What I'm working on right now, at 31 weeks pregnant

Because it's unwise to set big weight loss goals during pregnancy and breastfeeding, these are my aims right now:

1.  Avoid gaining excessive weight in pregnancy, and avoid gaining (any) weight during breastfeeding.
2.  Become less eating disordered and more of a normal healthy eater.

My eating is screwy in many different ways, and I've tried comprehensive overhauls in the past that always fell apart in short order.  This time, I'm accumulating normal eating "skills" slowly by working on just a few areas at a time. I think pregnancy taking away any weight loss goal for the near future is what is allowing this shift towards a slow-and-steady philosophy.  What's happening right now:



a.  I'm staying out of fast food places by keeping my home well stocked.  When I don't have anything already cooked for lunch or dinner, I reach for a frozen convenience meal (usually a Kashi brand entree) and sometimes a steamer bag of veggies to go with it.  I find the food I prepare myself to be more satisfying than these microwaveable options, but the microwaveable things are better than the fast food I was starting to buy WAY too often.  (There's a McDonald's a minute away from my house and it became a problem.  If lunchtime approached and I was really hungry and had nothing prepared or planned, I would often swing by there.)

b.  I'm eating a proper breakfast instead of waiting until late morning and compulsively grabbing a couple of pieces of toast or whatever after getting overly hungry.  I rotate through eggs prepared different ways, steel cut oatmeal with nuts and fresh fruit, waffles with veggie or turkey sausage patties, and a few other things, eating enough to get full and forget about food until lunchtime.  Over time, I'll add more things to my breakfast repertoire; right now I do have that silly American deal with only eating "breakfast" foods at breakfast time.

c.  I'm cooking a big batch of soup or stew each week this fall and winter.  That's my only cooking goal right now--to just be consistent with that.  I think it'd make a good addition to the breakfast rotation, and I like having a warm bowl of hearty stew for lunch.  My husband really appreciates it, too.

d.  I'm eating a dessert mindfully every day and I'm pretty happy with how things are going in that department.  (Oh yeah, my attempt at abstinence ended quite some time ago.)  I'll elaborate further in another post.  I'm almost afraid I'll jinx myself if I talk about it now, as irrational as that is!