Vegan before pregnant but now only want meat & dairy! :(

[LouMum14]

I decided to adopt a plant based lifestyle at the beginning of this year and was absolutely thriving on it and really convicted to my decision for a myriad of reasons. However since the sickness has kicked in with my pregnancy I am craving meat and dairy products like nobodies business to the point I am repulsed by non-vegan options and being very, very ill. I am really disappointed and ashamed with myself as I strongly believed in what I was doing and although no other family members have followed in my footsteps they were all aware of my choices.

I was horribly sick this morning, my dd went out with her granny, my dh is at work and I instantly went to greggs and bought a cheese and onion pasty and chicken oval bite and ate them all without any guilt or nausea and now my stomach feels satisfied and happy and I have not felt sick since.

Has anyone else experienced this? I was so staunchly against what I have done a mere two weeks ago and now I just dgaf and I am torn and horribly confused. Wat.

*sorry meant "repulsed by vegan options"!

We are not vegans naturally so you have two choices. You can either suspend your plans and follow what your body wants. Or you can take the view that cravings are how our body has interpreted the need for a nutrient and how to communicate it. So dairy might be a need for calcium and you need to find calcium rich foods.

What you can't do is try to be strong (and view this as a moral issue), you are growing a baby and that requires some fairly crucial elements. It may be possible to stay vegan but you need the advice of experts (such as a vegan forum with a pregnancy section).

OK, so my diet choices weren't necessarily about moral type issues, but I ate quite specifically before I got pregnant. I ate in combination with carbs and fat separate, I ate to match exercise.. and all round extremely healthily and 'cleanly', with no sugar, no processed foods etc.

Foods I've eaten (and actually relied on for the main part of my diet) since being pregnant, because they are the only things I want to eat:

Ready made pots of jelly.
Sausage rolls and pork pies and meat pies from the chippie.
Icecream - cheap crappy icecream with loads of E numbers.
Scampi, ready made breaded chicken Kievs.
Bags of cheap cookies and brownies from Co op.
Just so much ketchup.
Dirty chocolate - Milk Tray, any cheap milk chocolate in fact.
Those processed flavoured rice cakes - especially sugary ones.
Baked beans, canned spaghetti hoops.
Love Heart sweets.
'Formed' wafer thin ham with hot dog pickle.

All foods that I'd never have gone anywhere near before I was pregnant. And I've literally lived on this junk. I think I had a 'healthy' three or four week gap in the middle where I was able to eat salad, but other than that I've been disappointed in myself almost every day. My boyfriend even noted yesterday that he'd been joining in - he's a dairy intolerant vegetarian with vegan leanings!

So... you're not alone. Go with whatever you can get in, because once the nausea stops, the heartburn starts... food has been an endless battle.

Oddly I haven't put on loads of weight - just about half a stone - so it can't be THAT bad for me.

I found a vegan diet to be very satisfying and without any of the soft cheese, shellfish etc risks of others.

Make sure you're getting enough fat, calcium and protein and you'll be very healthy and happy.

I agree with waiting your body is trying to tell you something.
She is is right you either need to stop being vegan until the cravings subside, maybe add in the non meat options?
Or you'll have to start being a bit more scientific about your diet and work out what you're missing.
I craved sugar and crappy foods especially in the first few months and I think that's quite common.
It does depend on your reasons for becoming vegan in the first place.

Not as extreme as you, but I ate very little meat before my first pregnancy and I did suddenly start craving it. I also started to crave milk despite avoiding it for years, due to lactose intolerance. (Have learnt since that lactose intolerance often improves during pregnancy and lactation, as I found out, to my cost, when DS2 weaned!)

As ohmychrist said, your body will be craving fat and protein and it would probably be an idea to make sure you're taking supplements to ensure that your iron, calcium and other mineral levels are adequate, while your appetite isn't so good. If you're coping OK with nuts and seeds, then it would be good to snack on them, as much as possible. 9-bars are good if you're struggling with seeds in savoury form.

I say listen to your body too - but as some salve to your conscience (and better for your health), choose the best quality meat and dairy you can get - freedom foods, organic produce - basically not Greggs sausage rolls and pasties - trust me, that is not what your body really wants!

I spoke to my best friend's mum about this for someone else a little while ago. She's a respected nutritionist and works for the Uk government, she's often asked on BBC news to explain studies/discuss issues surrounding food and nutritional health. There's no easy way to say this but studies show that veganism cannot be healthy, you miss out on vital nutrients and unfortunately tend to develop deficiencies etc. Yes, you can have healthy elements eg. healthy weight, be fit and active etc but after a prolonged period of time most people's bodies will start to struggle. She suggests at least moving to vegetarianism in pregnancy to get the correct amount of calcium etc that you need to give your baby strong bones and to develop correctly.

At the end of the day, it is best to listen to your body. Don't feel guilty about it. This isn't a moral dilemma anymore, it's about your baby being healthy and you being healthy while you carry and grow your child. Try to think, if you had an animal who was pregnant then you would be feeding them their optimum natural diet - your body needs it too to be in the best condition it can while it does the amazing job of growing a baby.

I'm not a vegan but I'm a long term veggie who had massive meat cravings in my last pregnancy from about 14 weeks, however I didn't act on them.
I'm now pregnant again and dreading the cravings coming back but I won't be acting on them.
It is totally up to you whether you keep to vegan ism or sway away from it.

Hmm, I'm veggie (since age 7, at my own choice) and although I eat some cheese I eat pretty much no other milk sources as I don't like them. I do eat eggs though. I had my calcium levels checked in my first pregnancy because I mentioned eating so little dairy and they were A OK, absolutly fine. I also always have iron levels so good all medical types who see my blood results comment on them! I know I don't eat much dairy and so I know what I need to eat to get calcium. Personally I think you can be healthy and get what you need as a Vegan, but it's harder. Pregnancy is not an easy time and feeling sick and having various food aversions and cravings is often bloody awful. I would say try not to feel guilty about going against your Vegan diet whilst your pregnant, especially in the sick filled early days. Would trying to stick to orgnaic/local/free range meet and dairy produce at least aleviate some of the issue you have with it? My 2 DCs are not veggie (neither is my husband) and I try to stick to local free range meet for them. I have never craved meet whilest pregnant but I will admit here, where I would admit no where else, to having eaten quite a number of jelly babies in all 3 pregnancies. I would never normally do it but they stop me feeling quite so rough. My opinion is even with the odd diversion from your chosen diet, you doing 'something' is better than 'nothing' (in terms of reasons for choising that diet). Hope you feel better soon.

Rubbish, smoke! A vegan diet is very healthy, provided the person eats sensibly. Dairy is not good for the body. Plant-based calcium is nothing but healthy.

My friend was a vegan and when she fell pregnant she craved big macs. She sobbed while eating the first one because it totally conflicted with ger views.

Like others have said your body is "telling" you what it needs...calcium, iron and fat. I can't offer any advice on diet but I know how my friend felt and my heart went out to her.

Have a hug x

I think your body does know what it wants in pregnancy and you will crave it. When I was pregnant I had periods where I drank loads of glasses of milk - to the point I'd drink pints from the carton and ask for it in cafe. I usually never drink it, so I don't know how I 'knew' to want it?!

Also, I usually love fish and eat a lot of salmon - usually twice a week, but in my last pregnancy and for a couple of months afterwards, I completely went off it - even the thought of it grossed me out completely... then suddenly I loved it again about 3 months after giving birth. I'm guessing there's some trace elements that my body/the baby didn't want.

Be reassured you're doing the best for your baby and eat healthily and whatever you want, then go back to being a vegan afterwards. :)

ohmychrist it's unfortunately banded about now that that is the case. As I said I know a very experienced and knowledagble nutritionist and am speaking on her advice as I said. You can choose not to believe me, I don't want to escalate it. Im just giving the OP the information that I was told and saying - as a vegetarian who is pregnant - if she wants to eat meat then there is nothing to be ashamed of as our bodies were originally built to do so.

Guys thanks so much for your input! I was so surprised to see all the replies! Feeling a little better about things today, was in a really desperate place yesterday. Sickness is just getting worse by the day and I am back on the dry crackers/sips of water diet today, no inclination for anything else as of yet. I'm just going to play it by ear and not beat myself up about it! What will be will be, and again thanks for the support! XXX