Feeling guilty for not eating healthy enough in pregnancy:

[Poise123]

Hi! I’m 18 weeks pregnant and I’m someone who used to cook and eat fairly healthy before becoming pregnant. The first couple of months after getting pregnant I tried my best to eat healthy enough. Meat is something I can’t stand. I’ve not had any nausea or vomiting( touchwood) but I’ve been very tired. Also, studying side by side for an exam so I feel like I haven’t prioritised my diet much. I have noticed that ever since second trimester started I’ve been eating a looooot of potatoes. I am trying to incorporate vegetables in the form of soups etc but again I can eat only one or two vegetables like maybe butternut squash. I eat 2-3 fruits per day along with dry fruits and nuts. I feel like during the morning and for lunch I manage to eat somewhat healthy. But when it comes to dinner I’m exhausted and don’t know what to cook and mostly don’t feel like eating anything and end up ordering outside like a wrap etc with almost no nutritional value. I am strict with my prenatals.
I feel super guilty that I’m not eating healthy enough.
I am slightly on the higher side of BMI so had a GTT test at 15 weeks which was absolutely normal.
Also my husband does help me with cooking but I myself have no idea what I want to eat especially dinner( deciding what’s for dinner has been a task in pregnancy). So he’s clueless too.
Can anyone relate to this? Need reassurance that my baby is doing good.

Aww. This is so very stressful. I tied myself in such knots and felt so bad that it really took the shine off my first pregnancy. However, despite my v severe hyperemesis gravidarium, I produced two great children.

My first was better than my second, but dear love her, my daughter was grown primarily on salt and vinegar crisps from 6 weeks to 24. Honestly, it was awful. I spent long periods lying down, but had an older child who needed to go to school etc. I had to tell people I was pregnant earlier than I would have liked because I was caught so many times vomiting in bushes, into gardens etc just doing pick-up and drop off. I was worried what people might be saying!

Once I could tolerate food other than crisps, I wanted chips. Not my own airfried ones. No, just salty McDonald's style French fries. I am not a McDonald's person, but if I go, I just have a chicken mc crispy. I wanted them nearly every day. I woke at night and fantasied about big macs. I have never had a big mac, so wtf?
So I would say, chill. Eat what you can. Take good supplements.

I kept getting told that the growing baby will just take your nutrients, so don't worry about them, they will be grand. What you need to do is protect your own health.

It doesn't sound like you're eating too badly at all. 1 beg veg and 2/3 pieces of fruit are more than alot of people have.

Do you have a slow cooker? That saved me during pregnancy. Just chuck some seasoning, meat and veggies in. If it's there ready, you will probably be more in the mood for it.

Also maybe try blending some stuff into a juice. You might find it goes down easier.

@Poise123 My diet has pretty much gone off a cliff since I got pregnant. Eat what you can, keep taking the vitamins. The normal rules don't really apply. Fed is better than not. The baby will take what it needs.

You could make a list of 10 meals you know you can stomach and just work through that for dinner? Might get repetitive but takes away need to choose every night. Or just have smaller meals throughout the day?

Sounds fine to me OP!

In my pregnancies I subsisted off ginger biscuits, full fat coke, chocolate milk, and burgers. It's all I felt like eating. Normal BMI, size 8 etc.

Listen to your body and be gentle with yourself 🩷

My diet isnt great at 20weeks
First pregnancy I ate great, all nice foods and my appetite never changed etc etc but this time I'm craving anything remotely unhealthy and I'm hungry all the time? I eat what I can that is on the healthy side but definitely eating more than my fair share of junk too which I feel very guilty about afterwards. I have a history with eating disorders and I'm struggling with seeing my weight change this pregnancy and knowing I'm eating not great stuff a lot but at the same time I know if I'm hungry I need to eat! Just trying to keep the balance on the healthier side if I can and trying to go easy on myself! We are doing a big job growing these babies x

With my first DD I had horrible sickness for the first half of pregnancy then craved nothing but junk food (one takeaway in particular, 2/3 times a week) and couldn't stand most of our usual home cooked meals for the second half. DD was absolutely fine (albeit a big baby for my size). You eat what you can stomach & don't feel guilty, you're doing an amazing job.

It sounds like you're doing great, lots of healthy foods there and prenatal vitamins. Carry on as you are and you'll be fine 😊 as others have said, you could maybe use a slow cooker to make dinner in the morning/lunchtime if that's when you have energy, but I honestly wouldn't worry about your diet.

Full believer here that if your body needs anything, it'll crave it in pregnancy. I had a surprise pregnancy so didn't take any prenatal vitamins till week 6-7, BUT I had constant cravings for chickpea curry for the first 6 weeks of the pregnancy which, after I panic researched, contained all the folic acid needed to keep baby healthy! I also then grew that beautiful baby mainly on dairylea dunkers as that's all I wanted to eat, and she's absolutely perfect! So please don't worry too much about food. You're doing fantastically.