Pregnant vegan craving non vegan things :-( anyone else?
I have been vegan for almost 2yrs. I am 6wks pregnant :-) and although I have never craved anything non vegan since becoming vegan, I am having craving for things like real mac n cheese, cottage cheese, even turkey & swiss sandwiches. I have not given in to the meat yet and hope that I don't cause I don't think I could stomach that. But I have given into cheese. :-( I don't feel good about it. But I am trying not to be to picky cause if my body is telling me to eat it, then I must need it or the calcium or something. I could get it another way and do a vegan version but thats the problem, my body and taste buds don't want the alternatives, if I don't eat what it wants then the only thing do to is starve cause the vegan versions make me wanna hurl.
So right now I have had to go back down to being just vegetarian. :-( I am hoping that maybe by the second month that this phase will phase. I can't even think about most food w/o wanting to throw up so I haven't been eating much, there is not much that I can get down. Except for what I am craving at the time and sometimes I crave nothing. If i try to force myself to eat I end up getting sick, or if I force a different version of the food on my then i get sick as well. I seem to be only allowed to eat what my body is telling me to eat at that time.
I can't even eat veggies :-( or lentils, beans, brown rice. I have been living off of cereal and now real mac n cheese. not exactly a healthy pregnancy. :-(
Was anyone else on here forced into becoming a vegetarian again while pregnant?
Jade, Yes, you are not alone.....I remember last year a woman came on here after a "mysterious" nine month absence and that was due to her feeling guilty about eating what her bodies were telling her to eat. Just do what you need to do to eat something. I've only experienced early pregnancy, but what I can share with you is when I wanted a pickle at 2 am, there was no other choice but to go out to the store and get some....even if that meant leaving so quickly you forgot the keys to the house..... So yes, the cravings are there for a reason. If you wish, a little further down the road (ie when your stomach settles down), you can start to shift into getting the nutrients you're craving through vegan means. But right now, the most important thing for you is to be able to eat something.
Don't give yourself any grief, no one here is going to climb your frame about this, I promise. Be healthy, and happy. A happy heart makes for a happy baby, but a healthy, un-hurling body does too.
Sometimes our bodies know things we don't about what's going on inside them. This is not a valid comparison, but when I have a feverish cold I crave miso to the place I will eat it on toast, or by the spoonful. When I'm healthy, it leaves me cold. But I have tested by experience that it helps me feel a lot better, a lot faster.
Have a good baby! (((Jade)))
I craved Cheetos like a motherfucker, and I had been vegan for 8 years at that point. Also, cupcakes. I just tried to figure out what it was my body wanted. Like, salt from the cheetos, because I don't eat a lot of salt, and was eating less because I was preggers, so I ate Fritos instead. Do whatever makes you comfortable, but you wint die if you don't get that exact thing. So, you can't eat anything because it's making you sick? Or it just doesn't taste good?
I agree with everyone here too. Eat what you need and are satisfied with.
Have you tried the veggie turkey slices, they taste alot like the real thing (or what I can remember).
Maybe that can help with the meat issue..
But I do think it is a way of telling your body what it needs, especially since it has to get that nutrition to a baby.
Good luck.
I had a similar experience with my first pregnancy. I was vegetarian for 3 years, just became vegan, and all the sudden the thought of soymilk and other subs sickened me. I did have a little dairy and maybe egg for my first pregnancy. I did not feel guilty at the time and just did what I had to do to get through it.
This past time (just had baby in July) I was vegan throughout, but my body was more used to it (veg for 10 years now) I guess. I had no sickness at all this time (but was SUPER tired!).
Of course, try to eat at least one healthy meal per day....but also think about how many pregnant moms eat like crap (SAD) for the whole thing and the babies come out fine. Our bodies just have a way of taking care of the babies inside, I think. I ate mostly healthy this time, but also included a lot of junk food, and my little guy came out perfectly! ;)
Dont sweat it too much....just enjoy your pregnancy. The process is pretty amazing.
Later if I can I will post my list of foods to eat while pregnant to get all your nutrients....its hanging on my fridge (handwritten)
Jade, I have a book called Vegetarian Pregnancy, and I will no longer be needing it. Would you like me to send it to you?
Although I'm not vegan, I am closer to vegan when I'm not pregnant.
I find that I do seem to have a strong desire for more dairy and eggs now that I'm expecting. But, I also crave a lot more fresh fruit than usual.
But, after the first trimester, it has been easier to have a higher percentage of vegan food in my diet.
I'm a "just vegetarian" and I have been on for a very long time . . . I also have three kids and had horrific morning sickness with all of them that lasted well into the sixth month that was promptly replaced by horrific indigestion. I threw up everywhere and even the thought of going into some of my favorite Chinese or Indian restaurants made me want to gag. I couldn't even shop at HFS because the smell would make me so sick to my stomach. For my first child it was the worst and all I could keep down were milkshakes and pancakes and roast beef sandwiches. Anything with too much fiber was just out the question and I had no desire at all to eat beans or hummus or vegetables.
My view is you do what you need to do to just get through it. It doesn't last long and it is amazing in that as soon as that baby is out it is like someone flipped a switch and you can resume your prior diet. I managed to maintain an all veg diet during my pregnancy with my last child, and while she is very cute, I'm not sure the vegetarian thing had anything to do with it.