Pregnancy is a time of our lives where what we are eating means a little bit more than usual. I definitely don’t want to say that at other times diet doesn’t matter, but there is someone else depending on us during and after pregnancy. Deep down, we probably all want to do our best for those little people. It also happens to benefit us when we do.
What does this mean? Do we have to eat foods that don’t taste good? Do we have to be perfect? What is perfect?
I’ve written before about some basic nutrition guidelines for pregnancy that most everyone can agree on.
- Eat lots of veggies……especially leafy green and deeply colorful ones.
- Get LOTS of protein.
- Eat lots of healthy fats.
- Avoid sugar, junk food and too much caffeine and alcohol.
If you already eat like this, great. It should be easier for you to maintain a healthy pregnancy diet. If you don’t, changing now might be really hard AT FIRST. What most of us find is that the first 2 weeks of cleaning up what we eat are the most challenging. But if you give most of your focus at this time to quitting the sugar completely, the rest tends to come much easier and soon it feels amazing and easy to maintain. Once the sugar habit is broken, many of the other unhealthy cravings disappear. It’s magic.
Right now you might be thinking, “But the only thing I can handle eating right now is chips and salsa and strawberries!” Well, that might be true, AND that does not mean that your body needs tortilla chips and strawberries. Most of us do not have ideal diets before we get pregnant. Then pregnancy adds some complications for eating. We might feel sick, or too tired to go to much effort. Having poor diets gives us cravings that are not necessarily in our best interest.
VALUE BOMB: Unless your diet is really good, cravings are not good indicators of what your body needs. They are indicators of where your body currently is.
If you take on the very big challenge of fixing dietary imbalances by cutting sugar and junk, your actual body needs and cravings might be heard through the static. The unhealthy eating actually creates a lot of noise that covers up the sound of your body’s true needs. At that point, you might start having cravings that make sense, cravings that benefit your body and your baby’s. After the hard part, you WILL feel better. And as a bonus, you will be decreasing the risks for birth complications, and contributing to a healthy body capable of more ease during your birth and to better health for your baby. That sounds pretty good, right? And all you have to do is start eating better. Win win.
So to answer the question of taste. Does all my food have to taste bad or bland? If I want to eat healthy and have it taste good, do I have to go to a lot of trouble in the kitchen? Here’s one quick answer. Sauce. I have a few very special sauce recipes that make everything taste delicious. I make a big batch and keep it in my fridge. They go on my salads, or on steamed/sauteed veggies. Marinate your meats and seafood easily before putting them in the oven or on the stove. These sauces themselves contain lots of healthy contributions.
Here’s a recipe for my favorite multi-purpose sauce. I use this on stir fry, to marinate meats, veggies, tofu, or tempeh before grilling or cooking, as a dipping sauce for spring rolls, on rice or steamed veggies for some special flavor, and lots of other uses!
ALI’S SPECIAL SAUCE
In a large mason jar or other lidded container combine:
1/2 c. tamari (made of fermented soy….like soy sauce but richer and usually wheat free. Find it next to the soy sauce)
1/3 c. water
1 tblsp. rice vinegar
1 tblsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tblsp. Tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 medium clove of garlic, minced
Close the lid and shake well. This stores well in the fridge for a couple of weeks, so make a double recipe if you love it. The tahini doesn’t blend in perfectly, so if you don’t like that texture, leave it out.
I plan to add more of my favorite sauce recipes, so check back soon!
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