Pregnancy is a wonderful stage of a woman’s life. Undeniably, our body goes through innumerable changes both physically and mentally. It is a journey of growth and learning more about our body and its miraculous abilities. While pregnancy is a joyous phase indicating childbirth, it also introduces us to our inner strength.
We all are well aware that during pregnancy, a female body is bound to undergo a variety of hormonal changes. Without a doubt, this can have a direct impact on our behavior and food cravings. In this scenario, it is essential to stay healthy and maintain weight.
While staying fit is the top goal on everybody’s bucket list, we do not want you to take a toll on yourself and beat yourself because of society and its insane beauty standards. You do not have to cut down your weight just to fit into the perspective of the vague norms of beauty. You must understand healthy weight is extremely necessary for you and your baby’s health.
Excessive weight gain can lead to severe complications at the time of pregnancy. According to numerous types of research, women who were overweight at the time of their pregnancy had to face certain challenges like C section, premature delivery, and so forth. Thus, it becomes extremely necessary to pay extra attention to your calorie intake.
This article has covered simple tips that will help you keep your weight under control during your pregnancy. Keep in mind that this article is solely written to make people aware of the challenges of weight gain.
1. Start with drinking lots and lots of water!
Trust us, and you will need to chug a lot of water during your pregnancy, as it is extremely important to stay hydrated. This will allow your body to effectively digest and break down all the nutrients as and when required. We all know how important it is to drink water regularly. But, it becomes more essential during the pregnancy stage.
Carrying a large bottle filled with water might be of some help as this will allow you to take a sip or two of fresh water whenever you feel. Moreover, you can also infuse your water with fresh fruits like cucumber, lemons along with some herbs. This will act as a little refreshment for you.
2. You are not eating for two!
You do not have to listen to your hunger cravings now and then. You are not eating for two. So, do not listen to anyone who is giving you this advice. It is not at all justified to munch on an entire tab of oily fries or to swallow a complete ice cream tub!
Your baby surely does not need all of this unhealthy junk. And trust us, neither do you! At the time of pregnancy, our body requires healthy nutrients that must be provided from time to time. While it is essential to keep track of your food intake, we do not insist you become a calorie counter!
Adding about 300 healthy calories to your diet in the form of fruits, yogurt, and salads is more than enough. Just simply listen to your body and take a step back when you are about to binge eat on empty calories. This will be quite helpful in the long run.
3. Divide your meals and be more frequent
During pregnancy, women tend to face a lot of heartburn that is caused due to improper food cycles. As the baby grows, it gets difficult to eat larger meals. We recommend you divide your meals and increase the frequency of your food intake. Munching on nutritious snacks every 2-3 can be very beneficial.
This will help you in digesting the food properly and on time. Furthermore, it will also help to avoid overeating from time to time. Dividing your food into smaller portions will allow you to take care of proper calorie and protein intake. Moreover, your body will be able to break down these nutrients and provide essential strength to you and your baby.
Smaller meals allow you to keep your blood sugar on track. It also helps in boosting your energy levels and provides strength throughout the day.
4. Keep a check on your nutrient intake
There is no denying that during pregnancy, your body requires a lot of strength to carry out day-to-day activities. The protein requirements severely increase. Thus, you must pay extra attention to your nutrient requirements. Adding food that suffices your protein requirements is a must. Additionally, we recommend you increase your fiber intake as this will avoid the chances of being constipated. Increasing your calcium supplements is also highly recommended. Your bones need a lot of strength to provide you with adequate support throughout this phase. Thus, you must not compromise your health at all. Extra servings of your nutrition might contribute a lot to your health and pregnancy.
5. Encourage yourself to be more active
We do not recommend you to straight-up hit the gym without consulting your doctors. But, we want to encourage you to be more active. It is important that you get your body moving. Moreover, exercising a little bit can be quite beneficial in eliminating unnecessary cramps.
Joining a parental exercise or yoga class is a great way to stay healthy and active. Even if you don’t want to sign up for the long-term commitment, we recommend you include some sort of physical activity in your day-to-day lifestyle, like simply visiting escape rooms for refreshments. This will be quite helpful in the long run.
You can also incorporate some small changes that help you in increasing the movement. For example, you can simply park your car a few blocks away and cover the rest of the path by walking. Altering your daily activities to include more physical movement will allow your body to stay strong and healthy throughout your pregnancy.
Wrapping Up
Pregnancy marks a very crucial stage in a woman’s life. Unquestionably, it is extremely important to pay extra attention to our health. As the hormonal level fluctuates, our nutritional requirements also face a severe change. This leads to excessive weight gain that can result in numerous complications.
To help you avoid this situation, we have summarised the article as mentioned above. Here we have talked about easy tips that will help you avoid gaining excessive fat during pregnancy.
