If you have been pregnant you might understand where I am coming from. But, if not and you might even be a man reading this, don’t worry. I will tell you how if everyone knew and followed the diet of a pregnant person, we would save millions of dollars in medical bills.

I grew up very healthy on my mother’s food.  My traditional mother would make everything from scratch, grinding up spices by hand, making sauces with ‘real’ tomatoes, making her own yoghurt and the list goes on.  Then, I got married and I had to start cooking for myself and things quickly changed.  I bought a spice rack with everything already ground up, I buy “Roasted Garlic and Onion” pasta sauce ready to go and I love the 8% French Vanilla Yoghurt you can get here on Granville Island.  What is more, I was painfully addicted to coffee – regular drip, lattes, mochas, roasted bean, iced – everything.

There are a lot of rules for pregnant women to follow – especially when it comes to the health of a baby. But, if only I knew all this stuff before, I would’ve made the changes way back when.  And some of the stuff I learned was downright startling.

The fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as “Eating Well for Pregnancy” or “The Pregnancy Diet” or “The Guide to Eating Healthy During Pregnancy.”  The kind of stuff in these books and articles should be recommended reading for everyone!

There is nothing like the health of a baby to have all its fingers and toes, a healthy beating heart, no high-sugar in her blood and a good birth weight that make you want to try your best to eat well.  

I think I was the most healthy in these last 10 months and counting than I have ever been in my life.  I revived my energy and quit coffee amongst other life-affirming changes to my diet.  What is more, my husband joined me in this new goal of becoming healthy and for those of you who are trying to conceive – the health of the both of you really matters.  

Here are a few simple things you can do right now to balance your mood, boost your energy and revive your spirit.

1.  Gimme Six Instead of Three:  Instead of eating three times a day that can leave you feeling full and heavy especially at dinner, eating six times a day and lightly keeps your blood sugar level, gives you an energy boost more often and keeps you more in balance and it’s all about the balance right?  :)  It allows you to empty out your system more frequently by reminding you to drink a glass of water with each mini-meal – you just need to squeeze two more glasses to get the recommended eight.  Those of you trying to lose weight (not recommended for preggos) eating six meals instead of three surely helps.  Try it.

2.  Vitalize with Vitamins:  Some people say that if you eat well-balanced, from all four food groups, then you don’t have to take a multi-vitamin.  Others say that you must take a vitamin no matter what.  I don’t like eating hidden “meat” ingredients in my food and so I read everything on the labels before I buy it.  I took my time reading the label of this one multi-vitamin bottle.  They really do jam-pack a lot into one vitamin!  I know that I don’t eat all the “right” foods every day.  But, things like “folic acid” were supplements I wasn’t getting enough of at all.  I now take a daily multi-vitamin along with eating a balanced meal as often as possible.

3.  Fill up with Folic Acid:  It is highly recommended for people to take folic acid every day and I did not know this until I started reading about pregnancy.  Folic acid is so important that it is recommended that if you want to conceive you should start having this right away (at least 3 months before you learn that you are pregnant).  It is a supplement that is found in dark green vegetables, mostly.  Yes, that’s right – start eating the salads and the broccoli.  And even if you do eat your salads, it is still important to get enough folic acid with a vitamin.  This helps the baby’s spine grow straight and helps keep spinal problems at bay.

4.  Fishy Sushi:  There are a plethora of sushi restaurants!  I didn’t know that I couldn’t have one of my favorite foods while I was pregnant.  The caution of sushi is the raw fish.  Raw fish carries more bacteria than cooked fish.  Tuna, especially, has high levels of mercury that can be harmful.  What is the solution?  You can still get your soy sauce and wasabi fix with vegetable sushi.  Or, if you can’t pass up on the Spicy Salmon roll, there are some sushi restaurants that now specialize in sustainable fishing practices.  They usually have a certificate up on their wall authorizing that the fish were raised and caught ethically.  We now have a favorite sushi restaurant where they use gloves to make each roll (less chance of cross-contamination) and use clean utensils.  It took us awhile to find this joint but it is well worth it if you love sushi.

5.  Cut the Caffeine:  With coffee shops around every corner, both corporate and local, it is hard not to indulge in a latte with a good friend.  However, coffee is a diuretic and if consumed in large quantities or “strongly” it causes important nutrients like calcium to be taken out of your system.  It also leaves you more dehydrated and gives you mood swings.  It can interfere with how much rest you should actually have, as it artificially boosts your energy when a siesta is all that you really need.  Also, caffeine is not only found in coffee, but also in certain teas, chocolate, coffee ice-cream, and soft-drinks too. 

6.  Down the Water:  We hear it all the time, water is crucial to our health and it is true.  Drinking 8 glasses of water a day was a challenge for me and still is.  Proper water intake can help with excessive thirst that can lead to dehydration, headaches, dizziness and fatigue.  Water rejuvenates and improves skin condition amongst so many other benefits. 

7.  Papayas and Avocadoes:  Try new and different fruits and vegetables.  This helps you to change up your eating lifestyle.  There were a bunch of fruits and vegetables that I would never buy at the grocery store, always sticking to the same recipes.  Trying new fruits and adding new veggies to the stir-fry keeps things fresh and enjoyable.  For example, I learned that papayas help fight nausea and have a high source of fiber and avocadoes are high in nutrients and just plain delicious in sandwiches.  Two of my must-haves on my grocery list that I never ate before.

8.  Hormonal Cows? Go Organic for Milk:  I love milk so this was an important find for me.  After some research into the meat industry (how they feed, raise, slaughter, and keep animals on farms) I learned that a lot is injected into cows.  These injections go into our supply of milk and end up in our system and if pregnant in your baby!  We haven’t gone organic for many things in our home just yet – as it is very expensive.  But, going organic for milk was a good switch and it was only a dollar fifty more than our regular brand.  It tastes different too!  

9. Sunny side up not so Sunny:  Be careful with runny eggs because it has higher chances of having salmonella poisoning than scrambled.  Runny eggs can also be found in some desserts and salad dressings.  

10.  Hot dogs, deli-meats, cold-smoked seafood and cheese:  These can also be easily contaminated with listeria and salmonella poisoning.  Also, ready-cooked meats should also be heated to steaming before eating. 

11. Substitute Meat Protein:  I can’t really call myself a vegetarian.  But, I only eat meat once every two weeks in a meal.  And even then, I prefer fish and chicken and rarely eat beef (like once a year in a lasagna or something.)  I found great healthy alternatives to meat such as peanut butter, beans, chickpeas, tofu, whole-grain pitas, pecans, and lots of other nuts and seeds.

12.  Exercise:  Walking, walking, walking.  A simple exercise to keep the heart rate pumping that can be done back and forth in your home to around the river or on a track.  It helps clear the mind and engages the body too.  You don’t need expensive equipment to exercise.  You just need a little motivation, some time and good pair of shoes.

We often take more time to groom ourselves on the outside with showers, good clothes, cologne and hairstyles but we forget about treating our insides just as well.  Making these small changes to your lifestyle will greatly effect your mind just as much as it will change your body and energy level too.  With your body eating well, your heart, mind and soul will follow in feeling good, healthy and happy.

(Do consult your doctor for any changes to your diet and if you are expecting.) 

An Invitation

Have you found out anything about your diet recently that made you think twice about it?  What goals do you have to become more healthy?  Share with us in the comments below your thoughts and tips.

image credit: wiccked