Pregnancy Snacking

Hi K.!
Have you tried the 100 calorie snacks? I am pregnant with baby #3 and trying to watch what I eat. I found all kinds of things to eat with the 100 calorie snacks, cupcakes, chips, cookies, etc. They give me that satisfaction of a "sweet" snack without being so bad for me!

What I've been eating at work this pregnancy is: bagles and light cream cheese (1 every morning), raisins, reduced fat peanut butter sandwhiches, goldfish, bananas, graham crackers, carrots and fat free ranch dressing, yogurt. Basically anything that's portable. I saw at the store yesterday that Nabisco has the new 100 calorie packs that look great too!
I did really well while working, but since i've been on leave I've gained 8 pounds! Yikes!!

Hey, it's your cuz here. I got really lucky with both pregnancies (so far) in that I didn't have to deal with nausea so I basically ate all the same things I ate before, except less steaky-type fish and sprouts. Depending on how you look at it this could have worked against me too b/c I WAS eating all the time. I never gorged, though. I just ate more often, which is recommended when you're not pregant, like every 2 hours or so. I try to drink lots of water, eat fresh fruit, lots of yougurt, raw almonds, low fat peanut butter on whole wheat toast. For nausea, I hear that lemon drop candy works good, but don't eat so much that your teeth rot. My thing with both pregnancies too is work out. I work out at least 3 times/week when pregnant and some stuff I've read says do at least 30 minutes of walking 7 days a week (unless you are high risk). The first time around was with a trainer at work but now I'm on my own so it's less consistent, but I also have a very active 2 year old that keeps me going to. Sometimes, no matter what you do, you just can't help gaining a certain amount of weight when pregnant, but afterwards it's important to fill up on the good stuff, too. I'd stay away from almost all pre-packaged or processed foods. Too many hidden preservatives, calories, etc. I breastfed the first time around and the weight kind of fell off, but when I stopped, I never could lose those last 10 pounds. I blame my diet for that, though. Good luck and let me know if you need to chat more!

I say eat what you want. This is the only time in your life that you can gain weight and nobody says anything LOL.

If you are still hungry have you tried cheese and crackers? That should curb your appitite. Also if you eat a handful of peanuts before or after you eat the fruits and vegetables it should help to fill you up as well.

A.

By the time I had my third child I was SICK of crackers! I resorted to eating Cheerios to stop my nausea and it worked for me. They are good for you too! If you don't care for the plain ones they have the newer yogurt ones that I hear are REALLY tasty :) (without the milk of course!)

I also was needing some great healthy snacks during my pregnancy and I know how hard it is to work off the baby weight. I think popcorn is a great idea. It comes in mini-bags with only 100 calories each, its pretty filling too. Has lots of fiber as well. Do you like cereal? I liked to make little ziplocs full of shredded wheat bites and raisens.
Hopefully, some of those will sound good to you.

Nuts, seeds, and berries are your friends. They are packed with nutrients, and quite tasty. Lucky for you, the fruit is starting to get really delicious. I would still stick with as much fruit and veggies as possible......but mix it up.....make a fresh fruit salad and put it in serving size containers......or make different salad variations. If you fruits and veggies are making you feel hungrier....add a serving size of hard or string cheese. It is a fabulous combo, as it includes protein. Good luck.

Try some Eziekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread with a pat of butter. Eat some apple slices too. It is filling and nutritious. To be honest, if you can stick to a regualar "grazing" diet, you will never be hungry.

Never eat too much allergenic foods....for example wheat, dairy (milk, etc), soy, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, corn are all known to be highly allergenic foods. Does this mean you should avoid them? No, but don't eat peanut butter frequently in the day. Reason for this is it helps in making your child less likely to have allergies. Amazingly most kids have allergies and don't know it because as a society we have been taught you must have hives a rash or anaphylaxis in order for it to be food allergies. However more common today is allergies causing eczema, constant illnesses including but not limited to sinus and ear infections or colds, runny noses, etc. To make your child even less likely to get an allergy, take probiotics (acidophilus, lactobacillus, etc) during pregnancy and while nursing or if bottle feeding put some in one bottle per day. It makes a large difference.

Back to diet...It is best to do rotation diets, but they are hard especially through pregnancy. The Bradley diet is excellent in pregnancy as it prevents most women from getting classic pregnancy complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, toxemia, etc plus you won't be hungry all the time. It guarantees your baby gets the best nutrition for the best start (as for what is in your control) though most moms on the diet will gain around 40 lbs. I used this diet with all 3 of my kids though I was more strict with the 1st child and ate more treats on occasion with the other 2. I gained 42 lbs, 28 lbs, and 40 lbs respectively. The 2 pregnancies where I ate closest to the perfect Bradley diet were the 2 pregnancies where all the weight was gone by the 6 month after the baby was born mark (so my 1st 2 pregnancies). With my last child I was craving more sugars. I ate more sugars which was not a good thing because every bit of it stuck on me rather than the baby. I am not large by any means, but I do still have 10 lbs to lose at the 28 month post partum mark and I have been this way since 7 months post partum. If you need more info on the Bradley diet let me know. I have the books and several food diary sheets that list what foods you are suppose to eat. The key was to get 80 grams of protien per day. I can honestly say I was not hungry often and I didn't have a difficult time saying no to bagels and donuts brought in to work. As a matter of fact I was able to retrain the way I thought about certain foods and what was worth it and what was not. I went 2 years without having tasted a donut. That was probably 6 months ago that I had one for the 1st time in that long and still haven't had one since. I do have my weaknesses, but nothing excessive. Good luck!

B. :)

Anything with a lot of protien, like peanuts. I love to eat apples but I agree, they can leave you feeling hungrier and sometimes they even make me sick! So, I put peanut butter on the apples. I also like to dip my carrots in ranch dressing. I know it's adding some fat content, but it's better than Doritos! Also, I found that you can get organic peanut butter just about anywhere. It tastes better, and it's made without trans-fat. My favorite brand is Nature's Best.

Good luck!

One thing that I LOVED when preggers, was vanilla or plain yogurt with some fruits in it, like strawberries, raspberries, etc. You can also throw some granola in there too. The yogurt will help with the nausea and sits on your stomach for a little longer so you aren't hungry as quick. Good luck!

While I was pregnant, I always kept light yogurt and string cheese with me at work. They're a great source of calcium and the protein keeps you full for longer than the carbs in fruit.

If you can incorporate walking and excercise into your daily routine.......then snacking won't be a big problem. :)

This may sound a bit Elvis-ish, but I was a fan of peanut butter & banana sandwiches. You can use low-fat or all natural peanut butter & whole wheat bread to make it that much healthier. This way you're getting good fats & protein from the peanut butter and vitamins from the bananas. It's very filling, and it doesn't take much of the peanut butter to make it tasty. This is now one of my toddler's favorites (he hates meat, so this is a good way to get him to eat protein and fruit at the same time). He likes his grilled though, which makes it even yummier. I use Brummel & Brown instead of butter.

Also, I've seen a few people mention the 100 calorie packs, which are great. Here is a link to the blog site for a "healthy eating/cooking" class I've been attending at my church. It includes some homemade ideas for these snack packs! http://journeynutritiongroup.blogspot.com/

Hope that helps a bit! Congrats on baby #2, and a big "Amen Sister!" on not knowing how hard the baby fat would be to get rid of. I hear you! :)

Try low fat cheese and crackers, cheddar or monterey jack is a good choice! I also loved eating those Vanilla Crisp special k bars when I was pregnant, they taste like rice krispie treats and only 90 calories! Or try yoplait low fat yogurt, all varieties are good. On the go, Taco Bell's regular chicken soft tacos are good and not too bad for you, or grab a bag of pretzels, they are much better for you than chips. Try sucking on peppermints or lollipops to help with the nausea, that always helped me!

I recommend pretzels! Most are fat free and give you a little fiber to fill you up. Plus if you get the low-sodium kind it's even better for you!