There are many things that you can do to improve your diet and ensure that you gain a minimal but healthy amount of weight during pregnancy.

Choosing the right foods is important because you will be able to loose weight more quickly after delivery if you manage your diet during pregnancy.

So here is what you need to do during pregnancy to ensure weight loss success after you have your baby:

Tip #1
Choose whole foods. Whole foods are foods that are dense in nutrients. Think wild rice, whole grains, and unprocessed foods. Whole foods don’t include waffles and pancakes!

Tip #2
Add calories during the second trimester. Eating for two doesn’t literally mean eating for two. In fact during your first trimester your baby is about the size of a small bean! Most women don’t actually need to start adding 300 calories a day to their diet until the second and third trimesters.

Tip #3
Be sure you get a serving of protein, carbohydrate and fat at every meal. It will help you if you break your meals into six mini meals per day. This will help rev up your metabolism. Next be sure that you eat some protein, carbohydrate and fat at each mini meal session. This will help nourish your body more completely and help prevent cravings later in the day.

Tip #4
Choose foods high in fiber. High fiber foods will help fill you up when you are ravenous during pregnancy, and they will also help relieve constipation and help you feel great! A high fiber diet is good for anyone, whether or not they are pregnant.

Tip #5
Drink extra water. You’ll be thirstier than normal anyway during pregnancy. Drinking water helps flush toxins from your system and helps prevent excessive edema. Believe it or not you can actually fight weight gain associated with edema if you drink more water!

Remember that pregnancy is a short period of time in the long journey that is your life. You should enjoy every moment of it. By following the tips above, you can gain the right amount of weight and feel great throughout your pregnancy.

About the Author
Article by Beverley Brooke, author of How To Ensure A Safe, Healthy Pregnancy And Lose Weight After Pregnancy. Visit her site for more on www.pregnancy-weight-loss.com.

If a woman’s blood pressure starts rising it will generally start in the third trimester, although some women experience it in the second. High blood pressure, also called hypertension, can be an early sign that a woman has or is getting preeclampsia during her pregnancy. Another sign that can indicate pre-clampsia is protein in the urine.

There are still a lot of questions in the medical community regarding how and why preeclampsia starts. The best explanation seems to involve the placenta, not growing the appropriate blood vessels through the uterine wall to help sustain the pregnancy. In addition to causing the high blood pressure, it can lead to blood supply problems in your unborn baby, as well as liver and kidney problems in the mother-to-be.

Preeclampsia only occurs in about 5% of pregnancies, most of them being the first pregnancies for the mom-to-be. Pre-eclampsia can begin gradually or come on suddenly and can range from mild to severe. At its worst pre-eclampsia can cause death or serious injury to both mother and the baby. Sometimes it is necessary for the doctor or midwife to deliver a baby prematurely, in order to save both of your lives.

High blood pressure alone does not mean that you have or will have preeclampsia. There are many other signs that your provider will be looking throughout your pregnancy. These include an elevated level of protein in the urine, swelling of the hands, feet or face, sudden weight gain and blood clotting. Signs of severe preeclampsia include severe headaches or vision problems, breathing problems, abdominal pain, or a reduction in the need to urinate.

Depending on the severity of a woman’s pre-eclampsia it may be treatable with medication to prevent seizures or with high blood pressure medication. Delivery of the baby, whether early or at term will also lead to the preeclampsia going away.

Parents often wonder how much food should their little ones (1-2 years old) be eating. Recent media coverage suggests over the past 20 years, restaurants and food companies have been increasing their serving sizes. This trend is considered to be a contributing factor in the rise in obesity (among adults and children).

We all know that children should eat less than adults. After all, they are smaller. The following are some serving size guidelines for a 1-2 year old that may help you out.

Milk/Dairy: Servings: 16-20 ounces of milk per day. Whole milk, soy or rice milk are recommended. Other equivalents: 1/2 -3/4 ounce of cheese = 4 ounces of milk. 1/4 cup of yogurt = 2 ounces of milk.

Fruits and veggies: Servings: 5 or more per day. Serving size: 1-2 tablespoons – Pureed, mashed, or cubed.

Grains: Servings: 3-4 per day. Serving sizes: 1/2 slice of bread, 1/4 cup of cooked cereal, 1/4 cup of dry cereal. 1/4 cup of pasta, 2-3 saltine crackers, or 1/2 tortilla.

Non-dairy Proteins (meat, fish, beans, eggs): Servings: 2 per day. Serving sizes: 1/2 egg, 2-3 tablespoons beans (i.e. black, pinto, edamame, etc…), 1 tablespoon peanut butter, or 1 ounce of fish, lean beef, pork or chicken.

About the Authors
Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers are sisters, the mothers of five children and founders of Fresh Baby, creators or products such as homemade baby food kits, baby food cookbooks, baby food and breast milk storage trays, breastfeeding reminders, and child development diaries (www.FreshBaby.com). Visit them online at www.FreshBaby.com and subscribe to their Fresh Ideas newsletter to get monthly ideas, tips and activities for developing your family’s healthy eating habits!