A fertility meal plan to prep your body for pregnancy

It’s all about filling up on whole foods – lean- and vegetable-based proteins, complex carbohydrates, folate-rich greens and beans, whole fat dairy – and avoiding processed, trans-fat-filled meals and snacks. “What it takes is some fine tuning,” says Areli Hermanson, a Victoria-based dietitian. “Ask yourself: ‘How can I create a welcoming environment for a little person?’ Food is a really big part of it.”

Together with Hermanson we’ve come up with a fertility meal plan using triple-tested Chatelaine recipes that will fuel your body with all the good stuff it needs to welcome a little one. Wake up rested – sleep is important for fertility! Try any one of these options daily to get you on the right track:

Breakfast:

1. High protein blueberry-almond smoothie and toast with almond butter
2. Ricotta-oat bran pancakes with maple-raspberry sauce and greek yogurt
3. Quinoa porridge with fresh fruit
4. Best-ever breakfast sandwich with fresh berries

Lunch:


1. Coconut-curry tofu pita pockets
2. Grilled vegetable pizza
3. Southwestern beans on toast
 with fresh tex-mex salad
4. Baby greens with chicken and spring vegetables

Dinner: 

1. One pot asian rice
2. Porcini-crusted black cod with garlic spinach
3. Sweet and sour Indian vegetable stew with brown rice
4. Honey-ginger tofu with quinoa and kale pilaf

Use this checklist to track what you should be getting everyday: 

• Lots of water throughout the day
• Take a prenatal multivitamin, plus mineral with 1 mg folic acid (men should take an iron-free multivitamin plus mineral)
• Antioxidants
• Vitamin D
• Iron
• Omega 3s
• Zinc
• Exercise (Gentle exercise is best.)