Pregnancy is a weird time food-wise. Before I got pregnant I always swore that I would eat so healthily. Providing only the best nutrition for my babe on the way! Well, that flew out of the window pretty early on! Between cravings and aversions, all the best intentions in the world may not help you with your diet during pregnancy.

In my first trimester I basically lived off chocolate (slight exaggeration but that’s what it felt like). I never had a sweet tooth before getting pregnant (I was that slightly odd person that ordered a cheeseboard at the end of a meal rather than dessert). But all that changed straight away! Chocolate has persistently been my strongest craving throughout this pregnancy. Bars of chocolate, chocolate brownies, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake. I am seemingly powerless to resist. But in my second and third trimesters I have really been trying to balance all those sweet indulgences with some fruit and veg.

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I collaborated with nutritionist Theresa Gentile (MS, RDN) over at Full Plate Nutrition for some expert tips and constructive advice on my pregnancy diet. In the hopes that this will help any other mamas-to-be with helpful pregnancy diet suggestions.

This is my Pregnancy ‘What I Eat in a Day’.

I took a cross-section of days across the course of one week and included some work days, weekend days and vacation days (because we all eat differently when we’re out of our normal routine). I have been completely honest and included all the naughty things, along with my healthier choices! Theresa has provided feedback on each day’s food diary – with constructive suggestions as to how I could have improved my diet in order to hit all those nutritional goals.

From Theresa:

Pregnancy is the only time in your life when the foods you choose will directly affect another person- and in a very important way. It’s never too late to start a balanced diet to give your baby a strong start in life. Eating nutritious foods will also help you have more energy, an easier labor and retain more of your nutrient stores – remember, whatever baby needs, she takes from you.

Eating for two doesn’t have to be complicated; often, you just have to tweak a few things in your diet. In fact, you don’t even need to “eat for two” – a mother in her 2^nd and 3^rd trimester needs only about an extra 300 calories per day.

The nutrients that a pregnant mother should focus on, and the recommended amounts, are:

Protein: 60-70 grams per day

Fiber: 20-35 g

Fruits: 2-4 servings

Vegetables: 3-5 servings

Calcium: ~ 3 cups or 1000 mg

DHA/Fish oil: 300mg daily (8-12 oz fatty fish per week that’s low in methylmercury or from a quality supplement)

Water: 6-8 glasses (48-64 oz)

There are many important vitamins and minerals a pregnant woman and fetus needs, but they are often obtained by whole foods in a balanced diet and supplemented by a prenatal vitamin.

Charlie asked me to look over her food diary and give some recommendations. Here we go!

DAY 1: Work Day

7:15 am Breakfast –

Toasted Whole-wheat English Muffin with butter, marmite and one slice of Gouda cheese. One large cup of decaf tea with whole milk.

9:00 am – 16 oz glass of water.

10:00 am Second Breakfast –

Eight Kame rice crackers (1/2 portion) with generous smears of olive tapenade hummus. 16 oz glass of water.

11:00 am – One large cup of decaf tea with whole milk.

12:30 pm Lunch –

Vegetarian Roti from the supermarket (Roti is a West Indian dish, a lightly spiced curry (in this case a vegetarian one of potato, peas, sweet corn and beans) is wrapped in a thin ‘Roti skin’ made of chickpea flour).

2:00 pm Post-lunch Treat –

A Dark Chocolate Milky Way bar and a cup of decaf tea with whole milk.

3:00 pm – 16 oz glass of water.

5:00 pm Snack –

1 sliced Gala apple with 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter, 16 oz glass of water.

7:00 pm Dinner –

Autumn Salad with grilled chicken breast (mixed leaves, cucumber, radish, pear, feta (pasteurized) and apple) with a club soda.

From Theresa:

Charlie did a great job on meeting her vegetable requirements for the day. She only consumed 1 fruit, but the extra vegetables can make up for those nutrients. She was a tad short on calcium, depending on how much milk she added to her tea. The goal is 3 servings of calcium per day. You could try adding a simple glass of milk during the day, 1 cup of yogurt, or 1/3 cup almonds. She also was short on fiber, which is often a hard nutrient to meet. She could have changed her 2pm snack to ½ candy bar + 1 cup of fortified cereal. (Like Cheerios, shredded wheat, bran flakes. The cereal would add fiber and B vitamins, including folic acid.) She did a great job meeting her water requirements of 6-8 glasses, which is important for her increasing blood volume.

Day 2: Work day

7:15 am Breakfast –

Frozen fruit smoothie with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and fresh spinach leaves blended with water and ice.

9:00 am Chocolate at the office –

Three mini dairy milk caramel squares and a cup of decaf tea with whole milk.

10:30 am Second Breakfast –

Eight Kame rice crackers (1/2 portion) topped with roasted red pepper hummus. 16 oz glass of water.

2:00 pm Lunch –

Thai red curry soup with glass vermicelli noodles, pumpkin and fresh coriander. 16oz glass of water and slice of flourless chocolate cake.

4:00 pm – 16 oz fresh pressed kale, spinach and apple juice.

6:00 pm -16 oz glass of water.

8:30 pm Dinner out –

Cheese fritters appetizer, Salmon with chickpeas and coconut and an avocado salad. Two club sodas, chocolate cake (shared with the husband) 

From Theresa:

Charlie got in 3 vegetable serving and 2 fruit servings, thanks to  a healthy smoothie that included some iron-rich spinach. She came a tad short on whole grains and fiber. The chickpeas added some fiber (and folic acid). She could have had a side of brown rice with the red curry soup at lunch. She also could have added some bulgar wheat or barley with her salmon dinner. The salmon supplied her growing baby with DHA, powerful brain food. She came a little short on protein; adding a protein at lunch or a hard boiled egg or nut butter as a snack would help meet that requirement.

DAY 3: Vacation Day –

7:30 am Breakfast –

Starbucks reduced fat turkey bacon and egg white muffin. Grande skinny decaf latte.

10:00 am Snack –

16 oz glass of water and small handful of mini Chips Ahoy cookies.

12:00 pm – 12 oz bottle of water.

2:00 pm Lunch –

Gazpacho appetizer and chicken satay skewers appetizer. Club soda.

8:30 pm Dinner –

Mozzarella sticks appetizer (shared with the husband), Greek Salad with grilled chicken. 2 glasses of club soda and one Virgin mojito.

From Theresa:

Charlie got her proteins in at breakfast, lunch and dinner. If she added one more calcium serving, she would have met 3 for the day (she got one with her latte and one for the mozzarella sticks). Since she was eating out on vacation this day, it was hard for her to meet her grains/fiber needs and fruits and vegetables. She could have picked up some fruit and baby carrots at a grocery store and kept them handy in the hotel room. Or try to find somewhere to make a fruit and veggie smoothie. She got in all her fluid requirements.

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Day 4: Vacation Day – 

7:30 am Breakfast –

Starbucks reduced fat turkey bacon and egg white muffin. Grande skinny decaf latte.

10:00 am – Bottle of water.

1:30 pm Lunch at Cheesecake Factory –

Beet and Avocado Salad and Chicken potstickers, a Passion Mint Fizz to drink and two large glasses of water.

3:00 pm – 16 oz glass of water.

6:00 pm Snack –

Handful of Coffee nut M&Ms and a small cup of (regular) tea.

8:00 pm Dinner –

Bruschetta appetizer (shared with the husband), half a cheese and arugula pizza (wood-fired, thin, Italian style). Decaf Latte.

From Theresa:

Again on vacation, it’s hard to meet fiber and fruit and vegetable requirements. She did, however, squeeze in some fiber and folate-rich beets and anti-inflammatory fats in the avocado. Like the previous day, she met 2 servings of calcium with the milk in her latte and cheese of the pizza. She met her fluid requirements for the day.

More helpful nutrition information can be found over at Theresa’s website (Full Plate Nutrition) and you can follow her on Instagram here.

Theresa Gentile helps busy mamma’s lose weight and have peaceful mealtimes. A busy mamma herself, she’ll show you how to plan quick, healthy meals and change your habits so you can be your best self, have more energy and end picky eating.

Has there been anything in particular that you have been craving? Do you find it harder to eat healthily now that you’re pregnant? Have there been any changes that you’ve made to your diet since discovering that you were pregnant? Let me know in the comments below!

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