Weight Loss During Pregnancy - 5 Tips You Must Follow!

Being overweight doesn't stop you from getting pregnant but if not managed properly, the excess kilos can have quite a few side effects. Amongst these are an increased risk to infections, gestational diabetes, labor issues and premature birth. Losing weight in the first and last trimester is normal as long as the weight loss is not drastic. Here are a few simple tips to help manage weight during pregnancy effectively.

1. Eat frequent, small meals: Pregnant women are often advised to eat for two. Instead of piling food onto a plate three times a day, break your meals down into smaller bites at more frequent intervals. Eating every two hours is a healthy habit to inculcate. Along with helping maintain portion sizes, this also makes digestion more comfortable.

2. Avoid empty calories: When faced with a choice between fruits and chips, choose the former. Pregnancy cravings are normal but eating a tub of ice cream does not give your body or your baby any nutrition and only lead to unnecessary weight gain. Avoid anything with added sugar and solid fat like soft drinks, fried food, cheese and desserts. These can easily be replaced by fresh juices, nuts, yogurt and fruit sorbets. Also try avoiding caffeine.

3. Drink plenty of water: Apart from preventing dehydration, drinking water also helps in weight maintenance. Filling your stomach with water reduces hunger and thus leads to lesser snacking. Water is also known to increase metabolism.

4. Exercise: Regulating your food intake is only one half of weight maintenance. The second half is regular exercise. Consult your doctor to create a workout regime suited to you. If you were a regular gym enthusiast before pregnancy, there should be no reason to stop now but if you lead a sedentary life before pregnancy don't try and start an intensive gym routine. Light yoga, walking, swimming and cycling are great exercise options for pregnant women.

5. Take your prenatal vitamins regularly: Prenatal vitamins are an essential source of the extra nutrition your body needs during pregnancy. While this can in no way replace meals, it should never be missed out. Prenatal vitamins also help maintain weight by giving your body the nutrition it needs without the accompanied calorie and thus can also help maintain pregnancy weight.

The key to maintaining weight during pregnancy is to know your body's requirements and address them properly. For this reason, it is very important to consult a doctor or a dietitian to help understand your calorie needs.