Protein for Pregnant Veggie Wife

As you may, or may not, have heard, I am a vegetarian. I am a vegetarian who went vegan for awhile but that lasted about two weeks because having no cheese just wasn't cutting it for me. I also have been mostly-gluten-free since 2011 because I found I was gluten sensitive. I still would eat a bit of gluten but usually I was able to stay away from it.

Now that I am pregnant though, some of that has changed (besides my growing self).

For those who needed to see the 19 week belly bump. Can't you tell, I really dressed up for this pic.

First off, gluten. Gluten doesn't seem to bother me as I am pregnant. I have eaten entire meals of spaghetti, I eat toast regularly, and I definitely ate cupcakes on my 30th birthday. It just doesn't upset my stomach anymore. I still try to not eat it for every meal because generally, eating all that gluten really isn't all that great but when I want a bagel with cream cheese, I can now eat it. Thankgod!

Secondly, protein. During my 3 month midwife appointment, we were talking about protein and how it is important for baby. I hadn't really told them I was a vegetarian or anything because I didn't think it would matter but in the back of my mind, I knew I probably wasn't getting enough protein. Tofu wasn't in my diet much, because what pregnant lady craves tofu?! I hadn't really been eating my cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, and so and and so forth either. And, I really hadn't even been eating cheese. Plus, I still wasn't eating eggs because that shit is gross.

So, the day after my appointment, I wrote down everything I ate and the protein content. Pregnant women should be getting about 60 grams of protein a day. I was at 30. Whoopsie daisy. It was time for a trip to the store where I bought yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, cheese, nuts, beans, and tofu. I now eat these regularly throughout my day.

The one thing though that has been difficult for me is the egg thing. I mean, before they started grossing me out, I LOVED eggs. I loved the over-easy egg on a piece of toast! Now, that would make me vom. But, because they do pack a punch of protein, I decided to give it a go again with local, grass-fed eggs. I still can't do the whole egg with the yolk, so instead, I fry up my egg white almost every morning with some seasonings and enjoy it with a little toast, spinach, and cheese. That is about 7 or so grams of protein.

What I am trying to say though is that being a vegetarian while pregnant is semi-difficult. While I don't crave a steak, I don't crave most other protein sources either. French fries really don't have much protein, unfortunately. I definitely have to consciously eat my protein throughout the day and occasionally force yogurt down my throat even though I don't really want it. (It's not that I don't like it, I just have never really been a big yogurt eater, but it does have 14 grams of protein!)

But, today I AM going to make hummus. I plan on eating that all in one sitting this afternoon! Too much protein? Methinksnot!