Dieting while you’re pregnant

If you’re very overweight, you may wonder whether it’s safe to diet while you’re pregnant. You want a healthy baby and a safe delivery, so you need to be guided by your doctor’s advice at this important time.

The nutritional requirements for the unborn child are not for a lot of calories but are for highly nutritious foods. Most women only need to increase their caloric intake by about 300 calories for the growth and development of the baby.

There are some high risk pregnancies that will require different nutritional amounts such as extremely obese women, teen mothers, underweight women and women with medical conditions such as diabetes. These women will need to be closely monitored by their physician and may even want to see a registered dietician for nutritional counseling and advice on dieting while pregnant.

Eating well, and losing weight while you’re pregnant

Here’s some general idea of your eating plan: you need to increase your protein intake. You can eat one or two extra servings daily of lean read meat, poultry, lamb or pork, eggs, or a combination of beans and rice.

You’ll also need to make sure and eat enough fruits and vegetables. One way to do this is to use these foods as snacks during the day. Raw carrots and other vegetables are great to munch on and provide key vitamins for the growth and development of the child. Of course, a woman also needs to increase her milk intake and make sure and eat enough whole grain foods. A woman should avoid eating foods that are high in calorie but have little nutritional value.

Dieting while pregnant must be focused on eating foods that are high in nutritional value. This focus will enable to child to develop normally and will improve the mother’s health while she is pregnant and leading up to the birth and breastfeeding of the infant.

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