To Indulge or Not To Indulge: Let's Talk about Cravings

Depending on what foods you crave during your pregnancy, you can indulge a little — or a lot. Certainly if you're craving yogurt and fruit shakes, or bowls of oatmeal, you can probably eat to your heart's content! But what if all you can think of is that premium, high-fat strawberry ice cream? Experts say concentrate on what it is about this snack that's making you feel satisfied.

Try a substitution

Is it the sweet taste, the creamy consistency, the strawberry flavor? Or maybe it's just the idea of eating something cold that satisfies those cravings. Once you lock in on the nature of what you crave, substituting a low-calorie, somewhat healthier food may be easy — like exchanging that bowl of ice cream for low-fat strawberry yogurt or fresh strawberries with a low-fat dessert topping.

Healthy food fixes

Craving: Ice cream
Try: Nonfat frozen yogurt, sorbet or sherbet

Craving: Cola/sodas
Try: Flavored carbonated mineral water

Craving: Doughnuts/pastry
Try: Whole grain bagel with fresh fruit jam

Craving: Cake
Try:Low-fat banana or zucchini bread

Craving: Sugar-coated cereal
Try: Whole grain cereal or oatmeal with brown sugar

Craving: Potato chips
Try: Low-sodium, low-fat chips, popcorn, pretzels or veggie chips

Craving: Sour cream
Try: Nonfat sour cream or nonfat plain yogurt flavored with herbs

Craving: Sundae toppings
Try:Fresh berries or bananas

Craving: Canned fruits in heavy syrup
Try: Fresh fruit, frozen unsweetened fruit packed in water or fruit juice

Craving: Lunch meats
Try: Low-fat or fat-free versions; substitute turkey bologna or hot dogs for beef variety or try soy dogs

Craving: Whipped cream
Try: Ice cold nonfat milk whipped with a hand-held immersion blender