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Miss Bodyline's advice column

Diet and pregnancy

Your diet plan is going well, and one good day you realize you are pregnant! Does this mean you should give up your diet plan. The answer is NO. Diet means giving up all those delectable desserts, it means working out, it means the end to happiness as we know it, well, maybe I over-exaggerate the traumatizing effects of dieting, but that’s what it feels like when you’re on a diet. So, why is it that dieting is so hard?
Like any substance that enters the body, your body becomes accustomed to certain levels of sugars, proteins, calories, and so on...so when you go on the diet, your body isn’t getting what its used to and it complains to you, by making you feel hungry, nauseous, sleepiness, and many other symptoms. So in many ways food is an addiction, our body gets addicted to certain things, and when we take those certain things away our body sends you a message. That’s usually why the first few days of a diet is always the most difficult, because that’s when the cravings are the worst.
However, we still have to eat, its not like a smokers addiction to cigarettes or a alcoholics addiction to liquor. We still have to eat, but we have to change what we eat, how our body works, and how we live our lives. Long-term weight loss means a change in lifestyle, not a temporary fix. The best diet approach when pregnant is to eat a nutrient-dense diet from all major food groups and avoid ‘empty calories’ in refined sugars and fatty junk food.
Healthy eating helps ensure that the baby will have a healthy birth weight and will not be born with infections or other problems, reduces the risk for premature birth, builds up fats and fluids for use during breastfeeding, and reduces the risk for complications during pregnancy. It is also important that women continue to eat well after the birth, especially if the baby is breastfeeding.
Healthy diet for a pregnant woman should be nutrient-dense. This means choosing foods with a high nutritional content, while reducing or avoiding non-nutritious foods like refined sugars and junk food. In addition, a healthy pregnancy diet may require vitamin or mineral supplements, especially iron, calcium, folate and, for some women, vitamin D.
A pregnant woman’s protein requirements are greater than normal, which usually isn’t a problem in the US where the daily diet is typically very protein-rich.
Generally, excessive use of sodium should be restricted in order to avoid hypertension, as well as too much weight gain.
Eating a well-balanced diet while you are pregnant will help to keep you and your baby healthy. Most physicians agree that the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs), except those for iron, can be obtained through a proper diet. However, you may wish to discuss the need for a multi-vitamin with your doctor. The nutritional requirements for pregnant women vary according to individual needs.
Therefore your family planning and dietary planning can still go together!
If you need assistance coming up with a diet plan while pregnant please write to us or you can e-mail us.
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Until next time,
Miss Bodyline.