Pregnancy cravings!!! page

[Circae]

Can anyone give some good advice on maintaining my primal eating for this desperate pregnant lady? On August 1st I went completely primal. I felt fantastic for the first time in my life, started losing weight and seeing muscle long since hidden from two other pregnancies, and then bam! We ended up pregnant again (and for the last time, lol). I firmly believe that it was because I changed my way of life for the good. Problem is that now I'm having horrible cravings for white breads, cakes, cookies, muffins, pastries, etc etc! It doesn't let up! I've tried to stick with it and I feel like I'm losing ground fast. Every time I get a craving I've tried going for a walk, picking up one of my hobbies, reading a book, anything to distract me. What else can I do??? Do I give in and listen to my body or do I keep fast and try to stick with my primal eating??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!

[kennelmom]

Being pregnant is stressful and challenging enough. I just eat what I want to eat within reason. Mostly I just ate what made me feel better in the first trimester. Half way through the second now and much more primal - though I do eat rice, grits and mashed potato on a fairly regular basis. I just need more carbs than before I was pregnant or I feel like shit. I can only eat so much fruit and sweet potato before I want to hurl. Even though I never cared for it pre-pregnancy, sometimes I just want some rice. The rest of my diet is in pretty good order and a TON better than if I'd been pregnant pre-primal so I'm not goingto sweat a few donuts or a sandwich here and there.

I guess I'm not much help LOL But, congrats on the little one!

[fpsjosh01]

My pregnant wife feels SICK AS HECK when I cook bacon in the house. Just eat what you can. Your liver filters the crap out and the baby gets all the good stuff. Eat veggies/fruits/meats if you can. If not, go ahead and have that bread slice with butter on it.

Though, my wife is known for chocolate covered pickles, rock cravings (pica), and even crazier: fried mozzarella with buffalo sauce.

[Unicorn]

Are you having nausea or vomiting, or just cravings? I found that I needed to eat more frequently, and up the carbs a bit or I would get shaky. If fruit/dried fruit/sweet potatoes can do it, great. Otherwise rice, potatoes, and then other starches if you need them.

Congrats!!!

[Yvonne PHX]

I would try starchy vegetables first. If that doesn't work, and you have the energy to bake, there are some decent "paleo" recipes for bread, muffins, cookies. If that just doesn't cut it, eat a piece of cake. I mean, you're pregnant. For my first trimester with my daughter all I could eat was croutons covered in 1000 Island dressing. Poor baby.

[Circae]

Thanks everyone!

I'm finding it hard to think past the fried mozzarella with buffalo sauce....mmmmm. My first pregnancy had me eating nacho cheese covered pickles like water. Thankfully nothing really strange this time (so far, lol).

I do get a little shaky in the morning if I don't eat something, but that also ends up making me very nauseous too. I will try upping my starch intake and see if that helps.

[Dragonfly]

Definitely try eating smaller meals more more frequently. The increased progesterone in pregnancy can slow down digestion.

Also, make sure you are getting enough B vitamins, magnesium & zinc--oftentimes cravings kick in when we are missing a nutrient.

Creamy things like yogurt, tapioca pudding, cottage cheese, kefir, etc can work for some mamas. Homemade jello (made with powdered gelatin & fruit juice ) can be a way to get in some protein, too.

There's a link in my signature to a blog post I wrote about eating Primal during Pregnancy.

[fpsjosh01]

Thanks everyone!

I'm finding it hard to think past the fried mozzarella with buffalo sauce....mmmmm. My first pregnancy had me eating nacho cheese covered pickles like water. Thankfully nothing really strange this time (so far, lol).

I do get a little shaky in the morning if I don't eat something, but that also ends up making me very nauseous too. I will try upping my starch intake and see if that helps.

Haha yeah my wife loves weird stuff. It's just your body's natural refllex to eat dirt (wierd, but we treat this stuff like it's alien to us), which helps with digestion actually.