Always hungry

I'm about 2 months pregnant and since about 6 weeks, I have been constantly hungry all the time. I do try and eat a balanced meal at meal times and am full everytime but find that I am still hungry every couple of hours. I'm going to have to curb my eating as I don't want to put on tons of weight. I know people say this is a great time to eat as much as possible, but I'm craving foods like cakes and chocolate which is not good. I try really hard to substitute with fruit etc but then I need to eat again 30 mins later!

Is anybody else going through the same thing and any suggestion of what I can eat to stop this hunger?

I hope this doesn't last throughout the pregnancy otherwise I'll end up looking like a hippo! LOL!

I eat every 2 1/2 hrs even when I'm not pregnant. Over the last few days I seem to be able to eat less at one sitting, so I eat smaller amounts now. I keep walnuts, almonds, cranberries, raisins, seaweed etc in my office and munch on those. This afternoon I had a great lunch of linguine and prawns which I could not finish so I packed it, took it back and ate it at 4pm!!!


I think the trick is to stock up on healthy foods all over the place otherwise you'll be hitting every cake and egg tart in sight!

Happy chick! Consider yourself one of the lucky ones. You're not puking your guts out and hating food!


What I would suggest is some exercise. Exercise (ones that encourage sweating like walking vs. swimming) can slightly curb your appetite and the additional benefit is that if you burn some calories you can eat a bit more. A treat like cakes and chocolates (i'm 5 months pregnant with my second and my current obsession is haagandaz) is not a bad thing. In fact many cultures believe that denying your "baby" what you want to eat means that you'll make them less beautiful. HAHAH. Great excuse to eat.


Seriously though - exercise helps. It'll take your mind off of food for a bit, and give you some energy - and you can eat that treat since you've burned some calories!!

I was the same at that time, except I was eating lots of 'stodgy' food like breads, butter and carbs (all of which I usually avoid like the plague!).


That lasted about 5-7 weeks, then it stopped, and I went back to my normal healthy diet - the difference being I can now eat less per sitting and have to snack throughout the day a bit more...


You are going to gain weight, so you can't avoid that. And the Dr's here seem to say things like 'oooh, you gained 5 lbs, but 4 is the maximum per month' - big deal, one extra pound! just don't go crazy on the sweets/cakes and really overdo it. And if you can swim or do other exercise it will help.


I totally agree that the trick is to stock up on healthy snacks at hand - carrots, raisins, rice cakes, fruit, etc... nuts are optional - if you or the father have any allergies you might want to avoid nuts (ask your doctor).


I have always liked dark chocolate, I keep a bar in the fridge, but it is broken up into little squares in a bowl. This way I can easily limit myself to one or two small squares (I did this before pregnancy), and it is not tempting to open a bar and eat the whole thing. Oddly, when I was craving the stodgy food I had no desire for sweets, none at all - not even a spoonful of ice cream which is a usual vice.


I have a milk and fruit smoothie every morning and sometimes a couple at the weekends.... low fat milk, frozen berries and fresh fruit.... this gives me my calcium but also satisfies some hunger and thirst and is a bit sweet too. If you make it really thick it is like ice cream, thin it is more like a milk shake.


Yogurt with some 100% fruit jam stirred in or a bit of honey is a great substitute for ice cream.


Cakes/Cookies - get some healthy recipes off the web - ie, oatmeal cookies with wholemeal flour, less sugar and lots of dried fruit.


Oh, and please don't over-obsess about what you can and cannot eat - follow your instinct. If you crave something, there might be a reason. (or if you are repulsed by something!)


Ona another note, I was really depressed about the initial weight gain - when I looked a bit 'fat' and not pregnant, and coulnd't button my trousers so easily. I felt 'fat' not pregnant, and found this mentally challenging to accept. Now that I am almost 6 months (due in Jan) I look pregnant and feel a lot better mentally about my weight gain.

Thank you for all your replies, I feel a lot better knowing I'm not the only one eating all the time and I will definately take your advice with healthy snacks.

I did have morning sickness for a very short period of time but was recommended to take Vit B complex and overnight my sickness just disappeared and hunger took over it's place. I suppose I'd rather be hungry than be sick :)

I will have to get back into my exercise routine again soon but the last month has been extremely tiring for me and even walking down the street tires me out. Hopefully my strength will return in the second trimester and I can start doing my Leisa Hart's Fitmama prenatal workout and try to stay fit. LOL!

I will definately try and stock up on healthy food especially milk/fruit smoothies as I always end up feeling sick after drinking just milk, I have no idea why. Also it doesn't help my cravings when I work in an extremely relaxed office where I can pop out at anytime to City Super at the IFC where their bakery products are the best and so hard to resist!

crj, I am exactly at the stage where my stomach looks fat and podgy but not yet pregnant and finding myself feeling really self conscious as I'm still wearing my old clothes but they are starting to look a little tight and I do feel that people are staring, though it could be me being paranoid.

Thanks again for all your advice and I hope everyone is having a great pregnancy!

I am about 4 months pregnant, and since a month ago, I eat like a pig.... mostly are sweet stuff like ice cream,chocolate,cake,sundae etc. And Im fanatic with noodle, I've heard its not good to eat noodles and sweet food during pregnancy is that right? I am worry about my baby weight if Im still eating sweet stuff like what I am doin now... anyone know about the relation between sugar and baby's weight?? thanks...