Pardon the long pause between posts, the Internet at our place hasn't been working since before Christmas, and it wont be fixed until after the new year... so this over-sharer who depends too much on this blog to figure out her own feelings has been going a little crazy. Instead of writing an emotional piece of what I am currently going through (I don't know about you, but I don't enjoy crying in public) I thought I would write about my progress with GD.
I really was shocked to find out I have gestational diabetes because I truly do eat healthy, and while I have been banned from my favorite exercises like zumba and running, my pregnancy books have a 'move of the week' that I follow. Little things like squats and leg lifts and stretches ect... i lost 25 pounds at the beginning of my pregnancy (Duchess Kate and I are BFFs) only to have gained back 5 at this point. I went into last week's appointment skeptical that there was much else I could do- I just had this feeling that I would end up being one of those unlucky women stuck taking daily insulin shots. Before I get into that, let me give you some insight into the food of my daily life...
My life with food pre-pregnancy was annoying on it's own. Here is a list of things I couldn't have before for various reasons:
1. Nuts (make your jokes) I am highly allergic to most nuts... I still eat peanut butter but at a price... I get a rash but its not full-on hives so most of the time I don't mind dealing with it. Usually the benefits of it outweigh my annoying rash but other nuts I avoid because I don't really like them and the rash is worse for some reason.
2. Aspartame (splenda is made from this) It causes severe migraine headaches that usually ended up with me sick to my stomach
3. Processed foods like American cheese, what i call 'fake' chocolate (or cheap chocolate), and most sausages or hot dogs... they also give me a rash so i tend to avoid them... plus EEW!
4. Most meat: I'm not not a meat inclined person... i love most vegetarian dishes. I wish I could write about some moral obligation against meat, but I just prefer not to eat it because I don't really like it.
When I got pregnant there were even more foods I had to stay away from... Here is the list of things my doctors told me to avoid (please don't ask me the clinical explanation on why... i just follow directions lol):
1. Deli meats... which stinks because I would have a sandwich almost every day for lunch
2. Undercooked meats or raw fish. I LOVE sashimi and crave it like crazy for some reason. I've just stayed away from steak because when I actually want steak I like it rare, and if I can't have it rare then what's the point of having it ya know?
3. Coffee. Now I'm not gonna lie, there is no way I could stay away from coffee completely. I can safely have 200mg a day so I have 1 cup which is no where near that. That's a huge deal for me since I usually drink it up until I go to sleep.
4. Runny eggs. I freaking love them but I can't have them ;( so again, why bother eating any if I can't have them cooked the way I like them?
5. Fish. Just the smell of it makes my stomach turn, so while I loved it pre-pregnancy I haven't wanted anything to do with it since 6 weeks in.
6. Salt (to prevent bloating) I'm fairly short, so I don't need any extra 'help' .. especially from foods I don't really need or like
SO- this is what a day in the life of my eating habits consists of (before the GD diet)... These first 2 are always the same every day no matter what I am doing, it's very exciting haha. I eat almost every 2 hours to ward of nausea, which works for me because i get full VERY quickly.
Breakfast- Black coffee and a banana
Snack- Yogurt
Lunch- Can be any of the following: a pb&j, soup, salad, macaroni and cheese, bagel and cream cheese, or chowmein (one of my biggest cravings)
Snack- Crackers (because usually i feel sick after lunch), fruit or a little of whatever i didn't finish at lunch
Dinner- my parents cook just as much as we eat out, but usually by dinner i get full after a couple of bites so i don't worry too much about what I'm eating. i usually go for the healthiest option of whatever they are having... my parents are both diabetic and have high cholesterol so they're pretty careful what they eat as well, and I don't usually eat meat.. so dinner consists of side dishes mostly.
After dinner snack- fruit with peanut butter, celery with peanut butter or a hard boiled egg with cheese
Late night snack- i do have a sweet tooth and keep a stash of sour candies by my bed (another huge craving) but because they're sour I can only eat a handful at a time. A few times a week I have 3-4 oreos and milk- because I'm one of those weirdos that actually sticks to serving sizes listed on packages, and i always have half of a peanut butter sandwich so i don't wake up sick to my stomach.
As you can see my daily diet is pretty boring, so when we factor in the requirements of gestational diabetes, there isn't a whole lot to be excited about. Basically I have to watch my carbs (so sad... i love carbs! carbs carbs carbs, get in my belly) and I can no longer have fruit juices, soda's- which is fine, I was never a huge soda drinker, except for my random cravings for root beer and I am being forced to eat meat on a daily basis. (My iron levels were very low) I also have to eat 6 meals a day which is hard because I'm basically always full. So here is my food life since conforming to the GD Diet: ppssstt... this is the general diet based on my meetings with a nutritionist who helped me shape the GD diet to my own needs.
Breakfast- Bagel and cream cheese and coffee
Morning Snack- yogurt
Lunch- a sandwich, or a salad with a protein included
Afternoon Snack- cottage cheese or cheese slices with milk
Dinner- a palm sized protein (usually chicken), a cup of a starch (usually pasta of some kind) and a huge portion of veggies (my favorite part- especially when my hubby is cooking them)
Late Night Snack- either peanut butter toast or 1/2 peanut butter sandwich with milk
I saw the nutritionist again this morning and they reviewed my blood sugar readings. They were very inconsistent despite the consistencies of my diet. The biggest worry for them was my fasting reading (right after I wake up) and my hour after breakfast reading. They suggested I change my bagel and cream cheese breakfast to a 1/2 bagel and add a hard boiled egg. They also suggested I add cheese to my late night snack. They're giving my numbers until Friday to improve my blood sugar readings with these 2 adjustments otherwise I am going to have to give myself insulin injections at bedtime to try and make up for my fasting and post breakfast numbers. Keep those fingers crossed!!!
If I wasn't already worried about my food intake and making sure I get all the nutrients and diet requirements in - seriously who has time for all this monitoring haha- I also have to take all these supplements daily:
Folic Acid x3
Prenatal Vitamin x1
Iron with a shot of orange juice x1
Protein Powder mixed into my milk x2
Anti-nausea meds (there are 2 of them but i forget what they are called) one of them is at night to help me sleep and the other can be up to 3x a day as needed
I think that's about it... so I bet your diet is looking pretty good right about now right? In all seriousness the GD diet is not as bad as I thought. Like I said, it was pretty similar to my regular routine except now I can't have all the sweets... which can be hard. There was a point last night where I was almost in tears wishing I just had some starbursts. Luckily that can be blamed on pregnancy hormones and its gone just as quickly as it comes. It's also kinda nice taking out all the guesswork and the time it would take me to settle on what to eat. It's pretty black and white so its easy to remember, and easy to follow. I even like the fact that I get to 'work out' after each major meal. I was missing my active lifestyle, so even though its just a walk around the block or doing my stretches, it feels good.
I'll do my best to keep this updated on my progress and of course how it effects miss Averie Belle. Hopefully I'll get the chance to write about my holiday week and the roller coaster of emotions I experienced. Let's just say I'll be happy when the holidays pass!
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