• Home
    • Legal Policies & Disclosures
  • Start Here!
    • About Tiffany
    • FAQ
  • Health & Fitness
    • Workouts
    • Healthy Living
    • Fit Lifestyle
  • Recipes
    • Paleo Recipes
    • Muffins
    • Sweet
    • Savory
  • Personal Development
  • Essential Oils
    • Essential Oils- What are they?

A Fit Mom's Life

Fitness, Health & Well-being

Clean Eating, Pregnancy

My Favorite Pregnancy Superfoods

December 8, 2015

These pregnancy superfoods are great for both mom and baby!

If you remember my post on 15 great superfoods, you know I love superfoods.  They keep our bodies healthy and happy.  And there’s no more important time to keep your body healthy than during pregnancy.  Our bodies are producing another human!  You basically have a parasite developing human attached to you for 10 months, and that little parasite human is depending 100% on you to feed it the food it needs for growth and development.  And I, personally, want to give that human the best start to life.  One of the best ways for me to do that is by eating healthy.  I’m not saying you can’t have a treat every now and then.  I’m just saying that eating healthy throughout your pregnancy is best for not only your baby, but for you as well.  

 

My first trimester was rough.  And I will admit that I did not eat how I should have.  But once I started to feel better, around week 16, I kicked my eating into high gear.  I make sure I get all of these pregnancy superfoods in my diet weekly.   

9 awesome superfoods to eat during your pregnancy...or anytime for that matter. Click To Tweet

Oatmeal: Oatmeal is a great way to get whole grains and fiber into your diet. Oats also contain vitamin B and iron, as well as other minerals. I like to make my own overnight oatmeal with a half banana, almond milk and a scoop of vanilla protein powder.  So yummy!  I also make homemade pancakes with oats, egg whites, a little vanilla and protein powder.  

Spinach & other dark, leafy greens: Leafy greens are packed with folic acid, which is one of the most important minerals for baby’s brain, and can help prevent birth defects.  Leafy greens are also a great source of vitamins C, K and A, which helps with baby’s heart, lung, kidney, circulatory system and more.  Let’s just say it’s a very important vitamin for baby’s overall development.  

Fish (specifically salmon): Salmon is one of the best foods for getting your Omega-3s.  It is packed with them and can really boost your baby’s brain and eye development, as well as your mood.  But let me be honest here.  Salmon is not my favorite fish.  I know, I’m from Seattle where salmon runs in the rivers and streams and Alaska Airlines flies the first Copper River salmon from Alaska directly into the city for us and I should love it like everyone else in this area does.  But I just don’t.  So I choose to eat other forms of fish, including shrimp and cod, to get my omega-3s and protein. It is recommended to eat no more than 12 ounces of fish per week during pregnancy.  

Greek Yogurt: This is my go to breakfast, even when I’m not pregnant.  It’s a great source of calcium and has twice the protein of regular yogurt. Calcium is very important during pregnancy because if you aren’t taking enough in, what you do take in will go to baby, weakening your own bones.

RELATED  Pregnancy Style Tips

Colorful fruits & veggies: My favorites include carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, blueberries and apples, and for some reason I’ve actually started to like cherry tomatoes (I am not normally a tomato fan).  Eating brightly colored fruits and veggies ensures baby is getting a variety of vitamins and minerals.  This is also important because after 22 weeks, baby is able to actually taste what you eat through the amniotic fluid, and will likely be more willing to eat these foods when it’s time for solids.  

Beans:  I love beans.  And not the refried kind.  I’m talking black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans.  All those beans are great sources of protein, calcium and fiber, and fiber can become your best friend during pregnancy since constipation can be a problem for some women.  

Eggs:  Not only do you get a good protein boost from just 1 egg, but eggs are packed with Omega-3s, which I mentioned above are great for baby’s brain and vision development.  When I was having meat aversions, eggs were my go to source of protein.  They are a diverse food that you can cook in so many ways (I like to hard boil them, make scrambles or omelets, and just have an egg on a slice of sprouted grain toast).  Eggs also contain choline, which helps prevent neural tube defects.  

Lean protein: Although I still struggle with meat a bit, chicken seems to be the one lean protein I can still eat, as long as it’s not a stand alone chicken breast.  Along with fish, chicken is my go to for a good protein boost in the evenings.  

Nuts & nut butters:  A 1/4 cup of unsalted mixed nuts, some dried blueberries and dark chocolate chunks is one of my favorite snacks.  Nuts are a great source of healthy fats, iron and protein, all of which are important for baby’s development.

Do you see any cheeseburgers, or doughnuts or ice cream on this list?  No, you don’t.  Because just like when you’re not pregnant, they aren’t good for you during pregnancy.  Some women use pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever they want, without taking their baby’s health into consideration.  Like I said at the beginning of this post, having treats every now and then is fine.  Eat that slice of pizza, have a scoop of ice cream.  By all means don’t deprive yourself, as long as your entire diet doesn’t consist of fast food and sweets.  That’s a great way to develop gestational diabetes and cause harm not only to baby, but to yourself.  

A diverse diet rich in vitamins, minerals and protein will give your baby the best start at a healthy life. 

by Tiffany 

About Tiffany

View all posts by Tiffany

Related Posts

  • Week 25 Bump Date
  • What is Clean Eating? 10 tips to a healthier lifestyle
  • My struggle with maternity clothes & how I’m going to change that
  • Tips For Staying Fit During Pregnancy
previous article: Five on Friday: The first one in December
next article: Creating The Perfect Gift Basket

Comments

  1. Biana @ Blovedboston says: December 8, 2015 at 6:02 am

    I think it’s great that so many of these super foods are good regardless of if you’re having a baby or just living life! xo, Biana-BlovedBoston

  2. Jenny says: December 8, 2015 at 7:55 am

    I love all of these foods, except shrimp. You can have that, and I’ll take Salmon. 😉

  3. Kelli {A Deeper Joy} says: December 8, 2015 at 8:34 am

    Great info, Tiffany! I sure hope I crave these things when I’m pregnant someday. Thankfully, I already love them!

  4. Amanda Elizabeth says: December 8, 2015 at 9:26 am

    Those are such a great list and things I try to consume on a daily basis 🙂

  5. Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says: December 8, 2015 at 9:49 am

    A week ago I reigned in my diet (again) and I was thrilled to read through your list and see my favourite (spinach) listed. I’ve had spinach “burgers” and spinach omelets almost daily. lol

    Great post my friend!
    xoxo

  6. Michelle says: December 8, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    Pregnant or not we all should be eating like this. These foods are my go to everyday, minus the fish because it will kill me (allergic to it). I bet your baby is smiling inside your womb right now. Great job mommy! Keep up the good work. Thanks for passing this encouragement onto others on Tuesday Talk today.

    • Tiffany says: December 9, 2015 at 10:37 pm

      You are so right Michelle! Foods like these will keep us healthy all the time for sure!
      And thank you. I hope he is as well. 🙂

  7. Paige @ An Uncomplicated Life Blog says: December 9, 2015 at 5:38 am

    You called your child a parasite! HAHAHA! It’s so true though, these little parasites take all our nutrients and leave us with the leftovers.

    Totally agree – Salmon is NOT my fav fish either, and if it’s farm raised and caught, it’s actually got none of the benefits of traditional, real salmon. So then you pay 3x as much for wild salmon (that bright color IS amazing) and I’m still not in love with it. But hey. It’s all so that maybe, at the end of the day, there will be something left for us, right?! 🙂

Hello, welcome to A Fit Mom's Life!

Be Social

Search

Join the 7 Days to a Healthier You Challenge for FREE!

Thank you! You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter.

Join the 7 Days to a Healthier You Challenge for FREE!

In 7 days you can be well on your way to a new way of approaching health and wellness.  This FREE 7 day challenge includes daily workouts, nutrition tips, time management techniques and more!

Don't miss out!

Find us on Facebook

Categories

Popular posts

  • What you can do with Wheatgrass

    March 31, 2021
  • How to teach kids good nutrition habits

    February 3, 2021
  • 7 Natural Ingredients to use as part of an Anti-aging Skin Care Routine

    January 6, 2021

Copyright

All the text, images or other content that are a part of this blog are the property of the author, unless otherwise noted. All logos and trademarks are the property of the owner.  You may not duplicate, copy or reproduce any photographs, articles, or material on this blog without my express permission.
For full copyright, see my disclosure page.

About

About Tiffany

Recent Posts

  • What you can do with Wheatgrass
    Health and Fitness, Healthy Living
  • 6 things successful homeschool moms do
    Homeschool

Subscribe to the Blog via Email

Copyright © 2023 · Prima Donna theme by Georgia Lou Studios

Copyright © 2023 · Prima Donna on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT