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How to get ALL that protein?

1K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  Prism75 
#1 ·
Hi everybody,

I just found out that there are two little bubs resting in my uterus and I want to get serious about eating 100-150 grams of protein a day. I'm having trouble looking at all that food and seeing how I can humanly eat that much.

What are your best ideas for getting in protein. How to do beef up your meals? Do you have any tricks so it's not so hard?

I'm 8 weeks 2 days, so hopefully getting started early will give these bubs a good start!
 
#2 ·
A few strategies that I used:
1. Measure your protein so you know what you are getting at each meal. Read the nutrition labels.
2. Spread the protein out. E.g., I ate 3 meals & 3 snacks per day, so 100g protein would be 3 meals with 25g each, then 3 snacks with 10g each.
3. Yogourt smoothies with some protein powder added are a great way of getting protein, fruit & calcium. And they settled my stomach too when I was queasy.

Congratulations & good luck!
 
#3 ·
I was only able to do it with protien powder. I found one that was milk/egg based instead of soy...which is bad for my thyroid issues. One 8 oz glass had like 19g and even more if I mixed it with milk.

I felt like I was eating or drinking (1 gal per day) constantly!

It was a relief to not have to eat so much...and also to finally be famished again. Once I began BF those tiny guys I was sooooo hungry!
:

Good Luck mama!
 
#4 ·
Thanks guys. I'm soooo overwhelmed at the moment. I haven't had any morning sickness, no pronounced symptoms.... If I hadn't seen that ultrasound, I wouldn't have believed I'm pregnant. So twins came as a MASSIVE surprise. A happy surprise, but still.

I'm going out now to get Barbara Luke's book that everyone recommends and going to get some food. I don't' feel nauseous, but I feel like I have to force feed myself every bite that I eat. I have no appetite at all. Hopefully that will change once I get out of the first trimester.
 
#5 ·
I had trouble eating that much for the 1st and 3rd trimester. It was not too hard durning the 2nd due to the morning sickness being over and the growing babies using up more energy. But the third was so hard for me because they were taking up so much room and I didn't even feel like eating the normal amount of food for me.

I pretty much had to look at it like eating was a job...and I made everything I ate count! I ate no junk food because I couldn't afford to fill my tummy with empty calories when I had such a large amount of protein and water that was a requirement!

But it is so worth it to have healthy twins!

You CAN do this!
 
#6 ·
I had two double protein shakes a day in addition to literally making every bite count. I ate as much good fat, dairy, and meat as I wanted. I loaded up my leafy green salads with nuts and seeds and eggs and cheese. Pasta ALWAYS had meat on it and I ate so much kefir I was buying it in bulk (literally). I managed to get 120-150 most days but I rarely hit the 175 without feeling like I was sacrificing other nutrition.

Oh, and quineoa has a TON of protein and it's a healthy grain.
 
#7 ·
I felt like I was stuffing myself silly all the time. I felt unwell and not active at all throughout the pregnancy. And I still had trouble gaining weight! But you can do it! (my boys were just shy of 7lb and 7.5lb).

I didn't do protein shakes. I tried to brands of "tasteless" powder and found them gross. I couldn't stand Boost, either.

I usually had 3 eggs for breakfast - maybe more if they were in an omelette or scrambled. I had PB sandwich for mid-morning snack. I ate nuts. Like others said: lots of ground beef in various pastas. . .

It was daunting but worth it.
 
#8 ·
To be honest, and I hope I don't sound naive here, I think your body will tell you what you need. I didn't know I was expecting twins, and I even quit taking the prenatal vitamins around 8 weeks.

But I craved a TON of carbs (craved protein my first pregnancy, only...) I ate as I felt hungry, and within reason followed my cravings. We birthed two healthy, very strong babies at home at 38 1/2 weeks. They were like my first two singletons in every way except a little smaller (each was about a lb. less than their sibling of the same sex had been.)

So if you don't feel like eating a ton of protein, maybe you don't need it? I'm not sure, but I just thought I'd throw it in there...

Deb
 
#9 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Prism75 View Post
To be honest, and I hope I don't sound naive here, I think your body will tell you what you need.
While there are some studies showing high calorie and protein loads resulting in good birth weights of multiples, it is certainly not necessary for everyone and I definitely don't think it's naive to listen to one's body. My triplets are 19 days old now, and I bought the Dr. Luke book on the recommendation of some other people but I never followed her nutrition suggestions. Honestly, I felt the stress of trying to meet the requirements was worse than just listening to and trusting my body. I did try to eat protein at each meal, but I do that even when not pregnant, as that is what helps keep me full, and I never measured amounts. My triplets were born at 34 weeks, at good weights, and they came home from the hospital at 10 days old. It was one of the best triplet outcomes my doctors and the hospital NICU staff told me they have ever seen. I asked my Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist about diet in the beginning, and he said to just listen to my body - eat when hungry, drink when thirsty and sleep when tired. It worked for me!
 
#10 ·
that's so good to hear tbh - i'm a small eater but try to make sure it's balanced. i really feel it if not enough protein, but am veggy and so go to non meat sources. well, i eat fish from time to time so not true veggy
but when i just had a run of contractions one thing that seemed to help was stuffing myself for a couple of days. but then i *was* listening to my body at that point.

i read jeanine p-b gained only 20lbs with her vegan twin pregnancy. i've matched that already
:

i don't feel so sure i'll go to term, but because of lots of factors, not just diet. my new dream target is 34 weeks. dr luke also discusses stress, work demands and so on. all of these interplay. hopefully good diet ratios and so on work out more important than sheer quantity and weight. think of the high twinning rate worldwide and compromised dietry (and other) circumstances many women are in.....

...but yeah. protein helps
 
#11 ·
I had to use protien powder to get it all in. I also used a calorie counter book and logged everything for one month until I could figure out in my head what was needed.

You already know you need 150gm a day of protien so I'd skip buying the Barbara Luke book and buy Having Twins by Noble instead. I found the Luke book quite scary!

And congrats on the twins!!!
 
#12 ·
PLEASE point me in the right direction!
I'm having twins (9 weeks PG) but I haven't been told ANYTHING from the RE I'm seeing about diet or any changes I need to make. I see my OB for the fist time at 10 weeks.

Where do I need to be reading about how to take care of all of us?
I'm having trouble eating and drinking right now because of MS. I don't want to do anything wrong though!
 
#13 ·
To the OP - cottage cheese has a surprising amount of protein and I can eat a cup of it pretty easily for a snack. Plus lots of eggs and oatmeal cooked with milk. Other than that, I eat when I'm hungry and what I feel like eating.

To bebe - I have and read the Barbara Luke book. I will say, I used it as a general guideline of things that are TYPICALLY successful. However, I prefer to listen to my body more and decide what works for us. Like you, I had trouble eating and drinking to first trimester and only gained 5 pounds. However, as soon as my appetite was back, I ate everything I felt like. I have now gained almost 40 pounds, and feel really healthy.

For example, she implies that working full time after 24 weeks or so is irresponsible. I am 30 weeks and just now going to part time. But I have a sedentary desk job and probably get more rest there than I do at home with my toddler. She has a strict diet laid out and I took it as general guidelines. When choosing food, I try to choose high protein and never skimp on calories. But I don't keep track of it and don't freak out if I don't match her recommendations.

After I read her book once, I put it away and only use it as a reference book. I would seriously be freaked out if I was reading it all the time, feeling really guilty and not enjoying the pregnancy.

So - good reference book. But it can cause a lot of undue stress, so use caution. If you read it, read it early in your pregnancy.
 
#14 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by MamaChicken View Post
To the OP - cottage cheese has a surprising amount of protein and I can eat a cup of it pretty easily for a snack. Plus lots of eggs and oatmeal cooked with milk. Other than that, I eat when I'm hungry and what I feel like eating.

To bebe - I have and read the Barbara Luke book. I will say, I used it as a general guideline of things that are TYPICALLY successful. However, I prefer to listen to my body more and decide what works for us. Like you, I had trouble eating and drinking to first trimester and only gained 5 pounds. However, as soon as my appetite was back, I ate everything I felt like. I have now gained almost 40 pounds, and feel really healthy.

For example, she implies that working full time after 24 weeks or so is irresponsible. I am 30 weeks and just now going to part time. But I have a sedentary desk job and probably get more rest there than I do at home with my toddler. She has a strict diet laid out and I took it as general guidelines. When choosing food, I try to choose high protein and never skimp on calories. But I don't keep track of it and don't freak out if I don't match her recommendations.

After I read her book once, I put it away and only use it as a reference book. I would seriously be freaked out if I was reading it all the time, feeling really guilty and not enjoying the pregnancy.

So - good reference book. But it can cause a lot of undue stress, so use caution. If you read it, read it early in your pregnancy.
I largely agree. While I definitely made eating healthy and protein a high priority, I drove myself crazy for a couple of weeks trying to meet Luke's goals. I felt terrible, like I'd just had a huge Thanksgiving Day meal every day. Finally I just stopped and eat normally, concentrating on getting protein as much as possible, but not counting grams or calories. I went to 38 1/2 wks (& would've gone further, but was sectioned for previa) without a single twin complication. My boys were 6 and nearly 7 lbs each.

Hogwash on her recommendations for work. I was practically having panic attacks when I read that in my early PG, since not working would've been a large financial hardship. I took it easy, but I have a total desk job and felt fine working up to 2 days before they were born.

FWIW, my MWs thought her recommendation of 175 g of protein was really very high.

Anyway, long winded way of saying keep the recommendations in mind and as a goal, but listen to yourself too
 
#17 ·
Also, you can throw in some protein powder in baked goods, pancakes, waffles, crepes etc.

My goal was 80-100 grams of protein as i am a carb person normally -- babies were born big and beautiful at 37.5 wks
 
#18 ·
Well, I was already a SAHM when I became preggo with twins, but I will say that I lifted my children until I literally couldn't do so anymore (around 30 lbs.) I carried cat litter down my basement stairs and up again until around 32 weeks (when I just COULDN'T...), and I also walked at least 1 miles every day PUSHING my kids in a double stroller....until around 36 weeks when I did it every other day or so and then cut down around 37 weeks...

So bed rest isn't necessary for EVERYONE... listen to your body and midwife/obgyn....

Deb
 
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