Many pregnant women often wonder how much weight they should gain during the duration of their pregnancy? Most doctors and midwives recommend that most healthy moms gain between 25 to 35 pounds. The term “eating for two” is a common phase that pregnant women use, when in fact most women only need to eat only a small amount of additional calories a day. Doctors are now recommending that pregnant women only eat an additional 300 to 500 calories extra a day. Instead, many women are consuming far too many calories a day and packing on excessive weight during pregnancy.
Disclosure: This post is for informational purposes only. All opinions in this post are my own.
Avoid Excessive Weight Gain
Women who pack on to many pounds during pregnancy, often times they will have a hard time losing the baby weight after the baby is born. Extra weight can decrease a women’s confidence and leave them feeling unhappy or depressed. It is hard enough to care for an infant without worrying about losing an excessive amount of weight. By following a few simple guidelines, you can easily prevent excessive weight gain.
Eat a Balanced Diet
Eating a healthy balanced diet is crucial to ensure that your baby is getting the right amount of nutrients. You can use the healthy diet chart, to help make sure that you are eating foods from each of the 4 food groups. Many people are eating too much of a particular food group leading to excessive weight gain.
- Sparingly eat foods containing – salt, fat, oil, sugar
- 2-3 Servings – Meats or Meat Alternatives
- 2-4 Servings – Fruits and Vegetables
- 5-7 Servings – Grains, Rice, Pastas
Incorporate an Exercise Program
Pregnancy isn’t the time to start a new workout routine. However, exercising during pregnancy is beneficial for both mom and baby. Walking or swimming is a great way to relieve stress and burn calories. Before you decide to start an exercise program, please consult your physician first. If you are used to a higher intensity workout before you found out that you were pregnant, some women can continue their same exercise routine as long as its not too strenuous or potentially harmful for your or your baby. Again, check with your doctor to find out what he or she is comfortable with you doing.
Use Moderation When Indulging in Cravings
During the course of your pregnancy, you may find yourself craving certain foods. You shouldn’t restrict yourself from indulging and eating your cravings; however, you should limit the portion size. Instead of eating a whole pint of ice cream, limit yourself to one or two scoops. Moderation still allows you to still indulge in your cravings while maintaining a healthy weight gain. I found that if I restricted myself from certain foods or cravings that the craving would continue until I gave into it, then by the time I would finally give into it I would over-indulge.
Originally published November 27, 2012
Photo Credit: Pixabay
How did you avoid gaining excessive weight during your pregnancy? If you gained too much, what advice do you have for an expecting mother?
Comments
4 responses to “Tips to Avoid Excessive Weight Gain While Pregnant”
I know better than to comment about a woman’s weight gain, especially when she’s preggo and hormones are all wonky…
I’ve been through that before and I know how hard it is to shed those extra pounds. There are many exercise and support groups that pregnant women can join nowadays to keep their weight gain within the normal range.
I gain a lot of pounds when I was preggo. I workout to death to shed all the pounds a few months after giving birth.
This is a really important topic. A lot of women think that because they’re pregnant, it’s an excuse to eat whatever they want whenever they want, but that kind of thinking can actually put your health at risk. Eating well-balanced meals is just as important, if not more-so, when you’re pregnant. Thanks for tackling this topic.