Expecting to Eat

Folic Acid Lunch #2

Lunch 11-17-11

I was in a hurry to pack a quick lunch so I didn’t quite bring enough to keep me full all day, but it was high in Folic Acid!

• 1 Cup Baby Spinach = 58 mcg of Folic Acid
• 1 Tbsp Croutons
• 1 Tbsp Ranch Dressing
• 6 Strawberries = 26 mcg of Folic Acid
• 1 Clementine = 18 mcg Folic Acid
• 8 Wheat Crackers (not pictured)
• 1.5 Tbsp Almond Butter (not pictured)

Total Folic Acid for lunch = 102 mcg out of a recommended 400 mcg to 800 mcg per day.

Total calories for lunch = Approx. 340 calories

Pre-Nesting Syndrome

I’ve been going through my mental checklist of pre-nesting items that I would like to finish.  It’s not technically nesting yet, but I am just trying to figure out what needs to be done to our house to make it a home!!  We have lived here for 4.5 years already and while we have finished the rooms that we use the most (living room, office and master bathroom), there is still a lot of the house that is unfinished.

So here is my list of hopefully realistic things that we can accomplish around the house within the next year or fingers crossed, 9 months!

1. Paint the Master Bedroom – I’ve recently acquired my old bedroom furniture from my parents house that is a “vintage” white and I would like to paint the walls a darker color to match.  Right now the walls in the bedroom are a light tan which blends in a little too much for my taste with the white furniture.  The plan from the beginning (4.5 years ago) was to paint it a dark tan so I’m finally motivated to make that happen.

2. Redo the downstairs half-bath – Right now the downstairs half-bath has a penguin soap pump and a penguin floor mat that I feel like I’ve outgrown.  Since this is the bathroom that most house guests use I really want to make it an adult space.  (Check out my pinterest account for my bathroom inspiration!!)

3. Do something with the EMPTY dining room – The fact that this room is empty is a big step from 3 months ago (We had a big yard sale and got rid of several big pieces of furniture from our college days), but now we don’t really know what we’d like to do with it.  I’m not keen on buying actual formal dining room furniture, so I’m hoping that we will grow into using this room, it has the potential for an office or a playroom.  I would like to at least have a plan for this room or a door so that we hide our empty room shame!

4. Buy a new fridge  – The refrigerator is a big purchase that we will definitely be making within the year, while we still have the income/savings to justify it.

5. Dog proof the back patio – We’ve talked about either a fence around the patio or a fenced dog kennel within our fenced in back yard as a place to keep the dogs.  Our dogs (two big bloodhounds) are super friendly, but maybe a little boisterous for small children so we’d like a way for our family to enjoy the backyard sans-dogs.

So those are the five big things on my list not including the nursery and baby-proofing the house.  They sound reasonable to me so let’s hope that we can start checking these things off!

Five Interesting Facts about Folic Acid

With all of the research I have been doing lately I’ve learned a lot about folic acid so I thought I would share the 5 most interesting facts I’ve come across.

1. Folic acid can only help prevent Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) during the first weeks of pregnancy, usually before a woman even knows she’s pregnant.  Therefore all women who are sexually active and of child-bearing age should consume folic acid every day.
2. Folic Acid is essential for the health of men’s sperm.  A folate-rich diet can reduce the risk of chromosomal defects in sperm cells.  Folate is vital for producing DNA molecules that encode genetic information within the cells.
3. Folic acid from supplements and fortified products is absorbed easier by the body (100% from supplements).
4. Folic Acid is primarily stored in the liver, so alcohol interferes with absorption and increases the excretion of the vitamin from the body.
5. Raw spinach has the highest amount of folate out of any other vegetable.

Folic Acid – Breakfast

Breakfast 10-30

I don’t normally buy the tiny Simply Orange bottles, but it was adorable and begging me to take it’s picture!

• 6oz Simply Orange Juice = 68 mcg (half of the bottle pictured)
• 1 Cup Multi-Grain Cheerios = 400 mcg

Total Folic Acid = 468 mcg out of 400 mcg to 800 mcg

Estimated Calories for Breakfast = Approximately 193 Calories

The Multi-Grain Cheerios with 100% of your recommended folic acid per serving is definitely an easy choice to add into your daily routine.  I had a cup of dry cereal for breakfast everyday last week and it left me feeling full until lunch time.

Folic Acid – Breakfast for Dinner

Dinner 10-27

Tonight we had breakfast for dinner with a little something green to balance it out.  My husband made his famous toad in the holes (which are much prettier than the ones that I attempt to make).

• 2 Slices Soft Oatmeal Bread = 64 mcg of Folic Acid
• 2 Scrambled Eggs = 132 mcg of Folic Acid
• 1/2 Cup Cooked Asparagus = 122 mcg of Folic Acid
• 3 Slices Center Cut Bacon

Total Folic Acid for dinner = 318 mcg out of a recommended 400 mcg to 800 mcg per day.

Total calories for dinner = Approx. 525 calories

The folic acid in the bread that I usually buy was a bonus too!

Folic Acid – Dinner

Dinner 10-25

Grilled Chicken Nachos

My husband wanted to grill chicken and I wanted to cook something with beans, so this was our compromise.

• 3/4 Cup Black Beans = 36 mcg of Folic Acid (I thought there was more folic acid in black beans, I need to read the labels more carefully next time).
• 1/2 Avocado = 60 mcg of Folic Acid
• 1/4 Cup Shredded Cheese
• 3 oz Grilled Chicken
• 1 Whole Wheat Tortilla, Baked
• 2 Tbsp Green Onions = 2 mcg of Folic Acid
• 1.5 Tbsp Ranch Dressing
• 2 Tbsp Mild Salsa

Total Folic Acid for dinner = 98 mcg out of a recommended 400 mcg to 800 mcg per day.

Total calories for dinner = Approx. 675 calories

After reading the label for the can of beans I realized that I bought black soy beans instead of black beans, so this meal should have had about 100 mcg more of Folic Acid than it did.  So if I had read the labels more carefully this meal would have contained almost 200 mcg or about 1/3 of the recommended daily amount for women who are pregnant or trying to conceive.

Folic Acid – Lunch

Lunch 10-25

I packed this the night before with some leftover bacon from dinner.  Bacon & ranch on a salad is kind of cheating, but at least I’m getting those leafy greens!

• Two Slices Centercut Bacon
• 1 Cup Baby Spinach = 58 mcg of Folic Acid
• 1 Tbsp Croutons
• 1/2 Cup Carrots = 12 mcg of Folic Acid
• 1/2 Cup Broccoli = 29 mcg of Folic Acid
• 1.5 Tbsp Ranch Dressing
• 3/4 Cup Seedless Grapes
• 1 Cheese Stick
• 1 Banana (not pictured) = 24 mcg
• 5 Wheat Crackers (not pictured)

Total Folic Acid for lunch = 123 mcg out of a recommended 400 mcg to 800 mcg per day.

Total calories for lunch = Approx. 550 calories

Intro to Folic Acid

One of the most important things that you can do for your baby before they are conceived is to make sure that you and your spouse are getting enough folic acid either through prenatal vitamins or from your diet.  Folic acid can reduce certain birth defects of the brain and spinal cord by more than 50 percent. These birth defects are called neural tube defects (NTDs) and can happen when the spinal cord fails to close properly.

Folic acid can also be called folate or folacin while looking on nutrition labels.  The daily recommended serving of folic acid is 400 mcg. For a woman who is pregnant or trying to conceive the recommended intake is between 600 and 800 mcg. I also had to look up what mcg meant!

400 mcg (micrograms) = .4 mg (milligrams)

When I first started to do some research on what foods contain folic acid, most of what I was coming up with was a vague “eat more leafy greens”.  I wanted to know which leafy greens and exactly how much I needed to eat in order to get the recommended amount. Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to go over examples of how I am incorporating more folic acid into my diet during breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack time.

Walgreens Prenatal Vitamins

One thing that I should have mentioned last week is that I have been taking a prenatal vitamin for about  the last six weeks.  I bought one of the cheapest vitamins that I could find at Walgreens, because I really didn’t know what to look for in a vitamin aside from folic acid.

Typical Week in Review

Here’s a recap of what I was supposed to be eating everyday:

Grains: 6-8 oz a Day
Fruits: 2 Cups a Day
Vegetables: 2 ½ to 3 Cups a Day
Meats & Beans: 5 ½ to 6 ⅙ Ounces a Day
Dairy: 3 Cups a Day
Oils: 6 to 8 Teaspoons a Day
Discretionary Calories 165 to 360 a Day

So let’s see what I averaged each day:

Grains: 4oz a Day
Fruits: 0.75 Cups a Day
Vegetables: 0.60 Cups a Day
Meat & Beans: 4.7oz a Day
Dairy: 2.4 Cups a Day
Oils: 4.3 Teaspoons a Day

Discretionary Calories:  I didn’t really keep track of these, but there were days where I went well above 360 calories per day, especially if I had soda or french fries.

I’m under in every category, which makes sense when you consider that this guide is based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet and I’ve only been eating around 1,500 calories per day.   All the same, I need to be eating more fruits and vegetables.  I think a good goal for next week would be to have at least one fruit and one vegetable per day.  That’s still less than I should be eating, but at least it will be more than I had last week.  I plan on making a lot of small changes to my diet as I learn more about what good pregnancy nutrition looks like.