Hi all!
At 25 weeks, I have managed to keep my weight gain at a
constant 2kgs at every doctor’s appointment. This has come with much discipline
as regards what I eat and how I manage my cravings.
In my first trimester, I used to eat all the time. I would
have breakfast consisting of weetabix, tea, toast, at times I would add an egg.
Then an hour or two later, I would eat a sandwich. The next eating installment
consisted of fruits at which point it would be time for lunch. After a hearty
lunch, I would have fruits then have something to eat at 4pm and at 6pm
followed by dinner at 7/7:30p.m. This wasn’t the end of my eating for the day. I
always woke up in the middle of the night for some nourishment of some sort
usually bread or a banana.
As soon as my mum realized how much I was eating, she put a
stop to it with one reprimand. She told me to control the cravings and if I felt
hungry, I should eat fruits avoiding bananas and avocados as much as possible.
This reprimand, which I know was filled with love, helped me start eating
healthy. Now I eat fruit and weetabix for breakfast, at 10 o’clock I sometimes
have tea and toast. Then I have lunch at around 1pm with a fruit at about 4pm.
Dinner follows at 7pm and occasionally I wake up at night for a fruit depending
on how well I ate my dinner.
One of the most important things I have learnt about eating
well is that it starts mentally. Once I told my brain that it would have to
make do with three meals in a day and the occasional snack, I stopped eating
all the time. Another thing that has helped me tremendously is keeping away
from temptation as much as possible. I love junk food, but these days, I only
indulge once in a while as a treat.
Cravings
As for cravings, like any expectant woman, I do have
cravings. Most of the time, my cravings are more of the fruit and vegetable
variety. From time to time I will crave a samosa, fries, cookies, cake, chocolate
and crisps. I however control these cravings by waiting for sometime before
buying myself any of the things I’m craving so that when I do get say a packet
of crisps, I will eat that one packet and be satisfied.
Liquids
Other aspects of my diet that I have taken a keen interest
in are my fluid intakes. The doctor asked me to drink plenty of water, at least
3 litres a day! This is the biggest challenge for me because I live in the
cooler parts of Nairobi so I don’t get thirsty that much. I have to make a
conscious effort to drink plenty of water. Another fluid that I am trying to
drink more of is milk. I don’t like milk at all. I can eat yoghurt, ice-cream
and even cheese but milk out of a packet is like giving me a punishment. But when
I noticed that my teeth were getting sensitive, I was advised to increase my
calcium intake. It’s important for me and also for the formation of the baby’s
bones. I avoid caffeinated drinks like tea, coffee and coke.
These are my dietary experiences so far? What other tips have you heard/practiced?