I recently had a baby (my little blue bundle of joy) and this topic is very important to me. I gained over 70lbs with my daughter because I believed I COULD eat whatever I wanted, I was pregnant. I was told “Oh you are eating for two” or I would say “I’m craving ice cream” and it would be ok if I ate a pint of ice cream. Why do we think that once we are pregnant with a baby our nutrition changes? It doesn’t change, yes we will have to eat more but you will be surprised at exactly how little you have to add to your diet once you get that double line, pregnant read out or a positive on your blood test.
It is time to stop using “I’m eating for two” excuse to eat whatever we want!
First, when pregnant you only need 300 extra calories a day when pregnant. That is not eating for two, infact it is only for one and one fifth. Think about how little babies eat when they are born (an ounce or two), they aren’t eating a big ol’ 10oz steak.
As far as meats, you should only be eating 5 ½ to 6 ½ oz A DAY.
Grains you should be at 6 to 8 oz A DAY.
Fruits 2 cups A DAY.
Vegetables 2 ½ to 3 cups A DAY.
Dairy 3 cups A DAY.
Oils 6 to 8 TEASPOONS A DAY.
That is not a huge change from an already healthy lifestyle. I know we want the best for our children. We get them the best cribs, swings, carseats, ext; we should also be giving them the best nutritional start.
Babycenter is a huge sorce of information. They have menu planned out by trimester and examples how much food is in each food group.
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/nutrition/meal-planners-by-trimester/
http://www.babycenter.com/0_meal-planning-duri
ng-pregnancy_1352495.bc?page=3
Another thing that gets us is cravings. We like to put a food with the craving. For example; if you are craving something sweet you would say “I’m craving ice cream”. There are so many more nutritional foods we could eat that are sweet that is NOT Ice cream.
Yogurt covered banana chips where a life saver for those sweet cravings. Also red grapes, pink lady apples, bananas and rice yogurt are all sweet bu
t good for you alternatives to candy, chocolate or ice cream.
A great website for cravings and what they mean is:
http://www.the-parenting-magazine.com/tag/pregnan
cy-cravings/
And finally, exercise!
Yes, it is true you shouldn’t go out and do Insanity or marathons once you find out you are pregnant. However, exercise is very important dur
ing pregnancy. Not only can keeping in shape been shown to help with labor, it can help with the recovery process, give you more energy and fight off excess weight gain.
I believe walking the gold star of exercising. You don’t need training as you have been doing it for most of your life. It is free as you only need to go outside and find a sidewalk. It is low impact and won’t hurt you or the baby.
Swimming can work wonders for those with hip or back problems during pregnancy. The water makes you weightless, swimming works your whole body and is refreshing no matter what time of the year it is (as long as your indoors during the colder months).
If you are already active you can still jog or run. But you need to listen to your body, now is not to time to add on extra miles.
I found yoga a blessing during my last pregnancy. It is gentle stretching that works on breathing and your core. Just remember your around your pelvic area are looser (getting ready to birth a baby).
You can also do dance to get your heart rate going,
Pilates which has a lot of techniques of yoga and low impact aerobics. More and more places are offering prenatal workouts, just keep your eye out for them!
If that is not your cup of tea, there are tons of at home DVDs for prenatal exercises.
But as always, keep yourself hydrated! Listen to your body, if you are getting over heated take a breather and sit down and cool off. Replace those calories, smartly. And did I mention, keep yourself hydrated?! If not, water is your bestfriend! It does wonders for that “pregnancy glow”, keeps your body clear of toxins, and the baby loves it.
I hope those that are pregnant or are thinking about it finds this helpful. I wish someone would have smacked that ice cream out of my hand when I was pregnant with Savannah. It took me YEARS to get that weight off, and all because I fell into the “you are eating for two” trap. With my son, I gained 18lbs total. It can be done.
