Hello everyone!

This post is going to be a little different than my usual healthy eating tips and recipes because

1. I would like to explain my long absence from the blogging world and
2. During that time I learned and experienced some new things that I thought I would like to share

So…. The reason I have not been posting new recipes and healthy eating tips is because I am 23 weeks pregnant (very exciting!!!!) and have been very busy and sick the past few months. I have been trying to get things ready for the baby but I also have been battling very bad morning sickness… so cooking and making new recipes weren’t really on the top of my to do list. I wasn’t cooking very much at all and mostly just ate things likes bananas, potatoes, toast, bagels, crackers, cheese, greek yogurt and peanut butter because that was pretty much all that I could tolerate. My days mostly consisted of vomiting or trying not to vomit, trying to get through the work day, trying to eat and sleeping. However, I have been on medication and am doing much better now so hopefully I will be able to post new healthy recipes and tips on a regular basis again.

 

OK so based on my knowledge as a dietitian and my new experience as a pregnant lady I wanted to provide some tips on battling pregnancy related nausea and vomiting just in case any one may be going through or know someone who is going through this lovely side effect of pregnancy. Most pregnant women experience some nausea during their first trimester but the severity and duration can vary widely between women and even pregnancies. Also, what may relieve it it one person may not do anything or even make it worse in someone else…so there is definitely some trial and error. Anyways, you can use my tips as a guide and hopefully some of them help!

 

 10 Tips to Help Relieve Nausea and Vomiting during Pregnancy

1. Eat small frequent meals and snacks. You should always try and have a little something in your stomach to help keep nausea at bay. Try eating something easily tolerated and bland like crackers first thing in the morning when your stomach is empty. (For some reason a banana worked better for me) I also liked to keep some rice chex in a small Tupperware in my purse in case I needed a snack ASAP.
2. Try and pair a carbohydrate with a protein at each meal/snack. Cheese and crackers, fruit and yogurt or cottage cheese, and peanut butter on bread are all good examples that I found worked the best for me.
3. Avoid greasy/fried foods and spicy foods. Greasy/fried foods can take longer to digest (more opportunity for them to come back up) and spicy foods may be a turn off- bland foods are usually more easily tolerated.
4. Pay attention to your body and eat what you can tolerate….everyone is different. Nuff said.
5. Stay hydrated. Very important, especially if you are vomiting. I found that very cold liquids over ice were all that I wanted. My favorite was purple G2 over ice. At one point our ice machine broke and we had to go buy ice cause I just could not tolerate fluids without it. Pregnancy is weird. Try not to drink really concentrated/sugary beverages as that may aggravate nausea/vomiting.
6.  Have someone else cook for you or stick to easy/quick recipes. I found that if I tried to make something that took too long I would feel sick and tired by the time I was done. You can always buy vegetables that are pre chopped to help cut down on prep time, or cut them up when you feel well so they can be ready when you are.
7. Have healthy snacks available at all times. I kept fresh fruit such as grapes, blueberries and pre-made fruit salad always on hand so I didn’t have to spend time cutting up fruit when I wanted it.
8. Try chewing gum, hard candy or specifically ginger candy or adding ginger to foods. Something about sugar free chewing gum really helped settle my stomach in between meals and snacks. Ginger didn’t work so well for me but if it works for you there are a lot of ginger candies out there that people swear by,
9. Take your prenatal vitamins! Due to food aversions and vomiting you may not be getting all the nutrition you and your baby needs so this is super important. Try to find a kind that you can tolerate well. Most prenatal vitamins did bother me so I took them right before bed so I would fall asleep before I had a chance to vomit them up. 🙂
10. Talk to your doctor about medications. Medications are sometimes necessary to get you through the day…they were for me!

Have a great week everyone!!!!!