Best Healthy Mom Meals and Snacks

Some of my favorites--

Breakfast:
-oatmeal with peanut butter, cinnamon, and either raisins or banana
-eggs scrambled with onion/spinach/tomato, put on wheat toast and topped with salsa

Lunch:
-sandwiches of all kinds (deli meat & cheese, tuna salad, egg salad, chicken salad, BLT's, PB&J)
-salad with nuts, chicken, hardboiled egg, dried fruit, lots of veggies, etc

Snacks:
-Greek yogurt
-nuts or trail mix
-piece of fruit
-cottage cheese & fruit
-protein bars (I ate the Clif Builder bars while nursing and ravenous, and still eat them now!)
-cheese & crackers
-graham crackers & peanut butter
-fruit & yogurt smoothie
-veggies & hummus

Dinner can be anything at all--casseroles, soup or stew, a crockpot meal, breakfast for dinner, etc.

Protein and healthy fats will help keep you full and keep a healthy milk supply Try to eat a little snack every time the baby nurses, that way you are already sitting down and can easily eat something to keep up with your hunger. I ate small meals very often while nursing. Also water water water!

Oh my, I remember the constant hunger from breastfeeding! I nursed for 18 months. It was a challenge!

For me, things that were very chewy worked best as those enabled me to get in the substantial "mouth feel" that I need to feel full. Things like chips, etc. -- simple carbs -- just dissolve too fast and weren't effective. I did best with lots of water and high-protein snacks: beef jerky (Costco has a good option on sale this month), string cheese, and hard-boiled eggs.

Oatmeal made my blood sugar spike and left me hungry 2 hours later, but if it works, go for it! I ate a ton of sweet potatoes, as complex carbs tended to keep me more full.

Vegetables and fruits that I could eat quickly also helped. 1 serving of baby carrots and 2 tablespoons of PB2 makes for a really quick, crunchy snack for only 80 calories. Cherry and grape tomatoes are also good and portable.

For meals, I often did canned tuna with 2 tbsp of low-cal salad dressing, salt, and pepper. It's a good high-protein template to which you can add extra veggies. I still eat a can of tuna at least once a week like that for lunch.

Remember, too, that the flavors will go to your milk -- I have observed that my son now likes the foods that I ate a lot when I was pregnant and breastfeeding. So it's a great way to get healthy tastes into your little one at a very early age

Feel free to add me if you have any questions or if there's anything I can help with. Best wishes!