Pregnancy Weight Loss: Tips For Keeping It Healthy

There is no question that pregnancy weight loss is one of the most debated not only by health experts, but even those in the medical profession. This is especially true for women who are currently obese or suffering from borderline obesity. Based on the guidelines of the IOM (Institute of Medicine), women suffering from obesity should have a healthy weight gain of anything from 15 to 25 pounds during the entire pregnancy period.

The most common reason is that babies that are born to obese women suffer from an increased risk of congenital heart defects, neural tube defects, and other similarly serious health threats. It is also important to consider that many women do not actually lose the weight they put on during pregnancy, which can be the cause for additional health risks. To make sure that pregnancy weight loss remains healthy, consider these tips.

• Change in diet

Pregnant women should be aware of the fact that if they have not changed their diet before their pregnancy, now may just be the right time for them to evaluate not only their eating habits, but their entire lifestyle as well. Since pregnancy takes up a considerably long time, it provides the proper opportunity to slowly move towards better food choices that will benefit not only the pregnant mother, but more importantly the baby.

• Don’t buy the hype of eating for two

Pregnant women have been historically subjected to the concept of the need to eat for two simply because they are pregnant. As a result, they tend to consume more calories than necessary and making them gain more weight than what is healthy. This trap can lead to a serious condition during pregnancy and up until the time of delivery.

According to the Department of Health, an additional 200 calories a day during the last three months of the pregnancy is all that is required to ensure that pregnancy weight loss remains healthy. This means that there should be no drastic changes in the eating habit or superfluous calorie intake.

The 200 calories increase is approximately about two slices of toast that has low fat spread, a pot of natural yogurt, a bowl of wholegrain cereals with semi-skimmed milk, or a banana. A balanced and varied diet that contains foods that represent the four main food groups is the healthiest option.

• Controlled Activity

If your lifestyle before pregnancy was not very active, now is definitely not the right time to be thinking of taking up strenuous exercises. To ensure that pregnant women do not put on too much weight, investing in simple, but regular activities like walking and leisure swimming would be optimal.

This ensures that their extra weight will not translate to a difficult labor and will help them get back into shape faster after giving birth. It is important for pregnant women to understand that during the later stages of their pregnancy, more relaxed activities that allow them to burn a bit more energy would be ideal.

There is no question that being pregnant can be quite difficult and challenging, which is why these tips on ensuring healthy pregnancy weight loss becomes extremely important.

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