I'm about half way through Dr. Luke's book and I have to ask how is it possible to eat as much food as she recommends? The number of servings of fruit, bread, veggies, dairy, & fat seem outrageous to me.
I'm only 7 weeks with triplets. Will these massive quantities of food seem more normal to me when I'm further along and hungrier? Did you pretty much follow the guidelines. Did you really eat 8 (or was it 10) servings of bread/grains a day in addition to all of the other stuff?
I'm blown away.
She also says that at snickers bar is a great snack and that fast food is a good source of calories and that I could/should eat a milkshake daily. I'm a bit skeptic. Well, not about the milkshake part. That seems like a fabulous idea even when I'm not pregnant, , but what about the rest of it?
Re: Dr. Luke's book...?
If I would have followed her caloric intake recommendations, I would have gained 200 pounds. No joke. I just targeted gaining 20 by 20, which I did, and for me, it wasn't hard at all. I just added a little cheese and avocado here and there and BAM, the weight came on.
I gained about 40 pounds total and my babies were 5 lbs 14 oz and 6 lbs 3 oz at birth, which was 36w2d.
After 2 rounds of IVF & 2 rounds of FET, we were blessed with identical twin girls!
look, i LOVE food. i live in new orleans. we eat here. a lot. but even i couldn't manage the 4000 calories a day.
i did, on the other hand, eat a snickers almost every day, and i had nice fat babies (for their gestation.) i also drank a lot of milk and milkshakes.
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I started reading her book too and thought that was crazy. I am not so much nauseous just no appetite really. so i feel bad that I haven't been eating that much.
I would agree with the others: Focus more on the weight gain part than on the specific calorie requirements per day. I puked every day for months, sometimes several times a day, and yet I also ate what I wanted when I wanted. I did not focus on calories, but I did try to get in protein whenever I could (a challenge, considering meat is repulsive to me during pregnancy). I gained 20 pounds by 20 weeks, and feel good about that.
One more question...
When did you start gaining? I would like to watch my weight gain and shoot for the 20 lbs. in 20 weeks. When does that weight usually start coming on. I haven't gained anything yet.
My m/s is too bad yet, knock on wood, and I actuallly feel best when I have really high protien meals.
I gained a lot up front. I think I gained 5 lbs in the first 2 weeks. Ha! Then it was steady and I reached 20 by 20 and 26 by 24, I think. It tapered off in the 3rd trimester.
After 2 rounds of IVF & 2 rounds of FET, we were blessed with identical twin girls!
i think i would've been ill if i'd followed her advice to the letter. but i did follow in spirit. was very slow to gain early on, and didn't even get her book till almost 22wks. i was on target by 24wks though.
did want to eat cheeseburgers, but did not need fries and a shake. in general i ate alot of wholefat dairy, carbs, protein. tried to be conscious of the quality of the food.
Did follow some of her suggestion, but there was no way I could eat that much. I did do the protein shakes twice a day. I couldn't get enough milk, so I eat a bowl of cereal for snacks, ate alot of fruit, peanutbutter sandwitches. I gained 65lbs with my triplets. I just took the ideas that would work for me. I did try to eat as often as I could.
I will say that I was so sick in the begining I gained like nothing, I gained everything in the second and third trimester. I'm guessing bedrest help that. Laying around all day does wonders for weight gain.
For me, the book was great in the sense that it drilled CONCEPTS into my brain. Namely: don't shy away from calories/feel guilty for eating when hungry (even if it's not perfectly healthy), and remember to take it easy/rest a lot.
This is my first pregnancy, and with no multiples in my family circle, I had no idea how much more common PTL and bedrest were in a multiple pregnancy. Pre-preg, I was very active & being healthy a big part of my life. Dr. Luke's book taught to me just "let go" and let my body need what it needs to do. I don't follow her diet recommendations, I just eat what I want. There are days when I crave a huge salad, there are days when I chow down a cheeseburger, and I don't judge myself for my choices now.
I have gained 1lb per week since BFP, so I hope to be at 20 by 20!