Eat This, Not That When You're Expecting

Everyone says, when you're pregnant, you're eating for two. But I wrote this book because I want to change that thinking. I want you to eat for you. What do I mean by that? My patients know. As an OB/GYN with a full-time practice-not to mention in my roles as Chief Women's Health Correspondent at ABC News, and as co-host of The Doctors-it's my mission to deliver the most accessible, up-to-date and action- able information to ensure you stay healthy during your pregnancy, and deliver a beautiful, bouncy bundle of joy at the end. (And I've delivered more than 1,500 of them!) That means you'll need to know the essential vitamins and key nutrients your little one needs to grow, and which foods stave off defects, gestational diabetes, and other complications. And it means you should ask your OB/GYN or midwife to join you in learning, so you can work together to control your nutrition. With 66% of reproductive-age women overweight or obese, the need to combat unhealthy and uninformed eating is a responsibility we all share. But "eating for you" also means being practical. Because I know you're more than just a mom-to-be. You're a mom-to-be who's got a thousand other jobs, from career woman to budding chef to amateur yogi to professional Pinstagrammer and possibly, maybe, if you have 5 minutes left, wife (and perhaps you're a mom already, in which case, you know what I mean). No matter how you spend your time, chances are you don't have much of it-and certainly don't want to spend the next nine months measuring the folate counts in every box of cereal, or starving on your next road trip because Burger King doesn't serve kale. You need nutrition. And you need it now. And although cooking your own food is the surest way to maintain a healthy diet, you probably can't do so every day for the next nine months. That's why I wrote Eat This, Not That! When You're Expecting, the only book of its kind by a doctor qualified to talk about nutrition, physiology, and disease-who will also tell you what to do the next time you're at the salad bar, in the yogurt aisle, or at Mickey D's. Because, let's be honest, momma's gonna crave a little Mickey D's. And she's going to need clean energy, too. That's why I'll also tell you how delicious wild salmon, fresh and creamy smoothies, and time-saving foods like rotisserie chicken or frozen meals can be essential building blocks for healthy trimesters. In the end, you'll discover not just what to eat, but how to enjoy the foods you love. You'll eat for you, while nourishing baby, too.

Jennifer Ashton, M.D., is a board-certified OB/GYN, the chief women's health correspondent at ABC News, and co-host of The Doctors. As founder of Hygeia Gynecology, she is newly board-certified in obesity medicine, and will receive a master's degree in nutrition from Columbia University-the only OB/GYN of note to have both highly lauded credentials. She lives in New Jersey with her husband-a physician-and two children. This is her third book.