Maintaining a healthy weight is essential when you are expecting, and often pregnant women will give in to all kinds of cravings that will ultimately leave them with additional weight after the delivery. A healthy, balanced diet is very important and we have made a list of healthy snacks that pregnant women can enjoy.
Your diet should be a balanced mix of protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables. This can come from a variety of sources and as a rule, it is better to consume frequent small meals than only one or two large ones every day.
Fruit and Vegetables
- Sliced Oranges and Strawberries – Wonderful for your health and has less than 30g carbs. You can try other fruit combinations too, and they are bound to be delicious.
- Dried Apricots – A very sweet snack and can be eaten with low-fat yogurt.
- Banana and Natural Peanut Butter – Delicious snack packed with protein. You can add a handful of raisins if you want to really feel “full”.
- Raw Veggies – Dipped in a cup of homemade humus, has less than 300 calories.
- Choose Your Favorite! Any fresh fruit and veggies can be eaten as often as possible.
Meat, Fish and Poultry
- Chicken Breast – Cubed or shredded, on top of a bed of salad greens.
- Eggs – A hard-boiled egg sliced on a piece of whole wheat toast.
- Turkey and Avo – Lean turkey meat with a slice of avocado will provide you with a good lean protein source, as well as a serving of healthy fats.
- Lettuce Sandwich – Instead of bread, stack ham, turkey or veggies in-between layers of lettuce leaves. Very, very tasty.
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Dairy Products
- Low-Fat Yoghurt – Very filling and tasty too. You can opt for the fat-free version, or add a piece of fruit if needed.
- Smoothies – Based on yoghurt, fruit juice and fruit. An easy recipe would require a half cup of yogurt, a half cup of unsweetened apple juice and two cups of fresh fruit. Place everything in a blender and puree until smooth. It makes roughly two servings.
- Ice Cream – You can enjoy a cup of vanilla ice cream or fruit sorbet, with a total of only 300 calories per meal.
- Low-Fat Cottage Cheese – Added with fruit makes a deliciously healthy mid-afternoon snack.
Other Snacks
- Popcorn – Air-popped popcorn sprinkled with parmesan cheese.
- Almonds – Mixed with raisins and sprinkled with chocolate chips.
- Tortilla – A whole wheat tortilla with half a cup of melted low fat cheese.
- Granola Bar – The perfect in-between snack!
- Whole Wheat Toast – With a teaspoon of peanut butter.
Foods to Avoid
Seafood is generally a very healthy option to go with, but keep an eye out for the mercury levels in your fish meals as this can be potentially dangerous. As a rule, try to avoid shark, king mackerel, tilefish and swordfish, as these are bigger, older fish species. Rather stick to shrimp, cod, salmon and canned tuna.
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Avoid undercooked food. This includes meat, poultry, eggs and seafood. Seafood should be cooked at a minimum of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s best to avoid raw fish such as sushi altogether. Make sure your meat dishes are fully cooked by using a meat thermometer to be sure. When you cook or boil eggs, make sure that the whites and the yolks are very firm.
Lastly, try to avoid unpasteurized dairy foods. These items can be very detrimental to your health and you should avoid anything with unpasteurized milk. Also make sure that the cheese you buy has been pasteurized, and avoid the brie, feta and camembert varieties.
Maintaining Your Weight during Pregnancy
The term “eating for two” is a complete old wives tale and this is not the option to go with if you want to maintain your current weight during your pregnancy. Many expecting mothers take comfort in carbohydrates, and they often focus on the wrong kind, like breads, bagels and pastas. Gaining a few extra pounds is completely normal, but additional weight from an unhealthy diet isn’t.
Healthy Guidelines for Expecting Moms
Try to eliminate “empty” calorie foods. These are junk foods, sweet treats and other simple carbohydrates. Replace these unhealthy choices with healthy ones; including fruit, vegetables, whole wheat products, nuts and seeds. Also make sure that you get enough lean protein in your diet, which you can gain from lean meat and fish.
Eliminate fat from your diet. This of course does not refer to the “good” fats like olive oil and avocados but rather the ones found in almost all junk food and processed products. Read your labels carefully and avoid all the unwanted calories that fat brings to your body. Also keep in mind that too much calories – regardless where they come from – can also lead to weight gain. Keep your portions reasonable and count the total calories that you ingest, whether they come from healthy foods or not. If you stay within your caloric requirement for the day you will not gain additional weight.
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Substitutions are another way to reduce your calories. Opt for fat-free milk with your cereal instead of full cream, choose baked fries over fried ones, add mustard on your sandwich instead of mayonnaise, go for frozen yoghurt instead of ice cream, etc. There are many ways that you can eliminate calories without giving up on your whole diet.
After the baby is born, remember to exercise when you are ready to do so. Once given the go-ahead by your doctor, start getting active immediately. Go for a walk, take up swimming, or even do moderate weight training. Any activity that can burn calories and keep you healthy will be sufficient. You can gradually work your way up to something more demanding, for example, if you start with a brisk walk in the mornings, try to keep going for at least 20 minutes. After a few weeks, increase that to 30 minutes, and so on. It’s a great way to improve your fitness levels while continuously pushing yourself to do more.
As you can see, there is a huge variety of healthy snacks that you can consume while expecting. The most important aspect of a healthy diet is to stick to the basic, proven methods of losing or maintaining your weight. Combined with a low or moderate exercise plan you won’t have to worry about picking up any unwanted weight during your pregnancy.