Cravings
(If you’re very much into not eating animals, then this may not be the entry for you.)
I ran across this earlier:
A little background. I haven’t eaten red meat in well over a decade. Not for any noble reasons, it just doesn’t…er…agree with me …and I’ll stop there.For me, McDonald’s has always been strictly RTO (road trip only). That’s why I was so surprised during my first trimester when I found my car driving towards it and into the drive thru lane after work one night. My mouth started moving and I heard myself requesting a “ham-bur-ger.” You know, just the little 85 cent skinny one. But I have to admit the pickley-oniony-ketchupy-spongey bun-goodness of it was pure heaven. Mmmmm. I don’t know, perhaps I needed the protein or maybe the iron. All I know is that it was devoured before I even left the parking lot. I drove home with ketchup in the corners of my mouth, fresh from the kill, shocked at myself and slightly worried about internal consequences to come.
Later that night I talked to my old friend Katie, a vegetarian since freshman year of college. I told her of my deviation. She completely related. The exact same thing happened to her during her pregnancy. Except that her car drove her to Burger King and a Whopper Jr. was the culprit.
Now, I’m not a vegetarian. But, we don’t bring red meat into the house, because Jeoff can’t eat it. I get a hamburger every so often. That’s pretty much it.
But, the one consistent craving I’ve had is STEAK. Pink, bleeding steak. Steak is expensive, however, so I’ve only had it twice.
And, I actually bought some breakfast sausage links. I think it’s the first time I’ve put pork in the freezer in at least 5 years.
Then, there’s the chicken thing, I tear into it with an intensity that sort of freaks me out. Anything with bones turns me into some sort of crazed carnivore. I look like a feral cat tearing apart fried chicken pieces. No bit of meat left on the plate. It’s insane. And, FAST. And, generally, when I run out of meat to pick off the skeletal remains, I look up all dazed, shocked that I’ve run out of food so quickly.
It’s bizarre.
Aside from the meat thing, though, I haven’t had cravings so much as I’ve had passing whims. Corn on the cob, pudding, basically anything I see on TV. Whims are pretty easy to ignore. No need to eat dirt, or crunch ice cubes, or anything like that.
I do like some pickles these days, though.
tags: pregnancy
I always craved oranges. before 1 and 2 were born, the FFA sold us cases of oranges and grapefruit, and I’d eat a dozen in a sitting.
I think cravings are your body telling you that you need something. Iron and protein, or this or that vitamin. Minerals (pickles are full of magnesium and potassium). Who knows. Once it was fig newtons, I don’t know what they have in them.
I say indulge them, as long as they aren’t too ridiculous, like craving chitlins or something.
— rootietoot Jul 23, 12:44 PM #
Your body wants protein and amino acids. Buy some whey protein if you aren’t vegan. Hemp, Rice or Amaranth proteins are also good, with lots of aminos.
Irradiated meat has protein, but lacks some aminos. So people keep eating and eating since some of those absent aminos, like Carnitine, actually have satiety value (help you to recognize when you are full).
Also, don’t forget your Omega 3s!
When are you due?
— Daisy Jul 23, 03:30 PM #
BLEH! No chitlins.
And, Daisy, I’m due in mid-October.
— Veronica Jul 23, 04:28 PM #
I gotta find you a present! It’s so exciting!!!!! :)
(/oma)
— Daisy Jul 23, 05:25 PM #
not pregnancy related but still very weird to me…. last year when I was severely anemic, all I could think of was chewing ice. That was the first and last thought in my head every day. It was so strange. And annoying. I had to take to buying ice because I couldn’t make it fast enough at home. thankfully iron levels have gotten better and the cravings are gone.
october. man, time is just flying by. though you may disagree with that.
— patricia Jul 23, 05:57 PM #
I’ve never had that ice==low iron thing adequately explained, though my mother is one of those people that goes through low-iron ice cravings. Like… why ice?! There’s not iron in ice? I’ve never gotten it.
— Veronica Jul 23, 06:20 PM #
And, yeah… time is moving too fast. It’s scary.
— Veronica Jul 23, 06:21 PM #
Wow, freaky. I was still a carnivore thru my 3 pregnancies. (i’ve not eaten beef/pork in about 10 years, and no poultry since coming back to the US with its hormones and antibiotics, 4 years ago) I craved bananas and tomato soup with the first. Junky sweets with the 2nd. Don’t remember anything in particular w/ the 3rd.
— more cowbell Jul 23, 07:27 PM #
peaches. peaches. peaches.
I’ve become obsessed.
I have a long way to go yet – what am I gonna do in December?
— antiprincess Jul 23, 07:40 PM #
Canned peaches?
— Veronica Jul 24, 10:44 AM #
AP it may be something else by then. Chitlins, I bet.
— rootietoot Jul 24, 06:16 PM #
I crunched ice through both pregnancies. But I was never told medically that I was low on iron. Other than that, I had whims, too. Like, for a couple days in a row I’d crave tacos, then I’d never want to eat them again.
— Lisa (the girls' moma) Jul 25, 04:39 PM #
PUDDING!
— belledame222 Jul 26, 12:05 PM #