Pregnancy Snack Ideas

The benefits of eating healthy during pregnancy are countless but pregnancy is one of the times in your life you shouldn't pay too much attention to how much weight you are gaining. Obviously it's not healthy to pack on the pounds and it's not wise to over indulge on take out and junk food. You should keep in mind by week 28 of your pregnancy, the weight you are putting on is being added to the baby as well. Since you are the one who needs to push that baby out at 40 weeks, it makes sense to choosehealthy snacks to keep you full. I was starving throughout my entire pregnancy so finding snacks that were healthy but yet substantial enough to keep me full was a challenge, especially since I would have rather been dining on chicken fingers and pizza. Here are some great snack ideas that are healthy, but are still very tasty. Trying to add a dose of protein to each snack is a great idea as well, since that will keep you full longer.

Apples with peanut butter- The apple is good for you, and the peanut butter not only gives that added protein but it can also satisfy your sweet tooth.

Granola bars with yogurt- The bars provide healthy whole grains and vitamins. Keep in mind it's healthier to buy plain, low fat yogurt. The amount of sugar in a small cup of fruit flavored blended yogurt is really quite high.

Whole grain crackers- You can top these with peanut butter, low fat cream cheese, slices of cheese, sliced turkey or chicken; the options are endless.

Hard boiled eggs- These kept me quite full for some time. I would slice one up, and put it on a small piece of toast. Watch how much carbs you eat, but as long as you limit this snack to one small piece of bread you'll be fine. You can turn them into devilled eggs if you need some variety.

Hummus- You can dip veggies in it, crackers, or spread it on a whole wheat pita or tortilla. They have a lot of different flavors and varieties you can try. It's also super easy to make your own.

Fruit- You can basically snack on fruit all day and it won't put much more than water weight on you. Bananas are a great source of potassium and they're also very filling. Try an orange, some grapes (freeze them for a different variety), or pears. Fruit satisfies your sweet tooth, but you're getting healthier sugar than you will find in a candy bar or cookie.

Salads- I ate almost one salad every day throughout my pregnancy. You can buy so many different varieties of lettuce, and you can also add any kind of veggie, fruit, nut, or sliced meat to spice it up a little. Keep an eye on how much dressing you use though- that can be the unhealthy part of a salad. Stick to low fat, or fat free varieties. Even a simple mixture of olive oil and lemon juice can dress a salad to perfection.

Smoothies- It's best to make your own however so you know what's going into it. Start with one banana, add a little bit of low fat milk or soy milk, and add whatever other fruits you want. Keeping a bag of frozen berries in the house is a great option for chilling that smoothing and giving it a great flavor.

Chicken or Turkey Salad- Chop up some of that great protein, add some veggies like celery, green peppers and onion, use some fat free mayonnaise and either put it on crackers, in a pita or wrap, or even stuff half of a green pepper with the salad to make it even healthier.

Popcorn- This is a great snack for in between meals. Make sure you pick out one of the varieties that is low in fat (You don't need all the added butter flavoring). I love the new 100 calorie snack bags of popcorn they make. You can also buy a bag of the kernels that you can easily pop yourself in a pan. This way, you know how much you're consuming, and you don't have to add any fake butter. Try a sprinkle of parmesean cheese or some cinnamon sugar.

Oatmeal- This is guaranteed to fill you up and is really good for you.

Vegetables- I found it was really convenient to buy a ton of really great, colorful, tasty veggies, wash them and pre-slice them. That way you can grab them and eat them plain or dip them in some fat free dressing and you won't have to worry about prep time.