Coping with pregnancy cravings.

About 75% of pregnant women will confess to having one kind of pregnancy craving or another.

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Now from my experience, if you have a particular mindset about food, you will definitely almost crave towards that area. Not always, but at least, most of the time. What do i mean?

It is essential you try your best to adapt to a healthy eating lifestyle. Make your food as clean and portioned as possible before getting pregnant. Once you can cope with that, it will be easier to deal with pregnancy craving extremes.

In my first trimester, I used to crave okpa (a local delicacy made from bambara nut flour). And i always wanted okpa from the east. Not Lagos variant. So my husband was always on the  look out for someone coming by road from the east to get me okpa. Lest he go dream bad dreams…

Now the okpa craving is ova. One time i was craving some sort of soda or fruit juice. So i decided to buy pineapples, Peel the back and boil. then chill in the fridge. Some days i made zobo drink with fresh pineapples. That way i battled with that craving. Once or twice i have craved shortbread biscuit. But when i remember that 1 biscuit is over 100cal, kai! i think twice. Thankfully they now make N100 packs that contain only 2 shortbread biscuits. I have one, give my daughter one and that craving is dealt with.

I craved cake for over 3 weeks till i finally gave in last week (i put the blame on cookie). I had to make sure that i had people that will eat the remaining, lest i bing on it. So as soon as i had a slice, i quickly gave out the remaining and that was how we fought that.On days when i crave ice cream, i have frozen smoothies. its a constant struggle.

Another thing that has helped me is not staying hungry. I try not to skip my meals. Real food. Once i am full, i can easily fight the cravings because i would be thinking, “if i eat it, where will it stay”? The discomfort i get from over eating is not one id gladly experience over and over again.
So i try not to get hungry. And if i do, i have my food close by.

Some days are harder than some days. I truly envy women who go through pregnancy, eat anything, and not gain weight. But all women are different as are all bodies different.

Some hormones are more favorable than some.  Don’t use pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever you want. You definitely want to give your baby the best. So aim for the best at least 80% of the time. Before eating, ask yourself, “Is this good for the baby”? Then answer yourself truthfully and decide.

The struggle is real!!