The Right Type Of Diet For You and Your Baby
The government guidelines states that an average woman should eat 2000 calories a day on average and a man 2500.
That is divided up this way for a woman-
Energy: 8400kJ/2000kcal
Total fat : less than 70g, 30%
Saturated fat: less than 20g
Carbohydrates: at least 260g, 50%
Total sugars: 90g
Protein: 50g, 20%
Salt: less than 6g
For Pregnant women the NHS advises to not eat for two but to eat a healthy balanced diet as per the Eatwell plate shown below. The NCT also says there is no need to eat more than 200 calories extra and only in the last 3 months of pregnancy.
Fat, carbohydrates and protein are macro nutrients. You may have heard of people talking about macros..
What are Macronutrients (Macros)?
Carbohydrates, Fruit and vegetables, pasta, rice (our main energy source).
Fats, Oils, Nuts, cheese (secondary energy source and essential in vitamin absorption).
Protein, Meat, fish, tofu (to build and maintain muscle mass).
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals and as long as we eat a healthy, varied, colourful diet we should be able to reach our daily allowance for micronutrients. If you feel you are lacking in Vitamins and Minerals your midwife may advise you to have a Prenatal Multivitamin alongside your Folic acid supplement. You should discuss this with your midwife / GP.
Now we all know there are diets out there which claim to help you lose 20lbs in 6 weeks but are they realistic? Are there bad foods and good foods? Should we be eating less carbs or lowering our saturated fat intake?
Losing weight, maintaining or gaining is all about energy balance, eat more than you burn and you will store FAT. Move more than you eat and you will lose weight (in a high calorie deficit lean muscle mass can also be lost when dieting)
So for example, to lose fat we need to be in a calorie deficit. But is it as simple of eating the recommended above and reducing those portions?
From my experience working with clients the right healthy diet is the one YOU can stick to and one that works for YOU, we don't all do the same as each other each day so why would we eat the same? If your craving then why not macro track and work your other meals around your cravings? Or try and have a 80/20 rule so 80% Nutritious 20% less nutritious calories.
Consistency is key when trying to lose weight or make muscle gains, fat gains or a healthy pregnancy weight gain. Try and be consistent with you diet and exercise and if you do have a day of unhealthy choices or give in to your cravings (which you just cant help) then get back on track and don't let one mars bar turn into ten (in one day at least, haha!)
The government guidelines are there for the whole of the country, using the average person doing the recommended exercise. The government has to advise us on how to eat healthier, what to stay away from and what to include in our diets and lets face it with the obesity crisis in this country they have to be doing something.
The average person, to maintain a healthy BMI (BMI is also based on an average person in a wide spectrum society), probably does eat too much saturated fat, too many high fat/ high sugar snacks and not enough vegetables so this information is given to us for the average person.
Then we look at exercise, these two factors are clearly related but what if we eat the government average diet but I'm 6ft tall and training for a marathon, then what?
The government have to do something about the obesity crisis and give us guidelines, and they are trying but one size doesn't fit all. To me education is key, if we re educate families about health, fitness, diet and nutrition people will understand more and be able to have the knowledge to back their choices.
As a trainer I try every way possible to get my clients eating healthier and I understand the way I choose to monitor my energy balance isn't right for everyone else. For pregnant women particularly its hard to not just give up, your energy levels are low, you might not feel particular great so why not just eat what you want and sack off that brisk walk? I would advise you to keep up your fitness as long as you can, and if you can (taking into consideration you wont be able to do what you did pre pregnancy and any pregnancy issues), and maintain a healthy weight gain so its easier on the other side. You will have a lot going on after pregnancy, aside form the sleepless nights and your dealing with the changes your body is going through you will want to spend time with your baby, so make it easier on yourself by having less of a mountain to climb to get to where you want to be postpartum NOW.
Its all about YOUR energy balance , work out how much food YOU need following our guide 'How much food do I need...' , follow the macros, monitor your food, set your training schedule, check in with your midwife and take one week at a time. Before you know it your baby will be here, you will have maintained a healthy weight and level of fitness and the job of getting back to 'you' after wont seem so daunting.
I have also written a Food plan example which may be useful and a list of Macros/ Foods. These can be found in the Nutrition blogspace within the community.