Can Exercise Really Be that Important to my Diet in Pregnancy?

No matter what magazines or books you read about a healthy diet in pregnancy, you will undoubtedly come across the section dedicated to the importance of exercise while you’re expecting. For those of us who have never been very consistent with working out before baby, the chances are that when you are fighting fatigue and nausea the last thing you may want to do is tie up your running sneakers and hit the gym.

But before you roll your eyes and skip over this, keep in mind that while it may seem like the opposite of what your body is telling you to do, exercise can help energize you even when you think you may be more tired than you’ve ever been.

How Much Exercise is enough for a Healthy Pregnancy Diet Plan?

It may sound like a lot, but getting 4-5 days of moderate exercise in a week will greatly improve your quality of the hours you spend awake and help you to sleep more soundly at night. Since being pregnant can impede on a good night’s sleep, a body that is tired from healthy movement will be much more apt to fall into a deep rhythmic sleep than one that is still cranked up from a long day without any hope of energy release.

Remember, your body was made to move, so get some oxygen flowing to the body. Exercise is an excellent way to expel stress, increase blood flow to your growing little one, and to give yourself an outlet while dreaming up new color schemes for the nursery or adorable baby names.

This is especially true, if you find yourself towards the end of your pregnancy. Once you enter waiting mode, which can be stressful – a good old fashioned walk or 30 minutes on an elliptical machine or treadmill will help rid yourself of the pre-baby jitters and get to your due date healthy and in great shape for delivery.

They say that Exercise releases Happy Hormones, is that the same During Pregnancy?

Sometimes pregnancy can bring on some pre-baby blues. This is a normal occurrence since all of the hormones in your body are on full alert, making a mish-mash of your emotions. Exercise is not only a great way to keep pregnancy pounds within the recommended range, but it can also release endorphins into your blood which can help with circulation and yes, make you feel a little sunnier!

Why “Artificial” Should Never be a Part of your Diet in Pregnancy

You’ve heard it a hundred times before: eat whole food, especially lots of veggies, fruits, and proteins. But sometimes we let ourselves fudge a little, and end up including artificial substances during our diet in pregnancy. This can be in the form of an artificial sweetener, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, Sucralose, fructose, rice syrup, etc.

The reason that these substances may have snuck into your diet without you knowing is because label checking has becomes somewhat of a secret code in which the average shopper is left on the outside and the food manufacturers have the inside scoop. But just because there may be a substance in your cereal, oatmeal, granola, or Stabucks latte that you don’t recognize, that doesn’t mean that it is safe for consumption!

For instance, aspartame is found in many foods and substances, ranging from low fat or fat free yogurts to chewing gum. This chemical is extremely dangerous to anyone, let alone someone who is pregnant and the sole contributor to her child’s development.

Aspartame has been linked to panic attacks, mood swings, visual hallucinations, manic episodes, isolated dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, and a dozen more unattractive symptoms.

Aspartame is a Key Player in Neuropsychiatric Disorders, and Has no Place in a Healthy Pregnancy Diet.

If you are not getting enough of the right nutrients and instead ingesting chemical substitutes you are putting yourself at risk for nutritional depletion. Your child needs all that he or she can get to build those little fingernails, hair, blood and bones.

If your diet is made up of unusable food, then your baby will have to pull from your own personal stores to create its body. Which means that you will be at a higher risk for osteoporosis, post-partum depression, and many other problems that can arise from improper nutrition during pregnancy.

If I go Cold Turkey off of “Artificial” what can I expect to Experience?

It is very common to experience headaches, dizziness, nausea and even breakouts when you go off of artificial ingredients. And even though these symptoms may be unpleasant they are necessary for your body to flush out all of the chemicals that it needs to get you back on the healthy pregnancy diet track.

Go slowly when you detox. Your body will already be experiencing a slew of pregnancy related symptoms and you don’t want to add insult to injury.