Pregnancy Nutrition & Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

Greetings from the land of 28 weeks pregnant!

Our yawning little boy or girl!  Any guesses - pink or blue!

This baby and I are barreling into the third trimester, or as I like to call it, “the home stretch” and it feels good!  I’m starting to really look like a momma-to-be and I’m at the stage where people help you by lifting heavy things and random strangers ask you questions about “how far along you are?” and "do you know what you’re having?”  I don’t mind the friendly banter and questions, as I’m thankful to be pregnant and have embraced the fact that I’m in a stage of life that makes me stick out from the crowd for good reason!  Growing a life is pretty neat and I felt honored when people wished me a Happy Mother’s Day, even though I’m just mothering as a housing unit at the moment!

Many people have asked me if I’m eating any differently than I was when I was training/racing.  

While the general principals have stayed the same, I’m certainly eating a slight more energy (calories), while my activity level has dropped dramatically!

If you read my last blog, it explains how I used to train 24-28 hours on an average week for triathlon and now I’m exercising about 6 hours per week if I’m lucky!  

Riding my QR PRsix bike indoors in our living room 

 I’m still focused on the same main nutrition ideas, eating foods with fiber and nutrient-density (meaning lots of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals) and getting enough protein throughout the day.  Most pregnant women need between 2,200-2,900 calories per day, and surprisingly, in the first trimester, are not expected to gain any more than 1-4 lbs.  In the second trimester, an extra 340 calories per day allows us to gain appropriate weight and an example would be an 8oz. Greek yogurt mixed with raspberries and honey (205 calories) and a hard-boiled egg with whole grain toast (130 calories).  With two well-planned snacks, these extra calories should be a way to get extra nutrients for you and baby to keep you both healthy and satisfied.  Adding protein in small bursts throughout the day (20-30 grams at meals and 15 grams at snacks) helps keep blood sugar stable and retain lean muscle mass that I’ve worked so hard to build all these years while supporting growth for the little one!  In the third trimester, consuming around 450 calories extra per day allows the final 2-4 lbs per month to be gained so that the baby grows appropriately.  Again, this can be done in a way that allows for maximum nutrition by choosing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, low fat dairy and some healthy fat sources like avocados, olives or nuts! 

Yum!  Lunch this week - Spinach, Raspberries, Walnuts, Cranberry and Steak Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Iron requirements climb during pregnancy from 15-18mg per day for healthy adult women to 27mg per day to support the extra blood volume needed to circulate for both parties!  I’ve been aiming to include some lean red meat servings such as flank steak on a salad, lean ground beef hamburgers or stir-fry with steak at least once or twice a week, along with my prenatal vitamin which has a larger dose of iron. 

I also take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement with 1,000mg of EPA & DHA (the two active compounds of fish oil) per serving to support brain growth of the baby and keep inflammation in my own body in check.  I used to eat tuna five days per week, but with the mercury levels being higher, I have cut down on this fish to once per week (the recommendation from the FDA is 2-3 servings of low-mercury fish per week or approximately 8-12oz). 

For Mother’s Day, I made my first whole grain chocolate chip banana bread to give as a gift and it turned out beautifully!  It was fun to make a new recipe that was traditional and give it the added whole grain nutrition and added fiber with Ultragrain All-Purpose Flour.  With Ultragrain substituted for regular white enriched flour, I'm adding whole-grain nutrition with additional fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals to a recipe that tastes the same!  It's a great #NutritionUpgrade to #FuelYourPregnancy or just your healthy lifestyle.  I’ve included the recipe below! 

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Yield: 8 Servings

2 cups Ultragrain All Purpose Flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 eggs, slightly beaten

Juice of ½ an orange (3 Tbsps.)

1 cup sugar

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

3 ripe bananas, mashed

3 Tbsps. Mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1.       Preheat the oven to 350° F

2.       Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl

3.       Mix together the vanilla, eggs and orange juice in a separate small bowl

4.       Combined the sugar and butter in a medium bowl and stir for 3-5 minutes until pale yellow

5.       Add the egg mixture to the sugar/butter and beat with electric mixer until creamy

6.       Mix in the mashed bananas and continue to beat on low until consistency is even

7.       Pour the flour mixture in ½ at a time, beating on low until incorporated

8.       Stir in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon

9.       Pour into a greased 1 1/2 -quart glass loaf pan and bake one hour. Cool, remove from pan and slice

Recipe adapted from:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/moms-banana-bread-with-chocolate-chips-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Disclosure: Ultragrain by Ardent Mills is one of my sponsors and supplied free product for this post. The opinions in this blog are my own.