Diet plans

It’s been a while, and I have lots to say. The nausea and vomiting have gotten worse in the last few weeks, which is one of the reasons I have not been sending my daily missives out to the world. The other reason is that I have decided to be way more chill about this whole pregnancy thing. I am going to stick with my midwife, Tiffany, and go ahead with thinking about giving birth at the Cambridge Birth Center at least until later in the pregnancy (like, summer).

The biggest concern for me right now is making sure that I am getting enough nutrients. I found this handy chart:

Meal Planning Guidelines for Pregnant Vegetarians

Food Group	Serving size	No of Servings	Comments
Grains	1 slice of bread;1/2 cup cooked cereal, grain or pasta; 3/4 to 1 cup ready-to-eat cereal	7 or more	Choose whole or enriched
Legumes, nuts, seeds, milks	1/2 cup cooked beans, tofu, tempeh; 3 oz of meat analogue; or 2 Tbsp nuts, seeds, nut or seed butter; 1 cup fortified soy milk; 1 cup cow’s milk, 1 cup yogurt) (1 serving protein = 14 g)	5 or more	Calcium-rich foods such as dried beans, calcium-precipitated tofu, calcium-fortified soymilk, cow’s milk, and yogurt should be chosen often. A regular source of vitamin B-12 should be used.
Vegetables	1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw	4 or more	Calcium-rich foods such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli, and bok choy, should be chosen often.
Fruits	1/2 cup canned fruit or juice or 1 medium fruit	4 or more	Choose calcium rich figs, and fortified juices often.

I have posted before about how disillusioning it can be to actually read the labels of the meat and dairy “substitutes” in one’s vegan kitchen. I have since realized that in order to eat well, I am going to have to make some major changes in eating habits. It is hard to introduce food items into a daily diet when right now I don’t use them at all. Like, 2 Tblsp of flax oil a day seem pretty important, but because most people eat so much fat, social messages about eating tend to say that you should reduce the amount of oil you just pour on your food. Even though the reasons for that restriction in the general obese American population don’t really apply to me as a skinny vegan, I have still paid attention to that message, resulting in less–not better–health. It seems gross and unhealthy to just add oil or nutritional yeast to whatever I’m eating, but it seems that is to be my new, delicious, healthy habit.

I also need to figure out an easy way to cook more than one vegetable at a meal. Like, if I use a lot of pots and we don’t do all the dishes, then the pots are dirty the next day and I don’t make the vegetables. This was the downfall of the “a smoothie a day” plan – we didn’t clean the blender every night, and then the next morning I wouldn’t have time to clean it and make the smoothie as I ran out the door. I also want to retain the most nutrients in the vegetables – I think steaming is more nutritious than boiling, but I don’t have a lot of experience on how you can steam stuff, especially together. Does anyone have a good resource on this or easy ideas about how to get lots of veggies in their diet?

It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but changing your diet is difficult. My goal this week is to actually make a chart for each day and then fill in what I eat on it. And carry around a half-cup measure for serving size approximations.