Now that I’m eating for me and Tiny Tong, I’ve been trying to make some better food choices, and since I obviously won’t be able to keep my New Years Resolution (lose weight. Ha!) I figured I could at least get into better eating habits NOW, so that come September it will be an easy transition into eating healthy, low calorie and hopefully burn off that baby weight before we get snowed in for the winter.
(I love how nice the grapefruit looks on my dessert plates. Very coordinated!)
Mostly it’s making sure I’m getting plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables. I’ve been eating grapefruits for breakfast, and I really think I need to go buy a grapefruit spoon, because man, those things are hard to eat with a regular spoon. Another favorite (and always makes me feel better!) is kiwi. I love kiwis.
I would eat those things all day long if they weren’t so expensive. Oh! Also and Pink Lady Apples. Those with a spoonful of peanut butter make a good mid-morning snack!
All of my food cravings have really just been for tart fruit, which I suppose is a pretty good craving to have! I’ve been having some major meat aversions, chicken has been tasting pretty gross since the beginning of the pregnancy, but in the last 4-5 days beef has really gone downhill for me, so it might be a struggle for me to get enough iron, but I am hoping to balance it out with my vitamins. (I got some gummy ones, here’s to hoping those won’t make me feel as sick!)
Any other moms have any great tips for good things to eat in the first trimester that won’t make you feel awful? (and that don’t have meat?) You should definitely leave me a comment and tell me what worked for you!
Knittybutton 
Almonds. They are a great source of iron. I do not like the unsalted kind, but still figure salted ones have some good to them. They were my snack of choice through my last pregnancy. I also ate a lot of apples with peanut butter, but you have already discovered how great a snack that is. Spinach also contains iron. You could make some pretty yummy spinach salads.
I can usually keep down iced tea (sweet, of course…usually with honey) and yogurt. Keeping really hydrated seems to help me not be as sick. Have you heard about eating beans for morning sickness? Not appetizing, I know…but here’ s a link if you want to read about it:
http://karenhurd.com/concern_morning_sickness.html
Hope you feel better soon!
My favorite thing to eat was watermelon, I think I ate it every day for the last 6 months of my pregnancy. As for those first 3, just eat whatever sounds good and rest as much as you can. Don’t know if that sounds like great advice but it seems like your body knows what you need so just go with it. I bet it’s tough starting a new job right now. I cut back my hours at work to just a couple days a week so I could sleep through my morning sickness and it made that first 3 months a breeze for me. Anyway, I know you have lots of friends with babies but if you have a girl, I have TONS of baby clothes. Many still with the tags on. So please take them! I would love to see them put to good use! So excited for you guys!
I have known lots of women who have gained only 15 lbs or so with a pregnancy by making really healthy choices and watching portion control . I even had a girlfriend who lost 20 pounds while pregnant by strictly following an eating regime given to her by her doctor. Ask away and they may have a plan so you don’t gain more than you will loose when pregnant. BTW – fruit is a great item to keep eating
With Jeremiah, all I wanted was fruit and more fruit. I remember Erika and I sending the guys out – while they grabbed hamburgers- for a big bowl of freshness. Oranges were my favorite. I would say in the first few months to just listen to what your body says you want. You can’t force yourself to eat something that doesn’t sound good or else you’ll be miserable. In a few weeks you’ll probably be up for eating more iron-y things. But if you are desperate for iron, spinach and fruit smoothies can trick your palate into eating the “right” thing!
Oh, and with this pregnancy, all I wanted at first was meat and carbs, lots of stuffing and mashed potatoes. You never know what your body is going to ask of you!
I eat eggs, lots and lots of eggs :). Actually any form of protein that you can enjoy is good. Eating protein every two hours or so is supposed to help with morning sickness, so eggs, yogurt, peanut butter, almonds, cheese etc. But, like some of the others said, you will probably find your appetite coming back in a couple months, so don’t stress about what you are able to eat right now, you can make up for it later.
Safeway used to batter and deep fry chicken livers. I KNOW! But they really are not bad.Also, lots of spinach salads. You can zip up spinach in a fruit smoothie, too. You don’t even notice it is there.
I liked eggs- and free range eggs really do taste better than store brand, also coco covered almonds and salad. I would get a rotisserie chicken and put some of it in the salad with some feta cheese and dried cranberries- I liked it. I couldn’t cook meat myself but eating it was no problem. Also try beans which are another great source of iron. It’s amazing how what you crave changes throughout your pregnancy. Strange, now that I’m trying to think about all the foods that worked well for me I can only think of a few, it was less than 7 months ago that O was born but feels like ages ago.
Another think, if you plan to breastfeed you will be very hungry but the BFing will burn between 500-1000 calories a day! It worked for me to lose the weight and is a nice excuse to eat anything you want after little Tong comes along (aslide from being the best thing for him to eat too). 🙂
Hey there!
If you want to find some other sources of iron – here you go: http://www.hoptechno.com/bookfoodsourceFE.htm
I had trouble eating cooked meat when I was pregnant and since people kinda frown on raw beef (although its pretty good when done well), I actually ate a lot of sushi while I was pregnant. I know tha tpeople say not to eat it and waybe it was just my history in Japan that made me not believe doctors who said stay away from sushi, but I ate it all the time and got a healthy beautiful girl!!
I am also with your mom about the livers – although I did it at home, but they are good(I dipped them in sauce).
I craved anything sour when I was pregnant… kimchi, pickles, artichoke hearts, pickled garlic I loved it all – until the last 6 weeks when I all of a suddon wanted pie!! Ugh
I did find that eating a little protein every two hours helped (although not completely I still puked a LOT for MONTHS) with the morning (all day) sickness
Good job eating healthy for the kid – its amazing how much easier it makes the decision when its for your child. Keep up the healthy choices and you could be like my sister and cousin who left the hospital weighing less than when they got pregnant!
I didn’t discover until pregnancy #5 that dairy was THE MAJOR cause of my blechy tummy. The sad thing was that I mostly craved cold cereal with milk, cheese and other such dairy items. However, when I began steering away from dairy my “morning sickness” improved immensely. You might give it a try for a day or two and see what you think.
Funny story. This summer my mom and I cooked up some hamburger for dinner. SHE was still totally grossed out by the smell of cooking hamburger all these years later. She spent the next hour running around the house lighting candles and shooting Febreeze everywhere! My point is that pregnancy+meat=evil.=} Even the memories cannot be overcome. It’s a good thing that God made so many sources of protien!
Well, I guess you already have been told, but spinach is totally the best. Alicia is right, with the boys we were like fruit fiends. Couldn’t get enough. Also the smoothy thing is good too, because you can mask a lot of “good for you’s” in them with fruit and yogurt. Try Greek yogurt if you’re getting bored. You can use frozen fruits for those, and it’s a lot cheaper since it’s dead winter. Also multi-grains…sometimes just a piece of toast will help the yucky tum.
I’m so excited for this Tiny Tong. What’s it gonna be? A Niece? A Neph? I’m dying to find out and it’s gonna be awhile. Sheesh!
Protein every two hours = saving grace for me. And lots of ginger ale (or sprite for you). And then lemony things were good too. Lemonheads made it possible for me to come visit you back in September. =) I’m glad you reminded me about apples and peanut butter! I got sick of them and took a break, but I’m ready for that as a snack again.
ginger ale, apples, bagels, and club soda.
Hi! Didn’t know you were expecting! Congratulations!!
I drank ginger ale when I felt really morning sick, and ate ginger chews–those worked the best for me this pregnancy! I also had a hard time with meat–chicken in particular! I actually did fine with making ground turkey patties and eating with lots of ketchup. 🙂
If hummus appeals to you, that with crackers is another good snack/mini meal! One of the best tricks is to east smaller meals more frequently. That helped me. If I got too full, I felt a lot more sick!
I also loved those Diamond brand (I think) cinnamon roasted almonds–great snack!
I like salsa– when pregnant esp.! SO if you can get your hubby to cut up and cook some chicken for you, you can enjoy some great home made fajitas!
Hope this helps! The 2nd trimester is usually SO much better for most women–you’ll be there before you know it!
Blessings,
Deborah Beauchamp