Need Ideas for Lunch If Pregnant

It is okay to have tuna and turkey....not all the time, but it is okay. I had both and my daughter is perfectly fine. I also have friends who craved and ate hot dogs and drank Mountain Dew the entire time and their children are fine. There are so many ridiculous "rules". Just eat healthy and in moderation and everything will be fine! I always packed a fruit, veggie and some cheese in my lunch. I usually packed leftovers of what we had for dinner the night before. If you like tuna salad, try making chicken salad instead and if you like deli meats, try grilling them or toasting them so that they will be cooked and bacteria is no longer a possibility. Pasta salad, PB&J and Low Sodium/Healthy Choice soups can also be quick and easy without being too unhealthy.

Hope this helps! Think about our mothers and all the "rules" that didn't exist when they were pregnant. I remember telling my mom some of the "rules" that I had read on the internet and her laughing at how ridiculous they all sounded. I gained 18 lbs and had a healthy 7 lb 7 oz baby. I lost all my weight within a week of her birth. Eat smart, but don't stress over the small stuff!

you can eat the turkey. You dont want to eat it from somewhere like Subway, as you dont know how long it's been out and whatnot, but from your own fridge it's ok.

You can still eat cold cuts just make sure they're good and fresh. The risk to the baby is the same as your risk of food poisoning. If you don't get sick, you haven't hurt the baby. If you're worried about it, nuke them in the microwave before you make your sandwich in the morning, then put your lunch straight into the fridge at work when you get there. You'll be fine and baby will be healthy.

The risk with tuna is actually mercury and unlike the food poisoning thing, you won't KNOW for sure you've had too much. There's nothing you can do to the tuna to undo that, but you'd have to eat a TON of it to impact you or the baby. A can of tuna a week is definitely in the safe range.

While we're on the subject, the only soft cheese that isn't okay is unpasteurized soft cheese which is almost impossible to find here in the US. You'd have to go to a specialty cheese shop for it... so if you like brie, or blue cheese, you're safe with those for sure.

Hope this helps.
T.

Bored with turkey -- try adding some olive tempenade. YUMMY. And dark spinach is good for you (folic acid), so add that to your turkey sandiwch. Also, Kraft made some new Mayos. We like the Chipoltle one.

As for me, when I was pregnant, I was a teacher, so packed all of my lunches (never ate out). I ate a lot of leftovers from the night before. So if you're making a pasta with meat sauce, make extra and take it with you for lunch the next day.

Weather will be getting colder soon - make some good healthy soups. A good veggie beef with barley will taste yummy.

Baked Potatoes --- add chilli & cheese. Or add butter, bacon, green onion, etc. Or add broccili and cheese soup. Put anything on a potato. YUMMY.

How 'bout a good ol' PB & J? You could also make chicken salad or egg salad ahead of time at home and eat on that for a few days. Don't worry too much about cold cuts and tuna. Eat the tuna in moderation and just make sure the cold cuts are really fresh and you should be fine. I tried to stay away from a lot of already prepared foods when I was pregnant, too. Just spend a few hours on a Sunday making a big pot of spaghetti or soup or something else that freezes well, separate it into different containers and you've got your meals for the week. Just heat it up and go!) Good luck and enjoy this time!

Hilary

Make yourself big pots of homemade soup and chili. Great for lunch with crackers or bread.
Also, don't stress over the tuna & cold cuts. All in moderation.
I drank a Code Blue Mt. Dew every day for the first 4 months of my pregnancy! (didn't realize it was the Dew!).

Eat the turkey sandwiches! Ask your doctor how much tuna per week you can have too -it's good for you and pregnant women CAN eat it, just not every day. Make sure you control the turkey and if you want to be completely in the clear, make a hot turkey sandwich/melt in the microwave or toaster oven.

Hi B.,

Congrats on your pregnancy! I asked my doctor about the lunch meat/Listeriosis since I have a 3 year old and when I was pregnant with him, lunch meat was just fine. It wasn't one of the off-limit foods. I ate lunch meat sandwiches every day of the week! Well, now that I am pregnant with baby #2 and they've changed the rules on me, I had to find out from my doctor. He told me not to worry about it. That it's very rare and his wife has had 3 children and ate a turkey sandwich every day with all 3 pregnancies. I say have your sandwiches. I bring a turkey sandwich to work every day and I'm 14 weeks pregnant myself. If it really does scare you though since it's on the off-limit list--then make yourself hot sandwiches. Get some French bread, cold cuts and provolone and make them in the oven. YUUMMM!!

I craved peanut butter, so I had PB & J, but also PB and banana or PB and honey. I usually made extra at dinner so my hubby and I both didn't have to make lunch the next day. If you have chicken for dinner, then slice it and put it on your bread. This works for meats.

Also, I think Albacore Tuna is higher in mercury, so if you get a different type, you might be able to eat a bit more.k

For your turkey, you might try buying a turkey breast or a whole turkey. Cook it on the weekend and then use the slices on your sandwiches instead of cold lunch meat. It certainly would have a lot less sodium than processed lunch meat!

Wish you the best!

I'm also pregnant, but every once in a while enjoy a turkey or tuna sandwich, but most often I take leftovers for lunch...just cook a bit extra for dinner. Egg salad, chicken salad, green salads, boiled eggs...check out laptoplunches.com for some other ideas. Congrats!

When i was pregnant, I ate hummus with veggies and crackers, PB&J and lettuce/tomato/cheese on wheat bread (I actually didnt even miss the cold cuts!)

If you have a microwave handy at work you can do a veggie burger heated in the microwave and stuff it into a pita pocket with lettuce and tomato...

Ease your mind and just heat up the turkey, Girl! If you buy it then heat it all up at once, let it cool and put it in the fridge it's fine to use on daily sandwiches. The odds are SUPER slim as others have mentioned, but if you have an overactive imagination, like I do, go ahead and just do it. It will save you peace of mind and make you happy at lunch time!

Other ideas are to look for those single serve soups, pastas, Healthy Choice thingys (in the soup aisle), etc. Egg salad and chicken salad are also good alternatives. I loved hummus with pitas and veggies, I also really like apples and peanut butter with a hunk of cheese. You can pretty much eat what you want, in moderation of course! Those pounds are much harder to take off! LOL! ;) But seriously, I ate really healthy, as I try to do anyway, but if I wanted a cookie or some ice cream, I ate it!