I need to eat every 2 hours but don't want to draw attention at work. Any ideas?!?

[Bing28]

Since around 7 weeks I have felt like my stomach is constantly empty and it's become a bit of a bottomless pit, as I will eat a meal and my stomach will feel empty an hour or 2 later. If my stomach gets too empty I get bad nausea and sometimes some dry heaving to go with it! So I feel I need to eat something every couple of hours to stop the nausea from getting too bad.

This week I have been having a bowl of porridge in the mornings around 7.30am, another breakfast (a blueberry muffin, bacon sandwich, cheese & ham toastie) when I get to work at 9.30am, then a snack at around 11.30am ish which has been either a cereal bar, pack of low fat crisps, a small piece of cake or fruit. I then have my lunch between 12.30-1pm (either a baguette, a wrap, a sandwich or a brown rice salad). I have another snack around 3pm, then another snack before I leave work at 5.30pm and my dinner at around 7.30pm and sometimes another snack before bed at 9.30pm.

But I just don't feel like the snacks are filling me up and I get really nauseous around mid-late morning and when in travelling home on the train after work. Instead I feel like I need to eat a proper meal like a sandwich or something similar which is quite substantial and will fill me up.

The problem is I work in an open plan office and have 3 mums who sit either next to or opposite me. At the moment I feel like I can get away with eating a cereal bar, pack of crisps or fruit throughout the day but think it would be sooooo obvious if I started eating a sandwich every few hours!

Does anyone have any food suggestions which would fill me up and won't look too obvious?

Or ideas on how to get around eating a sandwich every few hours without people noticing?

I just find it such a weird feeling eating a meal only for my stomach to feel empty an hour later! Please tell me it goes away eventually otherwise I am going to gain so much weight in this pregnancy!

 

[Lirpa11]

Oh hi! We must have started ttc around the same time as we took 17 months as well! As for eating often, I do ttoo. I just have fruit on hand (chopped up and easy to eat at my desk) and then also mueslie bars. I've often had mid morning and arvo snacks before bein preg so no one said anything. Good luck!

 

[MnGmakes3]

Im sooooo there with you! I had eaten 3x by 930 yesterday morning and didn't feel full until i had aproper lunch. Then i came home, had a snack and then a huge dinner. ..

Are your desk cubicle spaces that you can somewhat hide a sandwich or something small? How about yogurt with granola or a smoothie?
I would just eat whatever until they figure it out.. then at least you won't have to hide

 

[Bing28]

Hi Lirpa :wave: I've tried fruit and cereal bars but they just don't seem to be working! I used to eat them too before being preggers (although not as frequently as I am now! ) which is why I thought they wouldn't draw attention to me! How strange we must have started TTC around the same time! Is this your 1st too? How far along are you?

MnG - the office is completely open plan so you can easily see what people next to/opposite you are doing. I've already noticed the girl next to me give me a funny look at how much I'm eating so if I keep it up I don't think it will be too long before she figures it out! But I like the idea of yoghurts with granola! I'll give that a try next week! Thanks!

 

[Serenjay]

Im in the same situation... I also work in an open plan office and im feeling so sick.. I am having to constantly nibble and pop back n forth the loo for a wee.. there are 5 others pregnant that are all constantly eating and I feel like I am looking the same as them but hiding the fact.. I really dont want to start vomiting in work or I will lose my job as I have a contract until may only and I need to renew it.

 

[Eleanor ace]

I'd just have a really loud fake phone call, be like "oh yeah training is going really well but I'm finding I have to eat sooo much to bulk up otherwise I just get exhausted!" and let people think you're training for some event

 

[Serenjay]

I have read somewhere that soda water is brilliant for morning sickness.. so I am about to buy a fridge full of it and take that into work. I find that bananas help and ginger biscuits as well as the crackerwheats with salt on and sipping orange juice.. it says to keep the sugar level up and I find salt (small amount) helps me too... no dairy as that makes me gag... porridge with water and sugar is delicious and lots of chopped up fruit.

 

[Ilovetomatoes]

Don't they know that you are on a special diet? . I think everyone already suggested great ideas. I've been having MS ever since I found out and it comes and goes whenever it wants. I did find sipping a can of soda helps with hunger. I also did read that ginger helps a lot with nausea but sometimes it takes 4 days for it to work properly. You can eat anything that has ginger. I prefer the pickled ginger that usually comes with sushi. Good luck!

 

[Lirpa11]

I'm 10.5 weeks now so just ahead of u we ttc with no luck and went ivf and gt a bfp

I just finished worl yesterday as I'm moving back to usa from australia in a week and half. We had an open plan too. I packed half peanut butter n jelly sandwiches and had them too, with the muesli bars I'd have one shortly after arriving at work then another before luch as I was starvin. I was usually ok after lunch. Bananas are a bit more feeling too? I've cut up strawberries and kiwi together which was yum. We announced at 8 weeks so I didn't have to worry about hiding it too which was nice.

What do u have for breakfast? I found with toast I'd be starvin shortly after, but with cereal and milk I stayed full slighlty longer? What about lil yoghurt fruit cups too? Hee hee I've had heaps of snacks at work

 

[hivechild]

More protein and (healthy) fat and less sugar and carby food. Someone mentioned yogurt and granola, make it full fat Greek yogurt and it will keep you going much longer in the afternoon. A handful of nuts is another inconspicuous but good snack to give you energy.

I know we're constantly told to watch our weight and pay attention to calories etc. but your body is using a whole heap of energy making a new human right now and needs fuel to burn.

 

[Ilovetomatoes]

Lirpa, good luck on your move! Can't believe that you are almost done with your first tri!

Sorry for the hijack Bing.

Btw, be careful with banana. If you have constipation issue, eating unripe banana will make it worse. But riped banana will definitely help things to move along easier.

 

[Serenjay]

peanut butter and jam sarnies.. Ohhhhhhhhhh I could eat one of those right now...

Yes ripe bananas for me... and lots of fruit.. just so need to go I look 5 months pregnant!

Thanks for the tips

I have just bought soda water and fresh lemons... hoping that and sipping it with ice will help too x

 

[icklemonster]

When I was pregnant with DD I have no idea how nobody in my office clicked as I went through a 3 week stage of having to eat something every 15 minutes or I'd start to heave too!! I ended up getting those graze boxes delivered to work and stuck them on my desk and just had handfuls of food every so often. Also do you have a kitchen at work? We have one and I'd make out I was going to the loo and stuff my face with dried frosties cereals I had stuffed in the cupboard lol.
At least it won't be long before you can tell everyone and then you can stuff your face to your hearts content xxx

 

[GoHawks]

I just eat whatever I want when I'm hungry. I only had one person say something and all she said was "you must be one of those girls that can eat whatever they want and not gain any weight!"... I guess that's good she didn't notice my growing belly! I've since told her so now no judgement at all! .. I say screw it and eat what you want.. Eventually they will find out and they will understand why you were eating so much

 

[Leggiero]

I also work in an open floor plan. If I'm feeling a little self-conscious about my endless snacking (even before I was pregnant, to be honest, hahaha), I'll just slip outside for a quick walk and sneakily have my food while
I'm out. Are you able to do this in the area you work? Taking a short break to move your body every couple of hours is good for you anyways, and you won't have any co-workers around eyeing your third granola bar!

As for foods that can keep you full, I'm finding full-fat cheese will work like a charm, for minimal calories if it's a single package such as Babybel or Laughing Cow. Better yet, cheese isn't crunchy so I can usually sneak a couple at my desk without anybody noticing.

 

[Bing28]

Thanks everyone for the advise!

I'm not a work today but I got hungry around 4pm and had a full fat yoghurt and it definately filled me up longer than the cereal bars/fruit etc. So I'll definately be taking some yoghurts into work next week!

I like the babybel ideas too as I'm wanting cheese on everything at the moment so I think they will definately go down well.

I can't remember who mentioned the kitchen (im on my phone and too lazy to go back a page). We do have a kitchen but it's not a separate room, just an area In the corner of the open plan office where we can make a cuppa, so unfortunately that idea won't work.

And whoever mentioned going on a walk and snacking then, I could only really get away with going out for a walk on my lunch break and not every 2 hours or so.

I'm really starting to feel my waistband is expanding drastically too so the increased appetite might not be the only think I'm going to have to try and hide soon!

 

[Serenjay]

I've put on around 4lbs