Healthy Eating During Pregnancy

Dieting is not an option when you are pregnant; however, you should definitely be aware of what you are putting in your body.

In February my husband and I joined a gym, started with a personal trainer, and started a strict eating plan. We were doing so well and didn't cheat for 5 weeks!!! Within a few short months I had lost 30 pounds and my husband had lost 40 and then we hit a plateau...this was followed by cheating more often as we weren't seeing continued success and were getting discouraged.

Anyways, enough of my rambling!! I met with my doctor in July and he was impressed with my weight loss and recommended I continue with the eating plan when I got pregnant as I really wouldn't need too much more. He also suggested that I not lift heavy weights, instead I should up the repetitions.

Shortly after meeting with the docter we found out we were pregnant, that was followed by serious aversions to all of the healthy foods!! Yep, turkey burgers and salads were out and cheese, peanut butter, and whole wheat pasta were in! I was also eating more often because if I didn't then I began to have a very undesirable feeling in my stomach...

Shortly after this I started back to work (I am a teacher) and everybody had this idea that since I was pregnant I could eat as much as I wanted of anything I wanted. Now, I knew this was wrong as I had already talked to the doctor and he told me to continue on my current plan. So many people would say to eat as I was pregnant, one girl actually said, "Girl, you are pregnant - I want to make you something, what do you want?" I explained that I was trying to eat healthy and that I was okay without anything.

Now keep in mind, I do not always eat healthy and I wish I was better than I am. I have good days and bad days but am hoping to have more of the good days!!! I was talking to a great friend of mine who has a little girl (read her blog at http://lifemoresimply.blogspot.com/) and she helped put things into perspective for me. She told me how much easier life will be to get the baby weight off if I put less on. She reminded me how important healthy eating is and told me this one piece of advice that has really stuck- "You can have a scoop of ice cream, just don't go back for a second." When I am not dieting I have a specific mentality and go back to my old eating habits in which I eat whatever I want and since we haven't been on plan (foods don't sound good) I am often eating poorly. However, after talking to this dear friend I have began to do better, I have started salads again and am enjoying a variety of fruits and lean meats. Now I just need to get over the snacking when I come home from work and as I am cooking dinner.

Sometimes my body craves specific foods and as I have been told, this is your body's way of getting nutrients it needs. Let me leave you with this - If you are craving chocolate milk try to get over it, but if you are craving orange juice you might want to stop and pick some up!! That's what I did this week!!