Healthy Eating?

[Sweetie]

In pregnancy...

Does anyone know where I can find reliable information or things like menu "plans" for foods that are good for me and LO?

I was planning on starting a healthier eating plan before I found out I was expecting. I want to continue with this though. Not for the intention of losing weight (I do have some to lose) but just to be healthier. Now with being preggers though I don't know what I should be eating iykwim

 

[Rachel S]

You need to eat things that will give you slow release energy foods like pasta, potatoes, rice, lentils. Lots of veg and fruit, lean proteins like chicken and fish, and basically not eat a huge amount of fat on a daily basis. Drink lots of juice, water and try not to drink many fizzy sweet drinks, as that can be as much as 7 teaspoons of sugar in an everage fizzy drink. That doesn't mean you can't have treats etc, but i guess not every day.
You only need to eat on average 300 calories more a day when pregnant to cope with the extra demands your body and the baby needs. The tendency is to do the old 'i'm eating for two' which many women think means they can eat more or less what they want and pile on the weight.
For me because of my job and being really body conscious, I know i'm going to put on weight, but i'm going to eat healthily and exercise throughout if i can, as i don't want to then spend the next few years trying to lose the weight i put on through over eating or careless eating.

 

[Laughing Girl]

1. Eat your 5 a day, plus extra if you can. These can take the form of smoothies and fresh juices if you like.
2. Don't add salt to your food.
3. Limit your intake of refined carbohydrate - this is the white coloured carbohydrate on the whole, so white bread, white pasta, sugar.
4. Don't eat too many takeaways - if you love them and can't live without them, have 1 a week as a treat.
5. Good luck!

 

[Sweetie]

Would these sort of things be good??? (sorry I need a bit of hand holding)
Last night we had chicken breast and tomato brushetta flatbread

Breakfasts - yogurt /cottage cheese and fruit
eggs and toast
fiber crisp with peanut butter/ cheese and fruit

Lunches and dinner - soup /salad w. lean protein
lean proteins with veggies

For snacks I've been sticking to the 100 calorie prepacked snacks and staying away from the ones with a lot of sugar and no fiber. Also been making the 100 calorie packs of microwave popcorn though I don't ever really end up eating the whole thing. Every few days I have been having the odd piece of dark chocolate.

As far as hydration... I try to limit sodas to no more that one a day and even then I often won't even drink any. Can I have soda water with lemon in it (has no sugar or sweetener)? Or would I really just be better off with just water. I don't tend to drink a lot of juice though I do drink maybe two glasses of milk a day...

Sorry for writing so much...

Am I on the right track???

 

[Seity]

Sounds like you're eating better than I am and I consider my diet generally healthy.

 

[Rachel S]

Sounds like you're on the right tracks
Soda water or fizzy water is fine. I have a craze on fizzy drinks, so i drink fizzy water with fresh lime or lemon juice, you get the sensation of a fizzy drink buy none of the baddies like sugar, artificial flavours, colours etc.

It appears you're eating the right things and doing fine.

 

[Laughing Girl]

Hi again,

This all sounds really good on the whole.

Some people will tell you to only eat well cooked eggs - ie no runny yolks. This is because of the remote possibility of contracting salmonella poisoning. You can contract this whether you are pregnant or not.

Peanut butter is another thing many people chose to avoid - if your family or your husband's family have a history of severe allergies, especially nut allergies, it would be best not to eat things containing nuts as your baby may also be allergic to them and could react very badly.

Prepackaged 100 cal bars - I am not a fan at all. I think that they contain all sorts of nasties ie chemicals, preservatives etc. Much better to snack on oatcakes, fruit, dried fruit - non of these are going to pile pounds on to you and are all very good for you and baby.

x x

 

[Rachel S]

Go to health food shop to get some healthy muesli bars or those sorts of things. Like with everything, all in moderation and just cut back on salt, sugar, bad fats.

Healthy snacks i eat include grapes, jellies, really easy to make with fruit juices or fruit purees, healthym good if you have a sweet tooth. Rice cakes. I get rice cakes that are flavoured with natural apple or pear juice, really nice.

 

[Seity]

I like to snack on mixed nuts and fresh veggies.

 

[Sweetie]

Thanks so much ladies, with all the craze diets I swear I`m not even sure what is healthy anymore

Will go and have a look at the health store. I am also hypo thyroid so I know to avoid soy products, but I also have to get my meds adjusted as I`m 99% sure that my levels are out