Monday, April 11

What's On The {Pregnancy} Menu?:

Caramel Frappuccino + cute husband in cute hat + chocolate croissant = a good time.
I'm sure I am not the only woman who dreads stepping on the scale
at her monthly visits to the Dr./Midwife.

I ESPECIALLY hated hearing, "watch what you eat!" accompanied with a disappointed glare. This was my experience EVERY single visit with Conrad. I was what my Doctor called "border-line gestational diabetic." She kept telling me to, "stay away from the brownies!" But never gave me any guidelines or boundaries. I felt like I couldn't eat ANYTHING, so I got pissed and ended up eating EVERYTHING (Insert Chris Farley yelling, "LAY OFF ME, I'M STARVIN'"). I was a very round pregnant woman, with permanent red finger tips from eating my way to the bottom of far too many spicy lime cheeeto bags! I indulged frequently in Mexican food, chips, sweets & fast food. I wasn't thrilled with my pregnancy body though. 
I didn't feel like I was "glowing." 

(Don't MAKE ME post that god awful picture of me sitting on the couch in my underwear, cellulite dimples all up my thigh, greasy hair, no make up at 37 weeks pregnant! I looked super sexy. HIDE'YA- HUSBANDS ladies!) Kidding.

Ugh, God, why did my husband feel so compelled to grab the camera at that very moment. I'd really like to know what his thought process was.... Good black mail material?

Watch what I EAT? What does that mean? Yes, I see them, I'm watching the Cheetos go right into my mouth daily....I'm watching what I'm eating alright!

I was talking with a friend recently about the Brewer's diet for pregnancy and she was telling me how great she feels, how she hasn't gained much weight and has a ton of energy because she's eating a high protein diet. So I did some investigating and read up on it. I was also told by my doula that the Brewer's diet is a great idea for me since I'm trying for a VBAC and want to be the healthiest I can be (And would like to avoid birthing a sumo wrestler...) I also read about it a ton in my Bradley method book.... 


For about the last 6 weeks I've been keeping a food journal and writing down everything that goes into my belly. At first, it was a drag writing it all down, but after a while I was able to see what my habits were and make better food choices. I was telling Dustin that I feel SO empowered now because I'm taking responsibility for my weight gain and I feel so much better about my pregnant body because I know that I'm putting good things into it, so as I watch the numbers on the scale increase, there is no guilt attached with it.

 I'm eating with purpose now rather than blindly eating and getting frustrated when the Doctor would say to keep the weight gain low, BUT didn't give me anything to go off of.

I've gotten a few emails and comments wondering what I'm eating....
I seem to want MILK with EVERY single meal. I craved it with my first pregnancy as well.
That and yogurt. I can't get enough dairy these days.
(23 weeks preggerz:)
Us out at breakfast last weekend. I treated myself to a decaf coffee & a pastry.
I STILL eat junk here and there. Cuz' believe me, this girl can eat!
(I'm not sure what's going on with Conrad's evil little facial expression....)
Usually throughout the week for breakfast I will drink a veggie & fruit smoothie consisting of 2 handfuls of raw spinach, 1 banana, 1 carrot, a handful of frozen strawberries & blue berries and an orange. I toss in a scoop of protein powder and some O.J. & blend it up. I'll then cook 2 egg whites with wilted spinach and maybe some chicken. Other mornings I'll have a piece of wheat toast with peanut butter and a small bowl of yogurt with fruit + a smoothie.

Conrad enjoys my smoothies also:
I snack about 2 times a day, eat about 3 meals a day and I drink about a gallon of water a day.
For snacks I eat hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, fruit, dehydrated fruit, an ice cream cone here or there, a frozen fruit pop or a fruit smoothie and maybe an iced decaf coffee. I feel like I'm eating ALL the time! I always have lots of snacks on hand.

The little guy helping me buy lemons to make salad dressing:
To help me stay on track with my diet, Dustin buys a big thing of chicken every Sunday and cooks it up. I put it in egg whites in the morning, paninis for lunch and salad for dinner. It's so helpful having cooked chicken ready to eat. The photo below is what I ate for Dinner one night. Small chicken breast, asparagus & a small salmon steak. For dessert I had an orange.
This was lunch. A cucumber, avocado, chicken breast panini with home made artichoke-garlic hummus to substitute for mayo, and a small bowl of yogurt with honey to satisfy my sweet tooth.
This food journal has really kept me accountable and helped me focus on putting good stuff in my body rather than too much bad stuff. I do however treat myself to frozen pizza & chocolate croissants every once in a while....
Eating "fairly" healthy throughout the week helps me really appreciate the times when I indulge in the not so healthy foods without the added guilt I used to feel.

{*Thank you Morgan for the healthy eating advice!}

30 comments:

  1. I wish I had read this 11 years ago. I gained 72 pounds or something like that with my first daughter! That from a normally pretty small girl... all I wanted were Big Macs and I just ate them blindly. I had been a vegetarian for ages too, so it was extra weird. With my second daughter I didn't gain as much but I still wouldn't say that I was practicing any type of healthy eating.

    I'm probably finished makin' babies but I can already think of two people I plan on sharing this with, so thank you for the post :)

    Also, "I looked super sexy. HIDE'YA- HUSBANDS ladies"-
    ^ made me really laugh. I have one of those pictures too :( And it may even be worse because I had the worst Clay Aiken-type haircut of all time!

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  2. I literally just laughed out loud. My husband probably thinks I'm a nut case laughing to myself in the office.... omg. Clay Aiken type hair cute! Loves it!

    Thanks.

    I would be a lost little lady without all of my wise, pregnant friends who give me advice and tips.

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  3. GET IT GIRL!!!
    I will say, modify that diet for YOU! If you follow it strictly, it ends up being A CRAPLOAD of food...seriously. I only gained 26 pounds [SO...why do I still look cowish?] on it this time around. My first pregnancy I gained FOR-TEE! I was talking to Morgan the other day and she has similar numbers too.
    Go grab Nina Planck's "Real Food for mother and Baby" it was THE best resource I had for me, Lily, and now Norah as far as diet is concerned. She did it all and really lays it out there talking about what is and isn't realistic. I reference her book ALL the time. LOVE IT!

    You look unbelievable btw...here's my "YOU SO HOT" shout out while I'm cursing you under my breath ;]

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  4. Good girl. Go Chels! I so wish that I had been better. As it was, I dont feel like I was super awful, I went through weeks of being super healthy and then a week of awfulness. And gained around 70 lbs. I cant even imagine what I would be dealing with if I wasnt a tall viking princess (as my father likes to call me, and now my husband). As it is I have about 30 more to lose. Ugh. And the doctor always told me the same, even though I didnt fall in the gest diabetes range I was still pushing it I guess? But no real guidelines until they finally had the nutritionist call me 4 weeks before me due date. Helpful. :) Next time I taking more control of myself from the beginning.

    You kept telling me while I was pregnant that you would show me that picture and you never did. You OWE me lady.

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  5. AND....stoked that Dustin is wearing his hat.

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  6. i hate tracking my food intake, but it's what i need to do to be accountable, as well. mine for different reasons as yours, but all the same. i love reading about other people that are trying to get healthy the same time as me. i always feel like "i should have done this a long time ago"... but it's better late than never. and i'm already feeling worlds better. every time i eat the bad stuff, i get a bellyache

    Renee

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  7. Oh this brought back so many memories of feeling hungry all.the.time. Oh wait, that's how I am now. haha, but really. I think I'll always be one with a hefty appetite, but during my pregnancy my stomach seemed to be bottomless at times...and reading about your cheeto-fests...that was me with cereal, multiple bowls multiple times a day (oh and Easy Mac) ;)

    But I loved how you said that you're "eating with purpose now rather than blindly eating." I need to be better at that. Especially being pregnant, you're being so good to your body, and good to your baby!! :) I'm sure it will pay off and help your VBAC go as smooth as possible :) And yay for splurges and sweets every now and then...I've never had a chocolate croissant, but I'm dieing to try one now :)

    PS - i loved that your sweet husband is helping to prep meals for you throughout the week! he sure loves you :)

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  8. I've tried so hard to be good this pregnancy, but I'm such a sucker for chocolate!! Especially Cadbury Creme Eggs. Dangit.
    My midwives keep reminding me that my dairy and sugar go right to my baby and if I don't want a 13 pounder, I need to stop eating both (since my last was 9 lbs 14 oz!). I'm trying to be a good girl, but I've such horrible willpower. Ugh.

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  9. Chelsea...you look terrific !!! i may just drive over to your state and eat with you sister !! love your hair too.

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  10. that panini looks delish. i should probably start a food journal, i write an exercise journal that motivates me to work out, i should probably do the same with eating more healthy. thanks for the ideas!

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  11. your fruit/veggie smoothie blend has made an almost daily appearance in our house for the past couple of months! olivia LOVES helping me make them and drink them. she even makes them for me in her play kitchen now. she'll say, "and it has spinach IN ITTTTT!" hahaha...i tell her everything that goes in it as she grabs handfuls of ingredients so she loves to list it all off when she "makes" them for me. so cute.

    good job on the healthy eating! i'll have to try that panini! YUM!

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  12. I love your dark hair! Plus I think your style is my favorite I've seen for mothers-to-be. Cute, cute, cute!

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  13. I'm so glad I read this! I always thought you could eat anything you wanted when you were preggo! I'm so glad you posted this. It makes sense!

    PS: You are seriously the cutest little baby mamma ever!

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  14. (in most cases)i personally think your body is going to gain as much weight as it needs to during pregnancy. with my first child i ate whatever the heck i wanted to and gained 60 pounds. with my second pregnancy i watched what i ate and exercised daily, and still managed to gain almost 50.

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  15. Deanna, i hear that from a lot of woman too. I think it's more of how I feel rather than how much weight I gain. If I gain 45 again with this pregnancy, I'll know that I ate right so I wont beat myself up as much!

    ;)

    PS, thanks ladies! You're so so sweet!

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  16. thanks to my mom. this dress is hers! I'm trying to wear as many of her adorable little dresses before they dont fit anymore!

    Thank you!

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  17. Hi Chelsea,
    Good for you! I think you've inspired me to keep a journal..I can relate to the first pregnancy, I gained 44 lbs, while everyone else said that wasn't much, i felt like a cow... (im 5'8) the doctor was never happy at my visits though!
    so this is our 2nd i'm 13 weeks preg and i'm trying so hard to eat healthy!
    Thanks for the ideas!
    Would you mind telling me where you got that striped blue dress your wearing with the brown belt? Is that antrho?
    Thanks!

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  18. The dress is anthropologie (lingerie section actually!) and the belt was thrifted. the sweater is old navy!

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  19. You are so healthy! And I think you summed it up perfectly at the end - eating mostly healthy allows you to really enjoy the treats when you have them (and you should have them!)

    What a gorgeous family you have!

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  20. Good for you!!! I'm on the same program now (well, eating healthy and not stuffing my face with anything that is saturated with saturated fat!). I let myself gain so much weight (in bad food) my second trimester that I decided things were going to have to change for the last one. It's never too late.

    You're still lookin' like a hot mama. Keep on doing what your doing, because it's working :)

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  21. So, I say Dustin is definitely made for wearing hats of all styles. TOO Cute!!! And you were made to wear yellow, bright yellow looks fabulous on you Sweetie. I just love that striped dress too. I do agree that your bodies going to let you know what it needs nutritionally; but it's always smart to pace yourself at the table, or in the cheetos bag each time. That panini sandwich looks yummy too. And those hummis dips you made this week-end were also yummy. Didn't know you knew how to make that. You know what it takes of yourself to lose that weight afterwards so don't stress it while that babes growing and developing inside you. Personally, I think you look fantastic and really quite tiny at this stage of this pregnancy....but I am on the bias side of any opinion about my daughter, huh?!!!
    Love ya, Mom

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  22. Thank YOU little lady for sharing your diary with us! I am proud of you, for grabbing the responsibility of your pregnancy weight and becoming empowered. Becoming aware, not obsessed (you CAN still drink coffee and eat croissants). For wanting you & your baby to be as healthy as you can.

    By the by, the picture of Dustin cutting up the chicken is so cute. Yay for hubbys in the kitchen!

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  23. Very inspiring! Thank you for posting this. I haven't managed to get a lot of workout time in so far this pregnancy, so I definitely need to cut down on all the chocolate and bread. So far my weight gain has been good and I gained 30 with my first, which was fine, but I completely agree that it's not the number that matters, it's the way you feel.

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  24. This is an encouraging post to even us non prego ladies. I agree that eating well helps me feel fine for the times that I splurge and don't. You look great and I'm loving sharing your pregnancy journey :)

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  25. YUM! Love the preggo photos:)

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  26. Ahhh the dreaded pregnancy diet! Girl, I ate anything and everything in site with both my babies! I would go through a gallon of milk in a couple of days. I would chug it right out of the carton. I couldn't get enough.

    In all honesty, you totally look great and I wouldn't stress over it. It will come off after baby is here.

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  27. Ok, this post has totally helped me, it's only been a day and a half since you posted it, but i've been addicted to spinach in everything so that helps, i just made a panini for lunch and loved it! And you inspired me to start a food journal, and it's definitly making me think before i just eat whatever my sticky fingers can find!
    hopefully I won't gain 44 lbs this time, and if I do from eating healthy then i know it was just ment to be that way!
    Thank you, Thank you!
    your blog has become one of my favorites to check daily!
    I love your darling family!

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  28. Yay Jessica! That's awesome! I'm so excited for you and glad that this post helped! ;)

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  29. i feel like this should be a diet for me any day - preggers or not! and you have amazing handwriting.

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