Pregnancy lunch ideas for work please! :)

[Worrier2019]

Good morning everyone!

Hoping one of you lovely people will be able to help me out! I'm really struggling to know what to take to work in a packed lunch as it seems that everything I would normally take is off the cards, like tinned soups and wraps with cold meats in them. I like to mix it up a bit and would appreciate a few ideas that will last me through until November!

Thanks!

Hiya, how come you can't eat tinned soups? Also, the only cold meats you can't eat are cured meats in theory (salami, chorizo, Serrano ham etc). Normal sliced ham/beef/chicken are all fine?

I tend to make salads (greens, peppers, tomatoes, avocado...+ protein: salmon, eggs, hard cheese). Taking dressing separately makes salad still fresh when you are ready to eat. Also, sometimes I take leftovers from previous lunch: cous-cous/rice/pasta base with pesto/tomato sauce+ protein as before. You can eat them cold or warm up in the microwave.

I'm in the same situation! Nothing I'd normally take to work is ok for me now. Everything is disgusting! I guess it will just be what you fancy ??? X

@Kilkers the NHS advises against tinned products because they have some sort of chemical thing that can harm baby. Ans I thought that about the meats, but I've just read somewhere else that you can't even eat cold chicken strips and tbh the ever growing list of what you can and can't eat is becoming a bit of a nightmare!

@WineOrGin yes, I work in a hospital so we have a full catering team and canteen which I've been buying from and they do a very cheap salad bar but I wanted to mix it up a bit. I used to take microwave meals but hot food is the last thing I want to eat in this heat!

I had hyperemesis in last pregnancy 18 months ago and lived on Heinz chicken soup as it was the only thing I could stomach. DD is perfectly fine

Pasta bake - can batch cook and warm up in the microwave.

It's cheap to make and a real life saver (well it was for me!) x

Not sure where you found that tinned soup is a no go as the list I got from nhs nurse and all info I have read has never mentioned it. Just checked it out and here is the study I think your referring to which to me doesn’t read as you can’t have it
www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/risk-from-chemical-in-canned-soup-overstated/

If your really worried though make fresh soup. Cold chicken is fine provided it’s cooked to right temperature and stored correctly and consumed within the right time so provided the company selling it doesn’t have a poor food hygiene rating you should be fine. The nhs website has guidelines on what is safe and what to avoid and I have not found it at all that life changing or restrictive. There are a lot of myths out there such as not eating tinned tuna. You can just not in excess.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/foods-to-avoid-pregnant/

This states cold (not cured) meats are fine to eat. Nothing about avoiding tins either.

My mistake, it's not on the NHS site, but this article talks about it and it has put me off ever since!!

So if I want a chicken caesar salad wrap with cold chicken that I can buy from Tesco, is that ok to eat? Just want to clarify!!

You can eat soups and you can eat cold meats.

What’s the source of the article in the picture, OP?

Stop reading scaremongering sites and stick to nhs guidelines. Tinned products are fine and so are sandwiches/wraps and pre cooked packaged meats

Omg eat what you want, with the exception of liver (too much vitamin D) and shark (presumably not an everyday lunch item anyway). If you’re feeling very good then avoid pate and cured meats (very small risk of listeria). Everything else is fine. You can’t go the next 4 months not eating anything tinned, or any cold chicken, or any other rules you’ve read!

Stick to the NHS only. There is a website telling pregnant women we can't eat anything. Can't lift anything. Cant even sleep how we want. I'm fed up with it. I had mussels the other day and another bloody diner came over and told me not to eat them, FFS.

Whaaat?! We can’t eat tinned soup! I loved Heinz tomato soup when I was pregnant.
And chicken salad sandwiches were pretty much all I craved in the beginning.

You can pretty much eat anything you like. Google is not the way to find out - trust the NHS guidance.

Think I've found the article. It's from the US.

learn.eartheasy.com/articles/11-common-foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy/

Whaaat?! We can’t eat tinned soup! I loved Heinz tomato soup when I was pregnant. And chicken salad sandwiches were pretty much all I craved in the beginning.

Of course you can. Cuppa is absolutely right. Pregnant women are treated like idiots and told a load of old shite.

Just stick to the nhs advice and avoid scaremongering nonsense.

The author of the article ... she has no medical qualification.

Robin Jacobs
Robin Jacobs grew up in the “back to the land” movement in rural Maine, and then made her way to the west coast where she now practices some of the same values of simplicity and sustainability with her husband and daughter. She holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology, with special interests in holistic nutrition and community systems.

There is a strong possibility she doesn’t know what she’s talking about

Yeah, that's the site. Regardless, it has put me off so personally won't be eating tinned soup, but still looking for healthy lunch ideas please!

Littlebear 😂

Well what did you eat before for lunch that you can’t eat now?

If you’re worried about tinned food buy the same thing not in a tin. Soup comes in tetrapak.

Cook your own chicken for sandwiches.

I do understand you concerns OP I’m in my first pregnancy also and feel like I’m constantly asking- ‘can I still eat X’ but honestly I don’t think an occasional canned item will hurt! I think a lot of this advice is given in a ‘don’t eat it every day’ way!

I’m lucky as DH is a Dr and BFF is a nurse so they’re handy for advice. Food that is activity dangerous like raw/undercooked items or unpasteurised dairy ABSOLOUTLEY AVOID! But chemicals in canned items would have to build in your system over time. So to be harmful you’d have to eat A LOT of canned stuff!!

Try soup in tubs, Waitrose and M&S both do lovely ones! But if you’re anything like me you’ll just have to eat what you fancy. My LO is rather fussy and demanding of what mummy eats and when- angering him ends in vomiting 😂🙈

Try making sandwiches at home too. Avocado, tomato and cheddar cheese is my current favourite.