Weight Gain During Pregnancy
When you are pregnant, you are NOT fat; you are pregnant. Think about it: You are increasing your blood supply by up to fifty percent to nourish this fetus you have taken responsibility for. Your blood supply carries nutrients and also essential oxygen to your growing baby. Blood is water and water is heavy, hence you gain water weight. You are gaining extra pounds in breast tissue, a growing uterus, a heavy placenta and you are adding the weight of the baby to the scales, as well. A pregnancy is an event of growth of tissues and fluids and that makes the numbers on the scale go up. It’s not fat!!
However, you do not eat for two when we are pregnant. You don't double our calories, but only increase them from 100-300 per day while pregnant. Choose calories very wisely to provide yourself and your baby with the proper nutrients and fluids to prevent yourself from becoming fat, and also to ensure that the baby is getting what he/she needs. It's even better if you get what you need too. You're going to be a mother and will need super strength! White, unprocessed sugars and starches are not good choices, ever. Fiber rich whole grains and fruits and vegetables ideally with the skin (forget banana skins and kiwi skins) intact are good choices for carbohydrates. Not donuts or white breads, white rice or white potatoes. Juice is a tasty fluid, but it is full of sugar, high-fructose corn syrups and no fiber. Vegetables are always the best choice for carbohydrates. You get too eat a lot more, and they are full of fiber. Go for the really colorful ones, so you are covered in the antioxidant department. Good fluids are water (even seltzer, with carbonation and Crystal Light) and fruit 2O and Propel, not sodas with sugar or juices with corn syrup. Remember that you need sixty-four ounces of water, in one form or another, to make up for the increase in blood volume during pregnancy. Eat lean meats like chicken without the skin (not bologna and sausages). Olive oil may appear high in calories on the bottle label, but it's good fat, like safflower and canola. Dairy products all come in non-fat versions, which can save you calories and reduce animal fats for cardiovascular fitness as well.
Recent studies suggest that two-thirds of all pregnant women are overweight and one-third are obese, as is a gross majority of the population, adults and children. Assess your BMI, and know that guidelines have changes for weight gain in pregnancy. If you are underweight with a BMI< 18.5, then total weight gain for you should be between 28 and 40 pounds. If you are of normal pre-pregnant weight with a BMI of 18.5-24.9 then gain 25-35 pounds. Overweight women with a BMI of 25.0 -29-9 should shoot for 15-25 pounds and women who are obese with a BMI of>30, then 11-20 additional pounds should be the goal for the total pregnancy and that accounts for the fluids and the breast tissue, placenta and baby.
If you exercise, you get to eat more calories (good ones). If you exercise you feel better, look better, have more energy, sleep better and ideally are more fit to handle labor, delivery and post partum recovery.
In a perfect world and a perfect pregnancy, you want to start out at a healthy weight, so you may want to remember that it's a good idea to consider preconception weight and loose those extra five pounds before you conceive. This encourages very positive implications and benefits for the mom and her baby. Eat well, exercise, reduce bad fats and white, refined sugars and starches (carbs). Be well and have a nice, healthy (and not so fat) baby, baby.
