THANK YOU, Ipioch! Your added advice/reassurance is appreciated. I'm realizing that I'm retaining water...no doubt due to carbs. So I'm backing off and just trying to eat WELL. I know in the meantime I've had lots of good fats and proteins, so I'm doing well by my baby. It's just time to keep my body in check overall as well. And so far...<knock on wood>...I feel great. So I might as well eat more carefully. I'll grant you I'm craving ice cream more than ever, but maybe that's just my body's way of reminding me I'm actively trying to "lose" weight, so why not? ROFL Don't worry, I'll keep that to a limit and high quality!

I did VERY low carb during the 2nd half of all my pregnancies. I mean like a small salad a day. I couldn't hold much food (something about the way I carry), so I made sure what I could hold was meat and fat.

The first half I ate whatever I could hold down...really bad morning sickness!

The first PG it was frozen pizzas and pop-tarts (not too smart). The second one I lived on every variety of chicken soup that the store carries (smarter). The third one I tried to eat regular food, but I was not afraid to throw up, I just threw up every morning and got it over with. The other 2 I tried all kinds of remedies to avoid throwing up, and therefore I battled nausea 24/7. By the time the 3rd one came along I realized that the best cure for the nausea was to throw up. Once I threw up in the AM, I was fine for the rest of the day.

The scientist in me has to ask about your saying
Was that before eating anything? Or just after breakfast?

The reason I ask, is because your stomach SHOULD be all but empty first thing in the morning. That then begs the question, "What is it in your stomach in the early morning that your system says is BAD, Get it OUT!"

Lisa,
I see you have changed to PP - maintenance. I think you should make it PP - EXPECTING!


When you say, What your body is really telling you is I WANT FAT!!!, but our separation from our natural selves by social things redefines it as wanting ice cream. After all isn't that what Ice CREAM is? Cream, i.e. fat from cows milk, frozen with stuff added for flavor - and too much sugar! That is
But cream from cows is not all that different from your own cream - the absolutely BEST food for your baby. True the ratios are different, but not that much AND there are the same fats in both. Actually that could be said for all mammals. The big differences are in the proteins in the MILK (as differentiated from the CREAM), so much so that cows milk is actually BAD for some baby animals.

So see if you can get some organic cream. You have enough pregnancy hormones already without adding the ones from the commercial dairy cows that they get to make them lactate more. When you feel an ice cream urge drink a little bit of the cream, I'd have it cold as you can stand it without it freezing. If you really want it frozen, I would bet that there are some low-carb ice cream recipes that you could try. NOW I am making myself hungry, and I have just finished supper.

Larry, I love that idea! I should change it after I post.



I was mostly joking about the ice cream...well, mostly. I have always loved it, but I'm much more particular about what I have now. Don't you worry, everything I've consumed that's "cream" related has been ORGANIC. It's all I buy for dairy products now and has been for awhile. And yes, I'm enjoying heavy cream in my decaf coffee and I'm also still having coconut oil in it as well. And I'm getting my butter in. I'll continue to enjoy the fat (and not the carbs/sugar) and perhaps go back to whipping up some cream with a little cocoa (ask Elle about that) for later in the day when I'm craving more. (It could be that I start the day out with more fat but lighten a bit toward the end and thus I crave more fat.)

Hey Larry!

With the 3rd one, I would throw up as soon as my feet hit the floor in the AM. It would be all gastric juice. Mostly clear.

Nothing helped the nausea, and most days I would throw up later, after I had eaten, which is really gross, and so I finally gave up and just threw up first thing every AM, as soon as I walked into the bathroom. I was astonished how much better I felt the rest of the day. I had read on some midwife's website that the best cure for the nausea is vomiting, so I decided not to fight it any more.

I have no idea what the "purpose" of the morning sickness is. It seems to serve no purpose. It has been linked to all kinds of things...low blood sugar, for example. But eating did not help me. I would just throw it up later in the day, which is much worse than just throwing up gastric juice first thing in the AM!

Sorry to be so graphic, everyone! He asked!

Yea, I did!

But now it would seen that a plausible reason would be related to your comment about the way you carried your babies. Perhaps that caused some mild "backflow" from your gut into the stomach. Maybe the bile from the gall bladder as it enters the intestinal tract near the stomach and would then be the first substance to enter if there was backflow.

Too late for you now, but when I was sick to my stomach, I would drink water so I had something to throw up. I hated the "dry" heaves much worse than just throwing up. So I wonder, if a glass of water as soon as you got up to add to the volume you were then going to expel, would help any.

Our knowledge expands only by building on the past experiences and knowledge of others. So by talking about it now, it raises it in the conscious where you may now remember so it will get passed on to someone needing the advice. Then it will also be here in text form in the forum for others to read.

Thanks, Elle

Not sure if I should post this here or elsewhere.

Family was in town, and I didn't eat well... Trying to detox and get back to eating right.

I have a question about protein shakes. I make them with water and they tend to be thin even though I put heavy cream in them. Any suggestions for thickeners?

Thanks! Rain

The first thing that comes to mind is whip the cream a bit to see if that helps with the body of the shake. The next thought is possibly adding a thicker dairy, such as Greek yogurt (which is also wonderful high in protein and fat with little tang). Would either of those help? After that I might suggest fruit, depending on the carb count of the shake to start of course.

I have never tried this, but guar gum is a lc thickener. Or another one is Xanthan Gum. A little sprinkle might work.

Hope this helps.

I was one that got sick with both my pregnancies also. The first 4 months with both my children. I had a gallbladder attack and it was removed when my son was 6 weeks old.

DD was born 4 years later. Didn't have a gallbladder then, still got sick.
I have always heard it is some kind of hormone. I don't know what or why.
In some women, it is what it is! ?????

Nothing helped and I mean nothing. They even gave me anti-nausea pills that are now OFF the market. Cause birth defects. We were lucky! I forgot the name of them, it was 35 years ago!!

Just my 2cents.

That drug that is now "off the market" is probably doxylamine, which is the active ingredient in Unisom, and a B-vitamin. I forget what the trade name was. But about 35 years ago is the right time for it. Anyway doxymlamine... It is a fantastic anti-nausea, anti-emetic (I keep it on hand for stomach flus!). I took it in all my pregnancies with the approval of my OB's. It doesn't cause birth defects. Never one documented case--I researched it thoroughly before I took it. It was pulled from the market as a pregnancy-nausea drug out of fear b/c another drug WAS causing problems, not a nausea drug, was causing problems. So don't sweat it!

My FIL told me that he had read that the aversion to protein by pregnant women stemmed from the fact that in olden days it was hard to keep protein fresh, and that bad meat in early pregancy could cause the mother to get sick and lose the baby or something. So the aversion to protein was a protective mechanism of some sort.

Bottom line is, who knows?

Larry, my DH's friend says he always drinks a big glass of water right before he pitches-up. I just dry-heaved it, I had never thought of that. Sometimes it would be so bad that my eyes would be bloodshot or small vessels would break in my face!

Thanks Elle,

I just looked it up. The drug the Dr. gave me in 1971-72 was Bendectin.
Yes, it has the doxylamine and vitamin B6.

My DD did the same thing in both her pregnancies too. Poor thing.

What us women have to put up with sometimes!!! It was worth it though!

Good Saturday Morning!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Weekend!!

Just hopping in to wish folks a good week. Hope the weekend was relaxing.

Was easy to get back on plan this weekend - we stayed home and did things around the house to get ready for summer. Had a few days off plan (white rice is my only real temptation these days) while out of town and on the go this past week and paid for it with headaches, fatigue and downright crabbiness. I felt plain mean for a couple of days. Seems I need to do this a couple of times a year to remind myself why I'm working so hard to stick with low carb.


Looking forward to getting the grill back in good wokrign order - took it apart to clean it this weekend and wow were the burners rusted! Had to order three new ones, so no steaks on the grill for us this weekend. Had to make due with a roast turkey breast and tri-tip beef done in the oven (med-rare, the way I like it!) :-)

Hi everybody,

I worked outside every afternoon over the holiday weekend. Dared it to rain as we really needed it. So got a shower Sunday just after midnight. Then again about supper. That one stopped me from working a little earlier than I might have other wise. It was kind of windy for a while and it felt good to sit on the porch in the cool breeze.

I was helping a neighbor clean up along a small stream that runs along the front of his property. Lots of vines, berry bushes, and some "junk" trees that were almost in the stream. They would eventually fall in to the stream and caused new erosion. Got to "play" with my backhoe - you know the saying about boys and toys.

Seems like I am always thirsty. I try to not gulp water, rather take very small sips. Still I can start to "slosh" by the time for bed. But I have NO dehydration symptoms when I do not drink as much, so not sure what is going on - other than getting OLDER!!
BUT NOT SO old that I did not appreciate getting to meet (look at! ) Elle.

Check Hi-Fatters thread if you don't know what I am referring to.
She thinks she should thank me for telling the “God’s Honest Truth!”