Weight gain during pregnancy is the most important aspect that may concern most of us. The mere thought of shedding pregnancy weight after delivery may discourage us from conceiving. However, a little planning and watching what you eat may help you control the weight gain and also encourage you to embrace this bundle of joy in life without too many worries.
It is important to gain weight during pregnancy; if you deprive yourself of essential nutrition, you may end up delivering an underweight, undernourished baby with low immunity levels.
First of all, before trying to find out how much weight you need to gain during pregnancy, you need to consider how much you weighed before pregnancy and the appropriate weight with regards to your height. In other words, the relationship between your height and weight is calculated by way of the body mass index or BMI.
If you were between 18 and 25 pounds, gaining one to three pounds in the first trimester and one pound every trimester is the ideal weight to gain. However, if you were underweight, then you must gain 28 to 40 pounds through your entire pregnancy. If you were overweight, then you must not gain more than 11 to 20 pounds during your pregnancy.
If you are pregnant with twins, then you should gain 37 to 54 pounds if you had a healthy weight, 31 to 50 pounds if you were underweight, and 25 to 42 pounds if you were overweight.
In spite of being pregnant, you can avoid excess weight gain during pregnancy. Maintain a balanced and well-planned diet. Check with your doctor if you can follow a moderate exercise regime during your pregnancy. People may persuade you to eat for two during your pregnancy. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to eat twice the amount that you usually do. This means you need to eat small and frequent meals. The concept of eating for two is just a myth. In fact, during pregnancy, your body becomes more efficient and absorbs more nutrients than usual.
Avoid oily and junk food. Stay away from fatty food as it is zero nutrition food and will do you more harm than good. Keep an eye on your weight gain. In case you feel that you have gained more pounds in a single week, and then look back at your diet. Watching what you eat is the key to ensure that you do not gain unnecessary weight during pregnancy.
Make sure that you have a balanced and healthy diet. Seek the advice of your doctor, and follow a moderate exercise regime to manage weight gain during pregnancy.
Submitted by P T on January 27, 2010 at 12:17