Excessive weight gain during pregnancy can threaten the health of the fetus. Research data shows that in eight Chinese cities, 43.2% of pregnant women experience excessive weight gain during pregnancy. To avoid health problems for both themselves and their babies due to excessive weight gain, expectant mothers should monitor their weight and lose weight appropriately if necessary. So, how can pregnant women lose weight?
The "first 1000 days of life" is an internationally recognized window of opportunity for health, referring to the period from the mother's pregnancy to the baby's second birthday. Nutritional status during this stage not only affects a child's current physical and intellectual development but also has a significant link to the future incidence of chronic diseases, making it a critical window for intervention in adulthood-related illnesses.
According to reports, at the recently concluded 12th National Nutrition Science Conference, nutrition experts pointed out that Chinese families currently face numerous nutritional problems during the first 1000 days of life. These include significantly reduced activity levels during pregnancy, excessive or insufficient weight gain during pregnancy, polarized intake of essential nutrients, and parents often misjudging their child's weight. Furthermore, a recent study showed that 43.2% of pregnant women in eight Chinese cities experienced excessive weight gain during pregnancy. Experts pointed out that excessive weight gain during pregnancy increases the incidence of macrosomia (large babies) from 9.8% to 13.8%, and significantly increases the cesarean section rate from 48% to 58.4%.
Since excessive weight gain during pregnancy can pose a health threat to the baby, expectant mothers need to be extra careful during pregnancy for the safety of both themselves and their babies. If you find yourself gaining weight too quickly, be sure to find appropriate ways to lose weight and never use pregnancy as an excuse to avoid dieting.
However, pregnant women have special physical conditions during pregnancy, and they need to pay close attention to their diet and exercise. Below, we offer some weight loss suggestions for expectant mothers.
Dietary
A normal diet is important during pregnancy. Don't assume that being pregnant means you can eat whatever you want or that weight gain is normal. And definitely don't diet to lose weight. Pregnant women should aim for healthy weight loss, with the following dietary guidelines:
1. Balanced nutrition
Pregnant women need to ensure they get enough nutrition every day during pregnancy, such as calcium, protein, and vitamins.
2. Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
Feeling hungry is common during pregnancy. If you indulge in food every time you feel hungry, you'll definitely gain weight quickly. To avoid excessive weight gain during pregnancy, eating smaller, more frequent meals is a better approach. Simply eat something to stave off hunger whenever you feel hungry, without needing to eat until you're full. This way, you can easily control your weight.
3. Snacks in moderation
It's common to see pregnant women carrying various snacks, popping them into their mouths whenever they feel hungry. This is very detrimental to weight loss during pregnancy. Increased appetite during pregnancy makes snacking a little unavoidable, but it's crucial to avoid overindulgence. Furthermore, it's better to replace junk food with healthy, low-calorie snacks. For example, replace potato chips with fiber-rich biscuits.
4. Understand food calories
Learning about nutrition from books and magazines helps you understand the calorie content of food and control your calorie intake. This not only helps you understand the nutritional components of food but also fills in gaps in your existing knowledge.
In terms of sports
Pregnancy shouldn't mean giving up exercise, but it shouldn't be excessive either. When exercising, it's important to be aware of the difficulty and potential risks.
Exercises such as breath-holding weightlifting, excessive ligament stretching, and shoulder stand are not suitable for pregnant women. We recommend that pregnant women have their exercises designed by a professional fitness instructor. Below are some recommended exercises for pregnant women.
1. Aerobic exercise
These include brisk walking, jogging, cycling, and swimming (see below). Aerobic exercise has a certain intensity and needs to be sustained for a certain period of time without excessively consuming ingested oxygen. During pregnancy, aerobic exercise can strengthen cardiopulmonary function and promote the body's oxygen absorption, thus directly benefiting both the pregnant woman and the fetus.
In addition, it can enhance blood circulation and alleviate varicose veins during pregnancy; increase muscle strength and partially or completely eliminate back pain and lower back pain; increase physical endurance to prepare for childbirth; and may also regulate blood pressure, blood sugar, and control excessive weight gain.
2. Kegel exercises
This exercise can strengthen the muscles supporting the lower part of the uterus, the vaginal sphincter, and the urethral sphincter. Doing 2 to 3 sets of Kegel exercises daily during pregnancy and postpartum, with 10 to 15 repetitions per set, can ensure that these muscles can perform their functions well during pregnancy and childbirth, reduce the chance of perineal tearing during delivery, and promote the vaginal sphincter to regain its elasticity as quickly as possible after childbirth.
The specific steps for Kegel exercises are as follows: Stand, lie on your side, or sit. While inhaling, tighten your pelvic muscles, including the circular muscles of the vagina. You will feel a lifting sensation in your pelvic floor. Hold this position for 8-10 seconds at the peak of the lift. Be careful not to hold your breath; inhale and exhale steadily. Then relax.
3. Water sports
This includes swimming and water aerobics. As a special type of aerobic exercise, water exercise has great benefits for pregnant women: the buoyancy of water can help support the 10 to 13 kilograms of weight that women gain compared to before pregnancy, the resistance of water can reduce the chance of injury to gradually loosening joints, and water's better conductivity than air means that pregnant women do not have to worry about excessively high body temperature. Moreover, the fun of water exercise is an irresistible temptation for anyone.
