Help I'm eating junk AGAIN tell me how to stop!

[Picante]

I'm 5 wks pg with no 2. With DS I ate rubbish throughout, mainly potato waffles.

I've been feeling sick since 3 wks, and the only way I feel better is by eating crap, and lots of it.

So far today I've had 3 pieces of toast, a ham and cheese toasted sandwich (at 9 am ), a chicken and mushroom pastry slice, and I've just had a baked potato with cheese, tuna and sweetcorn.

DS loves junk and I'm sure it's because of what I ate when I was pg with him. I also put on a lot of weight.

So how do you do it? I'm constantly hungry. And if anyone says 'dry crackers' I shall thump them.

For me it was the carbs that made me feel better. I changed everything to the wholegrain version - bread, rice, pasta you name it if it came in a whole grain version thats what I ate. Made me feel better for longer. I am not gonna lie to you I am a big girl at the best of times and I did put some on but since the nausia went away it seems to have leveled out some. My DP said the other day - "Blimey your belly is getting bigger but your a"£se has dissapeared!" lol 20 and a bit weeks now and long may that continue!!

You just shut the cupboard/fridge and stop bloody eating!

You'll be an absolute lardarse if you carry on like that.

Lol thanks moondog.

At least you didn't mention crackers.

Don't buy any junk or anything you can walk in, pick up and eat. If it's not there, you can't eat it! Bulk out healthy things so that they are more filling. Cereal (preferably something filling and fibre rich like bran flakes) with plenty of fruit (such as banana, apple, raspberries or grapes) chopped on top for breakfast rather than just toast, which isn't really all that filling. How about a big salad with your jacket potato? For snacking, are you partial to any fruit? A nice big fruit bowl might be your answer! If you have a salad, try some bulgar wheat with it, it'll make it more filling and the bulgar wheat is a good source of fibre. Plus, the more fruit and veg you can eat, the better it is for you!

I vote for allowing yourself to eat like that in the first trimester (or while you feel sick). Apart from the pastry slice (Ginsters perchance? you ought to be ashamed! ), it isn't 'junk' any way, although it is fairly calorific.

I'd love to help but having just read that week 29 onwards that I should be eating lots of brown rice, spinach, egs and strawberries (for the manganese you know), I opened the cupboard, considered making a quinoa salad for about 10 secs, then promptly made a nutella and banana toastie instead!

On eat-crap days, (which we all have?), I just eat lots of fruit to to balance it out...

Hi there, don't worry too much - I was eating loads for the first 12 or 13 weeks but my appetite has settled down that the nausea has passed. I think you crave things you need, but going for the wholegrain versions is a good idea and if you can, fill up more on fruit and veg like others have suggested. Jacket potatoes are good for you -I still have a few every week as I love them and want the cheese.

Sometimes a big bowl of cereal (like Just Right or Special K) with some berries or a banana chopped up is quite filling and does the trick.

Not worth stressing over weight unless you think it's a serious problem, in my opinion. xx

Thanks. I think my rotund belly has slightly more to do with the pastry slices (and oh the shame, it was co-op's own ) than the pregnancy!

i think whatever gets you through your pregnancy...honestly, do you think theres a link to what you eat and what dc likes later on?

you may find its a week by week thing...i bought a toastie machine at about 8wks preg. and its now gathering dust in a cupboard...then it was those awful hotdog sausages, then sugar puffs, then crusha milkshakes, then hula hoops and mint vicounts..its terrible i know...i wouldn't let a toddler eat that but i'm allowing my unborn baby to get all the crap....not nice but it keeps my on an even keel

"honestly, do you think theres a link to what you eat and what dc likes later on?"

Apparently there is. Hang on and I'll see if I can find some info ...

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6940852.stm

and also that it can harm it later on:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2652851.stm

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7481026.st m

BTW, I'm not suggesting any of this is like the foods the OP is eating! It was just in answer to your question.

I wouldn't class what you are eating as junk (well, apart from the pastry slice perhaps!)

I just went with what I wanted to eat tbh but made sure I also had enough fruit, veg and fish.

In my first trimester with all the nausea the only thing that calmed my stomach was Diet Coke and crisps

But I still ate normal meals, if stodgier or blander than normal to compensate. Jacket potato and cheese was perfect.

In the case of extreme sickness we're told not to panic too much about damage to the baby. I reckon it takes what it needs and it's the mum who's left deficient and even more knackered when not eating, or eating crap. One of those stories above did say about high fat diet's throughout pregnancy relating to obesity later on, but the first few weeks when you are just tring to get through the day I think we can give ourselves a break! plenty of time to make up for it in 2nd and 3rd trimesters (long as that sickness and tiredness goes away)..

I really think you should just obey your body - if it wants a pasty - eat it!

get sea bands for the nausea
nibble on grapes or chopped-up apple
drink as much water as you can

maybe get tested for gestational diabetes?

Doesn't sound like junk to me- OK a pasty isn't great but not the worst! The rest is fine!
I would go with it as the feeling won't last and you'll probably go back to normalish after the first trimester. Listen to your body!
I ate like a trougher in my last pg and lost it pretty easily with breastfeeding and a small bit of effort after dd was born!

I think the key thing is to try and stick to regular, consistent meal times - and actually allow yourself a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack without feeling guilty.

I went off nearly everything green for the first 16 weeks - for evening meals I stuck to fairly comforting things like macaroni cheese, jacket potatoes, sausage and mash (and tiny bit of cooked green with lots of potato to hide it!)... Breakfast I always just have a rule never to eat more than two slices of toast, and lunch would be sandwich with fruit, or nice comforting things like tomato soup. A guilt-free piece of cake in the afternoon also really helped.

Luckily after 16 weeks I went back to normal - except for having much less will power than before. I avoid gorging by sticking to regular eating patterns and making sure I don't deny myself snacks between meals (eg. banana and digestives/fun size chocolate in the morning, piece of cake in the afternoon).

Try cordial and fizzy water rather than diet coke etc. Also sometimes when you feel hungry, you're actually thirsy and a glass of water does the trick.

Just make sure you don't have too much crap in the house - have crisps/chips etc, but try and limit them to the weekends... This is less easy at Christmas with too many chocolates around - but a little bit of what you fancy isn't going to do you much harm!

Hope this helps!

Much healthier than what I've been eating this time round. If that's junk...

If you're eating toast try to go for wholemeal - far more nutrients and apparently brown bread is a good source of iron. The jacket potatoes sound good for you. Try and add some vegetables perhaps. Also, if you're eating most in the mornings/lunch you'll probably burn it up.

are you the person who goes to the shops and buys all the food

then from now on write a list and stick to it
no waffles
no oven chips
no pasties

no biscuits
no cake

etc

if its not in the cupboards you cant eat it

What on earth is wrong with biscuits and cake?

Nibbling on a few grapes wasn't going to exaclty fill me up in the early weeks. My idea of a snack was egg on toast!

I ate loads of food when I was expecting my dc, some of it healthy, some of it not so healthy.

bicsuits and cake are empty calories

It's sugar which is a so called empty calorie - banana cake/muffins would be ok though?

I honestly don't see the problem in giving into your cravings during the early weeks particularly if you have nausea (as long as you try to eat some healthy stuff in between times)

With my 1st pg I had to eat all morning from breakfast til lunch or I would feel sick but on a typical day I would have cereal (no sugar and skimmed milk) at home, then when I got to work I would have yoghurt with museli sprinkled in, fruit (about 3/4 pieces through the morning), cereal bars, then maybe biscuits or some cake before lunch of sandwich/soup/salad or whatever.

However, that was what I felt like eating and if I had fancied a ham and cheese toasted sandwich at 9am I don't know that I would've been able to resist!!

I think the brown/wholemeal suggestion is good. I also used to be strict with myself that I could have cake (or whatever unhealthy food I fancied) after I'd had (for example) a banana and an apple so I was literally taking it one snack at a time.

Nothing wrong with eating what you want, but the OP has asked for advice to stop eating crap