White Bread & Pasta

This is not a post to rant the evils of white bread. Rather, I want to let you know why I've been gone from my regular posting.

I have a confession to make. I've been eating atrociously. I mean, my old self is looking at my new self, in shock and horror at the foods that I've been eating--plain white bagels, tortilla chips, pasta, and not an ounce of veggies, except for tomatoes and iceberg lettuce, for weeks!

There is an explanation for all of this.

I am pregnant.

Somehow, as soon as the intense nausea and sleepiness (have I mentioned I can and do sleep 12 hours + a day?) set in (a.k.a. morning sickness, which please, can we find another name for this condition which is not limited to only the morning?), my very clean diet of whole foods did a complete 180. All I care about now is eating whatever I can manage to stomach, which is usually something white, starchy, and completely void of nutrients (does this make any sense at all?).

No. I haven't thrown up yet. Yes. I am very nauseated. VERY nauseated. Pretty much all of the time. And for those theories floating out there that morning sickness can be eased or eliminated with ginger, certain foods, or is caused by a poor diet, to that I say, hogwash. This is my fourth time around the pregnancy block, and I have to say I prior to getting pregnant this time around my diet could not have been made healthier. Seriously. I'm not bragging, just saying, there's this misconception that the perfect diet can eliminate morning sickness. It's just not true. I hate ginger. Especially ginger tea. It makes me want to throw up.

I have to say, I have been a lot more lenient with my food choices than with my last pregnancy when I wasn't nearly as overcome with morning sickness. This time around, I've had very strong cravings and aversions to food. While I'm committed to eating vegetarian during the whole pregnancy, I can't say I've been totally vegan. This may come as shock (perhaps disappointment to some?) as if you know me, I'm totally committed to the benefits of plant-based vegan diet. However, I've always felt that if my body were telling me I needed a particular food or if I felt I was "missing" something, I would eat fish or eggs or whatever. So since being pregnant the only craving for animal foods has been for eggs which I have, for the past few days been eating, without a shred of guilt. It's interesting to note, I was reading in this month's Fit Pregnancy magazine about how cholesterol levels need to be higher in pregnant women due to the increase in certain hormones needed for a healthy pregnancy. It makes sense to me that with my prior diet, my cholesterol had to be very low (which under non-pregnant circumstances is a good thing), so if this bit about higher cholesterol during pregnancy holds true, it would make sense that I'm craving things like eggs, which are a rich source of cholesterol.

The other thing that has changed dramatically is my eating schedule. For some reason, I can eat in the morning but as the day goes on, it becomes much harder to eat. So usually I'll eat a substantial breakfast, little or no lunch, and a small dinner or nothing at all. And I usually can't snack. After about 9 or 10 am, food becomes completely repulsive.

So don't worry if you don't hear from me for awhile. I'm around, just busy making a baby.