Your Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy Nutrition

Yay! You found out you’re pregnant and you’re wondering where to go from here. Your pregnancy nutrition is essential and something I want to focus on.

Now I don’t know everything and I will never claim to know everything, but there is a fantastic course that you should enroll in that goes way more in depth about your pregnancy nutrition.

Allie over at Vigor It Out and The Perfect Pregnancy plan created a course about your nutrition during pregnancy. She goes over what you should eat and when. She explains how your nutrition can affect your babies health through their adulthood.

Its crazy how much your nutrition can affect your baby. We don’t go in near as much depth as Allie does in her course but, Erik and I made a video about 15 minutes long, but if you don’t like watching videos I typed up some of the stuff we talked about.

I will also add a list of healthy snacks you can eat while pregnant!

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Caloric Intake

I remember getting told all of the time when people first found out I was pregnant “Now you can eat for two!” or “Now you can eat double!” I would just laugh it off, but I remember my mom telling me that that was such a common to do while she was pregnant.

People had this idea that since you are pregnant you can increase your calorie intake by double!

Boy were they wrong!

You’re little baby does not need as much food as you eat.

So in the first trimester eat as much as you were doing when you weren’t pregnant if you are eating a healthy amount.

If you are overeating focus on portion control and if you are under eating focus on adding a little more into your nutrition.

Now I’m not saying go on a crash diet because you definitely don’t want to start doing that when you get pregnant.

The most important thing right now is to focus on getting the right amount of nutrition that you and your baby need.

Second trimester you only need about 250 more calories which equates to one more snack, or a few if you balance it correctly!

I know in my second trimester I felt so hungry all of the time!

My appetite really picked up and I had to focus on what I was snacking on that way I was not overeating unhealthy things.

Third trimester you need about 450 more calories than the first trimester which is another snack added on.

During this time it may be hard to add more food into your diet because your baby is getting crammed in your tummy.

One thing that you can do is eat many tiny meals that way you are still getting the nutrition you need while you can’t fit as much into your stomach.

caloric intake during pregnancy

Bottom line is you don’t need to go crazy and use a calorie counting app. Just focus on what you are intaking into your body and make sure that you are getting the right nutrition.

Weight Gain

Weight gain is important during pregnancy for your health.

I have watched mine super closely because it’s my first and it’s been weird trying to turn my brain around from losing weight to gaining it.

I feel like people are always talking about looking fit or losing weight, but when you’re pregnant you’re supposed to switch your brain to “it’s okay to gain weight!”

If you start your pregnancy at a healthy weight or healthy BMI you want to gain around 25-35 pounds.

Being underweight you want to gain 28-40 pounds.

With being overweight you want to gain 15-25 pounds.

This is just a general guideline and if you are gaining weight too rapidly your doctor will mention their concerns. So don’t stress if you aren’t exactly in these limits!

You don’t need to check the scale everyday!

healthy weight gain during pregnancy

Now the most important thing is to just have a healthy mommy and baby.

You want to have the goal of gaining weight slowly.

If you are worried about your weight gain talk to your doctor and discuss ways that you can get back on track.

Cravings

We all have our cravings while pregnant some may be crazy and some may be things that you have always craved.

I’m always wanting Papa Murphy’s pizza or anything salty like chips.

I haven’t had the crazy cravings yet like pickles and ice cream together, but we will see.

cravings during pregnancy

I definitely think its okay to indulge in your cravings every once in a while, but make sure that you are compensating that with healthy snacks.

Often times you can even substitute your cravings with a more healthy alternative. When I crave chips, like on a daily basis, I will often use almonds as an alternative.

When I crave pizza I’ll be honest I just eat the dang pizza, but I will limit how often I do eat it.

Healthy Snacks You can Eat while Pregnant

  • Fruit or veggies
  • Yogurt with fruit and granola (this is my lunch everyday because it’s so good!)
  • Apples with cheese or peanut butter
  • Tail mix
  • Crackers or veggies with hummus
  • Homemade smoothies
  • Banana and peanut butter
  • Peanut butter and banana slices on toast
  • Fiber bars, the help you poop!
  • Tortilla chips with guacamole
  • Half of a tuna sandwich
  • Protein bars
  • Ants on a log (celery with peanuts butter and raisins)
  • Eggs with spinach on an English muffin or toast
  • Cottage cheese with fruit
  • Grapes and Cheddar cheese cubes
  • Fruit salad (cut up fruit then add a dash of lime juice and honey)
  • Cucumber sandwiches (cucumbers, dill, and cream cheese)
  • Frozen grapes with string cheese
  • Real fruit popsicles

Body Image

This one I have struggled with a few times during my pregnancy.

I have loved a lot of things about my pregnancy, but of course we all have our down moments.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was crying in front of my husband because I didn’t feel sexy.

It has been hard going from abs to round tummy. It’s not something that I was able to switch in my brain right away.

prenatal nutrition

I have loved other things from my pregnancy and body.

I love that now my belly button is poking out, I think it is so adorable!

My breasts have gotten bigger which is nice because I have always been a full A to barely B. And an extra plus my husband loves this added bonus!

Men am I right!?

Im now starting to think the round tummy is cute, but I’m sure that will change often.

Body image is important in all aspects, whether you are pregnant or not.

I think we all should love our bodies, but also we should be as healthy as we can.

There is definitely a happy medium!

We should be proud of the beautiful miracle that is growing in our body.

We are forming a human being in our tummies!

How powerful is that!

And I know that you are the mother that your child needs. Your life experiences will help him or her and you should be proud of that!

Your body may not be where you want it to be at the moment, but you can always work on it after you bring your beautiful child into this world.

Enjoy life and love the little moments!