Suga Suga how you get so fly???
As a part of my pregnancy journey, I want to share with you all (some) of the health decisions I am making for myself and talk about some of the things that go through my mind during this very hormonal time. Maybe it will inspire you, maybe it will annoy you, or maybe you will think its goofy that I think about this stuff. haha I don't know. This has just been a topic on my mind for the past several weeks and I have decided to finally address it, SUGAR intake as a pregnant women.
Now, I want to preface this by the fact that my thought process about my diet during pregnancy has been balance. I am not going to completely deprive myself, but I am also not going to indulge for the sake of indulging. I don't want to gain unnecessary weight, but I have accepted the weight gain that has occurred. I hope you guys are catching my drift. I will say that the first thing I did when I found out I was pregnant was take ALL artificial sugar out of my diet. I used to drink a lot water enhancers during the day and within 10 minutes of peeing on that stick I had poured out my glass and haven't even had a drink since. I had promised myself a long time ago that I would give that stuff up when I babies were in the picture. I did not however decide to give up the real stuff. The first trimester was really hard. I literally was so sick all the time that the only think I could eat were fruit snacks and gatorade...it was a mess and I felt pretty gross about it. I honestly didn't really have an option though...I just couldn't even look at a green bean.
I was pretty fortunate I guess though, because I got back to more normal eating habits around 10-12 weeks. I want to tell you guys, my diet consists of 70- 80% healthy food. I cook a lot of veggies and eat a lot of fruit and lean meats. The kicker is I have a few sweet treats during the day. Most of which come in the form of a drink (maybe I am just replacing the flavored water I used to drink, IDK). I love chocolate almond milk, or simply lemonade (all flavors), gatorade, and the occasional sprite. I will also eat a spoon full of peanut butter dipped in vegan chocolate chips most days. OH yeah, and the fact that I have dairy free ice cream stored at every family members house just in case of emergency. Now, Im not saying that any of this by itself is bad, but I am also someone who tells people not to drink their calories on a normal basis. I am not getting anything nutritious from these sugary drinks and all I have to do is quit buying them. Easy Peasy.
My epiphany this past week has been that I am no longer going to put that crap in my body during the week and allow myself a treat or two (or four) on the weekend. This is not about weight gain, this is about not wanting to be addicted to sugar, not wanting my baby to be addicted to sugar, and not using my pregnancy as a time to make excuses but as a time to be the best version of myself. Also, I know that pregnant or not pregnant I feel much better when sugar is not a big part of my diet. SO...what did I do? I texted Logan at work and told him that we aren't eating sugar during the week anymore and he was totally on board!
I want to give you a few more scientific reasons why it's good to avoid a lot of extra sugar while you are preggo with ya cute babe!
1. When you fill your diet with a lot of extra sugar and fat, you eat less nutrient dense food. Which is bad for both baby and momma. Make room for healthy food first and sugar at the end of the day, when you have already had a lot of healthy stuff!
2. It can heighten the feelings of being lethargic, especially Sucralose which can give you a surge of energy and then a quick crash to follow.
3. It has been proven that women who crave sugar during pregnancy have children who crave sugar during their lifetime. Which promotes obesity and other chronic diseases.
4. Eating sugar while pregnant promotes extra weight gain while pregnant and women find it harder to lose the extra weight when the pregnancy is over.
What am I going to do instead of eating that white sugar goodness?
1. Eat fruit when I'm craving something sweet. Which I do now anyway, but I will stick to that rule.
2. Quit having the crap in the house. Which is always a great trick if you want to make some diet changes. Out of site out of mind!
3. Give myself some freedom on the weekend. Not craziness, but I will allow myself a lemonade when I feel like it, but since I'm not going to be drinking it all week, I won't be "addicted"
Anyway, that is my two cents! I know this might seem crazy to some of you all, but I want to set Clarke up with the best habits possible, and if that means I am going to sacrifice some lemonade and ice cream during the week, I'm cool with that. It's better for me as well, because I don't want to carry the bad habits into my post pregnancy life.
With love and a happy tummy,
B&C
P.S. Look forward to me figuring out how to make desserts without all kinds of sugar in them!