Hello there. Since I did a mini weekend recap yesterday, I’ll forgo that today and we’ll talk about recent eats instead. They’ve been WEIRD.
The combination of pregnancy and some stress has had my stomach all sorts of off. It’s no secret that carbs have been my #1 pregnancy craving but lately I’m really having aversions to meat and vegetables. I went to Trader Joe’s yesterday morning and literally could barely look at all the veggies on display in the produce section and same with the meat section. I ended up coming home with things like fruit, pre-packaged ravioli and tortellini, chips and other simple things.
Most of my carb cravings are savory although I do enjoy a slice of cake or a muffin here and there. Things like chocolate bars, ice cream, brownies, etc do NOT sound good to me right now. Pregnancy is so strange.
So here’s a look at what I’ve been eating!
BREAKFAST
Pumpkin bread with a little peanut butter, grapes and two scrambled eggs. This was the first time I’d had eggs for breakfast in a very long time.
This is a terrible picture and my smoothie really was that brown thanks to berries + spinach BUT I’ve been eating a lot of smoothie bowls. It’s one of the only ways I can get spinach down.
Unpictured: BAGELS! I’ve been loving bagels with butter or butter and cream cheese. I have a stash of them from a local bagel shop in the fridge.
LUNCH
Lots of sandwiches. Turkey, avocado, tomatoes, cheese, mayo and spicy mustard on sprouted wheat.
Open faced turkey sandwich on sourdough. I heat all of my sandwiches under the broiler.
Lunch of butternut squash soup and cake with some girlfriends on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Insider tip for Charlotte locals, the cake from Laurel Market is homemade and amazing. I sampled some carrot and strawberry.
And today I did manage to eat a salad but it definitely took some effort and wasn’t super enjoyable. Chopped spinach, beets, feta, cashews, dried cranberries, pears and Trader Joe’s almond butter turmeric dressing.
DINNER
I was so fortunate last week to have a few friends bring dinner over on different nights after my hospital visit on Monday. I was so grateful for their kindness. This was the chicken and hummus bowl from Yafo with roasted cauliflower. Pita and a tomato cucumber salad on the side.
There was one night where my stomach was off and both of the girls threw up at different times during the day (ahhhhh) so I made us a big pot of rice and everyone had rice for dinner. I added eggs and avocado to mine and mixed theirs with a little bit of their food.
Okay, if you live in Charlotte and you haven’t had the Quinoa Stuffed Avocado from Viva Chicken then my assignment to you THIS WEEK is to go get it. OMG. I can’t believe I waited so long to try this delicious combo of quinoa, red pepper, rocoto mayo and balsamic vinaigrette stuffed in an avocado. You have the option to add pulled chicken on top. It’s seriously so so so good. I’ve always been a big Viva Chicken fan but I think it’s safe to say my number of Postmates orders from them will be increasing in the near future!
So, with 12 more weeks to go I’m not really stressing abut food. This is such a short season in life and there’s loads of time in the future to get back to my normal focus on cleaner eating and having more protein and veggies in my diet. My body is obviously telling me what it needs and wants because baby boy is growing right on track, as is my weight gain and all that other stuff.
Did your diet change significantly during pregnancy? Was it just early on during the first trimester/nausea stage or was it throughout pregnancy?
What kinds of foods have you been craving lately?
I also went off meat & salads while pregnant with my son. ive never really picked back up on hamburgers, but will eat it in sauces, etc. weird is right. I also started eating cole slaw & pecan pie while pregnant & still do. happily I got back to salads. I can live with out a hamburger. 🙂
Pregnancy cravings are strange. I am lactose sensitive and I normally do not like cow’s milk but during my first pregnancy, I thought milk was the best thing ever. I even drank whole milk! Interestingly enough, my oldest son loves milk and drinks a lot of it. My taste buds have since returned to suit my own preferences and I am back to almond milk 🙂
Enjoy these last few months of pregnancy. It’s been fun read along!
Wishing you all true best Jen!! You’re right to just go eith the flow of what your body and bay are telling you. Keep caring for yourself as best as you can. <3
I craved lemonade with my daughter which seemed somewhat normal. With my middle son I craved strawberry milk, amish cheese from where my grandparents live & club crackers dipped in ranch…seriously weird but I HAD to have it! With my youngest it was all the peanut butter captain crunch. So unhealthy! Luckily everything went back to normal the moment they were born! 🙂
I ate exactly the same when I was pregnant versus not, but it just seemed like the things I normally kind of crave, I craved much more (cake comes to mind). But I actually think it’s reassuring to have aversions/cravings. I almost felt too normal the whole time!
All your eats look delicious. Like you said, this is a brief period of time in the grand scheme of things so it makes sense to only eat what sounds good to you.
I actually have not had many food aversions. When girls at work saw me eating salads during the pregnancy they could not believe I could get them down. Ha. The only aversion I had was to sweets in the first trimester. But then I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes around 28 weeks which is caused by being on prednisone for my rheumatoid arthritis. So my eating really changed after that. I have a gluten intolerance so don’t eat a lot of carb in general but it was still a rough adjustment – and I learned I had GD the week before Christmas. I can’t wait for the baby to be born so I can have some treats and sweets and can not assessing the protein or fat to carb ratio of every meal or snack! But I only have about 2 more weeks as I will be induced at 39 weeks so the finish line is in sight!!
I know I said this on instagram, but ill say it again (ha) – my cravings were so out of character for me the entire time! I NEVER wanted dessert or chocolate or anything sweet while pregnant. I went savory the entire time! All pizza and sandwiches over and over and over. I was pretty good about salads although didn’t eat the amount of vegetables then as I do now. I just remember a lot of bagels with vegetable cream cheese, eggs, pizza, sandwiches over what I typically enjoy (like cake) when I have cravings not pregnant.
I literally couldn’t eat any protein or warm vegetables. Salads were tough too. I literally ate the organic frozen pizza from Trader Joe’s every day.
I always love looking at your recent eats post. They give me so much inspiration! I wanted to mention something to you in your previous post. I love the bracelet you were wearing. I am recovering from an injury and have started back up again with running. When I run, I say to myself “I can, I will, I am”. Thought you might like that 🙂
When I was pregnant with Christine, we were living in the Philippines and I had two huge avocado trees in my yard. I must have eaten three a day for the last six months. I use to tell Tom that Christine was going to be born with an avocado shaped birthmark ??
Team carbs all the way! I’m 33 weeks now and I feel like I’ve settled back into my normal eating routine but more carb emphasized than anything. They seem to be easiest on the stomach!
The quinoa stuffed avocado with rotisserie chicken is literally one of my favorite things at any restaurant in all of Charlotte haha! I actually recreated it at home too and I have to say, I did a pretty good job copying it- even the sauce! 😉
Glad other people love it too!
Preganancy is sooooo odd! With my son, after the first tri I was basically back to normal eating with a little extra meat and protein. But with my daughter, my appetite was wonky the whole time. Apples are my favorite fruit and I eat one every day and during pregnancy with her they made me so nauseous. Same thing with most raw fruits and veggies. The good news is….my normal cravings came back super quickly after birth (like 2 weeks). Those hormones are powerful! It’s an awesome approach that you are taking to just go with the flow and not resist your cravings, it’s not worth stressing about for sure 🙂
I couldn’t even think about tuna-fish salad with my second.
(And can we talk about the time in my second trimester when I was so hungry I devoured an entire pepperoni pizza?)
12 weeks to go!? Ahhhh!! 🙂
I craved grapefruit a LOT. I probably had one grapefruit per day for months on end. I also craved roasted potatoes with ketchup, which is something I don’t usually eat.
Is that your recipe for pumpkin bread? It looks amazing!
Your eating looks very good, all kind of nutrients and look very tasty 🙂 This baby is lucky! (Tiny tiny comment; the environmental footprint of packaging that you use is kind of important, in about all your posts, and maybe in 2018, we all have to be more carefull, one coffee cup at a time… almost all places accept to put the food directly in the food containers we bring and even give a discount sometimes 🙂
You’re pregnancy appetite is almost identical to mine! Pretty much as soon as I hit the 6 week mark, I developed a strong aversion to meats, eggs, and vegetables to the point that I could not even choke down a salad. I’m about 20 weeks now and it is a little better but really all I want to eat are carbs, preferably carbs with cheese, fruit, and smoothies. I can tolerate veggies now but I don’t enjoy them in the least. I was so frustrated at first because I’m typically a pretty healthy eater and not being able to fuel with the foods I’m used to was hard to get used to. Now I firmly believe, along the lines of what you said, that my body is telling me what it wants and it’s my job to listen (while trying to make relatively good choices). Kind of bummed that ice cream has no appeal though!!