My midwife gave me a really great diet plan. Im trying to follow it, Ive made a conscious change to add eggs into my diet more often, she suggests two eggs daily and before pregnancy I doubt I ate two eggs weekly! She also suggests one quart of milk a day, which really isn’t that tough for me to do. I love dairy products and I tend to crave them while pregnant. Skim milk, ice cream, cottage cheese, string cheese and yogurt all sound so yummy! I don’t have much issue with getting my ‘quart’ worth of dairy.
Im supposed to get two servings of protein like 3oz of cheese or 3 oz of meat. I like meat so I don’t have much of a problem fulfilling that category.
The green leafy vegetable guideline is a little harder for me to get. Im not a huge lettuce eater, but really I need to just make a commitment to have a small salad or lots of dark greens on a sandwich each day. Two servings is only about a cup! That is definitely one area that I need to work on and its a really simple addition to my diet!
Also daily Im supposed to consume four servings of whole grains. One serving is one slice of wheat bread, or a cup of oatmeal. I think Im usually a smidgen low on my four servings because refined grains sneak into my diet often in the form of fat free saltine crackers. I love them with peanut butter (source of protein!)
Also one source of vitamin C is recommended daily. Like an orange, tomato etc. I love V8 juice and usually have a glass a day. Otherwise I think I tend to skimp on the vitamin C. But my prenatal vitamin does have 100% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin c
My midwife also recommends three fat servings a day 3 teaspoons of oil, butter, sour cream, mayonnaise. Reduced fat versions can bump that up to 3 tablespoons. I don’t use any of those foods- unless its fat free. But I do eat a lot of peanut butter. I think I get enough fat in my diet without adding any in purposefully. But Ill keep a close eye on this.
And finally each day Im supposed to have one serving of any other fruit and one of any other veggie. A banana and a few baby carrots (dipped in ranch dressing- there would be my fat servings!) would cover that!
On top of these daily recommendations weekly she also recommends three whole baked potatoes-Im really bad with this. I don’t eat baked potatoes very often, I don’t eat potato products often at all. She also recommends 5 servings of yellow or orange fruits of vegetables. Ill have to ask her about V8 and if that can be included in that. Im not GREAT at getting those last 5 servings a week in. I need to pick up some sweet potatoes, my boys and I love them and that will definitely help me get those 5 servings in!
The final weekly recommendation is a bit controversial because its an organ meat and can store harmful substances- Liver. One serving of liver weekly. I don’t think I can eat liver once a week. Maybe once a month. I don’t MIND it, but its not something I would eat because I enjoy it. But I will make an effort to make it once a month!
And on top of all of this Im to salt my food and drink plenty of water!

Posted by Shelley in Pregnancy diet on August 4th, 2007 |