I realized this the hard way, when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during my first pregnancy! I was always under weight (according to the Body Mass Index) and never overate during the period of my life (so far) and had no history of diabetes in my family.
So I asked myself; Why did this happen to me? As I sifted through the years of the life in my head, I realized that I must have done something wrong along the way. I came to the conclusion that skipping meals during the day (i.e. breakfast and lunch) and then eating/overeating during the one meal of the day might be the reason why this happened to me in the first place. So for my second pregnancy, I ate healthy by designing a meal plan based on the food guide (provided by the local health department) and I kept my diabetes almost non-existent. I have continued healthy eating habits even after my pregnancy and that has helped me maintain a healthy lifestyle so far.
Here are some great ways to make healthy eating choices (before, during and after):
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© Everything Family Guide
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1. Add Variety of Foods to your diet - by designing a meal plan for yourself, as this will help you during the preparation of meals (shopping/availability of products) and in maintaining healthy eating habits. According to the Health Canada's Food Guide, an average adult female aged 19-50 needs 7-8 serving of vegetables and fruits in a day. A serving is measured in approximation to the size of a hockey puck.
2. Which leads me to my next point; Food Rainbow - adding colorful foods to your diet will not only be healthy for you but make it appealing for your brain, allowing you to enjoy your time eating healthy and (Hopefully) remembering those good times afterwards. By colorful, I mean Vegetables & Fruits, Grain Products, Milk/Alternatives, and Meat/Alternatives.
3. Smart Snacking - there are many snacking products in the market that claim their product is the best. But you want to aim for healthier and preferably (natural) snacks such as unsalted nuts, fresh or dried fruits, yogurts, etc.
4. Protein is a very important source of nutrition for your body's and your baby's changing physical needs. Whether you are a carnivore, omnivore or a herbivore, make sure that you are getting your suggested daily servings of protein. You have a wide variety of options to choose from such as meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, soy products, legumes (dried beans, lentils, etc), nuts and seeds.
5. Liquids are so important to keep your body replenished and your bodily fluids restored. Think of your body as a car, can it run without gas or give off clean emissions without an oil change? No! You need to refill the liquids lost, as I can guarantee that you will be visiting the bathroom a lot during your pregnancy. Even after birth, you will need to replenish your body for breastfeeding and overall healing of the body.
6. Eat your Multivitamins - Buy one of those pill containers with labels and/or shelves to store your vitamins for the week. This really helped me stay on top of my medicinal intake of vitamins and such. It was a great visual reminder and I carried it with me, in my purse, to work. You really need those multivitamins to grow, heal and replenish your body of the minerals/vitamins lost due to the major changes that your body went through in the past or is going through at the current stage of your life. Vitamins are a girl's best friend!
Its overwhelming to accommodate all these things in your diet and a solid meal plan goes a long way! Best of luck and take of yourself!
Cheers,
Annie N.
(Source: Nestle Baby)
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