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What better way to kick off the MCLV Pregnancy series than with a What I Eat In A Day post? So, please consider this my pregnancy announcement. 🙂

I’d like to preference this by saying, everyone’s needs are different {both in pregnancy and outside of pregnancy}, this is just an example of what I personally ate during a day in my first trimester. You should always talk to a doctor about your nutritional needs and you should talk to them before making any dramatic changes to your diet.

A few things to know about me and my particular pregnancy during the 1st trimester. I had morning sickness off and on between weeks 5 and almost 12. When I got it, how poorly I felt, and what helped or made things worse ALL changed daily. There was no cure or quick fix, but in general I did find that lots of small meals and making sure that I never got super hungry was helpful.

Also, I was plant-based prior to the pregnancy and planned to remain so during, which meant that I did a lot of research, read a number of books, and talked to my doctor about ensuring that I met my micro and macro-nutrient needs on a daily basis. That meant variety, variety, variety. I ate a large variety of whole foods each day, and tried to mix things up as much as I could.

First Breakfast: Apple or banana w/ almond butter sprinkled with cinnamon & hemp hearts

Second Breakfast: Smoothie – Mixed berries, vanilla protein, ginger, ground flax seed, chia seeds + Psyllium husk

Lunch: Kale Salad – Kale, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, sunflower seeds, avocado, and turmeric ginger dressing

Afternoon Snack: 2 brown rice cakes with hummus or avocado & Everything But the Bagel Seasoning

Dinner: Veggie Stirfry – Zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower & tofu cooked with olive oil and topped with coconut aminos and sesame seeds, served over a mixed rice & quinoa combo

Dessert: Homemade raw trail mix – Cashews, almonds, walnuts & pecans with no-sugar added apricots, banana chips, and raisins. And sometimes a salty snacklike popcorn.

Morning Sickness Snacks: If I started to feel nausea coming on, I kept ginger chews, dried fruit, and stock drops in my purse.

Looking back at this, as I’m finishing my second trimester, I’m a bit impressed by my restraint. Treats became a larger part of my life during the second trimester/quarantine.

Since my work-from-home setup is on the island in our kitchen – The perfect standing desk height – I discovered that I was drinking cup after cup of tea throughout the day. Herbal teas so not the end of the world, but I wanted to make a conscious effort to drink more water as well.

Enter the lemon ginger tonic!

Great for digestion and a lovely way to start the day, you can drink it three different ways.

I’ve been drinking it with warm water, you could also take it as a shot, or put it over ice on a lovely sunny day.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of grated or minced ginger root
• 2 cups of water
• 3 lemons juiced

Directions:

• Peel and grate or mince your ginger root. Add to a pan with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes.
• Juice the lemons
• Once the ginger has boiled, drain and retain the liquid (run through a sieve to get out pieces of ginger) and add the lemon juice
• Save in a mason jar or sealed Tupperware for a week

You can add some honey if you’d like to sweeten it, but it’s a great way to start the day.