Pregnancy is one of the best phases in a woman’s life. But is plagued with questions you never had before. And, the most nagging of them all is regarding weight gain. Read on to know more about weight gain during pregnancy.

Read More: What Should be Your Weight Before Pregnancy?

11 Ways to Gain Pregnancy Weight

You may be planning a pregnancy or completing your first trimester, you must have spared more than a thought for the weight gain you’re going to experience in the process.

How much weight should you gain to be healthy?

Doctors agree that women should gain enough weight to sustain their pregnancies, and not more than 300 calories extra per day for the baby. This kind of restriction prevents pregnant women from having an increased risk for developing gestational diabetes or gestational hypertension or preeclampsia. Its severest form of hypertension in pregnancy can cause an earlier delivery.

Pregnant and obese women give birth to bigger babies who could have problems of low blood sugar and post-delivery abnormalities, and type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Read More: 10 Pregnancy Foods For Strong Bone Development In The Womb

You should aim to gain weight during pregnancy as follows depending on your BMI:

• If your BMI ranges between 25 and 29.9: By the end of your pregnancy, you should ideally lose between seven kilos and 11 kilos.
• If your BMI is 30 or more: In this case, you should be careful to increase your weight by just seven and nine kilos during your pregnancy.

Should you lose weight during pregnancy?

If you’re overweight and pregnant, your doctor will want you to lose weight. You should lose weight under your doctor’s instructions and supervision. But usually, doctors shouldn’t attempt to lose weight during pregnancy.

How to gain pregnancy weight:

During pregnancy, it’s as important to gain the weight you need as it is to not go overboard and become obese, all because you’re “eating for two.” To remain in the safe belt of sufficient pregnancy weight, you might like to try these tips:

1. Make intelligent food choices that give you nutrient-rich meals and help with your baby’s growth.

By doing this, you will have enough nutrition to sustain the pregnancy while your baby will have enough nutrition to grow physically and mentally.

Read More: 11 Things To Do For Baby Hair Growth

2. Don’t skip any meal. Instead, ensure that you eat about five to six small meals each day.

3. Snack on healthy foods like dried fruit, yogurt, nuts, cheese, crackers, ice cream or raisins.

This will help preserve your food’s nutrient value while also increase its calorie count.

Read More: 10 Pregnancy Foods to get a Fair Baby

4. Include carbs in your diet to ensure weight gain.

Such foods include rice, breads, pasta, potatoes, cereals and grains. These apart, you should also eat meats, fish, nuts and eggs for protein content along with vegetables and fruit.

Read More: GM Diet While Trying To Conceive

5. Check that your diet contains essential minerals and nutrients like folic acid, calcium, protein, iodine and iron.

Not only will it keep you healthy but it will also help your baby develop better.

Read More: 7 Pregnancy Food that Promise Healthy Hair for the Baby

6. Drink enough water through the day.

Ensure you drink at least two liters of water through the day as morning sickness can dehydrate you, so check with your doctor to know if you’re drinking enough water and fluids.

7. Exercise regularly in tune with your stage of pregnancy

On your doctor’s advice, you should exercise regularly in accordance with your stage of pregnancy. You can safely do about 30 minutes of exercise, whether swimming, walking or yoga. However, take care not to do more than 20 minutes of any fast physical activity at any given time, to avoid a case of overheating.

Read More: 7 Must Know Prenatal Yoga Poses

8. Drink fresh fruit juices

Any fresh fruit juices high in beta carotene or Vitamin C will benefit you. Choose from orange juice, apricot, carrot or papaya juice juices made from real fruit that are high in vitamin C or beta carotene.

Read More: 11 Must have Healthy Juices during Pregnancy

9. Take your prenatal vitamins

Speak to your doctor about the prenatal vitamins and related supplements you should take.

Read More: 7 Natural Prenatal Vitamins You Cant Do Without

10. Discuss your weight gain with your doctor on every visit

Remember to bring up the subject of your weight gain with your midwife and doctor on each visit so that you’re on track and make any changes in diet and lifestyle habits before it’s too late.

11. Avoid eating fried and oily food

Just so that you don’t increase your weight drastically, you should go off fried and oily foods. Also, eating a fatty diet can increase your risk for hypertension and cholesterol. Increase your weight steadily for best benefits for your baby. Also, avoid eating junk food, and keep off drugs, caffeine and alcohol.

Resources:

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000617.htm

https://www.wikihow.mom/Gain-the-Appropriate-Weight-in-Pregnancy