Real Life Guide to Eating Healthy While Pregnant
By Ashley Nowe, founder of GetMomStrng.com
Oh, pregnancy. The time in your life when nutrition matters most—after all, you are growing another human! But as if irony were laughing in your face, this is also the time eating healthfully feels the most challenging—or perhaps even impossible. Pregnancy is essentially synonymous with food aversions and cravings, leaving you feeling like you are already failing at this motherhood bit right out the gate. Just because you can’t bring yourself to dive-in at the salad bar doesn’t mean you are failing. Here is the real life guide to healthy eating while pregnant.
We are meant to gain fat. So eat.
First of all, let’s talk about weight gain. Have you seen those fit pregnant moms on social media? The ones with the abs over their bump like a turtle shell? Please know that this is not what most pregnant bodies look like, and not something for which you should be striving. It is recommend that you gain 25-30 pounds if you are starting at a healthy weight. Why so much weight gain if baby is only 7 pounds? Here is the math.
7 pound baby
1.5 pound placenta
2 pounds amniotic fluid
2.5 weight of uterus
3.5 pounds increased blood volume
6-7 pounds fat deposition to support health and breastfeeding
Think you can live without the extra 6-7 pounds of fat? Think again. Your body is a smart machine, upping the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which support fat storage—and for good reason. These stores help nourish your baby and prepare your body to make milk.
The fact is, women who don’t have adequate weight gain are at a higher risk of premature and low-birth weight babies. You will need approximately 300 extra calories a day, and while that’s not a huge caloric difference, it is important to get those extra nutrients. If you are an athlete mom you will need even more fuel to keep you and your baby going strong. Pregnancy is taxing on the body. You are growing a human…from scratch! Be mindful of what you eat, and not restrictive.
Food aversions and cravings are a biological response. Work with them…not against them.
In the first trimester all you want is mac and cheese—not the kind you make from scratch—but the bright yellow kind that is made with a powder so yellow it can only be a derivative of unicorn urine. That’s okay. Whatever your craving may be, it is normal and to be expected. And while pregnancy isn’t a time to eat whatever you want without care, it is a time to be gentle on yourself. Understand that a lot is changing inside your body, and make a solid effort to get the nutrition you and your growing baby need.
Meats and veggies are the most common aversions, which makes sense from a primal standpoint since meats and veggies are more likely to harbor bacteria, toxins, and foodborne illness, which your body wants to avoid while protecting your fetus. You can hardly stand the smell of your husband, much less the chicken cooking in the kitchen, I know.
Get creative. If mac and cheese is all you can stomach, can you add in a little meat? Try a superfood smoothie to disguise greens, and add in some collagen peptides for added protein. All you want is bread? Get the sprouted bread and add some almond butter. Craving icecream? What about Greek yogurt with some honey, fruit and cinnamon? Think of pregnancy as preparation for mothering a toddler. The more tricks you learn to sneak in nutrients, the more ahead of the game you’ll be when your bundle of joy turns toddler and proclaims, “I don’t ‘yike’ it.”
Eat frequent, small meals to keep up energy and balance blood sugar.
Nausea is worse when blood sugar gets low, so keep on top of your eating. Have things on-hand that you know you will eat and don’t beat yourself up if those things aren’t kale and chicken breast. Are you going to be out and about for the day? Pack snacks. Rx Bars, Larabars, an apple and cheese, dried snap peas, homemade muffins, or some nuts and fruit. Here are 20 healthy snack ideas.
When your bump gets large, eating is difficult in its own right because there isn’t a whole lot of room for those organs. So stick with those small meals to ease digestion and fuel yourself through the end of pregnancy.
Eat more protein.
Up the protein. You need 35% more protein now that you are pregnant. Odds are you need even more protein than that if you are exercising regularly. One of the many challenges of eating balanced during pregnancy is that meat is a common aversion, making meeting your protein quota even more challenging.
Find what works for you. Hide meat in butternut squash lasagna, sneak veggies into tacos, add some protein to your dessert with these chocolate oat balls, or try overnight protein oatmeal. There are numerous ways to get more protein into your diet without having to prepare…barf…chicken.
Eat plenty of fiber and drink water to prevent constipation.
Nearly half of pregnant women experience constipation. Pooping can be a real challenge while pregnant because food passes through the intestines more slowly thanks to the hormone progesterone, making for some challenging bowels. Constipation during pregnancy is not only uncomfortable, but straining while going to the bathroom can really damage your already over-worked pelvic floor. Eat high fiber foods like fruits and vegetables, drink a lot of water, and invest in a Squatty Potty for a better body position in the bathroom.
Invest in a good prenatal.
You need increased iron and folic acid, among other micronutrients. Invest in a quality prenatal. While this won’t make up for a poor diet, it certainly helps you safeguard your effort to get all the vitamins and nutrients you and your baby need.
Among all else, listen to your body. Rest when needed. And know that this period of time is TEMPORARY. You will be eating your chicken, kale, and quinoa salad before you know it. Oh my, nursing makes a mama so very hungry! For now, make adjustments and do the best you can. Pregnancy nutrition is a much like motherhood— take things a day at a time, and know that you aren’t messing them up too badly.
As a certified nutrition coach specializing in helping moms and moms-to-be make the most of their health, please contact me if you need nutrition guidance during this unique time in your life.
Ashley Nowe is a certified nutrition health coach specializing in helping moms regain their strength and confidence through improved nutrition, healthy living, and functional exercise. Inspired by her own struggle in healing from the birth of her twin boys, she founded Get Mom Strong (www.getmomstrong.com) to provide nutrition education and core-safe exercise ideas for moms looking to get fit safely and effectively.