Hunger

September 15, 2009 in Food and Drink, Pregnancy | 4 comments

I think I’ve entered the hungry stage of pregnancy.  I get hungry at the beginning and gain 10 pounds before I start showing.  After the first 2 months, the relentless hunger ebbs and I just need a few extra snacks each day.  That’s not normal.  You’re not supposed to gain any weight for quite a while.  I found in the previous pregnancies, however, that in the first 8 weeks or so I needed to have a big meal every 2 hours or I would get the shakes.  It’s the same kind of reaction I have when I eat too much sugar without protein and fat.  It will be interesting to see if a lower carb/higher fat diet this time around helps with this problem.  I’m not on a super-low carb diet.  I just cut out rice, pasta, and bread from my regular eating habits.  I still eat popcorn and potatoes and occasionally, even potato chips, but I don’t eat carbs as a major portion of any meal.

If I can get through the first 2 months and only gain a few pounds, I’ll be on track for a more reasonable weight gain.  With Sammy, I gained about 45 pounds, and that was on top of an extra 15 that was left over from the previous pregnancy.  This time, I’m starting out 10 pounds over my normal (but still heavier than ideal) weight, so I’m already doing better. 

But, oh, the food is calling!  It’s actually quite a hassle.  I was in school during my first trimester with Sammy and I remember having to eat in between every class.  I love the food, but I hate the urgent, crazy feeling of starvation multiple times a day.  I’m going to try to plan my lunches for the next month or so, so that I’m sure to get a lot of good meat without resorting to the fast food hamburgers that were my lifeline 3 years ago.

  1. Kelly Elmore on September 15, 2009 at 4:36 pm

    There is no normal amount of weight gain in the first trimester. Some women gain, some lose, some stay the same, and healthy babies emerge. Do what your body wants you to do; eat when it tells you to eat. But I am sure eating lots of protein and fats will make it easier to go longer periods of time without needing a snack.

  2. Michael Gold on September 17, 2009 at 8:41 pm

    Hope you make some updates on how paleo and pregnancy go together. It would be interesting to hear.

    I don’t know any other paleo’ers who are going or have gone through pregnancy.

    The baby should benefit, since your diet will be nutrient dense and full of good vitamins and minerals; and your insulin won’t be jacked up; and you won’t have sugars spiking your system three times a day…though I don’t know if the spikes are felt by the baby; maybe they get filtered out before they reach the baby?

  3. Amy on September 17, 2009 at 9:25 pm

    Kelly – well, maybe I shouldn’t have said “not normal” but “not average.” And don’t worry – I won’t let myself get hungry! :)

    Michael – just to be clear, I don’t follow any kind of paleo diet. I just think grains are bland and I’ve been happy to find out that the things I do like have much more nutritional value. I think as time goes on, I may reduce sugars and starches even more (it takes practice, like thinking to use eggplant in lasagna!) but for now I’m just more conscious of getting the protein and fat that my body needs at every meal. I will post updates, though. I do hope that, by eating what my body really needs, I won’t feel the need to overeat, which I did in the previous pregnancies. I believe, like Kelly said, that there is a vast range of the “right” amount of weight that women gain, but I’m pretty sure I gained more than I needed to. And I’m sure that the baby will get better nutrition if I’m eating better food.

    I don’t know if sugar spikes are experienced by the baby, but babies born to diabetics tend to be bigger (heavier), and I believe, have a higher chance of diabetes too, although maybe that’s just the genetic factor.