Food for Pregnancy

[jindc]

It's very early for me, but I'm still trying to figure out how to feed my pregnant self. We're mostly vegetarian (I eat chicken once a week, husband eats fish once a week), but I've been adding meat here and there (maybe 2-3 times a week vs 1).
My problem comes from what to eat during the day.

I don't have severe morning sickness or anything (I get mild nausea but nothing major). Every morning I have a protein smoothie - vegan protein powder, greek yogurt, almond milk and a blue/red fruit like blueberries or cherries. During the work day, I have a high fiber english muffin with almond butter, some fruit, and snacks like a fiber one bar, raw almonds, greek yogurt, and maybe some oatmeal if I'm hungry. If I crave a mid-day sweet I have a non-fat steamer at the Starbucks at work. Dinners are easy for me as I love to cook, but my husband eats a lot and we rarely have leftovers. I made delicious carrot chickpea soup last night and he ate it all!

I'm trying VERY hard to eat healthy - I lost a lot of weight over the last 2 years and have steadily put more than I wanted to back on during my IVF. I'm a very active person and have had to stop working out besides the treadmill for over a month now. It sucks.

I don't know how to fuel my body for pregnacy. Are there staples I should have at my desk besides oatmeal and almonds? What do you have during the day? What do you pack for lunch? Inspire me. I feel like I'm not doing well on feeding us. It's very early, like I said, and often I'm not hungry enough for a meal so I snack.

[Anonymous]

I ate a lot of the things you list, and also eggs (hardboiled for work), big salads with beans, tofu, etc., hummus, lara bars.

At work I might have:

S: hardboiled egg, piece of fruit
L: hummus and cheese on whole wheat, carrots, fruit
S: steamed milk and almonds

[jindc]

thanks, PP - I should say that I try to avoid beans during the day because so much of our evening means involve beans during the week. Bean overload sometimes!

I do need to do the hardboiled egg thing, though. I made some then left them on the stove for a day before I remembered about them (stove off, of course).

[Anonymous]

My OB and then a dietician I was referred to for gestational diabetes, both stressed the need to eat protein to build the baby. I was also a big believer in omega 3s and choline for brain development. Choline is in eggs -- are they something you like? I ate a lot of eggs...

How about veggies in your diet? Do you get enough dark leafy greens? Your carrot chickpea soup sounds delicious, so I'm not sure any of my staples are as elegant, but this is what I ate while pregnant:

Plain oatmeal with berries. Apples.
Egg and cheese sandwich on whole grain english muffin. Plus fruit.

Big salad for lunch, often with grilled chicken on top. A side veggie (from the office cafeteria).

Cheese sticks and apples or banana for mid-afternoon snack.

For dinner it could be anything. Black bean burritos in whole wheat tortillas. Add any veggie and seasoning you like in there with it. I used pepper jack cheese melted and fresh salsa. Again with a steamed veggie, salad, or both.

Some soups I liked were curried cauliflower and broccoli soup, baby red potato chowder with whatever veggies you want to throw in, and a spicy lentil soup made with the yellow lentils.

[Anonymous]

Most people at this point just try to eat what they can tolerate. I really wouldn't worry about it too much. Your diet is better than most I'm sure.

[Anonymous]

Your diet sounds really good!

[Anonymous]

Your diet sounds way better than mine was! I lived on milkshakes and macaroni and cheese for the first trimester.

Good snacks to have on hand: Luna protein bars, dried fruit, carrot stick, hummus.

[Anonymous]

We're vegetarian, too (though I ate red meat during my last pregnancy and likely will for this one). What about making stir-fry with, say, tofu and veggies that you can bring to work? Trader Joe's has some great sauces. I also love sandwiches with bacon-flavored tempeh (tons of protein), lettuce, and tomato. Peanut butter to eat with pretzels or carrots. Cottage cheese with fruit. String cheese.

But really, you're doing great if you can keep down regular food during your first trimester. It totally sucks when you're not as active/healthy as you've been in the past, but it sounds like you're doing a terrific job! Plus, hopefully you'll be able to resume physical activity soon, and that can make a huge difference.

Good luck! (oh, and if you have a link for that carrot-chickpea soup recipe, I'd love to see it! ;^) )

Got a link to that

[Anonymous]

10:11 again: ignore that last little blip at the end. Started to type about the chickpea soup, forgot, and then added it at the top. Darn swiss-cheese brain!

[jindc]

thanks, all.
I think I have a list in my head of what to grab for work - Luna bars for sure (probably minis, though - they have them at Target last tine I checked...and at Athleta...I take a lot whenever I'm there!). Also, more veggies to dip in hummus vs using the hummus as my sandwich spread. Carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers. Cheese sticks (sort of sick of baby bell)

I really want to add more leafy greens, but it's difficult - I'm hoping to get a Vitamix for my birthday, which would make it way easier (spinach, blueberry, and pineapple smothies!)

The carrot soup wasn't a link, I just made it up. Here's what I did:

sauteed three trimmed and cleaned leeks in a little EVOO and butter (omit butter if vegan), salt and pepper to taste
Once translucent, add chopped cleaned carrots - about 1 to 1.5lbs. Stir to coat in oil/butter. Add a tsp of cumin, tsp of all spice, tsp of ground ginger or whatever you have on hand.
Add 1 can of rinsed chick peas
add veggie or chicken stock to cover the veggies and cook until carrots are soft (the smaller the pieces, the faster it cooks).

Puree to desired smoothness and reheat. Thin with more stock as desired. Add some cream at the end if you'd like. Fresh orance juice works well at the end, too.

Topped it with a little fat free plain greek yogurt.

I wanted some leftovers because THATS a good lunch to bring to work!

[Anonymous]

As you move into your second trimester, you're going to want to have a good stash of varied snacks at work and home. I find that keeping my blood sugar steady was difficult when I was moving out of the nausea stage and into the rapid growth stage. Also don't forget about calcium-rich foods. Your diet so far sounds good though.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for the recipe! I love soups (and cooking), so am always on the lookout for good ones.

-10:11

[Anonymous]

I didn't have nearly as much energy as you do to obsess over a daily menu.

[jindc]

I'm not obsessing - I've never been pregnant, and want to try to do the best I can given my current fitness restrictions. I'm not sick during the day, so I'd like to fuel myself in efforts to have a healthier pregnancy/child. Plus, I love to cook. I'd rather be prepared than eat crap all day. I also don't have a nutritionist (or even OB yet).

thanks others for their ideas - it's helpful.

[Anonymous]

I've gotten through my first trimester with quite a bit of morning sickness but what helped me and still does help was having a lot of variety in my food and giving in to specific cravings once in a while if doing so actually made me feel better (remember, it's just food, not medication, so a little bag of salt and vinegar chips if you really want them and you know they'll make you feel better isn't going to ruin your pregnancy). I started off trying to eat only all natural, organic food but I've been slipping here and there but when you're out and about and really hungry, that may not be what you end up eating if it comes down to fainting in the street. At this point, what's important to me is avoiding food with preservatives, pesticides, meat and dairy with hormones and antibiotics, and food dyes and artificial flavorings (my new favorite thing is Glee Gum with natural food colorings and flavors when I'm starting to feel sick) as well as too much sugar and salt. Just read the back of packages. More ingredients usually means more bad stuff in today's world.