Be healthy: like a Boss: Eating in the 1st trimester like a boss

I cannot emphasize enough how happy I am my first trimester is OVER!!!! Ugh, it's such a pain because we didn't tell people we were pregnant until we were 12 weeks along. And I feel like those are the worst 12 weeks of pregnancy and the time you need help the most! With all the sickness, weakness, mood swings, fatigue, AND having to chase my incredibly energetic toddler around...well, you get the idea. It's not always a party.

But we're not here to talk about my crying spells or lack of energy...or are we? You better believe it, I have discovered that pretty much all pregnancy symptoms played a huge roll in how I maintained a healthy lifestyle. Because I have so much information to share about the 1st trimester, I've divided it into 2 posts- this one about diet, and the next one, which will be about exercise. My stats for this pregnancy will be listed at the end of the exercise post. Let's get started, I'm so excited to share what I've learned with you!

Morning sickness/food aversions
I figured I'd start off with the worst part of being pregnant and then get happier from there. I have to say that I have not vomited once with this baby (please don't hate me). However, I did get incredibly painful stomach-aches that would leave me helpless on the couch for hours. And they would usually result from a particular food I'd had that day. Also, food aversions tend to be burdensome in pregnancy. The smell of a certain food would make me feel like running to the bathroom and puking. Unfortunately, the food I came to hate most was vegetables. The thought of a salad in the house would make me want to head for the hills. Cooked green beans is another favorite in our house and I couldn't stand that either. I was so upset when I found out my body was rejecting food that I actually needed and was good for me. How could I maintain my healthy lifestyle if I couldn't get the nutrients I needed from vegetables?

Then I read an article stating that most pregnant women find they have an odd aversion to vegetables in the first trimester. Well, I was relieved to know that I wasn't alone in my veggie-dislike state. But that didn't solve my problem quite yet. The article suggested to invest in a vegetable juice, which I'm going to recommend. Something like V8 would be fine, just make sure it states on the label that a glass will give you one serving of vegetables. Normally, I don't drink juice, nor would I recommend it. There's a ton of added sugar, plus water is just generally better for you. However, I wasn't going to throw up juice, so the benefits strongly outweighed the costs there. Also, I found that my stomach could keep down carrots and didn't mind doing so. Needless to say, there have been loads of baby carrots in our fridge this pregnancy. Also, I still stick to my morning smoothies, where I throw in spinach. That was a life-saver because my stomach/nose/taste buds couldn't distinguish the veggie from all the other fruit in the smoothie.

In pregnancy, you have to work with what your body gives you. Don't eat something you're just going to throw up (that's completely pointless because then you lose it in the toilet anyway). Find the healthy things your stomach will handle and work from there. Also, I found that by eating a lot of fruit, I was getting most of the nutrients I needed there, since veggies weren't going to work 100% of the time.

Water vs other drinks
I've always heard that if you have morning sickness, soda and other carbonated beverages will help settle your stomach. Well, I tried that. Not only did the carbonation NOT help, but I felt bloated and gassy. So I went back to drinking water instead. And surprise! Water settled my stomach way more than soda did! And there's no bloating, no feeling gassy, no indigestion. And did I mention water is so much healthier for you?! But I do have to admit that my water consumption has gone down since I became pregnant. Remember how my bladder was the size of a pea BEFORE this baby came along? Well, now it's even smaller. If I drink 2 liters of water a day, like previously done, I am in the bathroom every 15 minutes. I swear, I'm not exaggerating. You can ask Dave, it's the honest truth. So I am currently only drinking about 1 liter/day.

Cravings
I've read some articles (written by women who have clearly never been pregnant) that say to curb your cravings. "Control your cravings, don't get that ice cream" is what they say. But I know the truth. I know how when you have a true craving, your body will make you sick and miserable until you have it. I know how it feels to NEED that cupcake. Well, that's because with cravings, your body really is trying to tell you what it needs. Sometimes that is manifest in sweet or fatty foods, and sometimes it is manifest in a turkey sandwich. Here's how I handled it. If the food craving was healthy for me and baby, I ate it. Strawberries have been a particular favorite with this baby, so we buy in bulk. But, if it's something like brownies, I defer to my standard dessert rule which is: 2 desserts a week. I saved those desserts per week for a rainy day. Sometimes I would go almost a whole week without eating dessert, but then on a random Saturday, I would CRAVE chocolate chip cookies. It was worth not eating sweet treats on a day when I didn't need them, just so I could have it when my body screamed for it.

Also, portion control is important with cravings. Often, you'll satisfy your craving with just as much with one cookie as you would with six. And cookie dough freezes quite well, so no need to worry about wasting the batch. :-) When you have a craving for a less-healthy food, ask yourself if it's a true craving or if you really can go without. Usually, when you want something sweet, you can satisfy yourself with yogurt, a smoothie, fruit, or a piece of toast. If you want something fatty and salty, try nuts, pretzels, or crackers and cheese. Try these options before resorting to use up one of your precious weekly desserts.

Extra calories

For my daily meals, I was still eating according to the my plate plan. However, I know that while pregnant, I should be consuming 200-300 more calories than I was before. So I found a slew of foods and snacks that would help me reach that goal. They're pretty darn tasty too! As I was grocery shopping this week, I snapped pictures of the snacks that I've been eating this pregnancy. Let me just say first that I hate calorie counting and food weighing/measuring. Even in pregnancy, I'm not doing it. But for the sake of being accurate, I have included the calories and amount for each of these foods. They are all 200-300 calories.