Pregnancy Without Pounds

Other than their baby's health, excess weight gain during pregnancy is probably the highest ranking concern among pregnant women. You want to gain enough weight for your baby to be healthy, while avoiding gaining those extra pounds that refuse to go away after the birth of your child. In fact, many women, especially actresses, models and other women in the public eye, refuse to become pregnant for fear of losing their figures. Other women are so fearful of gaining extra pregnancy weight that they put themselves and their babies in danger by developing eating disorders, or by taking over the counter diet pills. Although these are the extremes, you really don't have to gain more weight than is healthy for you and your baby. After all healthy is the word upon which you should focus, whether you're pregnant or not!

The keys to not gaining excess weight during your pregnancy are these:

Ï Know how much weight you should gain during each week of your pregnancy

Ï Have a balanced diet plan designed to keep you at your target weight

Ï Exercise regularly

Ï Stick to all three!

Knowing how much you should weigh during each week of your pregnancy gives you a definitive guideline to follow. The way to do this is with a pregnancy weight gain calculator, which can be found online. All you do is type in your height and your pre-pregnancy weight, click a button and your weight gain goals are mapped out for you! By knowing what you should weigh each week, you can adjust your diet to lose or gain weight, whichever is needed.

On average, pregnant women need only 300 - 350 daily extra calories than before they became pregnant. That doesn't mean that you eat an extra pack of Twinkies or candy bar every day! In fact, you should stay away from junk food, and plan your meals and snacks from the Five Food Groups. Eat five - six small meals a day, rather than the traditional three larger meals per day. Eating smaller, more frequent meals, including snacks, of foods containing more nutrition and fewer calories actually helps regulate your blood sugar and control your appetite.

We all know that regular exercise is a must for losing or maintaining weight. *sigh* But it's a proven fact that most women who safely and regularly exercise during pregnancy usually have fewer complications during labor, and fewer post-partum pounds and inches to lose. So the results are well worth the effort of pregnancy-safe, regular exercise.

Persistence, perseverance, or whatever you want to call it, pays off! If you know your weight gain schedule, adjust your diet to meet your weekly target weight, and exercise regularly, you're far more likely to look and feel better during pregnancy, have an easier labor, take less time to get back in shape afterward, and *bonus alert!* you will already be in the habit of living a healthy lifestyle, so weight needs never be a problem again!