Diet Tips - Can you lose weight whilst pregnant?

Can you eat healthily and lose weight whilst pregnant? The simple answer is – yes! Nutritionist and diet guru Zoë Harcombe explains how:

1. Don’t eat less; eat better. Eat only real food – meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, salads, vegetables, fruits and whole grains (e.g. brown rice, porridge oats) – nothing processed (obviously follow all the extra pregnancy advice about avoiding pate, raw eggs and soft cheese etc). You and baby-to-be will be much better off without trans fats and sugars and you will find real food naturally fills you up, without blood sugar highs and lows and the cravings that go with this roller coaster. Try to limit even the good carbs you eat – insulin resistance develops in all pregnant women (and leads to diabetes in 2-4% of cases) and only carbs cause insulin to be needed/released.

2. Eat regularly. Go for three substantial meals a day, based around meat, fish, eggs and dairy and with large portions of salads & vegetables (limit, or avoid, potatoes, as these are high carb). If you must snack, go for lower sugar fruits, like apples or pears. A key goal during pregnancy should be to keep your blood sugar nice and stable and keep any sweet cravings at bay.

3. Don’t eat more than you need either. Many women wrongly believe that they need to eat for two - a woman actually needs no more energy (calories) in the first trimester and barely 300 calories a day more than normal in the final stage of pregnancy. That's not much more than one Mars Bar. The average baby only weighs about 7-8 lbs at birth, and the fluids around it add up to not much more than a stone, so there is no need to put on more than a couple of stone during pregnancy.