Anyone else looking to improve their pregnancy diet / kick their sugar habit?

[PurpleCurtain]

I'm 27 weeks and really need to kick my sugar habit for third trimester (perhaps the damage is done but I'm hoping every little helps and that I can still prevent GD / preeclampsia / large baby / fat and miserable me). I've basically just allowed it to continue from my morning sickness days where I used the sickness as an excuse to eat what I liked - anyone else in the same boat and want to join me in a pledge to be much better?

I had been recording things on My Fitness Pal and checking the total sugar I'd been eating in grams, only to realise that some of the items didn't actually have any data for sugar so I've been massively under-recording!

Today I ate:
BREAKFAST: Bran flakes, almond milk, orange juice, small fruit yoghurt pot
SNACK: Chocolate protein bar, decaf tea
LUNCH: Fish fingers, roasted potatoes, baked beans, mayo. Glass of (sugar free and caffeine free) pepsi.
SNACK: Bar of chocolate
SNACK: Melba crackers with cream cheese. Handful of cherry tomatoes.
DINNER: Butternut squash and sugarsnap korma and white rice. Glass of lemonade. Magnum.
SNACK: Apple

I'm going to keep recording (with more accuracy!); today I think I ate around 200g of sugar. I want to get this down to 60g each day immediately, and once I've done that for a couple of weeks then try and reduce it further.

Great idea putting it on here for motivation! I think most people probably eat more sugar than they should. I do, although I think a lot of mine comes from fruit. Can you try swapping out the chocolate for fruit or yoghurt? And just not buying the chocolate in the shop in the first place so there’s no temptation x

COVID doesnt help as we don't like going into food shops and still can't get online orders regularly enough to get fresh fruit to last until the next order. But yes I should try replacing some of them with tinned fruit / frozen fruit... although, I guess veg or nuts would be even better in terms of sugar content!

Hi

I definitely want to cut down on my sugar!
I'm quite overweight with BMI of 32. Am currently 20 weeks pregnant and weighed myself today- was very pleased that I'm currently 4lb below my starting weight, but that is thanks to incessant vomiting. The problem is that I basically only eat carbs! Its crazy. Have to try and incorporate some more protein/veg and cut back on carbs/sugars.

@PurpleCurtain agreed it’s so hard with fresh fruit and online orders. Apples seem to keep the longest and I’ve got lots of dried fruit (although that’s packed with sugar) plus peach pots which I like and I keep frozen strawberries in the freezer for my porridge in the mornings.

I crave sweet foods when not pregnant, so was actually really healthy when I was pregnant and strangely my usual cravings disappeared. My friend was the same but our BMI s were about 30 to start with. I order from Able and Cole every week and use up the veg in tray bakes. The small fruit and veg box is about £14 per week which is plenty for me. My friend subscribed to odd box and their stuff is cheaper. I also buy proper chips or chocolate slim fast bars. So far I have never ate a whole box of slimfast bars but have totally eaten 5 twirls in one go.

Healthy eating is great but you can’t prevent GD. Just thought I’d mention it as women often feel guilty after they are diagnosed and like it’s their fault for eating too much sugar. It’s caused by the placenta and how it processes sugar, not what you eat.

YeAs! I’m not overweight but I have pcos and sugar is my biggest problem. I’m a bit of an emotional eater too.

I did try only eating sugar on Fridays (but fruit is allowed anytime) as a treat. That worked well for ages but went out of the window in the first trimester as I felt so rubbish. (That’s my excuse)

I have muesli, Greek yoghurt and berries for breakfast
Lunch is peanut butter on rice cakes or marmite toast
Dinner could be anything but I try to include lots of veg

In between I’d have fruit or nuts on a good day - on a bad one I’m reaching for crisps and choc!! Xxx

Glad it isn't just me - and really interested in the fruit and veg boxes... do they hold up okay @Cherry2456? I don't help myself by getting a bit fussy about bruised / bad fruit and veg at the moment!

We can do this... it definitely always makes me feel better to snack on nuts; I'll just have to ignore the fact that they are pretty high calorie!

I have continued my fasting ways but a little more relaxed, I used to fast for 20-22 hours a day and now do 12-16 hours. I have kept up with powerlifting sessions but had to reduce the weights I use.
I became a carb loader in the 1st trimester and gained too much weight, not gained more since 14wk though and now 22+1wk. I have allowed too many treats but slowly reducing them down and replacing with healthier options. My only hope now is to not gain much more weight.

Don't look too much in to calorie values of foods, lots of foods that are really good for us are quite calorific. I like frozen fruit and veg. I often chop up my fresh stuff and fast freeze it.

@PurpleCurtain you are literally describing me! Also 27 weeks and same issues with nausea/sickness, I've just remained a carb/sugar fiend since.

End of October I'd just got to Week 7 of Couch to 5k. Found out I was pregnant and my running buddy had to stop for a few weeks anyway by the time she could run, I was struggling with the sickness so never restarted. I've put on nearly 2 stone since September

Had my GTT the other week, no outcome yet so don't think I've got diabetes, but BMI has gone up to 41

I just feel like it's too late, which is totally not the attitude to have

@Chelyanne very impressed by your fasting! I don't think I could do that... I really notice my performance at work dropping if I don't at least have a snack every couple of hours.

@ChunkyButFunky87 not too late! Do you have a couple of swaps you can focus on as a starting point? E.g. one snack and dessert you can switch for something healthier (or at least less sugary!)?

I'm place marking here, more for ideas really! I am only 11 weeks but have just found all my normal, healthy food habits have totally gone out the window. I just want carbs, carbs and carbs. Most evenings I cook a nice nutritious meal and the thought of eating it makes me feel sick, so I have toast followed by biscuits... I can't wait to get back to my usual meals, hoping the day comes soon! I feel awful that my diet has got so bad.

After eating a blueberry muffin, some chocolate tart and a pack of love hearts already this morning, I'll definitely join you! I don't want to count my sugar though as I'm prone to overdoing diets, but I'm all ears for healthy swaps and general motivation!

@PurpleCurtain most people say the same, I said it too until I started doing it over 2 years ago. I do all my gym sessions in a fasted state and prefer it to doing it fed as I used to start flagging towards the end of a session when I did eat prior. My dh is doing a 3 day fast this week and I think he's crazy, I've never done more than 44hrs though extended ones too often can mess with hormones so I rarely do them anyway.

@Chelyanne maybe I'll give it a try at some point, but I guess it's probably not something to start for the first time whilst pregnant or breastfeeding!

@Opticabbage agree counting is not for everyone... I definitely need to start by counting as otherwise I feel a bit clueless about what things contain!

Takes a while for your body to get used to it so not a good idea to start in pregnancy or when bf.

Well I ate a wispa gold and 3 biscuits yesterday.

Regretted it straight after!