You might be pregnant, and you might be able to deal with the fact that you’re gaining weight and looking rounder every day, but are you able to tell the difference between good calories and bad calories? I know, all extra calories might seem like bad calories, but in the case of pregnancy, there is absolutely a difference.
Put it this way: you eat a protein bar and you’re getting 300 calories. You have an average sized piece of cheesecake after work – it’s also 300 calories. Are these calories the same? Obviously they are not the same. But how do you tell the difference?
The trouble with counting calories during your pregnancy is that a deliberate balance must be kept on all levels. First, and most important, you are trying to eat foods that provide your baby with the nourishment he or she needs to grow and be born. The next thing you have to factor in is that the calories you eat have got to be quality calories from the kinds of foods that will provide your baby with nutrition so that he or she will be born healthy.
The trouble swings the other way too. You can’t go crazy and consume tons of calories because you will wind up gaining too much weight, which will encourage early labour, diabetes and heart problems and many more troubles. But restricting your calorie consumption too much can do similar things. Pregnant women do get cravings, and not satisfying these cravings can cause irritation and some crazy actions. Take care of yourself so you can take care of your baby.
Unless you have a weight problem like one of the two we have just discussed, you’re probably going to be fine with your caloric choices. Remember that your calorie intake guidelines are simply road maps to follow on the road to birth, so take them for what they are: guidelines. If you slip in a piece of cheesecake or a chocolate chip cookie every once in a while, it’s not going to hurt anything. You have to make sure however that you’re not going overboard or flooding your body with harmful calories.
In other words, if you splurge and eat three pieces of cake one night, that won’t hurt you. If you start doing it every night on the other hand, you could see some serious consequences.