The weight is one of the issues that most obsess the pregnancies, both for the current beauty stereotypes and for the excessive importance given by some midwives and gynecologists who, month after month, look at the scale with menacing air and looks of "You-have-passed-an-egg", without really making much sense.
I say this because there are many professionals who dare to put a limit on the weight to gain and many who almost force mothers to keep a thorough control of the food at a time, pregnancy, when the weight that a woman can catch is very variable as well as variable is the hunger that each one has.
For all those future mothers who suffer during pregnancy because of the weight they are taking and for those who suffer every time they go to the monthly visit for pregnancy control, we will see today what is the best diet during pregnancy, what is normal weight gain and how it is distributed in the body and in the new structures and the baby.
What is normal weight gain?
Let's say a woman has a normal weight before becoming pregnant. It is possible that in the monthly visits someone says that of “mom, one kilo per month, no more” and that the maternity consultation instantly becomes a maternity beauty consultation, because it is a phrase that makes no sense.
The recommendation, according to experts, is that this same mother who has a normal weight gain, during pregnancy, between 11.5 kg and 16 kg. However, as is commonly said, each body is a world, and there are women (like Miriam, my wife) who gain less kilos and others who gain up to 18 kg, having all of them healthy babies and being able to regain weight before pregnancy.
In other words, the “kilo per month” would give a total of 9 kg throughout the pregnancy and, nevertheless, I just said that there are women who can earn up to 18 kg without being a problem, something that gives us a average of two kilos per month and that makes the advice wrong.
The important thing is not to diet, but to eat well
If a woman comes to believe that controlling a lot of weight can fall into the error of trying not to go over and end up eating less than she should. This measure, to which many women are so accustomed, who start diets often, is contraindicated in pregnancy because when you eat little they burn fat and so-called ketone bodies are generated, which can reach the fetus, being toxic, and damaging the baby's nervous system.
The important thing then is not to limit what you eat, because it is not the time to do it, but to choose well what the woman eats. I suppose that all or so you already know what is the most advisable and also Lola commented it two days ago, but making a quick summary, say that the ideal is to eat mostly plant-based foods (fruits and vegetables), not to go with the meats red (maximum three times a week), white being more recommended, taking skimmed milk, olive oil, legumes, eating whole foods, such as bread, cereals and rice, instead of more refined flours, and leaving less food We need, which are the most advertised on TV and in magazines, for very specific moments.
Since I'm going to gain weight, I take advantage and eat everything
After explaining that a woman cannot become obsessed with weight to avoid eating less, I think it is important to explain that It's a mistake to think that, since you're going to get fat, the excesses don't matter.
As we always say that we talk about children, we should not worry too much about how little we eat if there is food available, because hunger is what asks us to eat and satiety what asks us to stop doing it. These mechanisms have allowed humanity to move forward for ever and ever (because no one had a nutritionist next door three thousand years ago telling him how much and what to eat), and therefore we must continue to pay attention to them.
However, there are women who, as I say, take advantage and use hunger to enjoy some pleasures of life that are not recommended for the baby, especially if it is done by abusing it.
I say for the baby because the nutrients a baby receives depend solely and exclusively on what the mother eats. If you are eating “crap” or “junk food” all day, that will be what the child receives (they say there are mothers who spend so much time that there are children who go out asking for the Happy Meal toy and everything…).
On the other hand, the more weight a woman gains with food as a cause the harder it will be after returning to the weight before and more easily will always gain. This is because a person's fat depends largely on the number of adipocytes (fat cells) that they have under the skin.
When a person eats above what he needs, the adipocytes become larger and larger, increasing the volume of the person. If you have few adipocytes, you will gain weight more slowly than a person who has many of them and, it is said, if you are able to gain 4 kg per meal, you will not only have increased the size of the adipocytes that you already have but that you will have managed to create adipocytes new (that are not destroyed and that will make it later cost you more to lose weight and less to gain weight).
If at least my baby can be smaller?
Yes, if you limit your intake a lot and you lack nutrients, it can happen that your son weighs little at birthThat is why it is recommended not to go hungry under any circumstances and eat in a balanced and healthy way.
If I eat too much, will the baby be bigger?
It was said in the past that a pregnant woman had to eat for two. Well, you have to eat for her and for the baby, for two people, but you don't have to eat multiplied by two, for all the reasons already stated. If a woman decides to eat too much to make her baby bigger, she should know that the one who takes the kilos of the two, in this case, it's her and not the baby. That is, if you eat less it may be smaller, but if you eat more (than recommended), the baby will not grow to infinity and beyond.
And the weight I gained, where does it come from?
It is not a question that women ask themselves very often, because they usually see the weight gain spread throughout the body with the naked eye, but it can be interesting to know how the weight a woman earns is distributed.
If we take an average weight gain of 12.6 kg, these kilos would be distributed as follows:
- Blood volume: 1.3 kg
- Chest: 0.4 kg.
- Uterus: 1 kg.
- Fetus: 3.4 kg
- Placenta: 0.7 kg
- Amniotic fluid: 0.8 kg.
- Fat: 3.5 kg
- Liquid retained: 1.5 kg (although it can reach 4.5 kg).
As you see, once the baby is born and the placenta comes out and the amniotic fluid suddenly “loses” about 5 kg. Then, as time passes, with breastfeeding burning calories and with a baby and then a child (who exhausts anyone) causing the mother not to stop, the weight is gradually reduced. To do this you also have to keep eating well and doing some exercise if there is time, to avoid rusting too much.
Photos | Esther Gibbons, tofslie, Janneke Frederike on Flickr
In Babies and more | How much weight did you gain in your pregnancy? The ideal weight gain during pregnancy, Pregnant women who are overweight, babies with more birth weight
