Exercise and diet in pregnancy.

Here is a useful mini-guide for pregnant women who have the problem of excess weight  and who need to stay at the table to avoid gaining too much weight.

Today, in fact, compared to a time when it was believed that pregnant women should “eat for two”, doctors recommend limiting weight gain during pregnancy.

This only if the pregnant woman already has problems of overweight and obesity at conception.

• The reasons are manifold.
• Reduce the risk of gestational diabetes in pregnancy.
• Reduce the risk of miscarriage and premature birth.
• Avoid the risk of post-pregnancy obesity.
• Avoid complications in pregnancy.
• Because both overweight and underweight are related to the child’s risk of developing metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol and osteoporosis in adulthood for  the metabolic entrainment theory.

As a rule, the diet during pregnancy is a varied and balanced diet with a calorie surplus that per month is around 180-200 calories more starting from the second month if the pregnant woman is at her ideal weight .

Otherwise you can follow the IOM / EFSA / LARN guidelines which break down the calorie increase by quarter.

The data is not all the same.
You can therefore make an average per month (starting from the second), or choose one of the three guidelines.

These calories could come from dairy sources from pasteurized milk and fiber sources.
For example: a glass of semi-skimmed milk or a low-fat yogurt + a tablespoon of bran or a sour fruit or 30 grams of Parmesan cheese plus a plate of cooked vegetables.

But if the pregnant woman is overweight or obese , the doctor can prescribe a 1400/1800 calorie diet.
While it is highly not recommended to go below this caloric ceiling.

In this way the weight of the pregnancy stands at a weight gain of about 250 grams per week (on average), for a total weight gain of a maximum of 11 and a minimum of 6 kg.
This is against the 16 kg maximum for a normal weight woman and the maximum 18 kg weight gain for an underweight woman.

The need for a low-calorie diet during pregnancy is ascertained  on the basis of the calculation of the ideal weight per gestational week.

This is the sum of the ideal pre-pregnancy weight with the pregnancy week number multiplied by 0.225.
The ideal situation is to avoid both overweight and underweight.

This means that an underweight pregnant woman can, on the contrary, be prescribed a high-calorie diet.

That is: ideal pre-pregnancy weight + (0.225 x number of weeks of gestation).

A low-calorie diet that follows these principles minimizes weight gain during pregnancy , making it easier to lose weight through breastfeeding.

On page two we see the general principles of the diet in pregnancy.