Sunday, June 24, 2012

Pregnancy Nutrition

Obviously this whole pregnancy thing has been one huge learning experience for me.  But one area where I really struggle is nutrition.  My eating habits prior to the BFP (Big Fat Positive) revolved around Ironman training.  I ate A LOT of food.  And while I didn't meet any weight loss goals last year, I really was able to maintain my weight while eating obscene amounts of crap.  So my calibration for "regular person eating" was way off to begin with.

Enter the first 18 weeks of pregnancy where I couldn't even open the refrigerator without puking.  I lost over 10 pounds and struggled to keep anything down.  Carbs were my saving grace.  And the carb binging continued once the appetite came back, and then well into the second trimester.  Thankfully as the pregnancy has progressed I have been craving mostly healthy foods (salads, protein, etc.).  I can't even think about things like fried or fast foods without gagging.  But I know that I'm not eating as balanced as I could/should be.

My eating habits have been skewed for the better part of 2 years.  And I've battled the scale my entire adult life.  So yeah, I'm terrified of gaining too much weight.  I'm keenly aware of the struggle ahead of me to tackle any extra "baby weight" that I pack on over the next 10 weeks.  I'm not interested in dieting, but now that I'm not hugging the toilet several times a day, I want to make sure that I can honestly say that any pounds I put on are legit.  I'm also at a higher risk for pre-eclampsia (both my Mother and Grandmother had it) and I want to do everything possible to change that pattern.  And I'm taking care of another person now, so weight gain aside, I need to make sure that I'm putting the best possible things into my body.

So aside from continuing as much exercise as I can manage, I'm also going to be tracking my food intake through MyFitnessPal.com.  Have you guys used this?  It's a website, but also available as an app on the iPhone and iPad.  What I love is that it not only tracks calories, but it keeps you informed on your nutrient intake.  I'm going to log my meals for 5 days and see how I'm doing.  Then I'll know where I need to make adjustments to the types and quantity of items in my diet.  And since I'm a total data whore, I'm super excited!

What else have you veteran mamas done to keep the weight gain in check during pregnancy while still getting the full range of needed nutrition?