Subscribe & Save 5% now + get Free Ground Beef with every order over $149 Learn more HERE

Preparing for Pregnancy in Everyday Eating

written by

Sierrah Holderbaum

posted on

January 8, 2025

Okay, let's be real: preparing your body for pregnancy is one of those things nobody really talks about because it instantly gets awkward. Honestly, it doesn't have to be! For me, it's not about hyper fixating on charts and temperature-taking, but rather being intentional with what I eat now so my body feels strong, supported, and ready whenever that time comes.

If you've ever wondered, "How do I prepare my body for pregnancy naturally?" then you're at the exact spot I am on my journey.

Hi! I'm Sierrah. My family has been sharing our journey with food and farming through ZOE Farms for the past couple years. Our mission is to heal our relationships with land and animals, and share that healing through to food it produces. I'm here to share my story of healing and preparing my own body... My husband I have been married for over a year now, and we are looking forward to having kids together. I've been researching about the importance of prenatal health, and I hope to help other women find empowerment in living their healthiest and happiest lives.

Here are the everyday habits I've been building around food over the past couple months as I near pregnancy...

  1. Building my meals around balance. I've always been a big meat eater, so eating enough protein has never been an issue. Veggies, however, are a different story. I've been far more intentional with eating a well-rounded diet. Trying to work with seasonal veggies from the farm can be a challenge, but I've supplemented with my own homemade juices to be sure I'm getting the proper micronutrients and antioxidants. This looks different for everyone, but ensuring you're getting enough of what your body needs is going to set you up for success in the future.
  2. Getting excited about cooking. Using the foods that we grow here at the farm is just half of the story. Getting excited to cook good meals is the other half. My husband and I have made it a fun challenge to integrate certain foods like our Ancestral Blend Ground Beef into our meals at least once a week to get the benefits of organ meat. (It seems like a pasta meat sauce is by far the best way to mask any weird flavor). We also love trying a variety of culture's foods with some of our favorite meals being Greek or Asian inspired.
  3. Eating enough. This one is so important. It can be tough for a lot of women because under-eating is so normalized that we barely recognize we're doing it. I never used to eat three full meals (just breakfast and dinner) and now I bring a full lunch to the farm every day. Taking ten minutes to sit, mindfully eat, and slow down while working is also a wonderful reset for any stress held up in my body. I try to keep lunch very low-carb so I don't experience an afternoon crash.

A normal day of eating looks something like this:

Breakfast: Two eggs on sourdough toast with a glass of my homemade greens juice

Lunch: Leftover Ancestral Spaghetti from dinner the night before

Snack: Kimchi (homemade is best using the Napa Cabbage from the farm!)

Dinner: Greek Arayes with a Salad and Roasted Potatoes

I am so happy that so many of our farm supporters are young mothers or women looking to better their health through regeneratively raised food. Women who are supporting their families with the finest food land has to offer, and shaping the next generation. Food is the basis of life, and to create life, we must first eat the food that heals and strengthens us. 

More from the blog

Driving Deeper: Regenerative Farming Below the Soil

Driving Deeper: Regenerative Farming Below the Soil

Regenerative Farming Starts Underground People often ask what I’m most passionate about when it comes to farming. The answer surprises them. It’s not cattle genetics. It’s not the business. It’s not even livestock management I love all of these aspects of what we do, but my deepest passion is soil food web biology. Because that’s where regenerative farming actually begins. It's the foundation from which everything else is built.  If the biology in the soil is broken, nothing above ground will truly thrive. You can put animals on pasture, rotate them beautifully, and use all the right buzzwords—but if the living system underground isn’t functioning properly, the whole thing is mostly optics. Real regenerative agriculture starts with the biological economy inside the soil. This only exists in healthy, well managed land. Microbes are eating, or being eaten. When this cycle is functioning well, the plant's ability to create more energy from photosynthesis put on turbo-charge!  The Soil Economy The easiest way to understand soil biology is through economics. Think of soil like a functioning marketplace. Plants are the primary investors. Through photosynthesis, they convert sunlight into sugars. A large portion of those sugars—sometimes 20–40% of what the plant produces—is released into the soil through the roots. Those sugars are the currency of the soil economy. They feed bacteria and fungi living around the roots. In return, those microbes perform services the plant cannot do alone. They mine nutrients from minerals, break down organic matter, and transport nutrients and water through microscopic fungal networks. But the economy doesn’t stop there. Protozoa and beneficial nematodes graze on those microbes. When they consume bacteria and fungi, they release nutrients—especially nitrogen—in plant-available forms right where the plant needs them - when the plant needs them. This constant cycle of investment, trade, and consumption is what scientists call the soil food web. And when that biological economy is functioning well, plants gain access to a much broader spectrum of nutrients than they could ever pull from soil on their own. The Difference Between Slogans and Proof There’s a lot of talk about regenerative farming right now. Pasture photos. Buzzwords. Marketing slogans. But real regenerative agriculture requires something more. Measurement. On our farm, we don’t just put cattle and chickens out on pasture and assume everything is working the way it should. We monitor the biology underground. That means taking soil samples and putting them under a microscope to look directly at the organisms that drive the soil food web—bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and other microscopic life. It’s the difference between guessing and knowing. When you can actually see the biological community in the soil, you can tell whether the ecosystem is functioning or whether something is missing. That crosses the line from marketing language into hard biological evidence. Bulk DNA Analysis has been performed on the biological extracts we are applying to our land. This is hard proof confirmation that we are effectively inoculating our soils with tens of thousands of different species of microbes Healing Relationships with Land and Animals Our farm’s mission is simple: “As farmers, we seek to heal our relationships with land and animals. We share this healing with our patrons through the food it produces.” That healing begins with this soil food web economy. When the soil food web is functioning properly, nutrients cycle efficiently. Plants grow stronger. Pastures become more resilient to drought and stress. Animals grazing those pastures receive a more complete nutritional profile from the plants they consume. The result is healthier animals and more resilient land. And the food produced from that system? That’s the byproduct. That's why "we share this healing with our patrons through the food it produces" is the second part of our mission.  When soil biology improves, nutrient density often follows because the plants—and the animals eating those plants—are operating within a healthier biological system. This is a soil sample under a microscope at 400X. The long strand is a fungal strand known as hypha. The bacteria are smaller, round, somewhat translucent. We actually review samples of our soil to be sure the correct micro organisms are present in the right ratios to ensure the soil food web is functioning properly.  Raising the Bar on Regenerative Farming The word “regenerative” is being thrown around a lot these days. Sometimes it’s used meaningfully. Oftentimes,  it’s used as a slogan. I’m committed to something deeper. For regenerative agriculture to mean anything, it has to be grounded in biological function, not just good intentions. That’s why this year I’ve made a decision that reflects where our priorities truly are. I've set in motion a plan to reinvest the majority of profits this season into a comprehensive soil improvement program spanning more than 400 acres of land under our management. This includes detailed biological soil analysis, targeted strategies to strengthen the soil food web, and management practices designed to support the long-term health of the entire ecosystem. When the biological economy underground is functioning well, everything above ground explodes with productivity and resilience. The Foundation of Everything We Produce At the end of the day, regenerative farming isn’t defined by labels. It’s defined by whether the land is actually getting healthier. Whether the soil biology is becoming more diverse. Whether the ecosystem is becoming more resilient year after year. That’s the work I’m committed to. That's where I'm directing the majority of our investment this season.  It's not flashy, fancy or romantic -- but it's where regenerative farming truly begins and ends.  Driving deeper - that's where I'll be. ☀️ Dustin

Read more
Return To Top
Privacy Policy