How Eats Have Changed
Eats are always changing and evolving based on discovering new ingredients, changes in activity levels, and learning more about your body and nutrition over time. My eats have changed quite a lot since I started the blog over 3 years ago, but they’ve changed even more in the past 27 weeks. A wonky appetite was one of the first pregnancy symptoms I experienced (along with hips that were KILLING me)- I knew something was off when I didn’t want almond butter anymore. By second trimester, my normal eats sounded appealing again and getting into the third, my belly is growing but my stomach is shrinking.
Here’s how my eats have changed from the first to beginning of the third trimesters.
Weeks 4-13:
[4 weeks]
While I only got sick a handful of times, I was nauseas pretty much all the time. This is when I started counting calories on a regular basis again- something I hadn’t done in forever, but I needed to make sure I was getting enough fuel with teaching fitness and a weird appetite. Smoothies were an easy way for me to fill in gaps when I needed more fuel that day, but the only foods that *really* sounded good were salt and vinegar chips and pizza.
My midwives were happy with the amount of weight I gained during the first trimester [which was the high end of the healthy range], especially since I felt so ill most of the time. By the end of the first trimester, I started to feel more like myself.
Staples:
Gluten-free bagels with egg and goat cream cheese
Fruit and smoothies
Glutino pretzels
Ginger Ale
And of course, the chips and pizza
Weeks 13-26:
[17 weeks]
During the second trimester, I didn’t need to count calories daily anymore [except for on the days I teach, which I always do- Zumba burns a crazy amount and I’m sure to make up for it fuel-wise]. I felt great and now that my appetite was back, I could focus more on the quality of the food I was eating, since veggies didn’t sound too fab during the first trimester and finally sounded fantastic again. My focus began to shift more towards getting lots of protein, calcium, Vitamin C, A, whole grains, fresh produce, and the nutrients the baby and I need.
By this point, I started munching a snack almost every hour or so to keep my blood sugar stabilized. If I get the slightest bit hungry, baby starts to kick and ask where the heck the food is 🙂 Thank goodness I’ve never been the “blog-everything-I-eat” type, or I’d be going crazy right now with the picture snapping. Every hour, you can find me eating something: a handful veggies or tortilla chips, a dip into the almond butter jar, trail mix or a Larabar, fruit, hardboiled egg, small smoothie- anything that’s easy and quick.
Staples:
–Fruit
-Smoothies
-Eggs
-Cheesy toast
-Salad beasts
-Anything with spice, mustard or marinara sauce
Weeks 26 + [I’m 27 right now]
[26 weeks]
I’m finding now that as my belly is growing, my stomach is shrinking. My eyes are definitely bigger than my stomach because I’ll sit down for a large meal, have half of it and be stuffed, which is weird for me.. many times in my non-pregnant state, I could eat more than Tom.
The good thing is that since I like snacking and lots of small meals, it’s worked out pretty well to stick with this strategy for now. So far, I’ve gained 19 lbs, which the midwives say is right on track for how far along I am.
My eating style before the bun in the oven:
Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, maybe snack
Now:
Snack, Breakfast, Snack, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Snack
I’m even thinking of breaking my “no food upstairs” rule and keeping a snack on my nightstand to have in case I wake up hungry… I woke up feeling snacky the other night and was too tired to walk downstairs.
What was your biggest craving during pregnancy? For me, pizza has been #1. I could eat it every day.
Friends sans kids: what’s been your biggest change in eating style? I think my most significant changes were cutting out Splenda –I used to sprinkle it on everything back in the day- and stopping counting calories. It’s a great strategy for many people to maintain or get to a healthy weight, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do long term.
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I’m not pregnant and I could eat pizza everyday 😉 I’ve also stopped using Splenda and use Truvia or agave nectar instead of sugar. I don’t eat much dairy anymore – I’ve learned to enjoy vegetables and other foods without loads of cheese piled on top.
I went vegan last month! Definitely a huge change, but nothing too bad since I’ve eating primarily vegetarian. But man, milk and eggs are in everything!
I totally agree with you on the pizza. 🙂 And I’m pretty sure that won’t be changing when I get pregnant! It’s my fave!
It cracks me up because your pregnancy cravings are my every day cravings. I am not pregnant and when you posted that pic of the refried bean lettuce wraps with mustard I was like, GOOD IDEA! Excpet with hot sauce! hahaha.
I am trying to lose weight and one of the biggest changes has been adding more protein to my diet. If I am not thinking about it I usually want carbs, carbs, and then maybe some more carbs on the side, but increasing protein has made a huge difference, but it’s also been a big change.
26-36 weeks was my favorite time during my pregnancy. You get the cute belly, you get super nesty and because you’re nearing the end it just gets so exciting.
My biggest craving was pineapple and mango, and I was always much more into veggies than fruit. Oh, and Jelly Belly’s, a super weird craving because I definitely wasn’t a candy eater pre pregnancy. My husband was working on a big project during my last trimester and was never home so my awesome neighbors would drop by care packages of fruit, sparkling lemonade and Jelly Belly’s.
Enjoy the last trimester, you get to meet your little one so soon.
My biggest craving was meatball subs from Subway… so bad but so good (at the time). I would normally never have food in our bedroom, but had to keep a packet of plain biscuits on my nightstand, if I woke up hungry (often) and didn’t eat, I would feel sick as a dog. I found towards the end, when my baby belly was big, I couldn’t eat much in one sitting. I figured everything had shifted so much my poor stomach was a bit squashed. You look fab in your photos by the way 🙂
My preggo craving was Taco Bell. I had to have it at least 3 times a week. And yes, it isn’t exactly good for you. But back then, it tasted sooooo amazing!
With my daughter it was fruit that I wanted all the time, and with my son it was french fries. Interestingly, I had better outcomes on all fronts (health of baby, delivery, weight gain) with my son!
I found it really difficult to gain weight in the third trimester. I had tons of energy so I was busy, busy, busy. Except I was carrying around 20+ extra pounds for all that activity. I ate GALLONS of ice cream each week with my son, and only gained 4 lbs during my third trimester. I would imagine, since you’re such an energizer bunny, that it might be the same for you!?!
When I was pregnant with my son (I was a vegetarian) I totally craved cottage cheese (protein) and dried apricots (relatively high in iron). The funny thing is that he REALLY likes dried apricots now and he is kind of a picky eater. I didn’t eat many sweets with him, which was a TOTAL change for me. With my daughter, it was definitely different. I did want the sweets more with her. Now she totally has a sweet tooth and my son doesn’t…I don’t know if it was them or me.
My mom’s “pregnant food” was cold pizza. She’d put hot pizza in the fridge!
I always tell people that sadly, I had no cravings during pregnancy. It seems I conveniently forget dashing to the hospital cafeteria (it’s across from work) to get macaroni cheese, like, three times a week. I also really loved chocolate milk, hot chocolate and cold cereal.
I’ve had big pizza cravings too. In the first trimester, for about three weeks when I was exhausted and queasy, all I wanted was warm bread and butter. Ah, who am I kidding– I want that even when I’m not pregnant, ha!
I used to put Splenda on a lot of things too. I am so glad I stopped though. Stevia is such a great and healthy solution. Even though I am not pregnant, I could eat pizza everyday as well;)
In the first trimester, I just ate a bunch. I felt bad if I was hungry at all so I tried to eat enough to never get hungry. On the flip side, I couldn’t eat too much or I wouldn’t feel well so I never ate big portions of anything.
Now, in the second trimester, I feel much more normal. I wouldn’t say I’ve had “cravings” but I’m easily suggestible. I love to eat cereal, Chick fil A, sweet tea, and vitamin water. I can’t get enough of those things.
My biggest craving during pregnancy was milk shakes closely followed by chili fries. Yum! I was in my third trimester in the middle of the summer so I sent my husband on many milk shake and ice cream runs.
Ironically my daughter was dairy intolerant for her first year and I had to go dairy free while nursing. I joked I got my fill while I was pregnant. Oh and now I have to deal with a ice cream monster, if you believe the recent studies kids get their food tendencies in utero. All I know is next time I’m going to be much more conscious about what I eat each day!
I just want to comment to remark how BEAUTIFUL you look at 27 weeks. You’re doing a wonderful job taking care of yourself and it shows!
*26!
thank you, lovely!
Definitely tons of pizza when I was preggo. Also loved Annies mac and cheeses and french toast. Guess I wanted me some carbs!
i’ve always been a carb fan, but it’s definitely more intense now 🙂
It seems like you are doing well! I’d have to say my biggest change was going from restrictive to non restrictive. Now I eat full meals with no diet crap. 🙂
Quitting drinking milk was pretty big for me. I drink almond milk instead now. I’m a vegetarian, but I quit meat so long ago that it doesn’t feel like that big of a deal now.*
I craved raw kale, avocado, chocolate, baked sweet vegan breads, fruit, french fries! 🙂 lol on being able to eat more then Tom, same here with my Tom!
When I was starting my weight loss, I had to count calories and monitor my portions very, very closely. Now that I’ve maintained my weight loss for nearly seven years, I can eyeball a lot of that stuff, and I feel comfortable no longer doing either of those things. The only exception is if I’ve put on a few extra pounds and want to take them off safely and in a reasonable amount of time!
I’ve started looking at seasonal produce in a different way. I try to eat as much organic as possible, with loads of veggies. I’ve also learn to eat smaller portion as oppose to stuffing in one sitting. So much better when I can snack (sneak) in some desserts too 😉
I’m in my first trimester and I’m really nauseous ALL the TIME 🙁 Right now I’m just eating as nutrient-dense as I can when I think I can keep something down.
The bagels and cream cheese is one of very few things that actually sounds good, though. I’ll have to try and fit some in. Hope I look as great as you do with that lovely belly 🙂
I think my biggest craving during my pregnancies was carbs! Anything carbalicious 😉 Before I was pregnant, I used to love salty foods such as chips. But after my pregnancies, I became a total sweet tooth. Cakes are my downfall. Now, I don’t even want chips. Weird.
I would keep a small snack on your nightstand! But don’t make it something too crunchy! That could wake the pilot! I used to keep a can of Pringles on my nightstand when i was sick, and one night woke up starving and grabbed a few. I was trying to eat them quietly, breaking them with my tongue first…all of the sudden, my husband starts laughing hysterically! He could hear every crunch! And could tell I was trying to be quiet! It is not possible to eat Pringle’s potato chips quietly! LOL We still laugh about it and it has been about 6 or so years now!
Maybe a small baggie with some grapes or something like that, or a soft breakfast type bar!
I used to eat bananas when I’d wake up in the middle of the night HUNGRY when in my 1st and 3rd trimester.
My biggest craving with my first was cereal, I could eat a bowl of cereal every hour on the hour. Also spicey food, by the end of the pregnancy I was literally eating tobasco off of my finger. With my second I ate an avocado and tomato salad every single day for months. I also ate a ton of plain freezer waffles.
I feel like I was really lucky that I never craved too much junk food.
My sister was very sick in her first trimester! She wasn’t gaining any weight, she was losing! The only thing she seemed to be able to keep down were potatoes! Mashed, french fries, baked! So when she got to feeling better, she could eat like a normal person! The Dr threatened to put her in the hospital if she lost more than 2 more ounces! She did gain about a normal amount of weight overall, but on the lower end of normal! And she had a normal happy healthy baby! (He is now 23!)
Biggest craving: Tomatoes!!
My pregnancy was similar to yours in the eating department! I couldn’t eat anything “normal” in the first trimester and oftentimes just stuck to potatoes in any form and bread. Veggies were sooo not happening.
Second tri was better; I could reintroduce most of the usual stuff, but I ate a TON. I packed on the most pounds in the second tri, I was just always ALWAYS hungry. Even though I kept it healthy, I had gained 30lbs total at the end of the second trimester.
Third trimester has been much better in the weight department (only gained 4 lbs from week 28-38) and lately I get full just looking at food. I try to eat healthy amounts regardless, but seeing as I’ve gained so much weight anyway, it’s almost impossible to pack on more on a healthy diet. Baby is looking great though, so I’m not too worried.
2 of my midwives keep bringing up my weight gain whenever I have an appointment with them, it’s actually kinda obnoxious. The last appointment was the worst (and ironically the one where I had only gained half a pound in the past two weeks)! We inquired about the birthing center since we briefly considered it for delivery, and she went over my chart and said “Well, your blood pressure has been pretty good (pretty good?! It’s never been higher than 95/65 all pregnancy!!) and everything else looks normal… just too bad you’ve gained so much weight.”
As if the weight gain would somehow disqualify me from birthing naturally. Not to mention I kept my diet on track, nutritious and got regular exercise up to week 35, where I switched from gym to walking. Ah.. some people. Glad your midwives don’t have any reason to give you a hard time over that!
You look gorgeous! Enjoy the constant snackage!
I think doing Weight Watchers and losing weight in itself was a pretty drastic shift for me. My tastes REALLY changed to more healthier things.
Other than that, lowering my gluten and dairy consumption has made my tolerance for sugar even less. I never thought I’d be the type of person who could make a whole batch of cookies, eat one, and give the rest away, but that’s exactly what I did last week!
Biggest craving was white food. White potatoes, white bread, white crackers, white toast, white chips…you name it, a dry white carb was calling my name. It was the only thing that really sounded good for most of my pregnancy, which is opposite of how I am non-pregnant.
You look awesome and radiant 🙂
It’s funny because I have also given up splenda. I used to joke I was going to name my first born child splenda! I finally started eating smaller meals through out the day which has vastly increased my metabolism.
I will be 12 weeks pregnant on Thursday (ultrasound tomorrow). I used to love throw together yogurt, fruit and granola for breakfast before I was pregnant. I kept this in my rotation until 7 weeks and it suddenly lost ALL appeal to me. That’s about the same time the nausea kicked in. I basically lived off of hashbrowns (bad, I know), black beans and rice, and mashed potatoes. I really had (and still have) a hard time stomaching certain foods, like veggies, milk and plain yogurt, but my appetite is definitely increasing. I actually enjoyed some yogurt at lunch today! I’ve also started incorporating fruit. Still not fond of milk and most vegetables. I’ve been buying orange juice with calcium and eating little Sargento cheese snacks to try and increase my calcium intake. Hopefully this totally goes away in the next 2-4 weeks!
I love you friend.
That is all 🙂
love you, friend! we need a pizza date sometime soon 🙂
I agree! We should each make pizza and have a skype date 🙂
oooh i like that idea 🙂
Isn’t it fun to say that you are 27 weeks!! I am 27.5 weeks and can’t wait to hit seven months and closer to the finish line. I went today for my glucose screening so I made sure to eat tons of protein and limit sugar so we will see what the results are me. The drink wasn’t bad, I had fruit punch and it tasted like Hi-C but afterwards, I got really hungry so the hubby & I stop to get a pizza by the slice which was AMAZING!! I totally hear you on the whole pizza thing. Between pizza, oatmeal or cereal, almond butter and fruit, I would be perfectly happy. Well enjoy your 27th week and can’t wait to read more about the little one.
My biggest craving was a huge hamburger and onion rings….something I would normally never eat (I don’t eat meat) before or after pregnancy. My husband was in heaven!
It makes sense that you’re not able to eat as much in one sitting…your stomach is now squished somewhere up near your bust, and there is no room for a big meal. Snacking is definitely the way to go. Be careful, though, about eating at night, because then baby might get all roly poly with energy, and may keep you awake!
BTW, it was lemons, lemons, lemons with both of my pregnancies…which are a great detox for the body. Babies know exactly what they need!
ohh that’s a good point! she wakes me up kicking, anyway, but i like it 🙂
You look so gorgeous throughout all your stages of pregnancy! I’m actually just finally weaning myself off of Splenda…it’s super hard and takes getting used to the Stevia since my tastebuds are so used to that artificial sweet taste.
What sweetener did you switch too? And what have you been using now during pregnancy? There’s so much conflicting data with all the sweeteners it’s hard to know what’s right! 🙂
You look great- so glowy (is that a word?)!! 🙂
I tried out the Paleo way of eating for awhile this summer just as a learning experience/experiment bc my boyfriend was into it, and it was SO extremely different than my carb/grain-happy usual lifestyle.. I definitely learned a lot about my body, though, and had a ton of energy from all the protein v. straight up carbs like i usually enjoy 90 percent of the time haha.
I also stopped counting calories after many years of doing so. What a glorious day that was!
The biggest change I’ve made was cutting out sugar. I read a book called Sweet Poison and it totally changed the way I think about food in general. There are so many products out there that are labelled as being healthy and low-fat, when they’re really just pumped full of sugar! The response sugar causes in your body is many times worse than fat!
I actually had to stop using splenda because I realized it was the reason my digestive system was getting so upset all the time! I was not only putting it on everything, but all the candies and sugar-free things all had splenda and sorbitol! I also used counting calories to loose weight, but I’m having a hard time letting go of it! It’s a control issue, I think. Day by day!
ONE WORD: CARBS!!!
Couldn’t get enough of those suckers when I was pregnant!!
You look amazing and you pregnancy is FLYING by!!!!
My appetite shrunk in the end because my belly got so big and it was pressing all up on my belly…so I was just eating small meals constantly. My eats tri by tri were quite similar to yours. One of my biggest cravings though were BEETS. I was obsessed. Oh..and Philly soft pretzels 😉
^I meant baby pressing up on my stomach…everything gets squished up. Why you feel out of breath easily, and why a lot of women get bad acid reflux. I remember when I dropped and felt like I could suddenly breathe again!
I just have to say – you have the cutest belly and you look exactly like you should for 27 weeks! That little bambina is curled up so snugly, right up high next to your heart 🙂 Congratulations!
(I know this has nothing to do with this post, but I meant to post this ages ago and totally forgot 🙂 )
hiii gina, just wanted to say you’re my favorite. =) keep doing what works for you… obviously it works well! you look great and are clearly making the best possible decisions for you and your lil family.
Biggest change: when I became a vegetarian. I think my family may have invented bacon, the way they gobble it up. Bacon and chicken skin used to be my favorite things. Now my favorite things are beets and kale. It’s been a good change. 🙂
I just have to say, you are radiant. I love looking at your belly pics! I think it is so interesting how much things have changed for you with food, especially in comparison to how you were eating when you first started the blog. Such awesome stuff! I have gone from a high meaty protein diet to a fruitarian diet! I think that is a pretty big change! I was a Splenda girl back in the day, lots of banana bread, home made carob chip cookies and the like too! Now just fruits and greens and fruits and greens
Somehow, I managed to eat more in one sitting while pregnant – my stomach didn’t do the whole shrinking thing. I ate like a pig and I loved it!
Hey Gina!
I just wanted to tell you that you look amazing, and your hair is so long and shiny 🙂 I really hope I am all belly like you when I am preggers. Also a quick question- Do the lululemon shorts you are wearing in these pictures ride up? They are really cute and I am always looking for good class/workout shorts.
When I was pregnant with my 2nd, I once woke up out of a dead sleep at 3am NEEDING the leftover fajitas in the fridge. I laid there and tried to forget about them but I just couldn’t. So, I waddled into the kitchen and heated up a bit of fajita veggies/meat and a tortilla, ate it standing at the microwave and then went right back to bed. So I vote yes for keeping a snack by the bed. 🙂