Eating for One Too Many
Once you get pregnant, the temptation can be to see your entire life through the pregnancy lens. To some degree, this is normal and healthy. Your life is changing in a big way. But there’s also a tendency to let your pregnancy affect things negatively, and unfortunately diet is one of the areas that this often happens. There’s a lot of mythology when it comes to diet while you’re pregnant, the biggest myth being that you’re not “eating for two,” at least not in terms of volume.
Of course, you need to eat with your baby in mind. What that means is eating the right things – not eating extra. In fact, research suggests that you only need about three hundred calories more a day when you’re pregnant than you did before you were pregnant. If you were already overweight before you got pregnant, of course, this’ll be less. If you were underweight, you’ll probably need to add some more.
The point is, you don’t need to eat twice as much. Unfortunately, your appetite doesn’t always get this message. Your body is becoming more efficient during pregnancy, able to absorb and process nutrients at a rate and volume you’ve never done before.
Eating enough food for two during pregnancy means excessive weight gain. In turn, this can cause complications with your pregnancy.
Having said all of that, there are some foods you need to increase during pregnancy. You need to make sure you’re getting at least four servings of whole grains every day. You’ll need seven or more servings of fruits or veggies, and choose at least one that’s got plenty of Vitamin C and one that’s got plenty of Vitamin A. You’ll need plenty of dairy, including about three servings a day. You also need protein each day – about three servings.
The key here, really, is to eat a balanced diet, just like you should if you’re not pregnant. Control your calories, and don’t overeat. Talk to your health care provider, too, to see if there are specific kinds of supplements, prenatal vitamins or other nutrients you might need to have during pregnancy.
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