I have to say I am pretty lucky with first trimester symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and food aversions because I barely had any of these. But one thing I felt was heartburn and bloating, sometimes feeling very "stuffed".
I do love to eat and to try different vegan meals and recipes and now to be even more careful to what to buy on stores and supermarkets I push myself even more to try new recipes. And this is what is so nice about eating vegan, there is so much we can do and create in the kitchen!
I tend to stick with main ingredients most of the time as we live on an island and there is not a lot growing here! But now watching for all must nutrients necessary to consume during pregnancy I tried to diverse more...but what happened is that my digestion got very slow during this weeks, I felt blotted very easy and lot of gases too! So one thing I learned through this weeks (by the way I finish my week 13 on March 29th) and I give as a tip, suggestion to all mama's to be: is to not mix a lot of ingredients in one meal, eat small portions and more times during the day; and remember during this first 3 months there is no need to eat more than you normally did.
I thought I didn't have any food cravings during this weeks but by week 11 I started to carve for oranges, witch I liked but I was not used to buy it often .I guess baby and body was asking for more vitamin C, even so I drink lemon water every morning. And one more food I craved was bread. I like bread but I don't eat often anymore as I used to when was living in Brasil; but lord some days the craving for a croissant was huge! So even not being vegan I went to the dutch supermarket we have here in Curaçao to get one and it tasted so good!
The reason I am vegan are many, I can talk about this on another post, and oh yes I still agree with all those reasons! But being pregnant, knowing we need to have all nutrients necessary and to enjoy this 9 months without so much restrictions I do make some exceptions.
So some of the key nutrients during this weeks are magnesium, potassium and zinc and off course lots of fiber too =) We can get those in: Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, pumpkin seeds, almonds, cocoa, soybeans, lentils, dark chocolate, avocados.
Here it is a very good example of a breakfast or snack I ate often during this weeks. Tapioca "crepe" filled with smashed 1/2 avocado, salt, pepper, olive oil and hemp seeds and an orange. Tapioca is made of manioc starch and it is a very common thing to eat in Brasil, but usually they eat filled with cheese and meat or cheese and ham, but you can eat with whatever you like; and it is super light and gluten.
Another easy to make, 25 minutes ready soup for dinner: Lentils soup with carrots.Loaded with protein, magnesium and vitamin A.
Tasty Lunch with veggies and legumes, yamiii and easy! Most of the time my meals are most 30min preparation. When you eat a plant-based (vegan) diet you have to think on your legume for the meal and veggies (well veggies should be part of any diet!), so one night before I make sure I put them to soak or unfreeze. One type I like to eat often, specially now as it is easier to digest and don't give gases, it is moong beans, witch is a small green bean very common in Indian food. If I can find it easy here in Curaçao I am sure you will find it.
This plate has: Quinoa, cooked moong beans (just in water, salt and spices), roasted pumpkin, sautéed kale and 1/4 avocado, topped with roasted sunflower seeds and hemp seeds.
