What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting [Paperback]

Heidi Murkoff (Author), Sharon Mazel (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: What to Expect | Publication Date: May 2, 2005

Announcing Eating Well When You're Expecting, providing moms-to-be with a realistic approach to navigating healthily and deliciously through the nine months of pregnancy—at home, in the office, over the holidays, in restaurants. Thorough chapters are devoted to nutrition, weight gain, food safety, the postpartum diet, and how to eat when trying to conceive again. And, very exciting, the book comes with 150 contemporary, tasty, and healthy recipes that feed mom and baby well, take little time to prepare, and are gentle on queasy tummies.

A departure from its predecessor, What to Eat When You’re Expecting, which has 976,000 copies in print, Eating Well loses the whole-wheatier-than-thou attitude, and comes with a light, reader-friendly tone while delivering the most up-to-date information. At the heart of the book are hundreds of pressing questions every mother-to-be has: Is it true I shouldn’t eat any food cooked with alcohol? Will the caffeine in coffee cross into my baby’s bloodstream? Help!—I’m entering my second trimester, and I’m losing weight, not gaining. Is all sushi off limits? How do I get enough calcium if I’m lactose intolerant? I keep dreaming about a hot fudge sundae—can I indulge? Guess what: the answer is yes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For many pregnant women, eating healthy during pregnancy is a catch-22: "The reason you want to eat healthy is because you're pregnant—and the reason you're having a hard time eating healthy is also because you're pregnant," the authors explain. Morning sickness, heartburn, constipation... the list of food-related problems pregnant women can encounter goes on and on. Murkoff (What to Expect When You're Expecting) and coauthor Mazel address these difficulties in a practical manner, with numerous tried-and-true suggestions that will certainly afford some relief for the majority. The "Pregnancy Diet Daily Dozen" lists foods that provide all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients mother and child need, followed by recipes that facilitate consumption of the daily dozen. Sidebars examine "wisdom of the ages" (myths and old wives' tales that may or may not hold water), and a survey will help expectant mothers evaluate their eating habits and monitor their weight gain. The authors address concerns of pregnant women who are lactose intolerant or vegans, advise on what to order in a restaurant, list which foods are strictly off-limits and explain how to read food labels. The book continues through the postpartum period and breastfeeding, making it an excellent resource for new moms and moms-to-be. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Back Cover

How to navigate healthily and tastily from conception through delivery and beyond—at home or at the office, in restaurants or over the holidays, when you’re short on time or money, and when you’re too queasy to eat. How to satisfy your taste buds and your baby’s nutritional requirements at every meal (and in between). How to keep your weight gain on target, ease pregnancy symptoms, gratify your inner gourmet, and nourish yourself pre-pregnancy and postpartum.

Plus the latest lowdown on low carbs, vegetarian diets, caffeine, supplements, food safety, and more.

Includes 175 delicious, easy-to-prepare, and nutrition-packed recipes, developed especially for mom-to-be and her baby (but yummy enough to satisfy the whole family).

Expect to eat well!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 470 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; 1 edition (May 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761133267
• ISBN-13: 978-0761133261
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Personal Health > Women's Health > Pregnancy & Childbirth
  • #44 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Diet > Healthy
  • #68 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Vegetables & Vegetarian

More About the Author

Heidi Murkoff is the author of the What to Expect®; series and author of Eating Well When You're Expecting, The What to Expect Pregnancy Journal & Organizer, What to Expect the First Year, The What to Expect Baby-Sitter's Handbook, and the What to Expect Kids series from HarperCollins. Her interactive website is www.whattoexpect.com, and she lives with her family in Los Angeles, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing recipes, packed with info on eating healthy --without being guilt-inducing, June 27, 2005

By 

Tara D. (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting (Paperback)

Wow -- what a great book!!! I'm newly pregnant and I really want to make sure I'm eating good food for my baby, especailly since I'm so nauseous all the time. I saw this book in the bookstore and bought it... and am I glad I did. It's packed with info about nutrition during pregnancy. It's funny and it's a really easy to read book -- plus it doesn't make you feel bad if you miss a few days of eating healthy or if you eat some unhealthy food every once in a while.

The first chapter tells you why it's important to eat nutritious food. The second chapter is so great because it goes through all the pregnancy symptoms and gives advice on exactly what to do for them in terms of food. Too nauseaous to eat (my problem) -- here are some tips. What to do about the food cravings (especially when you're craving something totally unhealthy). But the best thing is that it doesn't make you feel guilty if you do crave ice cream or cake or whatever. It recognizes that sometimes the only thing I can eat is potato chips, and it doesn't make me feel like I'm hurting my baby! But it still gives you the ideal of what you should eat (there's a really funny section later on called "ideal...get real" that totally gets this point across. Plus it makes you realize you probably are eating healthy for the most aprt anyway). I love that.

The next chapter goes through weight gain and the pregnancy diet telling you what you should be eating each day. The best thing is that the book has tons of lists of different foods -- and the serving amounts -- so figuring out how much to eat is no big deal. Then there's a great chapter on being an expectant gourmet. It goes through all the different types of food that you can eat while you're pregnant. I learned so much from that chapter. Who knew there were so many different types of lettuces!

There's also stuff on what foods to avoid when you're pregnant, and how to keep your food safe. Also sections on eating while you're working with great tips on eating when you're sick, when you're traveling, and what you can eat when you're in a restuarant.

Then the best part is the recipes -- it's half the book! Totally yummy. I already made the ginger and carrot muffins (they say ginger is good for morning sickness) and the Chicken Burgers with Mango relish. The recipes are all healthy -- but so good and they totally don't taste like health food stuff-- even my husband (mr. very picky eater) thought the muffins were great. And what's great is that I was able to eat them too even with my nausea! There are so many good looking recipes, I don't know which ones to try first (I think I'm going to try the Pork Medallions with arugula and Tomatoes next).

Totally get this book if you're pregnant and want to eat healthy and eat good food. I highly recommend it and am telling all my friends to get it too! Even the non pregnant ones!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent basic nutrition guide w/ GREAT recipes!, July 12, 2006

By 

leslie "leslie53" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting (Paperback)

I took this book out of the library, but decided to buy it because I wanted to own the recipes. There is a great variety of recipes for all meals of the day and snacks. Most of the recipes are lower fat and sugar and higher fiber and protein versions of your favs. They don't elimate the bad things, but they do limit it and work in more whole grains and veggies then I normally do in my cooking.

As for the other reviewers comment about the grapes on page 82 - I can see how she got confused, but they actually say: "...;a slice of whole wheat bread, an ounce of cheddar cheese, and a half cup of grapes equals 200 calories." They are talking about how to get the most variety of vitamins in your snacks.

Many who buy this book may find the info rather simplistic, which it is. Eat a variety of highly nutritious foods. But, buy it for the recipes.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, January 31, 2006

By 

Twilight "Biblioholic" (Deutschland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting (Paperback)

Excellent book to become familiar with eating habits during pregnancy. Most of the time, I eat healthy enough, but this gave me the opportunity to see what I might be missing and how it would effect the health and development of my growing child. Highly recommended, as are all of the "What to expect" books.