Pregnancy eating - healthy or splurge

[WhatchaMean]

All the doctors and books say you should eat really healthy during pregnancy- lots of fruit, veg, protein etc- give your child the best start in life. Mine said don't have any processed or junk food at all! A friend agreed that if she got pregnant she'd use it as a chance to be the healthiest she's ever been mostly for the baby's sake, but with the added benefit that it would be great for her too (skin, hair, general health for almost a year). All of this is easier said than done in reality!

Then there's the opposite view which is brainwashed into us from all the films/tv programmes that depict the pregnant woman stuffing her face, asking her partner to pick up donuts or McDonalds at 3am, and giving into every craving. And a similar view from the general public towards pregnant women: "treat yourself", "you're eating for 2", "sure you need a bit of comfort", "you can worry about losing it afterwards".

I'm currently 20 weeks and struggling to find a balance. My mind says do what the doctor says but then my hormones (and feeling sorry for myself with various symtoms) make me give in to bad choices. Then I feel bad for the baby that i should do better and I put on weight. It's also got to make some of the symptoms worse (bloating, constipation, heartburn), but I just find it really hard to stomach 'healthy food', and to find any interest in eating them. Prior to pregnancy I was actually mostly very healthy in general.

Did anyone out there eat really healthy for their whole pregnancy and if so did you feel quite good during and after?

Or did most people eat whatever they wanted and if so was it hard to shift after?

I ate healthily in general but I didn't deny myself something if I wanted it. I was/am overweight. I didn't gain much weight in pregnancy so I can't have eaten that badly. DS is perfectly healthy and that was without prenatal vitamins past 12 weeks as they made me feel ill.

I am currently 17 weeks pregnant and ate healthily before with loads of exercise. Like you, I try to be healthy but just cant seem to do it and give in to junk.

I had such good willpower before pregnancy but I just cant say no to any food at the moment. I was a calorie counter beforehand and now I'm trying to relax on the calories as long as I know I've managed my 5 a day veggies, dairy and protein.

Im focusing on getting at least five fruit / veggies a day, two portions and some protein. After that I eat whatever I want. This may not be the best example to follow though

I ate much healthier before I was pregnant. My diet has been awful since I got pregnant all I've fancied is crisps, pizza and chocolate. I do try and force some healthy soups, fruit/veg in between as well. I've put on 3.5 stone I don't know if that's bad or not because the midwife didn't say either way when she weighed me last.

There were days I couldn't stomach anything other than stodge and processed food. But I did try to eat well when I could, and ended up being fairly balanced. I would say be kind to yourself and don't feel guilty if you fancy something not particularly healthy, but try to eat well where you can.

I’ve had plenty of Macdonalds, chocolate and crap foods throughout my pregnancy (now 35 weeks)

But that’s on occasion, I almost always cook tea from scratch, which is usually bulked with vegetables as I absolutely love steamed veggies.

I’m a little bit bad for snacking on junk though. I try to drink plenty of water, as much as I can really.

But I haven’t really changed anything since being pregnant, except maybe upping my veggies which was a welcome change.. (and eating more fruit and veg will combat the inevitable pregnancy constipation!)

Unless you have the diet of an obese 15 year old then I would still have the treats you want, but remover to pack in good home made food too!

I think I found a balance across my pregnancies where in the first 12-16 weeks I ate whatever I could manage with the sickness which was often sweet stuff but also made sure I was having more vegetables and fruit then once the sickness went I did treat myself a bit more than pre pregnancy but again made sure I ate plenty of good foods. I haven’t put much extra on in either pregnancy doing it this way. My main thing has been that if I’m hungry I do eat as my body must need it.

I started out with good intentions and ate pretty healthily up until the nausea kicked in at 6 weeks. From 6 - 13 week I ate whatever I could stomach (mostly crap). I'm now 13+5 and only starting to feel slightly better over the last few days. Now that I'm not feeling on the verge of throwing up 24/7 I will start to reintroduce healthier choices for the remainder of my pregnancy.

I would say try your best but don't beat yourself up if it isn't physically possible to meet all of the RDA. Pregnancy has been about survival for me up until this point, you've got to do what you've got to do to get by x

If you can choose what you eat, then you should be eating well.

First pregnancy with DS I had morning sickness and lived on sausage rolls for 7 weeks. After that I ate a good Mediterranean style diet. He came out really strong and healthy. I was in size 8 again 10 days after birth... And this was after wearing a size 16 pair of jogging bottoms on the way in to have him at 39 weeks, turned out to be all water retention, which I massively put down to the fact that my diet was great but I drank waaaaaay too much diet coke at the end.

It was definitely easier being pregnant in the summer. Salads and light food in abundance.

This time I'm expecting twins. So sick for the first trimester that I ate nothing but plain chips and cheese sandwiches. Felt ok for a few weeks and ate well. Now in the final stages, so can't eat too much because they've crushed my stomach space and get terrible heartburn. I've been snacking on absolute junk. So many Christmas nibbles around. I think I've put on 2.5 stone, and I'm 35 weeks.

I think you owe it to the little one (s) to eat as well as possible, as long as you don't put yourself in discomfort. I think portion size is more applicable than denying yourself a treat.

People like to try and force feed you too. Like it reduces their guilt of over eating if you're eating an even bigger portion. My best friend told me something when I got pregnant the first time, and it's really stuck with me. "You're not eating for two. You're eating for one and a foetus."

My diet has been pretty poor whilst pregnant and I feel anxious and guilty about it. But I've done nothing but throw up for 30 weeks so I've just had to do what I can.

I'm 31 weeks and threw up pretty much daily until 20 odd weeks (maybe 24?), and have just eaten what I fancied all the way through. Admittedly I'm overweight and was to start, but I've not put anything on yet over the weight I started off at. Just eat what you can and try not to feel guilty

@WhatchaMean I was much healthier before pregnancy the nausea has put me off a lot of healthy stuff and I only fancy a small selection .. mostly sugar ! Hoping it will pass

Yeah I think I'm going to really try after Christmas, so at least the 2nd half will be better.

I came into this pregnancy a healthy eater, up until 6 weeks I was eating veg, brown rice, eggs, protein etc. This was my plan. Then the nausea hit at 6 weeks and all I can eat is spaghetti with a little bit of pasta sauce, two plates of it a day

I'm eating about 1500 calories a day, but it's mostly carbs and I'm mortified! I am hoping once I get to around 12 weeks I will be able to resume a healthy balanced diet.

The only good thing is I cannot eat anything sweet or sugary whatsoever, so hopefully that is limiting the spaghetti damage!

I always thought a light would go off once I got pregnant and I’d eat super healthy. That didn’t happen. I’m almost 12 weeks and I’ve ate the same as I did before I found out I was pregnant. I’m trying to get some fruit in, I have bananas and oranges for breakfast. In terms of veg though, I don’t eat that much of it. I like it! It’s just I work odd hours and find cooking for myself such a chore that sometimes it’s McDonald’s or a pot noodle. Somehow I’ve lost 3 pounds since my booking app 4 weeks ago!

My midwife told me to just eat whatever I can, and that carbs are really good as you need them for energy! And we all know being pregnant is tiring af.

I haven’t been “eating for 2”, as I know that’s a myth and baby will just take whatever it needs. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself!

I was pretty healthy throughout my pregnant. Don’t get me wrong I had the occasional treat and didn’t rule out processed foods completely. I gained 21 pounds and bounced back to shape fairly quickly. I’d have felt shit gaining loads of weight owing to me splurging but I totally get why people do.

It’s whatever is healthy and comfortable for you.