It was my first trimester of pregnancy that I officially became a “snack lady”. I found myself suddenly stuffing my face on the subway, trying to offset the wave of nausea that had overcome me. I ate anything I could find at the bottom of my backpack: old almonds, a granola bar with 28 grams of sugar that caused my blood sugar to spike and me to almost pass out. I would leave a restaurant fully sated, only to be attacked by starvation a mere forty minutes later. Then I’d rush into whatever the nearest food source was - greasy pizza spot, bodega, big name mass-food chain - to most likely hurl that up another forty minutes later. The joy.

It was around that time that NOKA walked into my life. All of a sudden, I had an ally in these moments. Small and easy to fit in my bag, I carried around three each day. It didn’t matter whether I was on a business call or in a traffic jam, if my body started shouting “FEED ME!!!”, I could. Immediately. The freshness of the fruits and vegetables made it easy on the nausea, and left me feeling light but sated. The balanced recipe - plant protein, flax, brown rice - meant it delivered my body real, wholesome nutrients rather than empty calories. Trust me, when you’re pregnant you can tell the difference!

In my second trimester, “nutrient-dense foods” became my motto. Unsure of how I would ensure this when traveling, I packed a suitcase full of NOKA. In my third trimester, I began to crave fruit. My midwife said this was because of the water content. The hydration from NOKA’s fruit and vegetables was a quick and easy solve. It helped me through an August heat-wave at eight months pregnant. I know I sound like a crazy fan girl, but I even took NOKA to the hospital with me when I gave birth. That unique combination of fresh but also deeply nutritious kept me (and my partner, and my mom) going in those long hours.