First Trimester [Meal Plan and Workouts]

Month 1: Gusto for Clean Eats

Meal Plan

Not really different from my normal meal plans

Meal #1  - 4 egg whites scrambled with veggies (peppers, onions, spinach, sometimes broccoli) and slice of whole grain toast or a whole grain english muffin (add sugar free jelly sometimes), ginger tea

Meal #2 – 1 Cup greek yogurt with berries (add truvia sometimes if I’m craving sweet)

Meal #3 – 4 oz fish or chicken,  romaine salad with lemon juice as dressing (sometimes I’ll stir in a 1/2 teaspoon of dressing with the lemon juice for flavor)

Meal #4 - Fat free cottage cheese or greek yogurt with fresh berries, 12 almonds  OR cottage cheese + wheat thins OR Celery and PB

Meal #5 - 4 oz of chicken/turkey with 1/2 cup of black beans with a Tbsp of salsa and broccoli

First Tri Tip: Ginger tea – for calming nausea and healthy digestion (both are symptoms onset by hormones during pregnancy)

Favorite Cheats Treats: small avocado with lemon juice, skinny cow, Swiss Miss Cocoa with Calcium No-Sugar Added

I am avoiding where possible foods rich in vitamin A, as it is linked to complications and birth defects.

Foods rich in vitamin A:
information source: http://ask.yahoo.com/20001011.html 

• liver
• sweet potatos
• carrots
• mangoes
• spinach
• cantaloupe
• dried apricots
• milk
• egg yolks
• mozzarella cheese

Workouts

5 day split for lifting: upper, lower, arms, total body

4 days Cardio (running, incline-walking, elliptical, bike, stair master)

Month 2: Adjusting Nutrition

Things got a little topsy turvy! Nausea set in so I cut my meal sizes down and ate every 2 hours instead of 3.  Completely avoided sweets except in fruit and, like usual, steered clear of any processed foods.

Workouts were still strong but I cut it down to a 4 day split when the fatigue started affecting my work.

Month 3: Adjusting Exercise

2 words. FOOD. AVERSION. I had a hard time finding an adjustment here to still get all my nutrients in. There was one day where my brown bag spinach salad tasted like FISH, so I couldn’t even eat it nor the packet of tuna I brought to go with it. *le sigh* I found my body craving cheese and sometimes grains, so I allowed myself a serving of a grain or cheese on the days where nothing else would swallow.  I have only gained about 2 pounds – I am not really monitoring it, becaue frankly it’s not the weight I care about…it’s my nutrition count. I do not want to overeat what I need, but I do not want to under-eat essential nutrients (for me OR baby).

Workouts – I have absolutely resided to listening to my body. I feel comfortable doing this because I TRULY WANT to be at the gym every day, so I let my body tell me if I shouldn’t.  The fatigue and sickness is just too unpredictable, so when I do hit the gym I have to reassess what body parts or style of workout I should do that day (as oppose to following my typical 4-5day split)

I have a RIDICULOUSLY short torso (seriously…my ribs sit only maybe 3 inches away from my hip bones)…so I’m not sure, but I think I might be showing more than my long-torso’d counterparts.

Bye-bye abs! Hello bump!