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For those who are pregnant, traditional weight gain and loss ideas should go out the window. No more dieting techniques to suppress your appetite! You can’t afford to start a weight-loss diet during your pregnancy.
It is important that your diet consists of healthy foods while you are pregnant so that your growing baby can get all of the nutrients that he or she needs while in the critical development stages. Everything that goes into your mouth is also processed by your little one, and so it is very important that you are getting enough nutrients to provide for the both of you. Taking a prenatal vitamin every day can also help to ensure that you are getting all of the proper nutrients!
Rather than decreasing your dietary needs, you need to increase your daily calorie intake by about 300. On average, that is how many calories your growing baby will need to take in after the first trimester every day. So after the first 3 months you need to make sure that you are achieving these goals in order to have the healthiest pregnancy possible.
If you are overweight, it is important that you try to lose your excess weight before pregnancy. After you are pregnant it is too late to start losing weight because you are not only depriving yourself of nourishment and calories, but also your growing baby. If you become pregnant before you can reach your target weight goal, then put the dieting on hold until after the baby arrives, and if you would like to breastfeed, you will have to wait until you are done with that too (but don’t worry, breastfeeding is a MAJOR calorie burner and it will help you to get rid of the baby fat very quickly!)
To see if you are on target for your weight gain, just check out a pregnancy weight tracker. By staying in the healthy range, you are less likely to risk the health of yourself and your baby.
Some pregnant women will lose weight, especially during the 1st trimester, thanks to morning sickness, but this weight loss shouldn’t be intentional. If you aren’t gaining weight on track during your pregnancy, talk to your doctor so that you can figure out what to do in order to stay as healthy as possible!
So cool! Thanks.