vegan pregnancy: 25 weeks & some of my eats

when i talked about our choice to go with midwifery care for our pregnancy, i mentioned that my midwives told me my meal plan was one of the best they'd seen - and then i got all self conscious because i was afraid i'd come off as being miss braggy-pants or claiming to be some kind of expert.  those of you who know me know that's totally not my style, but it is something that i'm proud of and i wanted to share, especially for anyone reading who might doubt the practicality or that a vegan pregnancy can be healthy.  {not that i've encountered many nay-sayers questioning my veganism lately, but it's just nice to be able to share that my health care providers stand by my choice, you know?}

in any event, i want to preface this post by saying that i'm not a dietitian or a nutritionist - i am simply a passionate, food-loving gal who tries to do right by her body {and the little body i'm growing inside}, and since many of you asked for me to share what i've been eating, that's what i'm doing today.  this is just what worked for me - and allow me to also say that it's not perfect, because i'm not perfect.

because did i mention i'm pregnant?  which means sometimes i get cravings, and i'm pretty okay with honouring them.  for the most part it's been fruit cravings, but umm, the past couple of weeks? it's been chocolate.  in the form of cookies.  and i can't get enough. {although i do limit myself to a couple a day}.

this whole food journaling thing came about as an exercise asked of my by my midwives - they ask all their clients to do this too - they examine it and then help to fill in any nutritional gaps if need be.  it's not that i'm super awesome or anything, but i think i do have a foot up already because of my vegan diet.  anyways, here's a little snippet of what i ate/am eating.  it's only a few days at a time but they're a realistic representation of what i eat on any given day.


3 day sample at 12 weeks:

	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast	Green smoothie (pear, mango, spinach, juice, water, avocado, ice) 1 cup coffee + stevia & silk 1 bagel + EB	Chocolate smoothie (banana, almond milk, pb, raw cacao, sunwarrior) 1 cup coffee + stevia & silk 1 bagel + EB	Green smoothie (banana, pineapple, strawberry, spinach, almond milk) raw almonds
Snack	½ cup leftover kale salad	1 cup pineapple	½ cup green smoothie 1 cup coffee + stevia & silk
Lunch	Sandwich on multi (vegan mayo, tofurky slices, tomato, pickle, romaine)	½ cup lentil hummus + ww pita 1 cup pineapple	2 cups slaw (red cabbage, carrot, romaine, sesame oil, rice vinegar, braggs)
Snack	½ cup chickpea hummus + raw veggies & apple slices	2 tbsp pb + raw almonds & chocolate chips	2 oatmeal cookies 1 cup pineapple
Dinner	Deconstructed sushi: brown rice with sweet potato, broccoli, cucumber & tamari	Baked sweet potato fries + daiya & miso gravy Sautéed kale + tofu  with braggs & nooch	Raw mannicoti (zucchini, tomato marinara, cashew cheese, kale pesto) Quinoa & winter lettuce
Snack	1 cup pineapple	Pb-banana+ sunwarrior softserve ½ bagel + EB	Que pasa chips + salsa, olives

3 day sample at 23 weeks:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
Breakfast	Green smoothie (banana, strawberry, celery, spirulina, almond milk, sunwarrior) 1 cup coffee + stevia & silk	Green smoothie (banana, mango, kale, celery, spirulina, almond milk) 1 cup coffee + agave & silk 1 bagel + EB	Green smoothie (banana, strawberry, celery, spirulina, almond milk, hemp protein powder) 1 bagel + EB 1 cup coffee + agave & silk
Snack	1 sprouted wrap toasted w daiya		1 apple Olives & rice crackers
Lunch	Silken tofu ceasar dip with carrots, organic blue tortilla chips	Lunch out: baguette w avocado, white beans, olives, arugula	Ww quesadilla w daiya & black beans Fresh tomato salad
Snack	cherries	1 cookie	White bean hummus & raw veggies
Dinner	Sausage, bbq grilled veggies (beans, pepper, broccoli, zucchini w sesame oil, ginger, garlic) Green salad w avocado, hemp & sunflower seeds	Edemame & arame salad with sesame/hemp seeds, tamari, agave Sauteed broccoli leaves & new potatoes with evoo, lemon & nooch	Jackfruit carnitas w corn tortillas, guacamole, fresh tomato salsa, corn on the cob
Snack	2 cookies + almond milk	Homemade larabar Ruffles w silken tofu ceasar dip	cherries

another thing that helped is that i am one of those rare women you read about who didn't struggle with morning sickness or crazy aversions that kept me from my usual diet.  to be honest this was a bit of a worry for me at first because i wasn't sick at all during my first pregnancy and after miscarrying with some complications i desperately wanted to feel sick this time around, thinking it would give me some reassurance that everything was progressing normally.  after finding out early on that everything was a-okay with our little one i thanked my lucky stars that i hadn't suffered the nausea i had wished for.  {and yes, i'm still thanking them and knocking on wood too that i don't pay the price with labour nausea!}  what i'm trying to say though is that many women suffer terrible sickness early in their pregnancies that keeps them from eating an "ideal" diet - but our bodies are awesome things and can still provide a little wee babe with all it needs - so in my unprofessional opinion, there should be no guilt in a cracker & pretzel first trimester if that's all you can keep down! 

a few other things:

• i try to drink a lot of water, sipping throughout the day and i've also been known to polish off a bottle of san pellegrino in the evenings too.  and occasionally a root beer.
• i also have been enjoying a cup of coffee daily.  this is almost always at home, fair-trade organic and i brew 1/2 regular and 1/2 decaf.  it often gives me a bit of indigestion, but yet i find myself back in the same spot the next morning.  i really do enjoy the taste of a good cup of coffee.
• the daily bagels are a new thing since becoming pregnant - i've really been loving them toasted with earth balance!  {that's the "EB"}
• food journaling takes a lot of time & effort!  being that i'm a grazer it's also likely that there are mouthfuls and spoonfuls here and there that didn't get recorded.  {for example, my friend krista left a carton of rice dream in my freezer after a weekend visit, and spoonful by spoonful it has somehow disappeared.  ahem.}
• aforementioned ice cream eating might have something to do with the solid 10lbs i've now put on :)
• i take prenatal supplements daily & b12 once a week. 

there are some great resources out there and i can't stop reading about and searching for more information.  in terms of nutrition so far i've really enjoyed sayward's vegan pregnancy survival guide, a plethora of online resources including this ongoing series from dreena burton & also keeping up with other vegan mamas to be who are blogging their experiences too.

if you have any questions about my eats, let me know!  in the mean time i'm going to pack a bag & my passport and psych myself up for a weekend of lugging this belly of mine around one of my favourite cities this weekend...