Eating a healthy diet is always important, but it is more important than ever when you are pregnant. You are not only eating for yourself, but also for the health of your baby! Here is a super simple summary of what you should be eating during pregnancy. Please make sure to speak to your doctor and also do your own research.

We know that eating healthy is important, but what should you do if all you crave are cheesy delicious carbs?! This was certainly how I felt in the first trimester. I had crazy hunger pangs and was also feeling nauseous, so all I wanted were warm and comforting carb dishes. I knew that I needed more veggies and fruits, so I tried to find ways to get more of that while still eating things that satisfied my cravings.

Here are some little tips on how to eat healthier during your pregnancy:

• Sneak veggies into carby dishes: this is particularly useful when you are making pastas. You can add so many different veggies into pasta sauces (I usually love eating veggie so I don’t really have to “hide” them, but it is nice to incorporate them into a comforting pasta dish). Examples include carrots and mushrooms in red sauce and asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli, and cauliflower into creamy sauces. You can also add veggies (carrots, mushrooms, broccoli) into fried rice or (cabbage, carrots, mushroom) into yaki udon.
  

  This veggie lasagna will satisfy you and make sure you get your veggie fix! 

• Sneak veggies into baked goods: Apart from the obvious things such as banana bread or carrot cake, there are also lots of other muffins and cakes that use veggies. For example, here is a recipe for zucchini bread and superhero muffins!
• Make your snacks count: Instead of reaching for bowls of chips (but do feel free to indulge once in a while!), have a delicious snack of whole wheat crackers and good quality cheese (I sound like Ina haha). Eating healthy snacks does not have to mean eating cardboard and bland stuff, just make simple swaps to make it as nutritious and nourishing as you can.
  • Another good idea is to mix up your snacks! Sometimes I will have a bowl of almonds and chips… something healthy mixed with something a little naughty.
    

    Someone wants to have some cheese… 

• Have fruits as a snack: I actually found that eating citrus fruits helped with the nausea in the first trimester and I particularly loved eating easy peel mandarins. In my 2nd trimester, I also loved eating apples. This was a nice discovery since I usually don’t eat a lot of fruit.
• Make a delicious smoothie: This is another great way to get your veggie and fruit fix. If you don’t like to munch on fruits or veggies, blending it into a refreshing smoothie is a great idea.
• Have one meal that has no carbs: this is something that worked well for us but may not be applicable to everyone. I am definitely not trying to go low carb or be on any type of restrictive diet, but I found that most of my meals were carb heavy so having one meal (lunch or dinner) without carbs (rice, noodles, potatoes, etc) allowed me to increase my veggie intake for the day.
• Indulge once in a while: even though it is important to eat healthy, you also want to indulge once in a while and not be too strict on yourself. If you are too strict you will feel stressed and may overeat! I once craved McDonald’s, so we went all out and got everything I wanted. It was awesome and then I was ready to go back to our usual routine.

I hope that these tips are helpful and I will also be posting more of my own recipes on this blog!