20 weeks pregnant and terrible diet

ncmc

I am 20 weeks pregnant and my diet so far has been absolutely atrocious. I have always been slim and athletic and to be honest, I treated the pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever I want. I’m not so much eating for two, as eating for triplets! I won’t even list what I eat on an ordinary day, but it’s safe to say I have got a pretty severe sugar addiction, eating chocolate, sweets, pastries, soft drinks, juices every day. I also have a huge appetite and would have very poor portion control. The result of all this is that I have already gained over a stone and am worried that I am putting myself and the baby at risk of gestational diabetes.

I am going to start a clean diet as of Monday (will do my shopping/menu over the weekend) I think I’ll be ok with my main meals as I will plan those out in advance, but I find I struggle to come up with snacks. I usually end up bringing fruit and yoghurt into work and dumping them and raiding the biscuits instead. Can anyone suggest something more exciting than fruit and yoghurt that won’t have me reaching for the sweets at 11am? I have breakfast at 7am and lunch at 2pm, so I need something that will fill me up mid morning. I sometimes don’t get dinner until 8pm, so again, need something to bridge the gap in the afternoon.

Please help, I know I am going to struggle to lose the weight after the baby arrives at this rate and more importantly want to give the baby the best possible start.

Jerrica

Things like fruit and yoghurt are really great staples for any diet, is it that you don't like them or you just find them less appeasing than biscuits? I've struggled with my diet since I got pregnant too and I would have had a mostly clean as a whistle appetite before then so I do understand the struggle.

When you say fruit do you mean simple apples and oranges? What about eating mixxed berries with natural yoghurt sprinkled with natural yoghurt and a spoon of crunchy muesli? A bag of air popped popcorn or a two rice cakes with hummus, oat cakes with Philadelphia, cottage cheese with pineapple? Granted that last one is a weird one but it's pretty tasty!!

ncmc

Thanks for the prompt reply Jerrica. I think my problem is that pre pregnancy, I was training for a marathon so I could get away with eating pretty much what I wanted. Now I’m not exercising as much, I am piling the weight on. I don’t hate fruit; I just find it boring and after a day or two, find myself reaching for the ‘comfort food’ of biscuits and chocolates. I wouldn’t be a fan of the texture of yoghurt, though the way you describe it sounds lovely! Thanks for the great suggestions!

Typer Monkey

Rice cakes with peanut butter is a lovely snack and nuts aren't contraindicated in pregnancy anymore

solarsystem

Hi OP,
I should declare at the beginning that I am a man, so I acknowledge that I have no right or authority to comment on a pregnant woman's diet.
But I have a pregnant wife and a young son, so maybe I am not entirely clueless.
I would say to you that a stone gained is nothing of consequence. A lot of that is amniotic fluid and placenta, not to mention your baby.
A couple of stone gained in pregnancy will be quickly lost afterwards if you are feeding your baby yourself.
So enjoy your biscuits; in the grand scheme of things, a few boxes of biscuits will do neither you nor your baby any harm.
I wish you and your baby the best.

Jerrica

Typer Monkey wrote: »

Rice cakes with peanut butter is a lovely snack and nuts aren't contraindicated in pregnancy anymore

Slap a sliced banana on top and it's the food of the Gods!! I miss peanut butter, I'm still so afraid to eat it, there's so much contradicting advise out there.

Terry Wogans Inner Thigh

Nuts are fine.And as the above poster pointed out, as to did not a lot. It is mostlyfluid,extra blood ,placenta ,amniotic fluid. Eating clean and healthily is a good aim but please don't be worrting about weight. And breast feeding is the best weight loss 'method' ever, I fed both mine and anything I gained dropped off me and more. Do try to keep fit for your own sake though, swimming and walking are great, Labour is easier when you are fit I found. And good luck, try to enjoy this time, I know it's not fun but you will look back with fond memories.😊

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i honestly would never have guessed in a million years that someone with the nick 'terry wogans inner thigh' was female

swear to god, mind ever so slightly blown here

ncmc

Thanks for all the replies and nice comments. I definitely am not trying to lose weight, I know a certain amount of weight gain is expected and desirable, but I feel I've put on too much too soon and I know it's 50% down to bad diet. I don't want to end up gaining 3-4 stone and having an uphill battle to lose it. I don't swim unfortunately, but do try and walk daily and am starting pregnancy yoga at the end of the month.

Ryvita, peanut butter and banana sounds lovely! Will definitely be trying that.

Terry Wogans Inner Thigh

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

i honestly would never have guessed in a million years that someone with the nick 'terry wogans inner thigh' was female

swear to god, mind ever so slightly blown here

Indeed.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

that just makes me wish i'd chosen the name Terry Wogans Bulge

runawaybishop

That whole "eating for 2 thing" is very misleading. You only need to eat more in the 3rd trimester and even then its feck all extra per day. The media need a good kick up the arse for constantly spouting that bull****. People have enough to be doing when they are expecting without gettign terrible advice. </rant>

Anyway OP, don't stress about it. You definitely did not put on a stone of fat - it'll be fluid retention mainly at this stage. A few pounds of fat isn't a big deal anyway.

Throw the biscuits out. Don't have them in the house. There is absolutely nothing good about them and they are full of calories. If you have a chocolate craving try very good quality dark chocolate.

Nuts make good snacks. Soup is also very good and very easy to make up at the weekend and take with you to work - not exactly a snack though. Rice cakes are good. You might not like fruit but you should try the odd kiwi, they are high in iron which you'll probably be low on - try mixing them with a natural yoghurt and add stuff to it like honey, berries, nuts etc.

You can also make up your own "chocolate" bars - they are basically protein bars (which most people don't eat enough of) and are basically a healthy version of those terrible lunch bars everyone is flogging.

Jerrica

runawaybishop wrote: »

That whole "eating for 2 thing" is very misleading. You only need to eat more in the 3rd trimester and even then its feck all extra per day. The media need a good kick up the arse for constantly spouting that bull****. People have enough to be doing when they are expecting without gettign terrible advice. </rant>

Agreed, but don't underestimate the power of First Trimester cravings/ aversions/ appetite fluctuations until you've been there. To the OP's credit she said she was training for a marathon pre-pregnancy and so she did have reason to eat what she felt was necessary, and the change your body feels going from training multiple times a week to all of a sudden barely being able to lift your head off the pillow with hormonal exhaustion is just nasty.

I went through a fortnight of eating nothing but white toast and coco pops in my First Trimester - beef, vegetables and salad made me wretch and the idea of clean eating was an absolutely insurmountable task. Now, at 20 weeks the OP will be starting to feel a little more normal so going back to eating well is a possibility again.

I'm probably being very defensive here but I know I really, really underestimated the power of hormones on eating habits until I got knocked up :pac:

runawaybishop

Jerrica wrote: »

Agreed, but don't underestimate the power of First Trimester cravings/ aversions/ appetite fluctuations until you've been there. To the OP's credit she said she was training for a marathon pre-pregnancy and so she did have reason to eat what she felt was necessary, and the change your body feels going from training multiple times a week to all of a sudden barely being able to lift your head off the pillow with hormonal exhaustion is just nasty.

I went through a fortnight of eating nothing but white toast and coco pops in my First Trimester - beef, vegetables and salad made me wretch and the idea of clean eating was an absolutely insurmountable task. Now, at 20 weeks the OP will be starting to feel a little more normal so going back to eating well is a possibility again.

I'm probably being very defensive here but I know I really, really underestimated the power of hormones on eating habits until I got knocked up :pac:

I didn't say anything about hormones or give out to the OP. I said the media are a bunch of douches and she shouldn't worry about it.

Jerrica

runawaybishop wrote: »

I didn't say anything about hormones or give out to the OP. I said the media are a bunch of douches and she shouldn't worry about it.

And I agreed - it was the first word of my post

ncmc

Thanks guys, I do appreciate all the nice comments. I know myself that the eating for two is nonsense, I think I just fell into the trap of ‘ah sure you’re going to get fat anyway, may as well enjoy it’ I weighed myself this morning, I’ve almost a stone and a half on already… the guidelines suggest you should only gain 2 stone overall! Ironically, I think one of my problems has been that I have had a massive appetite since the beginning, I had no nausea, no morning sickness, just constant hunger and I filled that hunger with all the wrong foods. I worry that every pound gained now is going to be so hard to lose on the other side.

runawaybishop

ncmc wrote: »

Thanks guys, I do appreciate all the nice comments. I know myself that the eating for two is nonsense, I think I just fell into the trap of ‘ah sure you’re going to get fat anyway, may as well enjoy it’ I weighed myself this morning, I’ve almost a stone and a half on already… the guidelines suggest you should only gain 2 stone overall! Ironically, I think one of my problems has been that I have had a massive appetite since the beginning, I had no nausea, no morning sickness, just constant hunger and I filled that hunger with all the wrong foods. I worry that every pound gained now is going to be so hard to lose on the other side.

They are only guidelines, everyone is different. You might put next to nothing on for the next while or put on another 2 stone. Its really not possible for you to know how much of the weight is fat and in reality you are supposed to put on some fat so there's no point in worrying about it.

Just try and keep the crap to a minimum and get some decent food into you, but dont punish yourself. Dark chocolate (like 70%) is great as it usually helps with chocolate cravings but its really hard to overeat.

SamforMayo

ncmc wrote: »

Thanks guys, I do appreciate all the nice comments. I know myself that the eating for two is nonsense, I think I just fell into the trap of ‘ah sure you’re going to get fat anyway, may as well enjoy it’ I weighed myself this morning, I’ve almost a stone and a half on already… the guidelines suggest you should only gain 2 stone overall! Ironically, I think one of my problems has been that I have had a massive appetite since the beginning, I had no nausea, no morning sickness, just constant hunger and I filled that hunger with all the wrong foods. I worry that every pound gained now is going to be so hard to lose on the other side.

Hi, I was like you with my 3 pregnancies no sickness and constant hunger and put on over a stone in the early stages, however I did nt put on more than 2.5 stone overall and I didn't have much problem taking it off. I would cut back on the rubbish though because it does make for a bigger baby! Eat when your hungry, plenty of high fibre carb s, protein, fresh fruit and yoghurt. I know how certain things don't appeal in pregnancy. 2 digestives with sliced banana is a nice filling sweet snack without been too bad, yoghurt and granola, crackers and cheese, bagels, homemade soup. Keep walking and swimming is excellent. Above all enjoy and relax.

Terry Wogans Inner Thigh

SamforMayo wrote: »

Hi, I was like you with my 3 pregnancies no sickness and constant hunger and put on over a stone in the early stages, however I did nt put on more than 2.5 stone overall and I didn't have much problem taking it off. I would cut back on the rubbish though because it does make for a bigger baby! Eat when your hungry, plenty of high fibre carb s, protein, fresh fruit and yoghurt. I know how certain things don't appeal in pregnancy. 2 digestives with sliced banana is a nice filling sweet snack with been too bad, yoghurt and granola, crackers and cheese, bagels, homemade soup. Keep walking and swimming is excellent. Above all enjoy and relax.

Eating 'rubbish' does not make a bigger baby . That is a ridiculous statement.

Terry Wogans Inner Thigh

SamforMayo wrote: »

Hi, I was like you with my 3 pregnancies no sickness and constant hunger and put on over a stone in the early stages, however I did nt put on more than 2.5 stone overall and I didn't have much problem taking it off. I would cut back on the rubbish though because it does make for a bigger baby! Eat when your hungry, plenty of high fibre carb s, protein, fresh fruit and yoghurt. I know how certain things don't appeal in pregnancy. 2 digestives with sliced banana is a nice filling sweet snack with been too bad, yoghurt and granola, crackers and cheese, bagels, homemade soup. Keep walking and swimming is excellent. Above all enjoy and relax.

Eating 'rubbish' does not make a bigger baby . That is a ridiculous statement.

Terry Wogans Inner Thigh

SamforMayo wrote: »

Hi, I was like you with my 3 pregnancies no sickness and constant hunger and put on over a stone in the early stages, however I did nt put on more than 2.5 stone overall and I didn't have much problem taking it off. I would cut back on the rubbish though because it does make for a bigger baby! Eat when your hungry, plenty of high fibre carb s, protein, fresh fruit and yoghurt. I know how certain things don't appeal in pregnancy. 2 digestives with sliced banana is a nice filling sweet snack with been too bad, yoghurt and granola, crackers and cheese, bagels, homemade soup. Keep walking and swimming is excellent. Above all enjoy and relax.

Eating 'rubbish' does not make a bigger baby . That is a ridiculous statement.

liliq

Terry Wogans Inner Thigh wrote: »

Eating 'rubbish' does not make a bigger baby . That is a ridiculous statement.

Rubbish food with excessive sugar does correlate to bigger babies.

SamforMayo

Terry Wogans Inner Thigh wrote: »

Eating 'rubbish' does not make a bigger baby . That is a ridiculous statement.

Oh yes it does, excessive sugar causes baby to grow faster, why do you think Babies born to diabetic mothers are so big? On my third pregnancy doctor thought baby was growing too fast I was told to cut all rubbish calories and white bread and rice. I did this and growth slowed to more normal rate. Hence my advice and had I know this fact sooner I would have been more careful about my consumption of sweet stuff.

runawaybishop

SamforMayo wrote: »

Oh yes it does, excessive sugar causes baby to grow faster, why do you think Babies born to diabetic mothers are so big? On my third pregnancy doctor thought baby was growing too fast I was told to cut all rubbish calories and white bread and rice. I did this and growth slowed to more normal rate. Hence my advice and had I know this fact sooner I would have been more careful about my consumption of sweet stuff.

Excessive calories causes baby to grow, not just sugar.

SamforMayo

runawaybishop wrote: »

Excessive calories causes baby to grow, not just sugar.

Yes but do you advise she cuts the good stuff so she can eat rubbish? So hence consumption of a lot of high sugar , high calorie food will result in a bigger baby. Maternity hospitals are very strong on this message now.

runawaybishop

SamforMayo wrote: »

Yes but do you advise she cuts the good stuff so she can eat rubbish? So hence consumption of a lot of high sugar , high calorie food will result in a bigger baby. Maternity hospitals are very strong on this message now.

Stop focusing on the sugar part. Its the calories that matter.

SamforMayo

runawaybishop wrote: »

Stop focusing on the sugar part. Its the calories that matter.

In my opinion it is not. All calories are not created equal and I was just giving the OP the advice I was given in pregnancy which served me well. So you advice her which ever way you want and I will do the same.

runawaybishop

SamforMayo wrote: »

In my opinion it is not. All calories are not created equal and I was just giving the OP the advice I was given in pregnancy which served me well. So you advice her which ever way you want and I will do the same.

UCD did a study a while back that showed a loose link between blood sugar level and baby weight. It wasnt very conclusive and the spoke mainly about the mothers weight being a factor.

I'm not saying you can eat a pile of sugar with impunity or anything. I'm saying that if you eat 10k calories a day of the healthiest food possible you are still going to have a big baby. Size of babies head won't change though.

SamforMayo

runawaybishop wrote: »

UCD did a study a while back that showed a loose link between blood sugar level and baby weight. It wasnt very conclusive and the spoke mainly about the mothers weight being a factor.

I'm not saying you can eat a pile of sugar with impunity or anything. I'm saying that if you eat 10k calories a day of the healthiest food possible you are still going to have a big baby. Size of babies head won't change though.

However the op was not worried about the healthy food she was eating she was worried about the crap diet, and regardless of head size having a much bigger than average baby is not recommended as it often causes a more difficult delivery and problems with babies blood sugar levels etc.
Also too much weight gain for mother can result in more difficult delivery and higher rate of c section. Anyways OP eat all things in moderation and you will be grand.