OK…I admit it: When I was pregnant with my second daughter I ate everything under the sun. In fact, the day she was born I recall eating Chinese sesame chicken and a coke. Both my pregnancies were vastly different. For my first, I did everything by the book and for my second I did everything by my taste buds! While I wasn’t obese I sure was pushing it. I couldn’t stop eating and subsequently I have battled my weight ever since.

A new study from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Reasearch says obese women gain too much weight during pregnancy and tend to keep 40% of the weight gained during pregnancy after the baby is born. That’s a lot of weight!

Here are some valuable tips for controlling excess weight gain during pregnancy.

– Every day eat 8-12 fruit and vegetable servings, 3 servings of low-fat dairy, 5-9 ounces of protein-rich foods, 6-10 servings of whole grains, and 3-7 teaspoons of healthy fat (e.g., olive or canola oil, nuts).
– Eat regular meals and small healthy snacks between meals.
– Reduce fat to less than 30 percent of calories.
– Reduce consumption of sweets and sweetened drinks.
– Keep a food diary to check for nutritional adequacy and portion
management.
– Eat only 100-300 extra calories per day beyond what your calorie needs were before you became pregnant.
– Exercise 30 minutes on most days. If you aren’t exercising, talk to
your provider about how to start an exercise program.