Pregnancy dietary advice

[TheMoonInJune]

Hello

I am very newly pregnant with my first.

In all honesty my diet isn't very good. I drink a lot of diet coke, I am very busy during the day and often don't eat until 4pm, by which point I am so hungry I eat junk.

I have suffered and to an extent suffer still with an eating disorder so please don't flame me.

I wondered if you could give me ideas for foods I can eat that are quick and simple and will offer nutrition to me and my baby without putting on fat.

Thank you.

First of all congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Watch with the diet coke. It has more caffeine than real coke an I'm sure you're aware to only have 200mg per day at the very max. I have replaced these types of fizzy with fizzy flavoured water.

A quick thing I make for myself is brown toast, baked beans and cheese on top. Satisfying the fibre aspect for the constipation that's meant to come with pregnancy, iron from the beans and calcium and protein from the cheese. I'm also making sure I have yoghurts for the calcium too. I want to make sure I have teeth by the end of this!!!!!!

Another thing is eggs on toast which is quick made. Obv just ensuring the eggs are cooked from the salmonella aspect!!!!

An evening snack for me is fresh popcorn ( I have a machine at home). It's meant to be vitamin B6 which helps with the nausea but hasn't worked for me (but at least it's fat free unless you put butter or something of the sort on top!!)

Sorry if that wasn't what you were meaning!!!

I love carbonated drinks but have steered clear of anything diet during my pregnancy as artificial sweeteners are not the best. Instead I opt for carbonated water and add either cordial or a slice of lemon/lime/orange. I still have regular coke occasionally.

I haven't totally stopped caffeine but avoid it with meals as it can hinder iron absorption.

I too have baked beans either on toast or with a jacket potato - I don't mix cheese into this as calcium can hinder iron absorption. I would however eat cheese on toast or a jacket potato with cheese any butter and bacon. Pasta is also a good option - ravioli or normal dried pasta with a flavoured olive oil - I like truffle and a bit of Parmesan.

In the mornings I'd recommend porridge either made with milk or coconut milk. I'd avoid soya milk in the first trimester. Sprinkled with linseeds, fruit and nuts.

Tinned fruit in juice is great - still counts towards your five a day and is easily bought and eaten.

Worst ways milkshakes are nutritionally beneficial and calorie high so you makeup your calories.

Hard boiled eggs and whole meal toast.

Popcorn is an awesome snack as are nakd bars and kale chips.

You're doing a great job just by being aware that you need to change some aspects :) good luck.

Hummus is good for iron as are dried apricots.

Congratulations! It is a really confusing time regarding what you can/cannot eat, but I try to just go with healthy options and not worry too much about calories as this is the one time in life it is important to get enough. This is my typical daily menu, hope it helps:

Breakfast - Porridge with mashed banana or Weetabix (semi-skimmed milk) and you can also add nuts/seeds (good fats)
Snack - fruit
Lunch - wholemeal toast/oatcakes with humous and salad or cheese and baked beans or philadelphia and avocado or french toast or soup and cheese scones
Snack - yoghurt (full fat, as a lot of low fat ones contain artificial sweeteners), fruit, nuts or dried fruit eg. prunes, apricots
Main meal - protein eg. chicken, fish, lentils with carbs eg. potatoes, rice, pasta and vegetables, in dishes such as chicken stir-fry, salmon risotto, chilli, vegetable lasagne.

I also keep a stash of wholegrain crackers, oatcakes, rice cakes etc. around which are great with cheese or humous.

Being a total chocaholic, I do allow myself a treat in the evening also. As for drinks it's water mainly (I don't like tea or coffee) and I have a glass of fresh orange juice mid afternoon with my liquid iron supplement (that way I'm taking it outwith meal times and with vitamin C to aid the absorption)

I think variety is the key, but I know how difficult it is when you are limited for time. I try to batch cook and freeze meals, so make lots of soup, lasagnes etc. which if you cook enough in one go you can then have several meals in the freezer for days when you don't have time.

I hope this helps and good luck!x

Thank you!

I have got rid of the diet coke and started on diet lemonade instead - I know water would be best (and I am drinking it) but sometimes I really want something fizzy.

These are good ideas. I am thinking of:

Porridge with skimmed milk for breakfast

Mid morning snack of a tangerine

Lunch consisting of a wholemeal sandwich with turkey breast, chicken or ham and salad.
Muller light strawberry yoghurt
Apple or pear

Mid afternoon snack of a banana

It's evening meals where I struggle! So thank you for your suggestions! I really want to take care of myself and the baby.

grilled chicken breast/steak/salmon
with salad/stirfry
on brown rice/pasta/potatoes/bulgar/noodles
are my bases

and to ring the changes: lemon oil and garlic dressing; harrissa mixed with a teaspoon of mayo on the side; soy sauce; mustard;

And as the evenings draw in I will be doing all sorts of curries and stews with loads of veg in and if you go around the supermarket once carefully you will recognise the good brands of jarred pastes which don't have any muck added.

It takes a bit of planning but a half hour would produce a lovely chicken curry once you get into the swing of it. And it need not be fattening - chicken simmered in a tin toms and some good curry powder with a bit of plain yoghurt & baby spinach added at the end can make a tasty quick and healthy curry.

Katebakes - I'm intrigued, why avoid soya milk in first trimester? I haven't come across that before (and not disputing it but interested to know why).

TheMoonInJune - ah, the fizzy thing, I've got that too! My solution is big bottles of sparkling water, kept in the fridge so it's really cold and then have with either a lice of lemon or a few drops of fresh lemon juice or some fruit cordial.

slice of lemon not lice of lemon, obv, sorry...

Seconding porridge for breakfast - I do microwave porridge so it's really easy:
oats + sliced banana + raisins/ dates in bowl.
Cover with milk
Stick in microwave for 2:20
Done!

Pregnant women are quite prone to hypoglycemia so it's best to eat early and regularly. I've found that if I dont eat in the morning I feel really sick - that was the only morning sickness type thing I got!

I had read articles from medical journals suggesting that the estrogen in soya milk can hinder the development of fetuses. I found from personal experience and confirmed by medical studies that drinking a lot of soya milk (I'd have at least a venti starbucks latte every day) can change the length of your menstrual cycle by as much as two days. I felt that since this impacted my hormones so much it was better to avoid it in my first trimester when the baby was still forming. Also I didn't want to overload my system with too much estrogen. I drink it again in my third trimester and baby is doing well :)

Hi moon, I'm about as far along as you are and find so far that I have to eat more regularly than before (serial binger eater normally, no food during the day, stuff my face at night) and find that roast turkey is a fab snack, with some wholemeal crackers or a wholemeal muffin.

One of my pregnancy books says to eat red meat 3-4 times a week, normally I eat it once a week at most so sometimes I replace the turkey with roast beef slices. I also have my yoghurt maker out and eat a lot of full-fat yoghurt as snacks during the day.

I've also become addicted to satsumas, and I can't abide still water anymore so like to mix some orange juice with sparkling water.

Replace the diet coke with caffeine free coke? I've read differing numbers for caffeine, some studies and books say up to 400mg per day is fine, though.

Sounds similar to what you are doing, but it is a struggle to remember breakfast and to pack lunch so I usually end up at the supermarket before work.

Thanks, katebakes, that's really interesting. I've always drunk quite a lot of soya milk (on cereal, in hot chcocolate etc) as I don't like cow's milk but I went off it completely in my first trimester and stopped drinking it. Now at 17 weeks I've started fancying it again and am back on the soya hot choc. Having read your post, I'm glad my body seemed to instinctively know what might be good for it!

It's weird isn't it. I was drinking it loads in first trimester and then did some research and got a bit worried. Some studies suggested it was awful whilst others disagreed. I took some studies with a pinch of salt because they test on mice...and we aren't mice! I'd rather rely on all the healthy women in china that consume soya products than pregnant mice in America.

Having said that I read one study that suggested drinking soya milk could increase the chance of a dilated kidney in male fetuses, which the sonographer picked up on in my twenty weeks scan. Luckily this resolved itself three weeks later. I don't know if the two are related tbh, but it's interesting.

I'm so beyond happy that everything is looking good and I reallllly can't wait to meet him. I'm so excited for my soya latte tomorrow - baby likes them too...and yes for all the caffeine police - it's decaf :D xxx

One thing I would point out is that a lot of this will depend on how you feel so don't be too hard on yourself. I started pregnancy with great aspirations as to how healthy I would be (usually fairly healthy anyway) but due to almost constant nausea from about week 5 (now 8+4) have been extremely restricted and just have to go with what I can manage to eat. And a lot of it isn't very healthy unfortunately! Still, a lot of women seem to have this problem and hopefully things will get better and I can eat more healthily at that stage.

I think the artificial sweeteners are worse than caffeine, our bodies don't know how to deal with them. I love coke and dr pepper, I have a can of each per day and a cup of tea. 5 cans of coke would take you up to the recommended caffeine limit!

With regard to food, I couldn't suggest any healthier than what others have said but if you do fancy something that isn't all that nutritious just have it. The baby will take what it needs so try not to worry what you eat just that you do eat regular meals.

Enjoy your pregnancy. x

Try to eat breakfast not long after you get up. Don't get hung up on being uber healthy, just try not to eat to much of the bad stuff and focus more on the good stuff,and try batch cooking some meals so in the evening you just have to defrost the bolognaise, or chilliand cook oasta, or rice or salad etc. Less effort, max effect.

congratulations and enjoy. Even the bits that aren't so fun! :)

Fill up on the good stuff.......wholegrains, veg, fruit, fish, some meat. What you feed your child while pregnant can really affect it's development and long term health. Do your best to feed yourself the good stuff (but don't get too hung up about it!)

Here is a great website, that is reliably researched and practical.
www.dietinpregnancy.co.uk/index.html

I went to Mcdonalds yesterday and I still haven't quite managed to forgive myself...