Cant. Stop. Eating.
Okay, so usually I am a pretty healthy eater. That’s not to say that I don’t LOVE crappy food, because I do, but I am terrified of what junk food does to the body. I usually keep a good balance. Eat mostly healthy at home; usually no dairy, no gluten and the only meat being wild caught fish (until I added in chicken this pregnancy). When I was trying to lose weight after having Lily I tried a lot of different meal services to free up some of my time. I tried a ton but eventually settled on Sakara. Sakara provides 5 days of breakfast, lunch, and dinner per week in individual servings. All of the meals are vegan, gluten-free, fresh and PACKED with nutrients. This sounds like an ad, but it isn’t! The meals are delicious but it is REALLY expensive (like, really expensive). I knew it was only temporary so we accepted the cost and I lost a TON of weight, felt lighter, more energetic and WAY happier. I kept it up at the beginning of my pregnancy until my food aversions got the best of me. Now that those have waned I usually do Sakara’s 3-day a week plan and cook for myself the rest of the time.
Image by Molly Lou Photo
I really can’t believe how much more you crave junk food when you’re pregnant. On top of many women having food aversions to vegetables and other healthy foods (me included). It would seem to make sense that your body would crave what it NEEDS during pregnancy not what it absolutely shouldn’t have. With both of my pregnancies, I have a fondness for Mexican food, all bread-like substances and anything with sugar. Before I got pregnant, I was eating SO well, I had finally broken my sugar addiction and was only eating poorly if we went out. But, as soon as those food aversions kicked in all I could stomach was white carbs and, frankly, junk. I’ve definitely bounced back a lot since the early weeks but I’m still craving everything that is bad for me. I spent this week in Buffalo visiting my family AND visiting all of the old restaurants I’ve missed so much. That means carbs, hot sauce, and milkshakes! I tried to get at least 6-8 cups of leafy greens & one full healthy meal a day but I’m sure that wasn’t making up for the junk I was consuming. I only exercised 5 of the 10 days I was there, yikes! I rationalized my unhealthy behavior by saying “it’s only 10 days and I won’t be back home for 9 more months!” but lord is it catching up to me. I could immediately tell how much more tired and sloppy I felt, not to mention the break-outs!
Now that I’m on my flight back home (hello from 10,000 feet!) I am committed to doing better. Not just for myself, but for this little boy. A healthy diet during pregnancy is not just a nice thing to do, it’s immensely important for the health of your growing babe. Every time I would finish another unhealthy meal, I would just think about how I was doing my baby wrong. It makes me so uncomfortable when I hear people say things like “Oh, I’m pregnant I’m going to treat myself!” because pregnancy is not about letting yourself go because you have an excuse, it’s about creating a healthy child. We all know the most important indicator of your health after your genetics is what you put in and on your body, so I think we all can make an effort to give our children a head start. That’s not to say that having the treats or junk you’re craving is completely off limits but it really should be even more limited than it is when you’re not pregnant! Easier said than done, mamas, trust me, I am with you!
I’m thinking about doing a post on nutrition during pregnancy, is that something you ladies would be interested in? I’ve got a lot of great info!
Oh, and I told you I would update you on how nixing dairy for 2 weeks would affect my breakouts. I was still having a couple, especially on my chest and back (the WORST) but overall it did clear up quite a bit! Plus, I noticed as soon as I started eating dairy again my skin was getting worse! If you have a big event coming up, I would suggest cutting it out for at least 2 weeks before so you can clear up! I don’t usually have any breakouts when I’m not pregnant, so it’s really driving me nuts. Also, the crampy awful feelings I was having last week have gone away. I’m definitely a lot more uncomfortable than I was this time last pregnancy but I think that is just due to this being my second time around. My bump isn’t overly big but I can just feel a LOT more than I did last time!
1 more week until this little boy is halfway cooked!