Tag Archives: food

Food Aversions

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This third baby is taking a toll on my diet. I swear I can’t eat anything without getting nauseous. With my second baby I was sick for maybe a month and it went away. But this time around it’s stretching a lot longer.

Strangely enough, the only things that don’t make me sick are: Ice cream, a tortilla with peanut butter, avocado toast, milk, pizza, cheese and vanilla cheerios. You’d think milk products wouldn’t be easy on the stomach and would make me sick. But weirdly enough they don’t bother it!

One strange food aversion I’m having that I had with our second baby is with chicken. I can’t eat chicken cooked at someone’s house. It literally makes me start gagging. I can’t even cook it myself without feeling sick. But I can eat chicken from a restaurant! There’s something about the smell of it cooking in the house that makes me sick. Since I can’t smell the chicken being cooked in the restaurant, it doesn’t bother me.

The first three months I was really battling with food. But now I’ve found a few items I can eat regularly with no major issue. So every day, I eat pretty much the exact same thing. I actually don’t mind it much because I’m a creature of habit and love schedules. I’ve always had my meals planned out days in advance so I’m not doing too much different than my usual other than being limited on foods.

This is definitely proof that every pregnancy is different! I’m learning as I go with each one!

Zucchini Brownies

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I’m not a baker. Never have been. I actually have ruined 95% of the things I’ve tried baking over the years. I can cook decently well but me and baking just can seem to mesh

However, I did successfully bake the best zucchini brownies ever! And I’m not a brownie person! I actually very much dislike brownies, cookies, cake, etc. But these were pretty good! Would I crave them again? No. But that’s because I’m not a brownie person. If I was I’d be making these every week!

I think what I liked about them was that they didn’t have that oily texture. I hate that so many baking items require an oil base. Zucchini replaced the oil in this case. So instead of an oily feel, it was just very moist and soft. None of that greasy feel when you picked them up. I also didn’t feel as guilty having one because I was like well, there is zucchini so I’m getting a hint of a veggie!

Ingredients:

•2 cups flour (I used rice flour)

•1 cup grated zucchini

•1/2 cup cocoa powder

•1 cup granulated sugar

•1/2 cup skim milk

•2 eggs

•1 cup chocolate chips

•2 tsp baking soda

•2 tsp vanilla extract

•pinch of salt

Frosting:

•8 tbsp cocoa powder

•8 tbsp water

•4 tbsp sugar

•1 tsp vanilla extract

Recipe:

•Preheat oven to 350 degrees

•Spray 9×9 pan with cooking spray

•Combine all ingredients (minus the ingredients for frosting) into a bowl and mix until smooth

•Pour batter into pan

•Bake 25 minutes

•Combine ingredients for frosting and mix till smooth

•Once brownies are done and cooled, top with icing

Diet pains

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Ever gone on a diet and felt achy during it? Sort of those body aches you get just before you actually get sick? Well, that’s not uncommon. So what causes it?……

When you eat unhealthy foods for a while, your body builds “immunity” to these junk foods. That’s why you don’t feel any major discomfort after having eaten them for weeks, months or years. Once you remove these foods from your diet, your body can actually go through withdrawals. Your body became addicted to these foods so it’s a shock to it when you remove them. Symptoms can include body aches, anxiety, exhaustion, irritability, jitteriness, and tiredness.

A lot of people who get these symptoms while dieting feel like their diet isn’t working due to the symptoms they experience. What they fail to remember is that dieting isn’t easy at first. You have to get your body into a routine. They often feel this discomfort, get discouraged and immediately want to feel comfort. They remember how junk food was a comfort feeling for some of them, so they go right back to eating it.

Don’t get me wrong, I eat my fair share of junk food. However, I eat it in moderation. I may eat a burger and fries for dinner one night. But all my meals before that are healthy. I don’t do an entire day of eating terrible. If I do eat terrible one entire day, my body goes into a shock and I actually get an achy, tired and uncomfortable feel. It’s one I can actually feel in my muscles and stomach.

There is what I call the “diet hump.” For me it’s always around week 3 or 4 of my diet. I start to feel achy and I get tired and discouraged. I think to myself how much I hate this feeling and I just want to lay on the sofa with a box of pizza and Chinese food. But once I push past those thoughts and a few days of the achy, tiredness passes, I feel better. Things get easier after that hump. My diet becomes more of a routine and easy to follow. I don’t crave unhealthy foods as much. My body actually feels stronger after.

Diet and weight loss is not easy. It honestly takes a lot more mental work than people realize. It’s not 100% physical when going on a diet. You have to keep yourself on track and not let what may be withdrawal symptoms, set you back if they come on. For me a lot of “self talk” is involved. I tell myself regularly “I can do this.” It’s a lot of mental pushing. But it’s worth it on the end. Especially to wake up feeling better every day. Having my stomach feel clear and not heavy and bloated. To not have my joints an muscles ache when I try to get up or sit down. With two kids under 3, I need all the strength and energy I can get from this body!

Summer slim down

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I started my “summer slim down.” This year I have a good friend helping hold me accountable. I’m a week in and I’ve done pretty good! I’m someone who does better with a goal. I’m less likely to cheat on a diet or get lazy with workouts if I set a goal to work towards. I think it’s the competitive side of me that kicks in. I don’t like to lose. Plus, having a friend give me that little push tends to help.

I’m not doing an extreme diet or anything. I’m simply cutting out a few items that I regularly grab while grazing or boredom eating. So less cheese, less milk (I drink a crazy amount), less sugar, less carbs and less alcohol. I still consume a good amount of carbs. I need them to fuel my body. But I’m aiming to add in more complex carbs and reduce my simple carb intake.

The word diet doesn’t mean you’re going on some strict meal plan. A diet by definition is “the kinds of foods that a person habitually eats.” So I’m making little adjustments to my regular eating habits.

My overall goal is less snacking. I’m someone who goes to the fridge to eat just because I’m bored. So I’ll grab a snack when I’m not even hungry. I’m attempting to cut out these extra unnecessary snacks/meals.

Food battle

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I’m not kidding you when I say the only actual “meal” I eat during the day is dinner. I literally have no free hands to make myself a meal during the day. It’s a battle just to cook dinner at night. If it weren’t for my youngest taking an evening nap, giving me time to cook, we would probably be eating takeout every night. 🥠

With my first child I was able to make myself breakfast, lunch, etc. I only had him to worry about. Throw a second child into the mix and a “real meal” is almost non existent. 🍽

One child is crying wanting to be held, the oldest is pulling at my leg, the dog just pooped on the carpet, someone is knocking on the door……literally that is how my day goes. And it always seems to happen all at once, the minute I decide to get something to eat. So grabbing a granola bar or a protein bar is the best I can do 99% of the time.🍫

I’m doing my best to make sure I get enough calories in each day. But sometimes it’s hard. There’s only so many granola bars you can eat before you just don’t want to eat. And yes I keep easy to grab items in my fridge like fruit, carrots, etc. But not all of that transports easily from room to room. I’m not kidding when I say the minute I try to get myself something to eat someone needs a diaper change, the dog poops on the carpet, a child is climbing up on something he could hurt himself on, etc. 🍎

I’m not complaining by any means. I know this stage will be short lived (I hope). But it does sort of suck at times. I literally look forward to the weekend when we go to our golf club for lunch and someone cooks a meal for me. Then for dinner we get takeout and again food is cooked for me.

Children and sweets

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I’m pretty particular about what my child eats. I give a little here and there. But one thing I don’t budge on is sweets. I personally believe we introduce candy and sugars into children’s diets at too early of an age. Most doctors and dieticians will recommend waiting till a child is at least 4 before introducing them to candy and sweets (longer if possible).

Hard or chewy candies are a choking hazard, and giving your child other treats like chocolate can contribute to poor eating habits as they grow up.

Candy is chock-full of empty calories, and you want to make sure your child eats more nutrient-packed foods. Because eating habits and tastes are learned early, what you offer your child now will affect them for the rest of their life.

Your child will figure out soon enough the appeal of sweets, but you can help them make smart choices. If you want to give your cold something sweet, safe and healthy options are fruit, yogurt, frozen yogurt, pudding, etc.

Help your child learn healthy habits early in!

You want what you can’t have

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Do you ever notice you miss things the most when you can’t have them?

Being pregnant I have been seriously missing sushi and deli sandwiches. I couldn’t tell you the last time I had sushi (when not pregnant). But now that I can’t have it, I want it. Any time I see a sushi restaurant I swear my mouth starts watering. But all the days before I got pregnant, sushi wasn’t even on my radar. 😂

I’m not a huge sandwich person but I want one now that I’m told I can’t have them! My doctor doesn’t want me eating any form of deli meat or processed meats. That’s due to the risk of listeria and other bacteria. Yes they say some deli meats are ok to eat because they are sprayed with a preventative before packaged to prevent listeria. But the fact that it has to be sprayed with a chemical makes it a no go on my list. I’d like to avoid any over processing and chemicals if at all possible!

So for now I’ll just dream about those foods I can have and countdown till the day I can have them again. Although when that day comes I probably won’t even want them. 😂

Get Your Iron!

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You’re supposed to keep up your iron levels when pregnant. So what better way than a steak from Del Friscos! Ok yes there are other sources, but when this is an option you know I’m going to take it!

Women need 18 mg per day of iron. Pregnant women need about 27 mg. An 8oz filet contains roughly 4 mg of iron. Spinach, oysters, broccoli and legumes are great sources of iron as well if beef isn’t your thing.

Unfamiliar with what iron does in the body? Here’s a short explanation…..iron is a component of hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that helps transport oxygen through the body. Iron is also necessary in helping maintain healthy skin, hair and nails.

Keep your body strong from the inside out! Make sure you’re getting the proper amount of iron each day!💪🏻

Fighting disease or feeding it

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Everything you eat either fights disease or feeds it. Did you know that sugar is like fuel for cancer? Cancer feeds off sugar therefore fueling rapid growth of cancer cells. Cancer cells uptake sugar at 10-12 times the rate of healthy cells.

The most simple forms of sugar are single molecule sugars, like glucose and fructose. This is why refined carbs like white sugar, white flour, soft drinks, etc should be limited or avoided for anyone with cancer.

(There is also evidence that some cancer cells feed on amino acids or lipids.)

Understanding how your body works and what works best for it are SO important. Help your body fight against illness and disease by feeding it things that support it.

Turkey and butternut squash chili

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Nothing goes better with cold weather than a nice hot bowl of chili! I typically do a traditional Texas chili but I changed it up a little last night. Here is the recipe for my turkey and butternut squash chili!

Ingredients:

🔹8 oz butternut squash cubed

🔹2 tbsp Chile rub

🔹1/4 oz cilantro

🔹15 oz crushed tomatoes

🔹12 oz ground turkey

🔹1 shallot

🔹1 oz cheddar-Jack cheese

🔹2 oz sour cream

🔹1 tomato

Recipe:

Halve and peel shallot. Dice halves. Core tomato and dice. Stem and mince cilantro.

Place a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add 2 tsp olive oil, butternut squash and shallot to hot pan. Stir often until squash is browned and begins to soften. 7-10 minutes

Add turkey, half the Chile rub and a pinch of pepper. Stir often, breaking up meat with a spoon until no pink remains.

Add crushed tomatoes and 1 1/4 cup of water and a pinch of salt to pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until thickened. 10-12 minutes

Taste chili and stir in remaining chili rub if desired. Plate dish with cheese, sour cream and cilantro