What do you mean eating in the first trimester. Ahahah I know…life gets extremely hard on the first trimester.
For me it didn’t start until 7 or 8 weeks. And suddenly I was sick everyday in the afternoon and just dead tired.
We all say we want to eat healthy for our babies though out our pregnancy, but, like most people, you will probably find out that it’s much easier said than done.
I tried to maintain my healthy habits, but I just couldn’t stand salads for some reason, and I just needed carbs soooo bad. Previously,I had been on a low carb diet for my wedding, so I desperately needed to fuel up. I had also been on an intermittent fasting, so I rarely ate in the morning before 10 am. Now I was waking up ravenous. I had to eat in the first 30min after waking up otherwise I would just suddenly feel sooo bad. Its was weird. Hell with my healthy oatmeal with yogurt and fruit, I needed bread with cheese.
Basically, my first trimester diet consisted of:
- Breakfast – 2 slices of bread with cheese
- 2nd breakfast – oatmeal with yogurt and fruit
- Lunch – more bread with cheese
- Snack – you know it…bread and cheese
- Dinner – something with rice or pasta
Aversions
This was sustainable until, suddenly I started to develop and aversion to meat for 2 weeks. Around week 10 I couldn’t even stand to watch recipes with chicken without gagging. I was getting so low on protein and just stuffing on carbs that I did what all pregnant women avoid…but let me tell you straight away…it will happen to you to…Go to McDonalds. Yep, I felt really low on energy and strength and a Mcdonald cheeseburguer, which are sort of the furthest thing from actual burguers or meat, was the only thing I could stand. OMG that burguer brought me back to life.
Weirdly I had no cravings. Indeed I stoped wanting what I usually crave…sweet
So what I ate on my 1st trimester pregnant…was none of what I usually eat. Keep that in mind, it’s ok.
How being tired influences what you eat
Do not feel bad for eating some crap food while pregnant. Our bodies go through an insane waste of energy this first trimester. I truly thought pregnant woman exaggerated a bit on how tiresome it was…they don’t. I mean I almost fainted a couple of times. Although its rather normal in pregnancy is just shows the level of work your body is doing. Your body’s metabolic rate will increase to double, so even when resting it is using much more oxygen for basic living functions.
I found these articles on the Guardian that I loved and used to explain to other people (mostly man) how insanely hard pregnancy was.
- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/08/pregnancy-endurance-test-human
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/06/limit-human-endurance-discovered-duke-university-pregnancy-close/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/06/limit-human-endurance-discovered-duke-university-pregnancy-close/
If you don’t feel like reading them here is a nice abstract on the idea –The ultimate limit of human endurance has been calculated by scientists who found that pregnant women are close to the maximum.
“What is key is the metabolic resting rate: marathon runners perform at 16 times theirs, cyclists at five times and an Antarctic trekker at 3.5 times. In contrast, a pregnant woman, who is usually working and carrying on as normal, is functioning at 2.2 times her resting rate. But she will do this for 280 days, something these mega athletes could only dream of. No one cheers pregnant women over the finishing line. None of us get a trophy….You can keep your Tour de France or your Arctic treks, growing and pushing out a human is the hardest work a person can do”
Suzanne Moore
Going back to food. And another major thing that happens in the first trimester – NAUSEA
Yep, that awesome thing that makes us even more miserable than the constant naps you need to take after work everyday.
Nausea is caused by the increase on hormonal production and although it’s commonly called morning nausea, it can come anytime of the day, or all day.
First and most important trick – EAT
Yes, it sounds counterproductive, and you may think it will just make you throw up. It probably won’t. Truly most women don’t throw up that much, or at all, they are just nauseous. And when that happens, eat. Most advice are to eat something plain, like crackers and cheese (remember I told you most of what I ate was bread and cheese, there is a reason). I found these amazing crackers, that are a mix of salty and sweet. I had them everywhere. One pack in my purse, one in the couch, one in my nightstand. Just munch on them as soon as you start feeling the nausea. It will help I promise. But each person is different so test out some options and find whatever helps you.
Pregnancy is a very personal experience and it changes from person to person as much as from different pregnancies of the same person. Don’t try to follow anything besides your instincts.
Do try not to allow yourself into having every meal coming from a fast food place. I know you should eat what you can stand but you know those aren’t good for you on a constant base, and there are other healthier homemade options. If you feel too bad ask your partner, family, or friends to make you some dishes you love and can freeze. That will help you manage the cravings for unhealthy stuff. But do get that McDonalds burger from time to time…I sure did 😉
Supplements
Don’t forget your vitamins – folic acid is super essencial at this time. My advice is to have it when you are having some food and not at times when you are most nauseous. I did a multivitaminic with the 400mcg of folic acid and other vitamins like C and D and some iron and magnesium.
Calcium and iron are other important nutrients during pregnancy so aim to eat some dairy and meat/eggs, spinach or tofu.
What I drank in the first trimester
The internet will give you lots of advice on what to eat – don’t eat spicy food to not trigger heartburn, eat small meals often, eat smoothies and soups for easy textures, etc etc etc. My advice…do what you can. That’s it. Eat what you can and want, try different things if what you are doing isn’t making you feel too good until you find what works for you. But do try to stay hidrated. Food is not that important…but water actually is…even if it makes you pee every half an hour.
One last advice on what to eat on your 1st trimester pregnant
Being healty is important during this stage and do NOT go into a diet. I know body changes are hard but right now this is bigger than you. You need protein and carbs to fuel you through this. As strange as it may sounds, because you probably have an app that shows you that your little bean is 5 cm, but you body is now pulling the biggest weight and building a human. The formation of these cells, the changes in your uterus and hormone flood will take a toll on your body physically, so fuel up. And most likely you will easily eat meat and pasta or rice than salads. Your body knows what it’s doing (unless you just want McDonalds) so follow it.