i am getting some pudge (sort of)

by Marae

For an update on my last post, the nutrition class went really well. The big surprise was that these girls really knew their stuff. One thing I did was give each girl a scenario to read, and have the rest of the girls give her ideas about how she could improve and what to change to be healthier. Their answers were pretty much everything I could have given, and they seemed a lot better informed than I was at their age.

In the middle of the class, one of the girls said, "okay, it's time" and pulled out of her purse a box of fried chicken and fries--dinner time, I guess. And I realized that these girls weren't seriously under-informed, but, like most of us, have a hard time finding motivation and like doing things the "normal" way. Anyway, it went well, and the spread afterward converted at least two girls to hummus and carrots. Nobody rushed for seconds of the whole wheat oatmeal cookies I brought, but my husband loves them (and so do I). I used this recipe from smitten kitchen, and just replaced all of the white flour with wheat.

Now, onto the breaking news--I'm a pregnant lady! We were slightly slow telling people (I'm at about 25 weeks), so it's not so new, but I have learned a lot.

Thoughts so far...

- When I was nauseous all the time at first, I was also starving but nothing sounded good. I wasn't used to nausea being helped by eating. I craved meat and bananas. I banned several foods from the apartment (smelly). I lost weight.

- When my appetite came back, it was huge. I ate any and everything because I could without feeling sick, and I was always hungry. And I think that my body needed it.

- After a while, my appetite normalized. I had to get used to eating healthful foods and regular intervals, instead of whatever I wanted anytime. That took a while.

*Recent studies show that pregnant women need no extra calories in the first two trimesters and only 200 extra per day in the last trimester. Our bodies become more efficient during pregnancy and can actually put on the weight we need without extra food.* (Disappointing, right? Still, I'm listening to my body. Because it is hungrier than that sometimes.)

- My doctor hasn't weighed me since about 13 weeks, and I hadn't gained anything at that point. I have read that a lot of women become really anxious about weight, but I think it's really nice to not know and just try to do the best I can entirely for the sake of health.

- I pretty much read and slept for months at first, because I got really dizzy and nauseous when I walked around, and because London was freezing at the time. Granted, I'm currently in an easier trimester, but I feel so much better now that I can go outside and walk every day. If I could go back, I would have tried a little harder to get more fresh air and exercise. I've really been reminded that exercise is good for so much more than weight control.

- The strangest thing? I seem to have no wheat allergy or sensitivity whatsoever. I forgot to tell some friends about the allergy when we went over for dinner, and we had huge plates of pasta. I ate it and felt totally fine, then experimented a little with more, and now I can eat it like any old person. It is odd. I've heard of pregnancy building certain immunities...I wonder if it will come back later, though.

So, that's it so far. While I haven't been thinking about losing weight the whole time The Skinny has been around, this blog has been a fantastic reminder and support to stay healthy and keep my eating and exercise in check. And, when it's time to get rid of the inevitable few extra pounds, I can read back and be armed with the knowledge and great advice of all of you!