Pregnancy Food Plan and Goals — and the process of putting it into action!

I do better when I eat the same things everyday. I know, that’s so boring. I tend to change it up over time, but when I’m trying to maintain very specific intakes of certain ingredients, it’s easier to be boring. My advice to anyone who is trying to manage all the nutritional needs of pregnancy is to (1) Make a list of your food/nutrient goals, (2) Take an inventory of several days from the past week, (3) Assess how your meals measured up and what was lacking, and (4) Make a short list of things to focus on and improve over the coming week. Keep it as simple as you can!

My overall dietary goals for pregnancy:

1. Eat bone broth (or gelatin) everyday
2. Eat organ meat weekly (take dessicated beef liver pills on the days I don’t eat it)
3. Eat 3 cups of cruciferous, onion, mushroom, cabbage, asparagus per day
4. Eat 3 cups leafy greens a day
5. Eat 3 cups brightly colored veg a day
6. Eat 2-3 eggs a day
7. Eat 2 servings of oily fish (salmon) per week
8. Eat/Drink 2-3 servings of fermented foods/drinks a day
9. Eat 3 servings of starch/grain (gluten free) a day
10. Eat 3 Tbsp coconut oil a day
11. Take 1-2 tsp fermented cod liver oil a day
12. Take prenatal vitamin
13. Drink Calcium Magnesium drink before bed

 

How am I actually doing?

• I eat gelatin everyday that I’m not traveling (and I have no more traveling scheduled for a long time).
• I am not doing great with the organ meat, but I do have liver meatballs in my freezer—I just want to do a little more research on where the liver came from so I can be sure there are no contamination issues.
• I am currently eating about 1-3 cups of cruciferous, etc., per day (depending on the day), 1 cup of leafy greens (in juice), and 1-3 cups of other veggies (depending on the day). I’m doing better now since I feel better. It was seriously helpful for my mom to visit a month ago and get me on grocery/food/recipe track. I also don’t need starch as often to make my stomach feel ok.
• I eat eggs on most days for breakfast, but when I don’t, I have them hardboiled for lunch. I skip about one day a week.
• I was eating WF farmed salmon, but then I emailed them and asked about the farming practices (their website has some info about quality, but I wanted to know what the fish eat), and I’m not thrilled about the answer. Salmon dinners are on hold till I figure out what to do!
• I drink around 16oz of a fermented drink (kombucha or cultured coconut water usually) everyday, and I’m trying to incorporate more fermented cabbage (raw sauerkraut) into my day (so far I’ve had a few forks full on a few days).
• I have no trouble eating grains and rice, and I’ve seriously toned down my gluten intake compared to before (maybe 3 servings a week).
• I have not done well with the coconut oil lately, but I plan to start!
• I am very consistent about taking the cod liver oil (and I even have Dave taking it!).
• No problems taking vitamins, and I drink the Cal-Mag drink about 6 days a week.
• Note: I also use a generous amount of butter from grass fed cows (probably 4 Tbsp a day). It’s not technically a goal of mine, but only because it’s so easy for me. If I wasn’t doing it, I’d make it a goal!

 

Here’s a sample day from this past week:

Breakfast:

Green juice (celery, cucumber, spinach…gelatin)

3 fried eggs, over easy (so the yolks are super runny and the nutrients aren’t as damaged by heat)

bacon

decaf with gelatin (1 tbsp) and coconut oil (1 tsp)

 

Midmorning:

Kombucha

 

Lunch (I eat early, whenever I get hungry—which is sometimes 10:30):

Beef stroganoff (leftovers from the night before) with onion, mushrooms, and gelatin added

White rice

Leftover steamed cauliflower with lots of butter

 

Afternoon snack:

Cacao berry clarity

Cottage cheese (with gelatin)

 

Dinner:

Stuffed meatloaf

Creamy Cheesy Cabbage (recipe soon—I haven’t posted it yet, but it’s amazing!)

Sautéed red peppers (in butter)

 

Here’s another sample day from the past week:

Breakfast:

Greek yogurt with grade B maple syrup and 4 Tbsp gelatin

Green juice (spinach, celery, cucumber)

 

Lunch:

egg salad with gelatin

leftover cabbage from the night before

 

Afternoon:

fermented coconut water

cacao berry clarity

 

Dinner:

roasted chicken

roasted carrots, potatoes, onions

homemade tomato soup (with gelatin)

 

Things I could have done better (that I’ll focus on this week!):

• eat more greens (either at lunch or dinner)
• eat more brightly colored veggies (or juice them)
• use coconut oil to cook veggies
• eat more fish (I want to–just have to figure out where to get it from!)

After I roast the chicken (which I’m trying to do once a week), I use the carcass to make broth and then I use the broth to make soups. I try to make enough for dinner each night so that we can eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. I use the crockpot very often, and this helps me manage all the veggie side dishes. I’ve been so tired in the mornings (which is weird for me because typically I’m a morning person), but I try to get dinner planned and started by 10am. When I wake up, I make juice and I make coffee for Dave. He makes eggs and his toast (he’s eating sprouted grain now–I’m so proud!). He cleans up the first half of dishes, and then I clean the juicer and pack his lunch. It’s a pretty good system!

Dave likes to cook too, but he’s studying for a big test for the Navy and he’s also very busy with work. He makes dinner once a week usually–on New Year’s Day, he made a roasted pork loin, black eyed peas, and corn bread… everything was amazing, but he did make a huge mess and there were quite a few swear words coming from the kitchen while he was working on it!

Side note: Baby E is kicking like crazy this week! I love feeling it because it makes me feel pregnant instead of just blah and puffy. When you were pregnant, when did you start to feel your baby move and kick?

Are you particular about the nutrient content of your food while pregnant? I am focusing on it, but not being too worried about it overall—I’m not sure I could fit everything in all the time anyway!