Alexis: The Next Generation

Continued from my previous journal here: New journal for a new chapter in my life!

My (middle) name is Alexis. I’m 39, live in the tri-state area (NJ and NYC). Until recently, I was single, living with my mom, and just kinda going through the motions…

Then this happened:
  • October 2021 - Got engaged in Paris
  • February 2022 - Got married in Cocoa Beach, FL (2-22-2022)
  • March 2022 - Pregnant! (due in Oct, but will probably be early.. Kid is growing fast!)

To be fair, this is the culmination of YEARS of hard work on myself. I went to therapy, read books, went to singles groups searching for “the one”, and slogged through YEARS of bad dates and heartbreak… Met my soon-to-be husband, A, in June of 2018. It was not all easy, but it was good and worthwhile. We both worked on ourselves and learned to become better people to get to where we are now.

My History with Food:
Graduated college, worked in publishing for a bit, then decided to take a chance and moved abroad. While I was overseas, I definitely turned to unhealthy and disordered food behavior to help cope. Was overseas for 2.5 years and able to gain a measure of recovery. Won’t say those days are completely behind me, but I’m definitely better than I was.

Pregnancy so far:
I’m 13 weeks 4 days… excited, but not gonna lie: not super thrilled about gaining weight.
First few weeks were BRUTAL: nauseous and absolutely NO energy. Protein made me gag. Only foods that appealed to me were carb heavy comfort foods like pizza, breadsticks, soup…

Also, apparently the stomach gets smaller during pregnancy which means that I need to eat smaller meals more often… The “more often” isn’t a problem… the “smaller meals” part IS a problem. I have been intermittent fasting for 5-6 years and I’m used to eating only 1 - 2 large meals…

PLUS there’s a whole list of foods to avoid during pregnancy due to many different concerns including high mercury in tuna and listeria in things like raw fish/lunch meat. (the listeria concern grinds my gears because listeria is most commonly found in bagged salad and cut fruit from delis due to poor refrigeration…)

Here are the things I miss most:
  • Sashimi
  • Lunch meat (heat for 30 seconds to kill any bacteria)
  • Avoid canned tuna
  • Rare steak

Weekly exercise routine:
  • 30 mins walking x 5 days per week
  • 15 mins of sunlight per day
  • Ideally, I’d also add in 30 - 60 mins of toning 3-5x per week, since these body changes are no joke! (I do the Tracy Anderson Method Pregnancy Project, but I know that can be a little controversial around here!) I love it!

Nutrition:
I’m aiming to stay at or under 1500 cals per day

Sample Meal plan:
7-9 AM - breakfast - cottage cheese + low sugar jam + toast or banana (300 cals)
11AM - lunch - hot turkey avocado sandwich (300 cals)
2PM - snack - avocado + saltines (130)
5PM - dinner - cabbage, egg, cheese bake (400)
7PM - snack - grapefruit (100)
9PM - small snack - 5-10 saltines (100)

Total = 1330 cals


Daily Check In - 3/4/22
  • Weight = 146.8
  • (Max desired weight range = 166 - 168 BMI = 24.8)

Activity -
  • 30 min walk
  • 15 min toning (TA PP)

Nutrition = B (yesterday)
  • Cottage cheese + low sugar jam + banana
  • ½ Hot turkey avocado swiss cheese sandwich
  • Avocado + saltines
  • Grapefruit
  • Saltines
  • Low sugar ice cream + cake icing (eek!)
  • Egg, cheese, cabbage bake

Good Stuff:
  • Energy is coming back slowly (walking in the morning REALLY helps!)
  • Able to stretch and really feeling my range of motion

Not so great:
  • Still super tired
 
Staying in shape during pregnancy by focusing on nutritious meals and moderate exercise sounds great to me. But a daily calorie goal of less than 1500 kcal sounds like a weightloss attempt to me, not a way to keep your weight and grow a baby inside you. I know you don't really need extra calories yet but any nutrients your fetus needs and you're not ingesting WILL be leached from your body.
 
Staying in shape during pregnancy by focusing on nutritious meals and moderate exercise sounds great to me. But a daily calorie goal of less than 1500 kcal sounds like a weightloss attempt to me, not a way to keep your weight and grow a baby inside you. I know you don't really need extra calories yet but any nutrients your fetus needs and you're not ingesting WILL be leached from your body.
Ugh... it's true... but I'm definitely not sticking to the 1300 - 1500 range. There are for sure a good 500 cals (at least) of less nutrient dense, but energy heavy foods in there too. (ex. right now, I'm snacking on Trix cereal.. and will probably eat about 500 cals worth...)
 
Hey Alexis, congrats on everything:

  • Engagement
  • Marriage
  • Pregnancy
  • Good progress on your eating
  • Good progress in you and your husband learning to "become better people"
  • And a good plan!

Kind of rare to get so much good news in one post!

I am looking forward to hearing more.
 
Hey Alexis, congrats on everything:

  • Engagement
  • Marriage
  • Pregnancy
  • Good progress on your eating
  • Good progress in you and your husband learning to "become better people"
  • And a good plan!

Kind of rare to get so much good news in one post!

I am looking forward to hearing more.
Thanks Rob. This means a lot. 😊
 
Sat, 3/5
Morning Weight - 147.4

In NYC and about to head out on my morning walk (to Sephora, but who's counting)

Food for Friday -
Breakfast - Cottage cheese, low sugar jam, 1 waffle
Snack - canteloupe, banana
Lunch - wild sardines (delicious!)
Snack - Trix cereal (too much)
Dinner - salmon salad on triscuits
Dessert - Magnolia bakery banana pudding

New goal:
Test results came back with low CO2 in my metabolic panel, most likely a result of ketoacidosis, which means that my body doesn't have enough insulin to digest sugars... ummm yah. That tracks. Things I'm craving are high sugar cereals (which I almost never have...) and fruit, which is not terrible because of the fiber, but still has a good amount of natural sugar. Yesterday I slogged down 80 grams of sugar, which is probably a conservative estimate. I can do better than that. New goal is to aim to keep sugars under 30 grams per day.... I've already had 17 grams today. :eek:
 
Sun, 3/6
No weigh in

Ended up with 120 activity minutes. I went on a 45 min walk solo, and then A wanted to walk to from to dinner, which was pleasant, but long: 73rd street through the park to the restaurant Limani on 51st street. Then saw the movie The Batman, which of course came with movie theater popcorn.

Food:
Brunch - Bagel + cream cheese + smoked salmon
Snack - Jicama
Dinner at Restaurant - Halibut, french fries, lima beans, grilled veggies
Snack - movie theater popcorn + ginger Sprite zero

Sugar = 24 grams ⭐

One day at a time.
 
One day at a time indeed. Is your 30 g sugar limit all sugars or just the added/hidden stuff?
 
Sugar = 24 grams ⭐
Is this refined sugar only, Alexis? Are you eating some fruit usually?
 
One day at a time indeed. Is your 30 g sugar limit all sugars or just the added/hidden stuff?

30 grams includes all sugar, even the natural stuff

Sugar = 24 grams ⭐
Is this refined sugar only, Alexis? Are you eating some fruit usually?
Yep - I'm also trying to limit fruit sugars too... Hence choosing the jicama as a snack. It's actually not too bad: crunchy and refreshing!
 
30 g added sugar would be ok for me, but if I'm counting the stuff in my fruit and veggies... Not a chance!
 
So I added the fruit back in...
Monday sugar = 80 g (ewwww)
Tuesday sugar = 73 g (so far...)

It's a lot, but I know that fruit has other nutrients and fiber in it.
 
You could look at the types of fruit your eating, not all fruit are high in sugar and berries also substitute in well instead of fruit.
 
You could look at the types of fruit your eating, not all fruit are high in sugar and berries also substitute in well instead of fruit.
Yep - berries have a great nutritional profile... I just wish I could eat them! I used to love them before I was pregnant, but now they're one of the few foods that make me nauseous on sight.
 
Went to visit my dancer friends yesterday evening. I got to their house around 7:30 and stayed until 10PM. Such a great time. Didn’t get to sleep until 1AM, though! Felt fine once I got going, but man, it was tough getting up!

I’m 14w 2d today and thank goodness I’m feeling my energy levels coming back up. We had some unexpected March snow, which was lovely. I decided to go out for a walk but actually ended up running, which felt great!


Exercise:
30 min shuffling run
10 min TA leg workout

Food:
Cottage cheese
Low sugar jam
Keto potato bread - 2 slices
Canned tuna w mayo (limiting due to mercury, etc…)
Cantaloupe
Homemade chicken rice soup (delicious)
Grilled zucchini
Banana
 
I had quickly skimmed through the diaries yesterday & had pictured you dancing all evening :blush5: What sort of dancing do you do, Alexis? I love dancing, but most of it is done in the kitchen. Your food looks delicious & nutritious.
 
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