Pregnant and struggling to LC :-(

[dellabob]

Hi Ladies,

I've been LC'ing for nearly a year now and love it. I didn't have that much to lose, but when I did, I felt amazing, loved the food, lifestyle and excuse to cook! Perfect. Now, just found out I'm 6 wks pregnant and the desire to eat LC has gone out of the window. I am so sad about this. The thought of eating my regular meals, snacking on cheese/meats/eggs turns my stomach and all I want to eat is crisps (chips), rice type meals and stodge in general. I don't have morning sickness - or could this be a version of it???

have any of you experienced this and how did you cope with it?

Would love to hear from you

Thanks

dellabob

[Arctic_Mama]

I had food aversions and went off plan. Big, big mistake. It made my symptoms worse than if I'd just sucked it up and eaten on plan, and it also made the weight pile on quickly, which I then had to get back under control for the health of me and the baby. I'm not going off plan for any other pregnancy, it's not worth the consequences!

[dellabob]

I am really struggling to stay on plan though - despite desperately trying. I can't face the idea of eggs or cheese and the only thing that is stopping the nausia is crackers or carby things. I am devastated as I've lC's for ages, converted my family and preach to any one that'll listen. I'm hoping that it'll change after the first trimenster and I can get back in to it from then on! So Disappointed.

[Ghislaine]

I'm 14 weeks now and got back to low carbing a few weeks ago. Morning sickness did not help at all because it was worse if I got the least little bit hungry! Can you prepare anything ahead that might satisfy the carby urges? I just bought a bunch of provolone to turn into "crackers/chips" by cutting them in quarters and microwaving them on parchment paper. I find I can tolerate eggs better if I use cream cheese with them in some way: mock danish or cheesecake muffins.

[suzanneyea]

My whole pregnancy was a huge struggle. Meat totally grossed me out. I just did the best I could. I ate salami and deli meat. Tuna and mayo wasn't bad either, especially with melted cheese. I could handle ground beef if I drained all the fat and added cheese and salsa.
Just do the best you can, the end result will be worth it.

[SouthernCJ]

I have been terrible my first trimester. Too tired to exercise and too sick to eat what I should. My advice (and take into account I am not a super-hardcore low carber) is to do the absolute best you can and not to feel guilty if you need some crackers to settle your stomach or something like that. It's just not worth it. Get back on the wagon as soon as you can but until then keep yourself (and your baby!) fed.

My symptoms were the worst from 6-10 weeks so you are in the worst of it right now. It doesn't last forever! Good luck!

[dellabob]

Thanks ladies, you've all been wonderful :-) yesterday was a total blowout. I am just going to do as you say and eat what I need to get through these few weeks and then crack on with LC when things settle down. Listening to you all, it does sound like there is a glimmer of hope, so I'm just not going to beat myself up about it.
Congrats on your 14weeks Ghislaine :-) and nice to hear that you are ble to get back on track.

Suzanneyea I like the tuna idea -I'll give that a bash tonight. Although I'm right off deli meats at the mo.

SouthernCJ - I guess you in your in your 2nd (?) trimester now - congrats :-) and yes, staying fed and rested is most important.

Really appreciate your comments. If you have any more suggestions on what your go to anti vomit food, then please share :-)

[suzanneyea]

I could handle artichokes and bacon too.

[dellabob]

Hi Suzanneeyea - I just had tuna/mayo/sweetcorn combo for lunch and managed it all fine :-)

[suzanneyea]

I think the fat is hard when pregnant. Have you tried melting cheese on the tuna?

[Bamboozled]

Hey guys, just curious because I thought you were not supposed to eat low carb during pregnancy? I will have to do more research on the subject!

I want to get pregnant in the next two years (the sooner the better really) but thought it would be best to wait until after I lose my goal weight to get pregnant as I thought you had to eat moderate carbs during pregnancy. (like a maintenance amount of carbs instead of 'induction' amount of carbs)

[SouthernCJ]

It is suggested that you keep maintenance levels through pregnancy, I think most women consider that sticking to a low carb way of eating, though.

[jillybean720]

I researched as much as I possibly could and never found ONE single solid resource that showed that we need carbs during pregnancy. I stayed very low in carbs for about the first half of my pregnancy with no issues. I actually was very strict with myself - no grains, no sweets (with the exception of 1-2 small squares of very dark chocolate on some days), no starchy veggies (potatoes, corn, etc.), no rice, no soy, no artificial sweeteners, no stevia...there aren't really studies on the subject since pregnant women don't typically want to be test subjects, which is completely understandable. But I found a wealth of anecdotal evidence about low-carbing while pregnant resulting in decreased common side effects (such as swelling). When I get pregnant again, I want to try to go the full term sticking to low carb. And, to define "low carb" for me, I eat a lot of fat, a lot of protein (but I need more protein than others since I have had weight loss surgery), and a max of about 50g carbs daily (that would be if I indulged in a glass of organic whole milk or a piece of fruit; otherwise, I'd pretty easily stay below 30g total carbs).

[Bamboozled]

Very interesting. I put a lot more research into it after reading this thread and found that yep, staying in maintenance is recommended.

I am actually considering trying to conceive sometime next year so I will let you all know if the symptoms are less severe!

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by Bamboozled

Very interesting. I put a lot more research into it after reading this thread and found that yep, staying in maintenance is recommended.

They just say that to CYA since there really isn't conclusive evidence that ketosis is bad. It's "recommended" without much (if any) basis other than fear of the unknown. The same way "whole grains" are "recommended" for good health (even though they're completely nutritionally unnecessary!)

To be clear, I'm not trying to tell anyone how to eat during pregnancy - we each have to do what we're comfortable with. But if you're basing your decision on research, be sure it is, in fact, research, and not just "they" say to do XYZ...