Pregnancy and Weight Maintenance

[ZweetiePie]

The rest of yesterday:
12pts-Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (about 3 cups)
5pts-salad with ranch dressing
3pts-2 oreos
1.5pts-1 snickerdoodle
3pts-1 c milk
4pts-2c sweet tea

42.5 total....didn't count my water for the rest of the day. 9 pts over for yesterday.

Overall I have had a pretty bad week nutrition-wise. I went over my pts a lot. I did exercise 6 days this week. I weighed in today at 221.2. So I have only gained 1 pound in two weeks. Not too shabby. Today is my cheat day, so I am not going to record food.

 

[disneymom3]

Having been overweight and pregnant, I feel for you. My middle one I had gestational diabetes and honestly it was a great thing because I got to see a nutrtionist. I woudl strongly suggest talking to your dr about referring you to someone who specializes in nutrition for pregnancy. It was extremely helpful.

Quick suggestion for you, add some raw spinach and tomato to your turkey sandwiches and you will have a quick serving of vegies.

Good luck to both you and your baby!

 

[lil mermaid]

Okay, I am only posting this because the title of your post said "comments welcome."

I want to say this in the nicest way possible - your diet is pretty bad. For someone who is pregnant, it is REALLY bad. Very little in the way of fruit and veggies and not much calcium. Way too much sugary junk.

Is there any way that you can get your doctor to refer you to a nutritionist? Or maybe even pick up a basic book on pregnancy nutrition - or nutrition in general.

Good luck to you!

 

[ZweetiePie]

lil mermaid-I respect your opinion, however I have changed my title to say encouragement welcome, not comments welcome. Did you even look back at how I have been eating before the second page? I have goals that I am trying to accomplish and I don't appreciate you accusing me of just eating sugary junk. Yes I had a couple of bad days and I know how to eat healthy but sometimes it just doesn't happen. I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that you are probably one of those people who has been skinny all their life and if you have children you probably gained like 4 pounds the whole time your were pregnant, so I would appreciate you not commenting on my journal anymore. I need encouragement, not criticism (and no, that was not the nicest possible way to address the issue).

 

[lil mermaid]

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[ZweetiePie]

So, I'm back. Had a rough couple of weeks. I got a cold that lingered for a while and had a lot of errands to run that kept me from getting on the boards. Even though I haven't been posting I have been doing moderately well on my goals....no exercise since I got sick though.

I ended up changing dr's because of the problems I had with my previous one (bringing up my weight every visit...not checking the heartbeat until I was 5 and 1/2 months pregnant...not being very informative....not having good bedside manner).

My first appt with my new dr was Thursday of last week. She was so amazing. She was thorough and just one of the nicest people I have ever met. She wanted to know if I had any concerns and I discussed the weight issue with her. She said that she would only start being concerned with my weight and bring it up if I gained much more than 50 pounds. She said what most dr's don't realize is that most people gain the most with their first child and that I wasn't really that overweight to begin with (she went on to tell me about a woman that she is treating for pregnancy that is 500+ pounds). We discussed gestational diabetes and high blood pressure (neither of which I am diagnosed with yet) and she said that mostly the diabetes and blood pressure issues are independent of your weight and have to do more with how your body reacts to being pregnant than how much weight you gain. I did take my glucose test at the visit and she said they would only call me if I failed it.....she said if I passed they would just tell me how I did on the next visit. So far, I haven't gotten a call....but I don't know how long it takes to process my blood. Then she measured my belly (something my previous dr never did). She said I was measuring perfectly for my weeks of pregnancy. It was a great experience.

Enough about that, here is my food so far today:

4-1 serving Kashi Island Vanilla Wheat Cereal w/ 2%milk
2-1 pc baked chicken breast
3-1/2 c whole grain chicken flavored rice with tomatoes mixed in
0-1/2 c okra
1-1/2 c sweet tea
3-1 and 1/4 c kix cereal w/ 2%milk

Water is kind of sucking today. Only 32 oz so far, but I can make it up.

That is 13 pts so far today (shooting for 31). We may go visit the MIL today and she has made some sort of new coffee cake recipe that I may have a little of. Supper will be baked chicken breast and baked potato with a salad. I may make some cinnamon muffins this afternoon if we don't go see the MIL. I am craving cinnamon. Does anyone have any suggestions something that is cinnamony and sweet but not terribly bad for you?

No exercise today. Tomorrow starts the training for the 10K I am doing in March. I am excited about it. The training plan I am using is at this link:
http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10kwalk.htm

The race is on a Saturday instead of a Sunday so I am moving all the training back a day. Long walks will be on Saturday instead of Sunday. I found out from the people that put on the event that the time limit is 2 hours, so as long as I can keep a little better than 20 minutes per mile I should have no problem finishing.

Oh and the best news:

I weighed in today at 224.2. I gained 4 pounds in 4 weeks. I am pleased with this. Now if I can just keep this up (or less) for the next 13 weeks I will meet my own goal of not gaining more than 40 pounds the entire pregnancy.

 

[ZweetiePie]

Yesterday, food wasn't very good. I had a bowl of Kashi Island Vanilla Wheat Cereal with some 2 % milk. We went to Sunday School and someone had brought White Chocolate Pecan Pralines (Oh my goodness....they were so good). I ended up eating about 3 of them. I wasn't really hungry but I wanted to try one and then another and another happened. I know they weren't a healthy choice but moving on. Lunch was two peices of papa johns pizza with a large (at least 2 cups) salad and a two servings of Ranch dressing. Didn't have much in the way of supper. Later on yesterday I did have 1 serving of vanilla ice cream with some rasberry syrup drizzled over the top. No exercise (my training program called for rest/walk and so I rested).

Today so far I have eaten one serving of kix cereal with 2 % milk and 3 - 12 oz glasses water. I might have a snack(2 tbsp peanut butter and some 2% milk) before I walk. Lunch is going to be baked chicken, whole grain rice with tomatoes mixed in, and okra. For supper I am making potato soup made with lowfat buttermilk and chicken boullion. I might cook some sausage to put in it....to give it some protein. Today my training program calls for a 30 minute walk. I will post results of the walk later today (pace, etc.)

I have been very productive today! I did the dishes, vacuumed, did laundry, swept, mopped, and antibacterialized the kitchen. I am kicking some serious housework butt

 

[ZweetiePie]

I ended up having a peanut butter and jelly with whole wheat bread, 1 tbsp pb, and 1 tbsp jelly and 1/2 c 2% milk before my walk. Lunch was the baked chicken, okra, and whole grain rice with tomatoes. I had about a 2 by 2 inch square of homemade coffee cake and a tangelo for an afternoon snack that my MIL brought by (it was very thin about 1/2 or 3/4 inches thick. My husband and I ended up having to go out last night to meet up with someone and get some things from the pet store so I didn't cook the potato soup. For supper I had a serving of frozen chicken nuggets and a small salad (about 1 c) with ranch dressing. While we were out we also got a grapefruit and white chocolate mousse swirl from TCBY to split between use. It was yummy! Training calls for rest today, so I won't be doing anything to strenuous.

So far today, I have eaten 1 serving Kashi Island Vanilla Wheat Cereal with 2% milk, 1/2 grapefruit with less than 1 tsp sugar on top, and 24 oz water. Plan for lunch is baked chicken, whole grain rice with tomatoes, and salad with ranch dressing. Since we don't have to go anywhere today, I am planning on making the potato soup with sausage this afternoon so we can have it tonight.

I am really craving french onion soup. It is fairly easy/cheap to make, but my husband hates onions so I am torn on whether or not to make it. I would have to go to the store and get ingredients. Man, I love it though .

 

[ZweetiePie]

Oh yeah, I forgot to post about my walk yesterday. It was a 30 minute walk and I went 1.5 miles. That works out to be a pace of 20 minutes per mile. I felt pretty good most of the time but I know of one particular place my speed suffered. About 3/4 of the way into it I got a really bad pain in my right lower abdomen. I am pretty sure it was round ligaments and I think it was due to the sidewalk being uneven (my right side was lower than my left). It went away after I started walking down on the road instead of the sidewalk.

 

[ZweetiePie]

Since breakfast I had a pb jelly sandwich with 100% whole wheat bread, 1 tbsp pb, and 1 tbsp jelly, 1/2 c 2% milk, the baked chicken, whole grain rice with tomatoes, small salad with ranch dressing, and a navel orange. I just finished making some potato soup. I don't think it is that bad for you. It was made up of about 8 small potatoes, potato water added back in, 2.5 tbsp butter, 1/4 c 2%milk, 8 slices american cheese, and 1/2 lb of sausage. It turned out so good. I am about to have that for supper and probably two cups of tea.

 

[ZweetiePie]

With my soup last night, I had a small (1/4 inch) slice of beer bread to go with it. I also had an Organic Apple Cinnamon Pop Tart and about 1/2 c ice cream.

Today so far I have had 1 serving of kix with 2% milk, 12 oz water, and 1 and 1/2 tangelos. I need to cook something for lunch....it will probably be baked chicken, cabbage, and starch of some sort.....brown rice or potatoes. The plan for supper is beef. I have some thin frozen steaks that I may thaw out, or we may have some frozen spaghetti and meat sauce made with whole wheat spaghetti.

Exercise will be 30 minutes of walking per the training guidelines that I am following for the 10K.

 

[lilybrooke14]

Your journal here is a great start!

I am also pregnant, and I am also overweight. I actually weigh a little more than you do. My doctor and I had a discussion about my weight and what the consequences can be. I've had morning sickness, so it's been hard to keep down fruits and vegetables. Luckily, I've been pretty much completely turned off of sweets.

I've been trying to make sure that I eat only whole wheat and whole grains, and that I try to get protein in the form of beans (sometimes I start with dry beans, and sometimes I get low sodium canned beans and then rinse them in a strainer to get the juice off). I eat a little cheese, but it's got a lot of sodium and saturated fat, so I try to only have a few servings a week.

I know that you say you only want encouragement, so I'm going to encourage you to go to the library and pick up some books on pregnancy nutrition. You're getting a lot of empty calories from starches and sugar. I know fresh produce is expensive and not very tasty right now. I've been getting a lot of frozen fruits and vegetables. It's really easy to get fruit servings in a smoothie. My favorite has a cup of mixed berries, a cup of skim milk, a cup of plain yogurt (you have to be careful, some yogurt has gobs of sugar) and a small banana.

One of our best recipes for getting vegetables is chicken vegetable soup. You get one whole chicken, boil it and de-bone it. Save the broth and put the meat back in the pot. Add three large cans of tomatoes and two bags of mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, green beans, and lima beans). Lots of veggies, broth based, so not too much starch, some protein, and not too much sodium.

I'm not trying to be preachy, because as I said, I'm heavy too. I am serious about keeping my diet healthy for myself and for my baby. I've done weight watchers before, and I stopped because I found the point system to be frustrating. You can eat unhealthy foods all day, and not go over your points, but you're not doing yourself any favors. I much prefer just using the food pyramid. I'm a visual person, so it helps me to start a copy of the food pyramid that's black and white and fill in the servings as I go with colored pencils. I keep it on the fridge. Once I'm out of a section, then I'm out! It makes it easy to keep track of during the day and easy to look over for the week, month, whatever.

Good luck, and please don't cover your ears when people try to help you. They're not trying to be mean or make you feel bad. It makes it seem like you really just want people to tell you what you want to hear instead of actually trying to help you.

 

[ZweetiePie]

Lunch yesterday was 1/4 c frozen lasagna and 1 c whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce and a small salad with ranch dressing. I also made a chocolate angel food cake yesterday and ate 2 peices. Supper was 1/4 c crustless spinach and beef quiche that I made and a biscuit with low fat margarine. Water was about 72 oz. I did my 30 minute walk today, but I did it with the walking tape. It was too cold outside for me (the forecast said 40's......come to find out it was actually sleeting here).

So far today I have eaten a bowl of Kashi Island Vanilla Wheat Cereal with 2% milk, 1 slice of chocolate angel food cake, and some 2%milk. My parents are coming to take me out for a late lunch today so I am going to use this oppurtunity to get some cravings out of my system(probably won't be the best eating day).

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Lunch yesterday was 1/4 c frozen lasagna and 1 c whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce and a small salad with ranch dressing. I also made a chocolate angel food cake yesterday and ate 2 peices. Supper was 1/4 c crustless spinach and beef quiche that I made and a biscuit with low fat margarine. Water was about 72 oz. I did my 30 minute walk today, but I did it with the walking tape. It was too cold outside for me (the forecast said 40's......come to find out it was actually sleeting here).

So far today I have eaten a bowl of Kashi Island Vanilla Wheat Cereal with 2% milk, 1 slice of chocolate angel food cake, and some 2%milk. My parents are coming to take me out for a late lunch today so I am going to use this oppurtunity to get some cravings out of my system(probably won't be the best eating day).

I just saw your journal and I hope you don't mind if I follow it.

Congratulations on your commitment to getting healthy. The walking is a great start.

It's also great that you are writing down everything that you eat. For me, that has always been the hardest part because it forces me to be honest.

That being said, it sounds like your doctor is at least a little worried about weight during pregnancy, particularly the thought of gestational diabetes. I have type 2 diabetes and believe me, it isn't fun. One of my coworkers has your weight profile and had gestational diabetes with her second child last year. One thing that can help you to avoid it is to limit carbs. The more carbs you eat, the harder your pancreas has to work. If you are insulin resistant (not sure if you are), your pancreas may already be on its way to burn out. The higher your carb content, the quicker it is going to burn out on you and you will see your blood sugar rise.

Looking at your meal breakdowns:
1/4 c. frozen lasagna= 15 carbs
Whole Wheat spaghetti= 38 carbs
Meat sauce= 4g (I put it in as a quarter cup since i couldn't find whole wheat spaghetti with the sauce combined)
Ranch Dressing= 2 (I put it in as 2 tbsp)
Total carbs: 59

That's not horrible. The whole wheat spaghetti is a much better choice than refined. Whole grains are harder for your body to process that refined grains which means that you are not going to spike your blood sugar as much. Fiber is also great because it blocks the absorption of carbs. This would still be a high meal for me (I cannot go above 45 grams of carbs), but then, I am a diabetic. I don't know how many carbs a pregnant woman without diabetes should eat. That might be something to ask your doctor.

2 slices of angel food cake= 64grams of carbs (I put it in as white because Calorie King did not have chocolate)
This is pure carbs. It is going to leave you feeling really hungry and will spike your blood sugar quickly. Fat and protein slow down glucose absorption, so you don't go as high, drop as quickly, and feel fuller longer. However, angel food is at least lighter than normal cake in terms of fat and calorie content, so it's not quite the calorie bomb that 2 slices of regular cake would be.

1/4 c. quiche= 12.7 carbs. This is actually a really good choice. It's not carb heavy and the fat and protein in the quiche will leave you feeling satisfied. Your water intake is also really good.

Today's meal so far:
Cereal=44g
2% milk=13
Total carbs=57
Again, very high in carbs. At least the cereal and milk combined have about 14g of protein, so that will help you feel full.

Angel Food Cake=32
2% milk= 13
Total carbs=45 grams

You are having a lot of carbs already today. It looks like you need more protein, and definitely more produce. I know it's hard. I have the hardest time eating within my carbs because damn it, they're just so yummy! But I have also learned that I feel like complete and total crap if I let my blood sugar spike and drop.

You are making some really good choices: water, walking, going for whole grains (like the Kashi and pasta). But there is always room for improvement. It sounds like you have a pretty low grocery budget. Have you thought about frozen veggies and fruits? They are not nearly as expensive as fresh and may actually be better for you as they are frozen at peak ripeness, so they still maintain lots of nutrients! You can throw frozen veggies into just about any dish to really give you a lot of volume without adding a lot of calories. You can use frozen veggies in oatmeal, cereal, or a smoothie made with plain yogurt. Just dont' add a lot of sugar.

I hope you don't mind the advice. Like I said, you have a great start, but there is always room for improvement. I started posting everything I eat and tracking blood sugar, you are more than welcome to pop on over and give any critiques that you see. I hope that this helps.

 

[ZweetiePie]

No I don't mind if you follow. I appreciate your positive comments about the things I am doing right and applauding me for me efforts. I also appreciate you breaking down my carbs for me. I'll come over and look at your journal sometime today. Oh and yes I have a very limited budget for groceries. We were a two income family but I quit my job about a month and a half ago because things were getting weird with my boss and the pregnancy. Thankfully we qualify for WIC which provides milk, eggs, cereal, peanut butter, whole wheat bread, cheese, buttermilk, juice and dry beans. Other than the WIC items we have a 13 dollar a week budget for groceries (18 if you include toiletries so sometimes I fudge it if we don't need any toiletries). I haven't asked any body for them but since I quit my job I have had multiple people give us groceries. We also had a few things in the freezer. So anyways, it's slim pickins around here. I have to choose the lesser of evils a lot of the time. Thankfully my mom provided a lot of the groceries and she likes whole wheat stuff and organic stuff.

Since this morning I had slim fast powder with about 2 c fruit added and 1 c of 2% milk. My parents came and we went to Morrison's cafeteria. I got the lima beans seasoned with ham as my entree (probably about 1 to 1 and a half cups), cabbage (didn't seem to have any oil or butter in it), mac and cheese, a roll with 2 tsp butter, and......duh duh duh about 3/4 pc of coconut cream pie. I had water to drink. Supper will not be much since we ate kind of late. I got my ingredients for french onion soup when I went to walmart today....I am really jazzed about it because I have been craving it for a while now. I will probably make it tomorrow.

 

[ZweetiePie]

Supper was a half roast beef sandwich, a few sips of coke, and 2 fun size kitkats (I know....healthy). The sandwich was made with 1 peice of toasted french bread with a little bit of low fat margarine, 1/2 tbsp low fat olive oil mayo and 1 slice roast beef (actual beef, not lunch meat.....leftover from my moms meal at morrisons). Water total for the day was about 80 oz. + 1/2 c milk and a few sips of my hubby's coke.

When my parents came to visit they ended up bringing me groceries and that included........ one 8 pack of fun size kitkats. I would never buy them myself because I know how I am with kitkats but I kept them(normally I am pretty good about sending snacks that I have a self control problem with to work with my hubby but this time I wanted them here). There are only 6 left. I will make a deal with myself that I can have one a day until they are gone, but no more. They will probably be gone before 6 days if my hubby gets into them. I still have a couple of pieces of chocolate angel food cake hanging around so I am going to hold off on eating them because we will probably have company this weekend and we will need to feed them.

So far today I have eaten a breakfast sandwich and 1/2 a navel orange with 24 oz of water. Breakfast sandwich was made with 1 slice of french bread (cut in half), 2 pcs 40% less fat bacon, and 1 egg. I am going to make the french onion soup today but I think it will take til supper to cook cuz I am using the crockpot, so I am not really sure what lunch will entail. I still have some Cheesy potato sausage soup left from what I made the other day so I may eat that. I could also make tuna salad. Not sure yet.......

 

[ZweetiePie]

Since this morning I have had a banana, 2 T peanut butter, 1 fun size kit kat, and 1 c potato, cheese, and sausage soup(lunch). I got my french onion soup started in the crockpot. I am going to cook some chicken and squash later today to have with the soup tonight.

I am currently fighting the urge to skip my walk today. I need to do 3 miles. It is rainy and 38 degrees outside so I am definitely not going outside to walk. I could do the walking dvd that I have (it is 3 miles).....but I am feeling tired and my back hurts. I ironed like 47 articles of clothing this morning and I had to bend over to do it because I have a crappy travel size ironing board that you put on a elevated surface. I need to invest in a full size one. I could just use the I'm pregnant excuse and not do it, but I want to be prepared for the 10K......I might just try to do it and if I start to feel bad I will just quit.

 

[Kat77]

I noticed you have been on a soup kick lately. That's awesome! Try replacing some of your carb cravings with a mug of soup. You can pick up cheap spices at dollar tree if needed. http://healthy.hillbillyhousewife.com/lowsodiumcupofsoup.htm . Soup got me through horrid morning sickness with my second son.

 

[ZweetiePie]

Thanks for the link, Kat77!

The last two days have by far been the worst eating days since I have been pregnant. I ended up skipping my walk Friday and I didn't end up making the chicken and squash. So Friday night I had 2 bowls (about 1.5 c each) of french onion soup....not so bad. The bad part was that each bowl had a peice of french bread (about 3/4" thick) with about 1/8 c cheese melted on it. After that I also had an additional piece of bread with low fat margarine on it. After that I had 1 T peanut butter, 1/2 c milk, and a banana.

Yesterday was weigh in day. I weighed in at 223.2. I lost a pound? Not really sure how that happened because I didn't have *the best* eating week and was expecting to actually be up a few pounds from the sodium in the soup I ate Friday night.

Yesterday's eating was terrible. I had 1/2 banana before me and the hubby walked. I had 3-4" blueberry pancakes with about 1/2T low fat margarine, 2 slices 40% less fat bacon, and 1 scrambled egg with a sprinkle of grated cheese (not very much at all) for breakfast. Then we did some housework and went to run errands. We ended up going to the flea market and I got a funnel cake around 2 or so(which would later come back haunt me). We ran some more errands in town and then ended up at my MIL's. She offered to get pizza if we want to hang around. Supper was 1 slice Chicken Cordon Bleu, and 1 slice Tuscan Six Cheese from Papa Johns. I also had a salad with about 1 and 1/2 c baby greens and 2 T ranch dressing. Then I got violently ill.....from the funnel cake I assume. My MIL keeps it really cold (like 64 degrees) in her house and I was wearing 3 layers and a blanket before I started feeling sick. Then I ended up on the john with only my pants and a tank top on and stayed like that for a while. This may be TMI for some people but my stomach was all messed up. I ended up having to lay in a bed by the bathroom for like an hour and a half so that I would have easy access. This morning I feel fine and I don't have a fever so I am pretty sure it was the funnel cake.

Today so far I have eaten a serving of Kashi Island Vanilla Cereal with 2% milk, 1/2 grapefruit with <1 tsp of sugar on it and 12 oz water. For lunch we are eating out at Shogun (a japanese restaurant) with some friends. Gonna try not the get anything fried because I don't want a repeat from yesterday. We are eating late for lunch so we may not even eat anything for suppper. If we eat anything for supper I am going to cook rice and baked chicken with a veggie.

 

[ZweetiePie]

For lunch we met some friends at a Japanese Hibachi Grill. It was so amazingly good. While I didn't feel overstuffed, I know I overate. I got the chicken and shrimp teriyaki meal. It came with a salad that had dressing that tasted like mayonnaise, ketchup and soy sauce mixed together (sounds gross....but tasted good). My meal came with about 2 c fried rice, 1.5 c noodles with cabbage mixed in them, about 6 shrimp and about the equivalent of one chicken breast. I ate it all but a few bites that my husband ate at the end. When we got home I remembered that my MIL had sent some chocolate espresso cupcakes home with us. I wasn't interested in the cake at all. I ate the frosting off the top which was about 3-4 T. I didn't make dinner tonight.

Our Sunday School class invited us to a super bowl party tonight and we signed up to bring cookies. I already had the icing so I was trying not to think about the cookies too much. While making the cookies I wanted to try the batter and try a cookie but I told my husband to help me not to eat one of them before or during the party. Just with him keeping me accountable I was able to forgo batter, a test cookie, and one at the party. Yay!

At the party I ended up having 2 hersheys hugs, 2 small bites of peach cobbler, 2 bites of kingcake, 5 sausage and bacon appetizers (small sausage links wrapped in bacon with brown sugar on top about 3/4" thick), 2 small spoons of rotel dip with 4 tortilla chips, about 1/4 c pizza dip(made up of only mozzerella, cheddar, and a can of italian stewed tomatoes) with 1/2 pc of bread to dip in it, and 2 bites of BBQ pork. Water intake for today has been around 100oz.

I think I did rather well avoiding sweets today. I had some but I didn't have tons.