Nutrition

Let me first say that what you choose to eat, pregnant or otherwise, is just that - a choice and that ultimately, that choice is yours and yours alone.

I can offer advice on how to nourish your body and your growing baby, things that will help keep your energy levels up and indigestion down but at the end of the day, you need to make an informed decision about how you want to proceed with your nutrition.

I DO NOT EVER advocate weighing yourself, starving yourself or dieting when not pregnant, let alone when carrying a baby!  

I DO NOT EVER advocate getting obsessed about calorie counting or weighing food when not pregnant, let alone when growing another person!

The advice I offer is based upon evidence based research and common sense.

If we begin from the premise that food can be medicine or poison and that the less your food has had done to it the better it is for you, then we are looking at a common sense approach to nutrition.

Firstly, sorry but you do not need any extra calories until your third trimester and then only an extra 200.

A diet based on fresh vegetables, meat, fish eggs, nuts and seeds with some fruit thrown in for good measure cannot fail to nourish you.  

I suggest starchy carbs are limited to rice, sweet potatoes and other root vegetables while limiting but not necessarily eliminating white potatoes.  I suggest you cut wheat and sugar entirely from your diet as these are inflammatory foods and raise your blood sugar too quickly to keep your energy levels up sufficiently.  Also, if you cut wheat from your nutrition, you are also cutting the main culprits of nutrient-sparse, calorie-dense foods that are generally combined with unhealthy fat.

I recommend you eat plenty of vegetables, the more the better and the more varied the better - try to cover every colour of the rainbow with vegetables in each meal! Eat plenty of meat fish and eggs. Although - make sure you try not to eat the same fish more than once a week to avoid build-ups of any heavy metals and some say avoid tuna altogether.

I also recommend (if you have cut wheat) a high fat diet.  This is because there are lots of vital nutrients in healthy fats (think animal fats, avocados, coconut oil, real butter (NOT spread) and nuts and not having enough healthy fat increases wrinkles!

Eat lots of:

vegetables - especially green leafy - lots and lots!
meat, fish, eggs
avocados, coconut oil, butter, bacon fat etc.
nuts, seeds
fruit

Eat some:

rice
root vegetables

Get rid of:

flour (bread, cakes, pasta pastry etc) and sugar

Limit:

white potatoes

It is also recommended by the NHS that you avoid soft and blue cheeses, pate, soft boiled eggs, shellfish and that you limit coffee to one or two cups a day and avoid alcohol altogether and of course don't smoke!  Make sure all meat and fish is thoroughly cooked and don't take vitamin A supplements.