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Guest Blog: Eating Healthy During and After Pregnancy Easier than You Think

Susan Johnson is the guest blogger today at DietsInReview.com. She is the mastermind behind Susan’s Healthy Gourmet, a meal delivery service with a focus on nutrition and quality. Susan lives in Southern California, where she actively pursues a healthy lifestyle and has a passion for sharing that knowledge with others.

susans healthy gourmet

Many moms-to-be think, “Hey, now I’m eating for two, so nothing is off limits!” Not true! You only need about 300 more calories a day. Three meals and two snacks a day will keep both you and your little one healthy and provide you with enough energy to enjoy the next nine months. pregnant

First the basics: Stick to lean meats, fresh fruit, colorful vegetables, brown rice & wheat pastas. Choose low-fat dairy products, and keep hydrated with plenty of water. Limit your caffeine and sweetened beverages. Choose healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, avocados, seeds and peanut butter. Find a low-fat salad dressing you really like. For fish, salmon is your best bet. Avoid raw fish, and fish high in mercury, such as swordfish and solid white albacore tuna.

Here are a few tips to help you plan what you should be eating while pregnant:

Breakfast. One of our favorite recommendations for an easy breakfast or snack is a smoothie. Blend low or nonfat yogurt with fresh fruit and ice. If you are feeling nauseous, you can slowly sip this treat over time. Our favorite combinations include peanut butter and banana, and strawberry banana. Another quick tip - if you cut and freeze the fruit in chunks and put in baggies, it’s cold enough that you don’t need the ice. It’s great to add juice to your smoothie, but opt for  fresh squeezed when possible and for more anti-oomeletxidants, try pomegranate juice.

Eggs are Important. One of the best foods for you and your baby are eggs. They contain choline, which helps promote brain development and memory function early in life while adding variety to your daily menu. Keep fresh veggies on hand to make hearty omelets.

Snacking. Try these healthy recommendations:
1. Hummus with wheat pita chips and fresh veggies.
2. Feel like a kid again and make Ants on a Log – celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter and topped with raisins or dried cranberries.
3. Nibble on healthy nuts – these great treats have lots of calories, so keep your portion small.
4. Keep some healthy granola bars like Kashi on hand for a quick pick-me-up. 5. Make your own yogurt parfaits – layer your favorite flavor of low or nonfat yogurt with berries, peach slices, mango – whatever you like – and top with granola. If you want a dessert, top with a little chocolate syrup and you’ve got a healthy chocolate sundae.

Lunch. Keep lunches easy – turkey sandwiches on wheat with lettuce, tomato and a slice of provolone cheese. Add grapes or an apple and a few carrot sticks and you’ll have lots of energy and feel great.

saladsSalads. For lunch or dinner, salads are so versatile! Keep many colorful fruits and vegetables on hand and try different lettuce mixes. Top with seeds and dried blueberries, or grapes, Mandarin oranges and slivered almonds. Add grilled chicken or shrimp and serve with a vinaigrette.

Dinner. For dinner, pair lean meats or salmon with sweet potatoes or brown rice, then add your favorite steamed vegetables and beans. Enjoy wheat pasta tossed with vegetables, chicken, and marinara. Serve with a green salad. For dessert, choose a nonfat sorbet, or an apple with a wedge of cheese.

pastaPost-pregnancy
After your baby is born, it’s important for both you and your husband to stay healthy and eat well for the sake of the baby. What can you do to make it easy?

Before the baby arrives, make and freeze homemade soups, your favorite casseroles and crockpot meals in packages for two servings. Take frozen meat out the night before and thaw all day in the refrigerator. Keep grapes frozen as a treat, and buy small one-size serving packs of nuts and other snacks. Buy pre-packaged greens, already prepped fruits and vegetables, and healthy jarred sauces.

If there is a service such as Susan’s Healthy Gourmet where you live, you might consider ordering a week or two of meals to help you out. This is a special time in your life, so enjoy it!

Guest Blog Series: Look for the following badge on your favorite health sites to see if they have been a featured guest blogger on DietsInReview.com.
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See other posts from our Guest Blog series. If you would like to apply to be featured as a guest blogger please contact us.

Brandi

August 15th, 2008
by Brandi
Posted in Guest Blog, Healthy Lifestyle, Nutrition





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  • “oh and you say that it isn’t starving yourself? try to lower your calorie intakes the way they had to. Just go ahead and try it tomorrow. Try eating half of the calories you normally eat? and also eat different foods than you are accostumed to eating. Plus, I don’t see how it could be healthy to lose that much weight in such a short time. and I’ve heard doctors say the same. and I am sure they were under care of doctors during the show, but I still don’t think it can be healthy. that’s my opinion. GO VICKIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!”

    on Biggest Loser 6: Vicky Vilcan by Stop and Think for a second

  • “It’s a shame that you don’t know the real Vicki. She’s really a sweetie, and a great anesthetist. We love Vicki, and her patients do too. It’s a shame that she is portrayed the way she is portrayed. I don’t believe that she was acting at all. But I do believe that they pieced together Vicki at her worse and crankiest for ratings. and i’m sure that some of the facial expressions were shown out of context with what was happening on the show. You do realize that she sacrificed alot to be on the show. I can see why it’s so competitive for her. She isn’t just competing against herself. She’s competing against everyone else. Why does everyone act like 350,000 is chump change?? Have you guys ever watched Real World Reunions on MTV? I’ve seen on a few occasions where the editors edited the scenes to make fights/arguments seem over the top, when in fact the people of the shows say it wasn’t as it seemed. That it was a 5 minute fight that ended in a hug, and they were friends again later that day. Please don’t talk bad about my friend. she’s a great person!!! She really is!!! and by the way……..she looks amazing!!!”

    on Biggest Loser 6: Vicky Vilcan by Stop and Think for a second

  • “Her own husband told her “that’s enough” in one of the episodes. SHE is making the faces. The words that come out of her mouth are HERS. The body language is HERS. She is not being starved or worked to death. SHE is the one who made the decision to get up in the middle of the night, while everyone else was sleeping, to exercise. SHE made the statement at the beginning of the season that the goal was to win it all. SHE is playing the game and all she can see is the money. All $350,000.00 of it. SHE is the one making herself look ugly. Not NBC.”

    on Biggest Loser 6: Vicky Vilcan by TC

  • “Stop and think for a second — I just thought of something else. The purpose of this show is to change people’s lives so they shouldn’t be starving as you mentioned because that would not be healthy. Marisa you made a very good point about no one else saying horrible things or laughing at people getting hurt. And her smirks were the first thing that I noticed about her. Is her fan club saying NBC told her to make those smirks so it would be caught on camera and she would be the “bad” guy. Is this the first season they told one of the contestants to do that? Are ratings so bad that they need to stoop to this? Isn’t this going down the same lines of fooling their audience that 21 did many years ago making people look smarter than they actually were? Just wondering. It’s really hard to not think of her as just plain mean and being a bully. If I were in her position, I wouldn’t want a tv show portraying me like that, and I don’t care how much hush money they were to offer me, and I could use the money but it just wouldn’t be worth it.”

    on Biggest Loser 6: Vicky Vilcan by Not understanding

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