"I'm eating for two" is the most common line of pregnant women today. It has allowed some women to indulge in anything and everything they want, and in many instances, in gross amounts. While I am starting to understand the extreme hunger that rears its ugly head now being in my second trimester, I also realize that lack of planning my meals can lead me into temptations and trouble. I wish I could take all the credit for this new "healthier" me that has evolved in the last 18 weeks, but I'd be lying if I did not say that my vegetarian lifestyle AND my growing baby has a lot to do with it too.
Let's turn the clocks back to my first trimester, it was filled with 13 weeks of being sick with my head over my new best friend, the toilet. Whether I ate or not, nothing seemed to be staying. I tried eating smaller portions and there was no change. I tried eating only familiar foods, and still no change. Naturally I started to become worried, because everything people were telling me to try, was something that I had now developed an aversion to, or something I did not eat. In short, I felt like my body was in extreme rebellion! It eventually resulted in me forcing myself to eat because I knew that the baby needed nourishment. Some foods that seemed to stay with me 80 percent of the time was pre-made soup like the Campbell's Chunky Vegetable soup if I added enough water to it, almond milk, bland crackers, water and bread with very little butter or jelly. Weird enough, a Lenny's vegetarian sub...was probably my only saving meal in a day when nothing would stick!
It was early in my first trimester that I realized the value of being intentional in the items that I did eat, because there was no guarantee that it would stay down long enough for me to get any nutrition from it. Everything I ate had to be of a nutritious value because I wanted it to count! So things that I took for granted I changed. One example of this was with my Lenny's sub order. I must have eaten that sub at least once a week for 13 weeks! So instead of getting it on only plain white bread, I opted for whole wheat instead. I changed my regular bread in my home from whole wheat to whole grain, I even did that for the crackers (did not know they had whole grain crackers), watered down my Campbells Soup and drank lots of water and little or no juice (I believed that my water was in my juice so would drink more juice than water during any given day). I also stocked up on lots of fresh fruit from the farmers market, so that whenever I craved something sweet, I would grab an apple, banana, mango, orange, plum, strawberries or grapes instead of eating something processed. My body was also rejecting every known processed vegetarian meat as well as tofu, so I relied heavily on trying to fit in green leafy vegetables, peas and beans. My changes obviously affected my pantry as well. Out with the regular white rice, granulated sugar, regular pasta, and in with brown rice, quinoa, brown sugar and whole wheat pasta. I was determined to eat for two not by eating larger portions and nutrient deficient meals, but by eating nutrient dense items to help the baby grow!
With all the ups and downs of my first trimester, and struggling just to eat for one, I expected to weigh less at my 12 week appointment than I weighed when I found out I was pregnant. However, when I weighed in, I was shocked to see that I had actually gained 5 pounds! Even with the changes I made, I was not throwing up any less, and my appetite had not improved either. But thank God the baby was developing well and my nutrition was right on track.
Stay tuned for Part 2 and click the picture to be taken to a healthy article about eating for two.
