The Daily Dozen
By far, the biggest thing weighing on my mind lately has been what I should — and should not — be eating.
I’m about 1/4 of the way through What To Expect When You’re Expecting, and it keeps stressing the importance of what you eat during first few months of pregnancy. I’m (almost) glad I’m not already pregnant — I’d feel like I was studying after the exam had started!
Since Darling Husband and I are planning to start “trying” this summer, I’m in countdown mode. I want to try and get my body in the best possible condition before I get pregnant, but besides taking my daily Materna, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do.
So I’ve decided to loosely start following the Pregnancy Daily Dozen — 12 rules that are designed to fill you up with healthy, nourishing foods (and less junk).
Here’s how it breaks down (using just a few examples):
1. Protein (3 servings)
- 2 cups yogurt
- 4 large whole eggs
- 7 large egg whites
- 3 glasses of milk
- 3/4 cup grated cheese
- 4 ounces fresh fish
- 4 ounces skinless chicken
- 4 ounces lean beef
2. Calcium (4 servings)
- 1 glass of milk
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 1/2 cups frozen yogurt
- 1 glass of calcium-fortified OJ
- 1/4 cup grated cheese
3. Vitamin C (3 servings)
- 1/2 cup OJ (or half an orange)
- 1/3 cup strawberries
- 2/3 cup raspberries
- 1/2 a green pepper
- 1/4 a red, yellow or orange pepper
- 1 tomato
- 1/2 cup cauliflower
- 1/2 cup broccoli
- 1 baked potato in skin
4. Green leafies & yellows (3-4 servings)
- 1/2 carrot
- 1 cup romaine lettuce
- 1 cup raw spinach (or 1/2 cup of cooked)
- 2 tomatoes
- 1/2 cup broccoli
5. Other fruits & veggies (1-2 servings)
- 1 apple
- 1 banana
- 1/2 cup applejuice (or applesauce)
- 2 plums
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup green beans
6. Whole grains & legumes (6+ servings)
- 1 slice whole-grain bread
- 1/2 whole-wheat pita or wrap
- 1 cup oatmeal, cooked cereal, or cold whole-grain ceral
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1/4 cup whole wheat pasta
7. Fats (4 servings)
- 1 tbsp vegetable, olive, or canola oil
- 1 tbsp butter or margarine
- 1 tbsp mayonaise
- 2 tbsp salad dressing
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
8. Iron-rich foods (“some”)
- Beef
- Turkey
- Baked potato in skin
- Spinach
- Oat bran
- Beans
- Peas
9. Salt (in moderation, about 2,400 mg)
10. Healthy fats (like Omega-3) (in moderation)
11. Fluids (at least 8 glasses)
12. Prenatal vitamin
…
As you can see, some of the foods do double-duty — like how broccoli appears in the Vitamin C category and the Green Leafies category. That’s a good thing, because it means you can eat one cup of yogurt and hit two “targets.”
I’m a little bewildered by the counting — it seems like a lot to keep track of! Maybe I will do a trial run today to see how it goes.
Think bread instead
I have been cutting back on bread for years — ever since the low-carb kick really came on the scene and starting shrieking in its skinny jeans.
I mean, I L-O-V-E bread — and rolls, English muffins, anything in the delectable carb family. That was the problem.
Since Darling Husband could plow through five slices of toast in one sitting, and I had an addiction to soft pan rolls with butter, we made a joint decision to stop buying it.
At first it seemed really weird, but we had gotten used to it. We ate eggs with turkey bacon, but no toast. We ate wraps instead of sandwiches. We made pancakes and muffins occassionally, but never caved and bought a loaf of bread.
In my recent pre-pregnancy reading, I have learned that bread is back! Well, apparently, it never left, when it comes to true nutrition.
Whole grain bread is very important for growing babies, so the book encourages women to eat “good” carbs (whole wheat pasta, bread, brown rice, etc) before trying to conceive and during pregnancy.
So on the weekend, we bought our first real loaf of bread in ages. It was some kind of crazy-healthy organic whole wheat, and it wasn’t bad. And it was definitely nice to have toast with my eggs again — some things are just meant for each other!
Pregnancy Punch
I bought cranberry juice at the grocery store on Saturday. And club soda. I have never bought either of these items in my life, but I did after reading that they make up … dum, dum, dum! … “pregnancy punch.”
See, in books and TV shows, preggo women are always ordering cranberry-and-soda’s when they are in bars and restaurants. They can’t drink, they can’t have caffeine, so they don’t have a lot of choices.
I’m still not sure why it’s always cranberry juice, but according to its Wikipedia page, it has mega health benefits:
- It can help prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease.
- It can help cure, prevent, and relieve the symptoms of urinary tract infections
- It is a natural diuretic and can be used to relieve bloating
- It can also help prevent kidney stones.
Personally, I think it’s the juice of choice because its pretty colour makes it look like a regular cocktail. I tried it, mixed with club soda, and it’s good!
I’m still paging through What To Expect When You’re Expecting. I haven’t gotten to the section on foods to eat/avoid yet, but am planning to make a crazy master-list as soon as I find more info. Stay tuned!
Stating the obvious
So I stayed up late last night, reading my new fave book, What To Expect When You’re Expecting, and I was … well, surprised by some of the “advice.”
Who was this book written for? Crack addicts???
I have went through page after page of advice with headings like “Don’t put that in your pipe,” and “Breaking the smoking habit.” I have read sections about why drinking heavily while pregnant is “not a good idea.”Um … yeah, obvs!
“Good news,” I told my Darling Husband over breakfast this morning, “I’m not a crack addict, or a smoker, or a heavy drinker. I’m playing by all the rules!”
Drop everything and read!
Yayayayayayay!
Darling Husband and I were mall-ing this afternoon, and ducked into the bookstore to look for a book for our nephew.
Of course, while DH was browsing the boy books, I made a beeline for the Parenting section. Almost immediately, I spotted What To Expect When You’re Expecting — with a new mod cover!
I should explain that I have had a fascination with this book for years. It was so popular that I have always thought about it as the pregnancy bible. I would peek at it in the bookstore, and think about the day when I would buy it for myself.
I always figured I would already be pregnant when I actually bought it, but DH cruised down the aisle and spotted me holding it, and offered to buy it for me. Hallejuah!
This was a much better Valentine’s Day present than roses or candy 🙂 Can’t wait to read it!!!
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