Haha frus So cute! (the saying, not the thingy up the nose).
Oh jeeze sorry to hear about the tantrums. I hate dealing with them in public. People think they're being so helpful and I feel like biting their heads off because it's like...."dude, I'm working on patience with this little thing on the floor, ZIP IT you old fart"
Pear a little tip to share. Protein, protein, protein. Eggs, nut butters, meat, beans, protein powder in smoothies, repeat. Also full-fat things! (I know it sounds counter-productive, but it keeps you fuller for longer). Whole milk yogurts (greek yogurt tastes awesome and is full of protein ), avocados, butter, full-fat milk. Switching out things like "white" foods (pasta, white bread, white rice, cous-cous) with whole-grains like quinoa, whole grain bread, brown rice, oatmeal. Also starting to really take a look at labels. Stay away from things that say "low fat" as they tend to be low in fat, but high in salts and sugars to make up for the taste. Avoid packaged "snack" items and switch them out for a piece of fruit with some cheese or PB or yogurt or veggies with bean spreads (hummus, white bean dip, black bean dip, etc). (also believe it or not carrots and PB are surprisingly yummy!). Parma ham and cantaloupe is yummy! (plus it has protein). It's also amazing at how much sugar is in things like juice and sodas. Switching it out for water with lemon or lime, or infusing berries into the water for taste works if you have a sweet craving. These are all things that I talked with loads and loads of pregnant mothers when I was a student midwife. It takes a lot of work to eat healthy. A. Lot. Of. Work! Something that helps too is to remember that you don't have to deprive yourself. You don't have to make an entire diet change. It's about making small changes and adding in things that make it easier to work on eating more healthily. It's already awesome that you do a lot of cooking at home! You are on the right track! Even though these are things that I try to do in myself and can happily tout them to other people, it's hard and I slip sometimes and find myself needing to go back to the basics again and work on it.