Any-Mom » The Trick of the Treat

The Trick of the Treat

10.20.2008 | Author: MoltoMom | Posted in Our Bodies, Our Selves

In an ambitious effort to be Organized Mom and actually be prepared for a holiday sooner than the night before, I bought the Halloween candy. I know, I know – wrong time to decide to get organized and most certainly the wrong task. Because now I know that there are oversized bags of candy in the house and it takes every ounce of my self-control (which I don’t have much of to begin with) to keep from raiding it like a high school kid home alone with the key to the liquor cabinet.

Not helping matters is that I’m 4 ½ months pregnant. So cravings are stronger than usual for chocolate and my will is as weakened as my immune system. But, I wanted to get a jumpstart on preparing treat bags for my son’s friends up our street, his classmates, and cousins, so I thought it wasn’t such a bad idea at the time.

And to tell you the truth, it hasn’t been the chocolate-consuming massacre that it could’ve been. Of course, I’ve dipped into the bags already, and unfortunately if you eat one Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, you’re bound to eat three or four (those things are as addictive as Doritos!). But what stops me at a few pieces, is the memory of how difficult it was to lose the baby weight after my son was born.

So I’ve been trying to stick to a healthful eating regimen. Three meals a day with as much whole grains, veggies, and fruit as I can muster and a snack in the morning and afternoon if I need it. I’ve been following guidelines from the book, Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy by Elizabeth Somer, and while I’m far from a stickler or a health nut, I found the information that she provides to be helpful and not completely impossible to follow.

The book is divided into sections based on where you are in your pregnancy – from Preparing for Pregnancy to the Post-Pregnancy Diet to all the stages in between. Although chocolate doesn’t make an appearance under Somer’s list of healthy snacks, I’ve taken it upon myself to include it sometimes when I really need it. (Aren’t they always touting the anti-oxidant properties of chocolate?)

I justify this and other “junk” foods by adding up all of the good stuff that I put into my body on a daily basis. Obviously, preparing meals has gotten a whole lot more challenging since my son came along, but I’ve learned a few helpful tricks to make it more possible. Like on Mondays, I often make a big batch of vegetable soup – or what I also like to call “leftover” soup – and then I have a healthy, vitamin-packed lunch (and sometimes dinner) ready for me all week long. I simply throw into the soup anything that’s in the fridge or pantry. Sometimes that includes leftover roasted potatoes and steamed green beans from dinner some night before; sometimes I throw in a can of cannelini beans and noodles; but it always starts with a base of onion, carrots, and celery, which I always try to keep in the house. I try to set myself up for success by stocking up my veggie drawer and pantry shelves.

Lately, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find my husband enjoying my soup on a Monday night, maybe accompanied by a salad. My son, well, he’s a different story. What’s the magic number of times that a toddler needs to be exposed to new foods before they like it? 15? We’re not there yet. (I could go on forever on the topic of his eating habits and my tricks – and I will – but that will occupy future blog posts.) For now, I’m pleased that I can jam a healthy dose of veggies into my husband at least once a week. It’s taken 12 years of knowing my husband before I’ve achieved such a victory, so how can I really fault my son after just a measly three years?

The fact that my husband is making a small change is something that Somer advocates in her book for expecting Moms. Even though her suggested diets and servings seem a bit excessive and unattainable – how on earth can I eat six servings of veggies and four servings of fruit in just one day?! – she does make an important point that I cling to: “even small, sometimes even tiny, changes or additions to your diet can make a difference in your health, energy level, and pregnancy”. One on the list of her “Simple Changes” is to eat nuts, a good source of protein, magnesium, vitamin E, and B vitamins. Ah-ha! Snickers bars have lots of nuts!