Nutrition tips for a healthy pregnancy

So I got pregnant with no family or friends with children to give me advice, and I never had close contact with the pregnancy or the babies.

What should I eat to help my baby grow healthy and strong?

I had no idea and went to the obstetrician with so many questions I didn’t know where to start… The nurse gave me a list of the nutrients I needed to have, in addition to taking the super vitamins, and I thought, “I have to be eating all day to follow this!” More was dizzy and exhausted. How can you ask a pregnant woman to eat all that? Mad! And I realized that I had to find a diet on my own.

Throughout my entire pregnancy, I couldn’t smell chicken, meat, fish, or anything greasy from miles away. Can you imagine eating it? No way!

I know that in the morning your body is starved for nutrients and that’s when it will absorb them best, so making sure my first meal was as healthy as possible seemed like the smartest thing to do… It gave me energy for the rest of the day and the satisfaction of knowing that I was doing my best to help my baby grow.

I took advantage of the fact that I had a crazy craving for fruit to start the day with a super fresh and natural smoothie and I also found a way to add protein to my diet. I bought just about every different fruit I could find at the store and also protein powder (such as EAS 100% Whey Protein in vanilla flavor or any other berry flavor) to add to the fresh fruit smoothie examples below:

– Orange/Mellon Juice (good with berry flavored protein)
– Orange/papaya/apple juice (you can add a tablespoon of oatmeal)
– Orange/papaya/apple/banana juice (you can add a tablespoon of oatmeal)
– Orange/pineapple juice (good with berry-flavored protein)
– Milk/strawberries (fresh or frozen)
– Milk/strawberries/banana (you can add a tablespoon of oatmeal)
– Milk/banana/oatmeal
– Milk/avocado/sugar or honey

Add 1-2 scoops of protein powder and you can also add honey to sweeten them up a bit, but most won’t need it as the fruits are sweet enough.

For the vegetables, instead of drinking bottled V8 or something similar, I did the following for every night (before, during or after dinner):

Fresh orange/carrot/tomato/parsley juice (you can add a couple of broccoli and/or celery florets)

These shakes are not only good for you and your baby’s health, but they will also help keep your skin nice and smooth, with less chance of stretch marks. Your skin and hair will thank you.

Be sure to take your vitamins and snacks on granola/yogurt and milk/cereal. Be beautiful and healthy and have the most amazing experience of giving birth, like mine was!