Are you tired of keeping up with the never-ending hunger of pregnancy or breastfeeding?  Are blood sugar spikes exhausting you beyond the usual pregnancy fatigue or sleeplessness of early motherhood? Having just a few substantial foods on hand will help you fight that exhaustion while healthily nourishing your body and your baby.

  1. Nuts and nut butters are packed with protein, flavor, and healthy monounsaturated fats.  Along with the impressive list of nutrients nuts provide, you’ll get fiber as well.  Of course, if you can swing the higher prices eating organic nuts and nut butters is preferable.  There is some nut consumption controversy for pregnant and nursing women, but we happily munched on handfuls of these little healthy gems during our pregnancies with no negative outcomes for our kids.
  2. Oils can be drizzled on salads or steamed vegetables and will keep you fuller longer, while supplying valuable calories that you need to build a baby or produce breastmilk.  Again, remember that monounsaturated fats are your friends!
  3. Dark chocolate is packed with antioxidants and gorgeous flavor and yet is low in saturated fats.  It’ll make you feel sinful and indulgent while being actually rather healthful.  My favorite is a handful of dark chocolate chips mixed with chopped almonds or shelled pistachios.  Bliss!  For a more exotic experience, try Green and Black’s Organic Maya Gold Dark Chocolate with Orange and Spices. Nursing mothers may have heard that chocolate contributes to colic, but dark chocolate is better than milk or white chocolate which contain far more milk products.
  4. Rich, buttery avocados are an indulgence that aren’t always planet friendly, but are packed in healthy fat.  Unless you live in California, these little gems have to be shipped in from miles around, but I have to confess that I regularly purchase them for their gooey green scrumptiousness.  (I try to make up for it by eating less meat and buying organic and local when possible)
  5. Cheeses, especially those that are a bit lower in saturated fats, are a simple handheld snack that satiates without having to be prepared.

So where did most of the items on this list come from? The Flat Belly Diet.  (Read about my Flat Belly Diet success, which has continued for two months now!)  I would NEVER suggest that you should try to lose weight during pregnancy or breastfeeding, but I’ve found that incorporating monounsaturated fats into our diet has been tremendously helpful for our family. What were your favorite snacks during pregnancy and breastfeeding?  Do you remember that insatiable hunger?