I definitely found myself having food cravings and aversions during both of my pregnancies, and trying to manage them wasn’t always easy. I had to make a point to focus on staying nourished, while not allowing myself to feel deprived. For example, if I wanted a piece of cheesecake, I worked a small slice in and ate healthier elsewhere. I made a point to make healthy desserts and snacks when I had time, so I wouldn’t have an excuse to eat something unhealthy. I always kept almonds in my car too, which helped when I got hungry while out and about.

As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I didn’t expect to ever struggle with healthy eating during pregnancy. However, making healthy eating a priority during pregnancy can be difficult with all the food cravings, food aversions, and nausea. The fact is, if you want to feel good and increase your chances of having a healthy pregnancy, you need to try to make good nutrition choices (most of the time). Here’s an easy-to-follow guide:

While pregnancy is NOT a time to “eat for two”, it is a time to increase overall nutrient intake. This means getting adequate protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, healthy carbs, and healthy fats.

Start your day with a protein-rich breakfast. This will help keep you full, which in turn can aid in better energy levels throughout the day, improve blood sugar levels, help the baby grow healthfully, and help avoid nausea from empty stomach. Here’s a link to my blog post about protein at breakfast, where you’ll find a few protein-rich breakfast examples. The point is though, don’t just have toast with butter or a donut with breakfast. Include some protein from sources such as Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, nuts and seeds, almond butter or peanut butter, or whole-grain bread/bagel/english muffin.

Eat fruit! But never more than 2 cups at a time to avoid carb and sugar overload. When I provide nutrition counseling to my clients, we usually aim for 1/2 cup to 1 cup fruit at a time, depending on the type of fruit and what else will be eaten at the same time. Eating fruit is a great way to help stay hydrated, satisfy your sweet tooth a healthy way, and get lots of vitamins and minerals.

Make sure you have a meal or snack every 3-4 hours, and make sure it contains protein as well. Instead of just snacking on things like chips or pretzels, go for something like a palmful of trail mix, an apple with peanut butter, an ounce of cheese with whole-grain crackers, or a protein bar (without weird chemicals or icky ingredients). This way you’ll keep getting that protein to help you stay energized and help avoid or reduce nausea.

Watch you portions! Yes, you should be eating more. But only about 300-500 calories more per day, not 1000 more per day (having twins or more is an exception of course). Trust me, you don’t need the foot long, the large fry, or the bigger serving just because you’re pregnant. And never EVER eat out of the bag. Take the few extra seconds to pour your serving in a bowl and put the bag or box back away in the pantry. When shopping, buy things that are already portioned out so you’re less tempted to overeat.The hardest part is actually making ourselves control our cravings. Make room for treats, but make it a treat. For example, hit your sweet tooth with fruit during the day so you can have a small bowl of ice cream at night. Better yet, don’t even keep junk in the house, but go out for a delicious ice cream cone or to the chocolate factory once a week instead.

Keep healthy foods at eye level in the fridge and at the pantry. Studies show that we’re more likely to reach for the healthier choices if they’re the first thing we see. Keep all the less healthy options in the back, or up high or low.

Don’t forget to drink water, water, water! Our bodies send the same hormone to our brains when we’re thirsty as when we’re hungry. Since our bodies need extra water during pregnancy, we can easily mistake food cravings for our bodies actually just craving water. When you’re super hungry after recently eating, try a glass of water before reaching for extra food.

Eat fiber. Many pregnant women suffer from constipation and hemorrhoids. I never suffered from either of these concerns during my pregnancies, and I attribute that to adequate fiber and water intake. I ate chia seeds everyday during both pregnancies, which are great for helping to keep you “regular”. I also forced myself to eat veggies, even when I wasn’t in the mood for them. I am normally a lover of all veggies all day long! But sometimes pregnancy just gave me food aversions to the healthy foods I normally would crave. Some days the only way I could stomach veggies was to do things like sauté them and add them to my whole-grain pasta with meat sauce. Covering the veggies up with flavorful things like pasta sauce helped when veggies just weren’t pleasing to my palate.

Eat healthy fats. Healthy fats have been linked to healthy brain growth and function for the fetus. They also help nourish our skin, which can get itchy and dry during pregnancy. Getting enough healthy fats may also be good for our skin in the sense of helping to prevent things like stretch marks. Healthy fats can also help keep us full. Try to include things like almonds, cashews, pistachios, avocado, almond butter, various seeds, and plant oils. Just make sure you don’t buy nuts that are roasted with hydrogenated oils; hydrogenated oils negate the health impact of the healthy fats in nuts.

Keep healthy options ready and available. Keep healthy snacks in your car, at your work, and at home. Healthy eating does take some planning and prep work, and allowing yourself to have better options around means less excuses to eat unhealthy!

Hit your cravings in a healthier way. If you’re craving fried chicken, plan to bread and bake chicken with whole-grain or gluten-free breading one night for dinner. If you’re craving fries, see if roasted red potatoes or homemade baked fries hit the spot. If you’re craving sweets, buy a small portion of a high-quality treat. For example, stop at your favorite bakery and get a small treat. Try making tasty and healthy goodies to have on hand at home. Here’s a link to my blog post on healthy chocolate-banana-peanut butter “truffles” (could be made with almond butter instead).

We’re not looking for perfect nutrition, but just to eat as healthy as we can. This will help both mommy and baby have a better and healthier pregnancy.

Here’s a link to a related post: Pregnancy Nutrition & Healthy Eating – What I Ate for a Day

Please feel free to leave comments or questions below!