Any Vegan Moms-to-Be out there?

[MamaFlick]

I'm adopting a vegan lifestyle. I know that it's possible to get all of the nutrition that I need with a vegan diet.

I have a couple questions for any vegan moms or pregos there:
1) Any suggestions for snacks or recipies would be great!
2) Have there been any particular challenges that you have come across as being a vegan pregnant woman and/or parent?

Please nobody post anything criticizing my choice, that is definitely not why I'm posting on here!

 

[chessa]

Thanks for asking this because I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I'm not fully vegan but vegetarian...and on top of that I've adopted a "raw" lifestyle. I started gradually going raw/vegetarian around the end of October 2012, and we just found out on Jan 21st that we are expecting baby #1.
I was nervous about keeping my raw/vegetarian diet but so far it has really been fine. I eat a lot of walnuts and almonds (I make my own almond milk) and I went ahead and bought a couple of "raw" cook books (well, technically not cook books since you don't cook anything when you are "raw" lol...but you know what I mean).
I have done a lot of research online and am confident that it is possible to have a healthy pregnancy with a vegan and raw diet! Just make sure to eat lots of colors and if you are doing cooked foods make sure you eat black beans, quinoa and other whole grains. Wild rice is good, too.
Hopefully more people will post other more helpful info, too

 

[autumn88]

I'm adopting a vegan lifestyle. I know that it's possible to get all of the nutrition that I need with a vegan diet.

I have a couple questions for any vegan moms or pregos there:
1) Any suggestions for snacks or recipies would be great!
2) Have there been any particular challenges that you have come across as being a vegan pregnant woman and/or parent?

Please nobody post anything criticizing my choice, that is definitely not why I'm posting on here!

Im a Vegan. I dont eat anything from a Animal, Dairy, Processed tv dinners, boxes etc. It has to be super vegan. I usually go to Vons and Trader joes. I cant have Wheat, Gluten. im sensitive to it, i cant buy shampoo or conditioner either with that.
For snacks i make pita breads stuffed with vegetables. I cook chickpease in the oven with Garlic and Evoo until its brown. when you bite into it, its crunchy.
Peanut butter on apples, and celery
Oranges, Bananas, grapes, Kiwi. Humus.Salads, soups. Sorry im no help lol.. I eat everything as a snack. I make big Salads with Quinoa, Blood oranges, onions, tomatos, strawberries, nuts.
i have vegan blogs on my favs and a vegan cookbook.
im 4 weeks today exactly, due Oct 25th. Im doing this hardcore. i have a list of Protein shakes im buying with some raspberry oil drops that go inside it or in water/juice.

I also take Vitamin D3, Zinc and Magnesium from Trader joes, its Vegan and gluten free. I cant take any prenatals. they make me sick.

but to keep you full more eat more beans, sweet potatos, chickpease, Lentils, Black beans, kidney beans. Make vegan stews with a bunch of veggies, veggie broth. i can send u links here or by email if you want to give it to me.

 

[Etoiles]

I am not vegan but vegetarian. I highly recommend this board: https://www.veggieboards.com/f/

It has some forum sections like raising vegetarian or vegan children, relationships, etc...

Also a good section for vegans and a good section for vegetarians. There are a lot of vegans there.

 

[MamaFlick]

Thank you everyone, your support is very appreciated! I've received a lot of negative feedback from people around me... I live in a very conservative town with a lot of close minded types, and for some reason they feel like they need to argue with me about this choice. I don't get it. Like me not eating meat/dairy/etc is hurting them!

So far so good, I really never enjoyed meat anyways so it's just giving up cheese that is really difficult for me.

 

[chessa]

Giving up cheese was my hardest thing, too! I LOVE cheese, but I tried some recently and it was soooo gross to me Woo hoo! Taste buds have evolved!

 

[Dosey]

I have been a Vegan since November 2011 (after being Vegetarian for 20 years) and am expecting baby number 1 in 6 weeks!

I eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg, grains, pulses, nuts etc. Hubby cooks everything from scratch and we rarely have processed foods.

My blood results all throughout my pregnancy have been completely normal (even though people kept telling me I was going to become anaemic) and I don't take any supplements (apart from prenatal).

Best of luck to you - being Vegan has forced me to eat better than I was - I am now eating so much more variety and more fresh food (I LOVE FRUIT!)

Don't let people knock you down - it is perfectly feasible to be a healthy Vegan. People seem to think that eating meat is the only way to be healthy...well, I know a lot of unhealthy meat eaters!

 

[MamaFlick]

I had a vegan grilled cheese sandwich at a restaurant today and it was AMAZING! It was my first try of vegan cheese and holy smokes... wow... best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had.

Yesterday I had Indian food, which is awesome since a lot of Indians are vegetarians so they had lots of options for me. I had THREE PLATES full at their buffet and still didn't feel sick afterwards. I don't ever feel crappy after I eat vegan - none of that full, nasty feeling I usually got after eating a "big" lunch.

Last night I made a vegan green bean casserole with nutritional yeast and vegetable broth... yummy!

I think this whole being vegan thing is going to be pretty awesome.

 

[summer rain]

I would double check at Indian restaurants because they tend to put ghee in everything, in India amongst those of the Hindu faith it tends to only be those of the priestly caste who are fully vegan. A lot of people don't realise ghee comes from butter either (despite most brands having a picture of a cow on the can!). In London there are only a tiny handful of Indian Vegetarian restaurants that truly cater for Vegans and even then not all of their dishes are Suitable, this is out of hundreds of Indian restaurants. My OH and I are vegan but we are slowly getting the kids acclimatised to it instead of making them change right away.

We weren't 100% vegetarian before but only ate fish or meat a couple of times a month, and in small amounts and we rarely are eggs or dairy so its not been a massive change. OH and I are soya sensitive so try to avoid too many soya containing foods, thankfully the nicest alternatives in the UK are based on coconut, nut and seed butters and wheat and pea proteins. We often eat at Loving Hut some of their dishes contain soya but it doesn't affect us like other soya as I think some of it is fermented and less processed than usual, also they do quite a few dishes with no fake meat or fish in and a couple with wheat gluten based meat. Also there is no alcohol on the menu in anything which is good for us as Muslims-that's one good thing here in the UK many vegans are either 'straight edge' or otherwise living a clean intoxicant free lifestyle so that's good for us because we also avoid intoxicants. There's a vegan food and clothing shop we visit as well and knowing we can buy anything in there and it's not going to be laced with animal products or alcohol xx

 

[bubbles123]

I'm not Vegan, I'm vegetarian and don't eat eggs. However, as OH is Vegan I very, very, rarely eat dairy as all our food at home is Vegan. I've had 2 completely healthy pregnancies. Best advice I can give is find yourself a good algae DHA supplement. You'll be fine.

 

[MamaFlick]

Question for you ladies - I've been eating whole food vegan for about a week and a half now, and I've lost weight. Like only a pound, but I've been consistently gaining for my entire pregnancy... I'm wondering if this is okay? I'm sure my baby is getting all the nutrients she needs because I am eating so well, so this weight coming off is probably just due to my body getting cleaner and healthier from the diet change. But I've always heard that you aren't supposed to lose weight while pregnant, so I'm getting a little worried.

I've already gained about 20 pounds in my pregnancy, so I was on the high end of weight gain anyways. But I am definitely not trying to lose weight. I'm just trying to eat super healthy. My midwife even warned me at my last appointment that I was gaining a little too much.

 

[summer rain]

A pound is nothing really could just be your scales. xx