Late pregnancy and vanilla NoS - opinions needed

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 5:12 pm

Disclaimer: I am aware that opinions expressed below are not medical advice. I will definitely ask my OB for it.

I've been doing pretty fine on NoS for the first six months of my pregnancy, and gaining weight by the book just by following basic vanilla principles, and with excessive Saturdays, tamer but still enjoyable Sundays, and occassional red days. Nagged by my well-meaning friends and family, I've tried to relax a little in the last three weeks, and allow myself healthy snacks like fruit, almonds, and plain yogurt whenever I felt the "need" for them. Quite predictably, it was a very slippery slope, and I found myself eating less and less healthy snacks, and then sweets, as the days progressed. Right now I have legitimate, what-the-hell red days two to three times a week, and even on calmer days I crave and eat dessert after dinner. I would like to put myself together and get back to plain vanilla, with no exceptions, no bargaining, and no mitigating circumstances, and preferably continue this until my due date. This is what I feel would be best, but everyone around me vehemently opposes this idea. "You HAVE to eat more than usual".
I know that calorie needs do increase in the third trimester, but not THAT much. Definitely not enough to advocate snacking and having desserts whenever the mood strikes! Do you think one really needs to CONSCIOUSLY put more on one's plate during pregnancy? Isn't it going to sorta naturally regulate itself, in the form of bigger meals on some days? Are modifications in late pregnancy a must? Curious about your opinions, as always!

kaalii · Post by **kaalii** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 5:57 pm

i would advise against diets in pregnancy... but as even reinhard says: noS ISN'T a diet!

it is a way of eating that, as we know, in even more modest forms got many pregnant women through thousands and thousands of years of human history accross cultures and time...

i mean, to give extreme example, even pregnant women in concentration camps during the WW2 gave birth to healthy and normal weight babies, if everything else was ok, of course... the mothers would suffer, though, themselves... because fetuses take what they need from mum's body... nature is wise in that way... got us a card in the pocket in case of famine, war, drought, long winters and other totally natural circumstances that we in the west know nothing about nowadays...
so, if you are not malnourished you and the baby should be totally fine... with 3 plates a day you just cant be malnourished... but dont eat total junk, please...

so no worry to harm the baby with sane and balanced eating...
up the plate size, if you will or if you are eating, like me now, from 9" plate... but the sanity of 3 plates a day will be beneficial to you in many ways... and then truly dont worry about the S days...

enjoy your pregnancy!

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 6:18 pm

Thank you! What you said really resonates with me. I don't think there's any harm in eating three meals per day, no matter what trimester you are in, provided you don't inhale junk all the time. I'm big on fruit, dairy, fish and whole grains, I like most vegetables - my diet, except sugar splurges, has always been pretty healthy. The main problem was rather the size and frequency of my meals and snacks, and NoS took care of that.

kaalii · Post by **kaalii** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 6:33 pm

if it resonates, then do it that way...
dont listen to others... except for the OB... but even then, if it doesnt resonate, ask for a second, third opinion...

Jen1974 · Post by **Jen1974** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 9:30 pm

If you are gaining weight at the right pace & your doctor is happy with where you are at I wouldn't listen to what anyone else says!!

But, if you are overly hungry between meals (not just feeling hungry because you "should" be) than I would think it's your body's way of telling you to eat bigger meals. IMO I see no bigger benefit to you or the baby by adding snacks instead of bigger meals if you are hungry (: I've had 3 & gained so much less with my second & third than I did my first & felt so much better through the whole thing!! All 3 of my kids were born big & healthy (:

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 10:31 pm

Thanks for the input! I'm not physically hungry between meals or if I am, my stomach is grumbling slightly about half an hour before, which I consider both normal and desirable - I'm building healthy appetite, not starving myself. In the last few weeks I've caught myself eating just because I can or I should or because friends and family keep pushing food at me. But I feel so much better when I don't!

Jenniferk32 · Post by **Jenniferk32** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 12:12 am

I've had three kids and my advice for you on controlling weight is....we, actually, I've got nothing. Sorry. I gained 60+ pounds each time. I'm writing this response for your postpartum days, actually. If you're going to breastfeed, I'm just cautioning that I can't see how NoS can possibly work for about the first 6 months. The appetite while breastfeeding is like a wild beast that cannot be tamed. Eat, just try to eat healthy. Your appetite will start to decrease as your little one starts to eat solids, though even then it will remain higher. You will probably my still lose weight, especially if you exercise, even if you're eating more.

My little one turned two years old yesterday and is still nursing some. My appetite is just now returning to normal, so be patient with yourself.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 2:40 am

I've read that a pregnant woman's body needs no more than an extra 300 calories a day during the last trimester. The whole idea of eating for "two" is a big myth. Even if women didn't eat extra, most women in our culture have enough "reserves" to easily get the extra from without any harm to the baby or her. But if she doesn't want to do that, it's not hard to add a little sumpin' to meals. And certainly it's got to be better for mom AND baby to eat good quality food.

Enjoy these last months!

noni · Post by **noni** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 12:51 pm

I wish I was a No S'er during all my pregnancies. This forum didn't exist then, but it was and is always a simple and normal way to eat. During my last pregnancy, I saw I was going in the same vein as the others: eating too much, permasnacking, etc... so at 4 months I put a screeching halt to it. I was getting up there in age, and it became increasingly hard to get the baby weight off. I did the IE, eating only when full and done when satisfied, but it was mostly like No S, because I ate the 3 meals at my regular meal time, being careful not to overeat so I would be hungry enough for my next meal. I gained a total of 22 lbs. My son is now a healthy, active 16 y/o who is the tallest of us shorties.

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 8:04 pm

Thank you all for your replies. You have all confirmed what I already suspected, but of course I'm going to double-check at the doctor's. I must admit to feeling quite relieved: eating for two has been a glorified mantra here where I live for decades!

Jen1974 · Post by **Jen1974** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 4:41 pm

I have to comment on the breastfeeding. I agree, it made me STARVING, but I found that when I added in a lot of fat, my appetite calmed down & the baby weight fell off. I'm talking eggs, sausage, cheese for breakfast & bacon cheeseburgers for lunch, but I was really one of the ones that everyone thought was lucky, but the fat made it so I didn't feel the need to graze through my day. I wasn't doing No S yet, but I NEVER snacked, but did eat 3 meals & a mini meal late afternoon/early evening because we always ate a late dinner after the kids went to bed (:

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 3:41 am

Imogen Morley wrote:Thanks for the input! I'm not physically hungry between meals or if I am, my stomach is grumbling slightly about half an hour before, which I consider both normal and desirable - I'm building healthy appetite, not starving myself. In the last few weeks I've caught myself eating just because I can or I should or because friends and family keep pushing food at me. But I feel so much better when I don't!

To me, the bolded says volumes. I'd look at it this way:

Your body doesn't need sugar.
Your body doesn't need snack foods.

I would say that a "best case" scenario for pregnancy would be to follow no-s, but allow fruits or veggies as snacks if you need a snack.

Have some lines ready if other push food on you:

"No thanks, I'm not hungry right now."
"No thanks, I just ate."
"No thanks, I've found I feel better when I don't eat junk."
"No thanks, xyz food doesn't seem to agree with baby."

Rinse & repeat!

I really wish I had eaten more sensibly when I was pregnant, because it's no fun taking the weight back off later! (I gained almost 60 with my first, oy! Yes, I bought into the "eating for two" myth! Ugh!)

Sinnie · Post by **Sinnie** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 2:29 pm

Imogen!!! Congratulations!!!!

Speaking as someone who has just gone through it, my oninion is stick with what feels right and follow your OB's guidelines. Although, mine never mentioned anything about my weight or food intake so I just assumed that meant all was fine and I followed my own intuition. First time around with my daughter, I tried to follow NO S. my recollection is a little hazy but it worked and I gained in total maybe 28 lbs? It fell off in short order about 3-4 months later but I switched to calorie counting after that until my next pregnancy and it worked wonderfully. Lowest weight I'd ever had and it was so easy. I should mention my experience breastfeeding was the opposite in that my appetite was normal and in fact I even stopped getting the low blood sugar shakes I always used to get in previous years. Luck was on my side. It made weight loss ridiculously easy.

Second pregnancy was twins and I was sort of excited to throw caution to the wind - if there is ever a time in a woman's life to not worry about food or weight it is when you are pregnant, especially with multiples! Well that dream came to a hold when I pretty much always felt just a little nauseated. I was chronically feeling full and had next to no appetite. I guess I'm a little unusual, that big appetite that is supposed to come never happened. Quite disappointing Actually. I delivered at 36 weeks and had gained somewhere around 38 pounds? It took about the same time to get back to prepregnancy weight. But to continue getting lower is more difficult this time because I find being so busy with three babies kind of makes me not care about my eating patterns. I am only partially breast-feeding this time but because there are two it might be equal to one baby, and again my appetite is rather low. I guess I am the exception not the rule.

I think at this point I am going to try to give no S another return and I look forward to hearing more about your journey! Best wishes good luck and congratulations again