will be easier to resist later.

I did manage to have baby carrots and ranch for a snack yesterday, instead of the chocolates I looked at lol

[scheelimama]

Well, I'm not one to stick with a particular diet for any reason. I don't like the word "diet". So, I'll trust my body to tell me what to eat. But in general, we don't eat a lot of white flour or processed foods. And I've recently been trying to incorporate more varieties of grains into our diets (less wheat, corn, and rice). I made some gluten free Strawberry-Banana muffins yesterday and they are so yummy! We also try to eat lots of fresh veggies and fruits.

As for supplements, I'm taking a generic prenatal and I've started adding more ground flax to my diet (I suffer from IBS and it's 10 times worse when pregnant, so flax helps a lot).

No cheese or milk products allowed for me when pregnant. I know all pregnancies are different, but during my two normal pregnancies, I would throw up with any cow's milk products, except ocassional yogurt.

And last time I couldn't handle any pork products, I would throw up with any at all. But I'm not a huge fan of pork anyway, it's easy enough for me to cut all of that out. I usually sub turkey bacon, sausage, etc. for any recipes calling for pork.

Oh, and I do drink coffee and will not give that up, but I will limit it to one 12 oz cup a day or so. I have a feeling I may be forced to give it up a bit during the first trimester though due to morning sickness. We'll see.