Planning ahead when it comes to food could mean the difference between making wise choices and making irrational choices. It helps us learn how to undo our bad habits and being pregnant is a great time to try and change any bad habits you may have. The best way to break bad habits and to form new ones is to plan ahead and then begin practicing the good habits you decided to have.

Plan for snack attacks especially if you’re not going to be home and are working. Make sure you take some healthy food with you to work so that you can resist the temptation of going to the vending machine and taking getting a candy bar. Throw some nuts or packs of cheese and crackers into your purse in case hunger that hits you through the day.

Always make a list, and stick to the list, when grocery shopping. Many people discover that when they go to the supermarket with just a rough idea of what they need they usually wind up forgetting something important or they wind up buying much more than they needed! Take a few minutes to plan your meals for the week and buy what you need, and only what you need, for the meals (and snacks) you planned.

Speaking of planning meals, that is an excellent way for you to take control of your eating habits. Plan for meals you can realistically prepare. Don’t plan for meals that you don’t have the time to prepare. Don’t plan meals with new and untried recipes or unusual ingredients. You’re only going to stress yourself out.  Look for recipes that are easy and quick to make. Don’t try to make something where you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients and need to shop at a gourmet cooking store. Especially if you work, whether part time or full time. The last thing you want to do is come home after a long day and then frustrate yourself with a complicated recipe.

Also, planning your meals out for the week tends to help you be a little more organized for the week. It’s no secret that pregnant women tend to forget things and this is due to their changing hormone levels. Taking the time to plan your meals for the week will help you stay a little organized and save you a lot of time…and money. If you already know what you’re making for dinner, you don’t have to worry about coming home after a long day and standing in front of the fridge trying to decide what to make. And with meal planning, it’s easy to prepare raw foods and store them in the refrigerator so that all you need to do is take out the storage containers, mix a bit of this and that, then add a meat and cook.

You also want to make sure that get yourself into the habit of using vegetables as your main dish. Instead of doing chicken breast with a side salad, make your salad your main dish and the chicken breast a side one. Whenever possible, buy your vegetables as fresh as possible, even if that means making two trips to the grocery store during the week. The fresher the vegetable, the better they are for you and your baby. The same holds true for fruit. Keep plenty of fruit on hand, especially if you tend to crave sweet stuff throughout your pregnancy. Instead of reaching for a candy bar, you can reach for a piece of fruit dipped in yogurt.

Planning ahead for the week or month will help you stay on track with your eating and decrease the risk of you making the wrong choice if a craving should hit you.