What "Smaller, More Frequent" Meals Should I Be Eating?!

I agree with Tammy. I tried to eat healthier things like fruits and veggies, cheese & crackers, oatmeal all between meals.

For me an apple would be sometimes too much, depending on how big the apple was. A yogurt. A cheese stick. A banana. Don't eat to feel "full", just eat to quell the queasiness. Eat 1/3 or 1/2 of your lunch or dinner at once. Eat the rest later. Drink lots of water.
But, honestly, do not worry about the weight gain. This is not the time to worry about that unless you are already overweight and having high blood problems, for instance.
And I've heard that eating small amounts throughout the day is better for your metabolism.
Make sure that what you eat is healthy, so skip carbonated beverages (way too sweet, no nutritional value), and watch your fat intake... good fats like avocados are good though.
Congratulations!

Since you are prgenant you should be eating about 300 more calories per day. These extra calories are used by your baby to grow and shouldn't add excess weight to you. You want your small meals to be healthy. Try whole wheat english muffin (toasted) with peanut butter and sliced banana and sprinkle wheat germ on top.

Idealy you should have the following per day:
5-10 servings of fruit/veggie (1/2 cup for most, 1cup lettuce, 1/4dried fruits)
3 servings of protein (3oz meat, 2tbs peanut butter, 1/2C beans, 1 large egg, 1/2 cottage cheese)
3 servings dairy (8oz milk/yogurt, 1oz cheese)
6-11 servings of grain (1 slice bread, 1/2 pasta/rice/cereal)
8 or more cups of water - not enough water can lead to bladder infection

Since you are not feeling well eat what you can. At this point you are more at risk for weight loss than excessive weight gain.

You seem to have some very specific questions about diet/nutrition during pregancy. It maybe helpful for you to meet with a nutritionist or dietitian. Ask your doctor for a referal.

I used to eat things like yogurt, and packaged oatmeal (the serving is smaller than if you make it out of the large tin). Fruits and vegetables were always good too.

Eating every 90 minutes will keep your blood sugar stable and help with morning sickness.
The thought of eating ANYTHING when I was pregnant made me throw up so I have no idea if these will help.
Raw almonds
Celery with cream cheese or peanut butter
Apple and peanut butter
1/2 pear and 1 oz. cheese
1/2 sandwich of your choice
small bowl of soup
small amount of meat and cheese

each of the things I have listed are meant to be eaten separately. :) If you eat like this you won't gain excessive weight, especially if you eat proteins along with complex carbs. Raw almonds are safe for pregnant women.
I hope this helps!

I keep things like peanutbutter crackers, bananas, applesauce and sting cheese on hand for in-between regular meals. I drink a big glass of milk usually with breakfast and drink tea or water throughout the day. I stay away from soda because the sweet taste bothers me right now.

HTH,
A.

Congratulations! How exciting to be pregnant!

I ate a normal breakfast, then at 10 when the queasiness started up, had an apple. Then a "regular lunch" and at 3 when I felt sick again, a few crackers. Then regular dinner. If I felt sick again before bed, maybe a peanut butter sandwich or some cheese and crackers or a granola bar or yogurt. Other ideas include the protein bars (South Beach Diet bars are tasty and fairly low in calories). I didn't have to have MEALS as much as something in my belly. Hope this helps!

Crackers and granola bars in between meals. Smaller portion for main meals. Every diet encourages you to eat smaller portions throughout day so your body does not store calories. If you breastfeed you will drop weight super fast after birth.

I think whatever sounds good--whatever you're craving--is what you should be eating for those smaller meals. A good balance b/w healthy carbs and low-fat proteins seemed to help me. And, don't worry about gaining weight :) Actually, eating the smaller, more frequent meals will speed up your metabolism and shouldn't affect your weight gain. Good luck and congrats!

Hi K. - I began eating 5 or so small meals a day - every 2-1/2 hours a year or so ago. It helped me lose 20 lbs. before getting pregnant & helped my pregnancy (first half at least) go super-smooth. I love that it keeps you feeling full all day, without being too full. I can't believe how much better I feel doing this than 3 "normal" meals. I agree with the other moms in keeping it as healthy as you can, with some indulgences thrown in when you just "need" them ;-) some of my favorites are turkey-pickle rollups (with laughing cow cheese), apples, steam-fresh veggies, etc. For portion size, what worked for me was just simply using a medium sized plate & filling that with some fruits, veggies, etc. Maybe 3 of your smaller meals have meat & grains involved, and the others are more fruit-veggie-dairy based. Once you give it a go, I think you'll find what works for you & you'll find it will help w/ several diff. issues. Good luck!

Can't really help you on the meals thing, (I gained almost 80 pounds with my daughter). But I do have a super great morning sickness reliever. Peppermint Essential oil. Don't use too much... only ONE drop on your tongue a few times a day. Works for nausea, indigestion, upset stomach, and even when you've just had too much to eat. Peppermint candies work too if they're made of real peppermint, but not as well because they're not as strong and mixed with way too much sugar. Check with your Doctor first, of course, but I don't leave home without a small bottle of the stuff in my purse. It's like a little miracle. I used to have to buy it online because we live in a small town without a healh food store, but they started selling it in our local Hyvee in the health and organic section. Make sure the label says 100% pure peppermint oil... some that you can buy are diluted and NOT okay to ingest. Hope this helps!!

Eat whatever you can stand to eat at this stage. For a few weeks, all I could eat was yogurt with fruit and cereal. Occasionally a few Doritos :) I couldn't eat one bite of vegetables or chicken for my whole first trimester. Cheese pizza in small quantities seems to be a favorite for those with "morning" sickness, too.
I weighed myself often during second and third trimesters to track weight gain and put some of the apetitite and cravings in perspective (after the morning sickness weeks had ended). But usually, if we listen to our bodies and eat when needed and don't eat when not, we'll be OK as far as weight.

I'm having the same problem. However, I do not fear gaining too much weight. But I don't crave anything, I don't want to eat- the thought makes me sick. So, I would eat what you feel like having, your docor will tell you if you start gaining too much weight too fast- they watch that at every appointment you have. I have tried eating 1/4 of a sandwich every 40 min with my 2nd child, that seems to help. I think a big key too is, do not let you stomach go completely empty- I was told by the doctor that is hard on your stomach & will make you feel worse to go from completely hungry to full. Hope you feel better soon!!!

The meals are more like snacks. Crackers and sausage with milk, apples and cheese with juice, yougurt and fruit, etc. It could be a sandwich and some raisins. It's not like your sitting down to eat lasagna 6 times a day. If your choices are healthy and porpotionate it should not cause huge weight gain.

I just wanted to add my two cents.
All my life I have eaten smaller more frequent meals, I eat something about every hour or so. It has helped me through all four of my pregnancies and have helped me keep the weight down all my life. I was able to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight after having a baby a lot quicker too. I still eat smaller, more frequent meals and am still at my ideal weight for my hieght.
Eating healthy foods such as fruit and veggies, crackers, etc will help a lot.
Congrats on your pregnancy!

It's hard to even think about food sometimes when you're queasy and even harder to keep it really healthy. I found that keeping these things on hand helped and I could eat however much I needed at the time:
~graham crackers
~bananas
~apples
~fiber one bars
~saltines (I added peanut butter when I needed an extra boost)
And I lived on fruit smoothies for about a month when Everything disgusted me. I love the steamfresh bags of frozen veggies. They are so easy to store and pop in the microwave. They taste so fresh too! This is a sample/example of what I ate on a good day:
~cereal for breakfast
~graham cracker and banana for snack
~turkey & cheese sandwich for lunch
~fiber one bar for snack
~maybe another snack of an apple
~chicken breast, steamed veggies for dinner
~smoothie for before bed snack (add a little milk if milk is hard to drink on it's own)

Also, if queasiness is really bad try Baby Bliss Morning Sickness Magic! Happy pregnancy and hope this helps a little!