Watch Your Weight During Pregnancy

Recently Aishwarya Rai Bachchan faced a lot of flak from the media for not being able to lose post pregnancy fat. We are not here to criticise the justice of the allegation or talk about the essence of beauty. The premise of this discussion is much more humble. If, Ash with all the best dieticians and trainers at her disposal finds it difficult to get into shape after her pregnancy, then where does the average woman like you and me stand?

The only answer to this question is that you must watch your weight gain during pregnancy and make the task of losing post pregnancy fat easier. Most woman go totally over board with their weight gain during pregnancy and ruin their figures for ever. Here are some of the things that you should and shouldn't do to manage your pregnancy weight.

Pregnancy Craving: When a woman is pregnant, she craves for certain feel good foods like chocolate, fried and spicy foods etc. These are not necessarily the healthiest of things to eat during pregnancy, but you indulge because you are pregnant. Satisfy your cravings in limited and healthy ways to avoid abnormal weight gain.

Know the average weight gain during pregnancy: Most women have trouble managing their weight because they have absolutely no idea about what should be the average weight gain during pregnancy. It is common for pregnant women to put on a total of 12 to 14 kgs or may be a couple of kgs here or there.

Space it out: Just because you are allowed to gain 12 kgs does not mean you do it all in the first trimester itself. Your weight gain during pregnancy should be in proportion to your growing baby. You should put on about 3 kgs in your first trimester. After that, you will be gaining something between 1/2 kg to 1 kg per week during the rest of your pregnancy. These figures are not absolute, but you should be aiming at an average that comes close to this.

Holiday From Routine: For most women, pregnancy is a holiday from routine work and exercise. This is one of the main reasons that they look pregnant even after the baby weight is gone. Pregnancy cannot be your excuse to stop workout and lead a lazy lifestyle. Nor can it be your excuse to eat unhealthy things. You need to follow a healthy but strict diet during your pregnancy, so that you can stay in shape. Do not stop doing your routine work; just make sure that you don't do heavy or stressful work.

These are some of the ways to tract and control weight gain during pregnancy. How much did you put on during your pregnancy?