How to Put on a Healthy Weight During Pregnancy
Many new mothers worry excessively about the weight factor when dealing with their first pregnancy. Well, first of all, let’s face it ladies – you will put on weight during pregnancy. It is a totally natural thing; you just need to accept it.
While pregnant, you carry the baby’s weight, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid. Also, your body grows to adapt to the fetus: your womb’s weight increases, your blood volume rises, your breasts grow, and you store more fat to preserve energies. All of this doesn’t take into account the extra fluids that your body produces in those long nine months.
This means that after you give birth you could weight 12/13 kilos more than you did before. This of course varies according to your weight and height. Don’t be scared! You can lose them after it’s all over, if you eat sensibly before the big day.
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The two golden rules: you don’t have to eat for two and you are not on a diet.
In order to provide your baby with the necessary nutrients, you only need between 100 and 300 extra calories a day. Not more and not less.
Don’t starve yourself dreaming to see no difference in your body shape once out of the delivery room, but don’t even think that your every meal should look like an all-you-can-eat-menu from the Chinese downtown. Balance ladies, balance is the key.
Healthy weight comes from healthy food. D’uh!
Yup. Simple as that. Eat a bit more, but eat the good stuff. Your diet should be balanced. Carbohydrates such as pasta, potatoes and rice should constitute about a third of your daily intake. The same is true for fruit and vegetables – eat your five a day and even more if you can.
Don’t forget to incorporate some meat, fish, eggs, and pulses in your diet – proteins are much needed for a healthy body development. And of course, you shouldn’t skip dairy either.
Slow and steady is the way.
Gaining weight slowly and steadily is the best way to stay healthy. Don’t get obsessed with the scale and check too often how much weight you’re gaining. Just make sure there are no sudden increases or drops by weighing yourself once a week.
And what about those crazy cravings?
Waking up in the middle of the night in December craving for strawberries, chocolate, and cream accompanied by a glass of champagne can happen to any pregnant woman. But how to deal with these episodes?
Experts have different opinions on cravings – some think they are due to hormones, some to a shortage of vitamin B, or body weakness. However, they agree on one thing: pay attention to your cravings, but don’t necessarily give into them.
You don’t necessarily need to have that giant triple chocolate cookie or half of that Victoria sponge cake. Your baby definitely doesn’t. Junk food has very low nutrients, so it will only help you increase weight.
Some doctors believe that a hug, or some attention, is possibly all you need. This is because you don’t feel emotionally content. So why don’t you try that next time?
About the author: Elena Manighetti blogs for Courthouse Clinics, the leading UK-based cosmetic chain with years of experience in the diet and nutrition sector.
