5 Healthy, Easy Pregnancy Work Lunches
November 20, 2023
Wondering what to eat for lunch when pregnant? Nutrient-dense meals are important, but they become even more essential when you’re at work dealing with deadlines and energy-zapping tasks. There are many pregnancy lunch ideas that are easy to make and perfect for work meal prep.
Can I Skip Lunch During Pregnancy?
Absolutely not! Skipping meals is a pregnancy no-no. As your body is going through a ton of changes and is supporting the growth of a new person, you need a steady stream of vitamins and minerals. Also, eating every two to three hours can steady your blood sugar levels and ensure that fatigue doesn’t get you down. Work can be stressful and busy, so making sure you have enough energy is key.
The Best Energy-Boosting Foods to Eat During Pregnancy
A List of Nutrient-Rich Foods for Expecting Moms
Get the GuideIt’s not uncommon to feel exhausted or sleep-deprived during your pregnancy and postpartum period (also known as the fourth trimester). So, if you’re ready to add some energy-boosting ingredients to your daily meals, you’ll find this guide has exactly what you’ve been craving.
A peek inside:
- Energy-boosting fruits
- Vivacious vegetables
- Packed proteins: meat, seafood, dairy
- Supercharged seeds and nuts
- Life-giving leafy greens, legumes, and grains
- A few tips for other ways to naturally boost your energy that don’t include caffeine
If you’re experiencing nausea, keeping full meals down can be tough. The NHS advises eating small, frequent meals instead of a large lunch and focusing on cold foods if heating hot foods can trigger morning sickness.
From how many meals to eat to which foods to skip, this guide’s got proven tips, helpful recommendations, and mama-approved suggestions to help ease your nausea when “morning sickness” strikes.
A peek inside:
- The best way to start your day off to avoid nausea
- Recommendations for ways to split up your meals
- Tricks for staying hydrated
- Foods to skip and ingredients to indulge in to fight off nausea
- Mama-approved suggestions that help with morning sickness and make life easier
Tip: Ginger has been shown to relieve nausea, so keep some ginger tea at work.
What Should A Pregnant Person Have For Lunch?
When putting together your pregnancy weekly meal plan, focus on lean proteins, whole grains and healthy carbs, colorful fruits and veggies, as well as healthy fats.
Eating a balanced diet is an important step to having a more comfortable pregnancy and supporting the development of your baby.
“…women who eat well while they’re expecting can minimize a host of pregnancy symptoms, including morning sickness and mood swings, and are more likely to deliver on time and have a speedier postpartum recovery,” says What To Expect.
Tip: Don’t just pack a lunch for work—it’s important to also include snacks in your handbag. Think nuts, sliced fruit, veggie sticks and hummus, and nutrient-dense muffins.
When going grocery shopping for easy pregnancy lunches, include chicken breasts, leafy greens, nuts, fortified bread, cheeses, avocado, salad veggies, and grains like quinoa, rice, and barley.
What Should I Eat At Work When Pregnant?
Try these pregnancy lunch ideas! Not only are they balanced to support a healthy pregnancy, but they’re perfect to make ahead:
You Autumn Meet This Chopped Salad
You’ll get much-needed fiber from the apples, Swiss chard, and Brussels sprouts in this salad.
One of the reasons why it’s essential to have a range of vegetables in your pregnancy diet is due to fiber content. Not only does this nutrient help with energy regulation, but it’s a vital part of healthy digestive habits.
How to Relieve Constipation During Pregnancy
Dietary Remedies for Pregnancy Constipation Relief
Get the GuideConstipation can be a real pain in the butt. But luckily for you, we’ve got a whole resource that can help provide constipation relief during pregnancy. Download this guide to find out which foods will help get things moving along!
A peek inside:
- Which foods are best to avoid if you’re experiencing constipation
- Recommendations for activities to try and ingredients to buy
- A list of foods rich in magnesium (a mineral that helps relieve constipation!)
- The importance of staying hydrated
The pecans in this recipe will add protein, while the parmesan will provide you with calcium.
Store the salad and vinaigrette separately and it’ll stay fresh for a few days in the fridge. Perfect meal prep salad for work!
Get the full recipe here.
The Mother Of All Marinated Mushrooms
Mushrooms are vitamin-packed! Including this ingredient in your pregnancy lunches for work will give you folate, fiber, niacin, and vitamin D. Healthline cited a study that found eating mushrooms reduced the risks of developing gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.
Gestational Diabetes Meal Plan, Diet, and Recipes
What to Eat When You Have Gestational Diabetes During Pregnancy
Get the GuideIf you’re experiencing elevated blood sugar during your pregnancy, we’ve got you covered. From what gestational diabetes is to recommendations for foods to eat and avoid, this in-depth guide covers everything you need to know for handling gestational diabetes and keeping you and your baby as healthy as can be.
A peek inside:
- The most common questions about gestational diabetes—asked and answered
- Why gestational diabetes occurs
- How many meals a day you should be eating
- The best ways to balance starches and a list of non-starchy vegetables
- The best fats and proteins that we recommend for a gestational diabetes diet
- Ways to limit your carb intake (and why you should!)
- Examples of low carb-friendly snacks
You can marinate your mushrooms and keep them in the fridge for a week.
Get the full recipe here.
Gender Reveal Rigatoni
This pasta bake calls for cauliflower and tomatoes, both high in vitamin C. “Vitamin C is important for a healthy immune system. It also helps build strong bones and muscles. During pregnancy, you should get at least 85 mg of vitamin C each day if you are older than 19, and 80 mg if you are younger than 19,” advises The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The vitamin C will also help you absorb the iron from the parsley. Make a big batch and freeze portions for pregnancy meal prep lunches.
Get the full recipe here.
Summer Lovin’ Quinoa Salad
Need a pregnancy vegetarian meal plan? Add quinoa to your list of grocery staples! This grain is a complete protein, meaning that it contains the essential amino acids that your body can’t make on its own.
One delicious way to incorporate quinoa into your pregnancy work lunches is this salad!
The quinoa is mixed with cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, mint, and basil for a fresh lunch that keeps well in the fridge (with the dressing separate).
This recipe also calls for feta cheese, one of the best pregnancy-safe cheeses. It’s high in phosphorus, a mineral that’s involved with proper skeletal development, brain development, and digestive system functioning.
Get the full recipe here.
Morning Sickness-Friendly Chicken Barley Soup
Filled with carrots, cauliflower, fennel, Swiss chard, and chicken, this soup is the perfect healthy pregnancy meal prep for the Fall and Winter.
Barley is the grain in this recipe, an ingredient that’s high in fiber as well as magnesium.Not only can healthy magnesium levels prevent leg cramps and nausea, but this vitamin is also known to lower your blood pressure.
If you’re a mama who is experiencing high blood pressure during your pregnancy, we’ve created a guide just for you. Inside it, you’ll learn what gestational hypertension is, ways to control it, and which ingredients help reduce high blood pressure.
A peek inside:
- The difference between gestational hypertension and chronic hypertension
- Who’s most at risk
- Contributing factors that help control high blood pressure
- Lists of foods that are high in calcium, fiber, magnesium, protein, and potassium
Once cooked, freeze the soup into silicone molds for future work lunches.
Get the full recipe here.
One of the most important things you can do for your health when pregnant and working is to prep nutritious pregnancy meals and snacks. Put the above pregnancy lunch recipes into your meal plan to make your lunch breaks more healthy and delicious!
