How To Stay Skinny While Pregnant

If you are skinny before pregnancy, than is fair to be asking questions about how to stay skinny while pregnant. However, you will need to gain some weight as you have an extra person growing inside you, as well as extra blood and fluids.

As you gain weight, don’t worry that weight is being put ‘on’ you. It is being put on inside you! On top of a 7-8 pound baby inside you, there is also an extra 4 pounds of blood, 4 pounds of uterus and amniotic fluid, a 2 pound placenta and even an extra 2 pounds in breast tissue!

You see, a lot of the weight that you gain has nothing to do with your actual body. If you were skinny before getting pregnant, then you should expect to gain 28 to 40 pounds while pregnant.

What To Eat To Stay Skinny During Your Pregnancy

If you are looking at how to stay skinny while pregnant, then you need to look at your pregnancy diet.

Eliminate anything in your pregnancy diet with added salt. This basically means no processed or fast foods.

If you are already skinny, then I doubt that you eat a lot of junk food anyway. Foods to avoid during pregnancy are those which contain sulphates which are numbered in the 200 list on the back of products.

You will find sulphates in ham and bacon, and also in dried fruits. It is used as a preservative to keep foods in the original colour and form – for a long time. Salt and sulphites will inhibit water loss and add inches to you while pregnant.  

Ensure your diet is high in iron. You will be encouraged to take iron supplements while pregnant, because you need iron to produce all of the extra blood needed for your baby. However these will have a disastrous affect on your belly, making you fat and bloated. Instead, eat foods rich in natural iron. You find iron naturally in lean beef and lamb, along with dark leafy vegetables such as spinach. Ensure your doctor keeps an eye on your iron levels though, you don’t want to sacrifice the health of your baby just to stay skinny while pregnant.

Exercises To Stay Skinny Whilst Pregnant

Can you exercise while pregnant? Of course you can keep exercising and this will help you to stay skinny while pregnant!

30 minutes a day of exercise is recommended, but if you are fit and strong, just listen to your body and workout for up to an hour a day. Ensure that you drink plenty of water while exercising. Signs that your body is under stress while exercising are: blood coming from your vagina, chest pains, abdominal pains or contractions, nausea, shortness of breath and dizziness. Consult your doctor immediately with these
symptoms.

If you enjoy weight training, keep it up, but lower the weights on squats and stop dead lifts and dead rows altogether as these put pressure on your lower back.

You will need to stop the crunches, but you can keep up your core strength and improve your pelvic floor by doing yoga and pilates. Always remember though, that you must remain balanced. Falling over while pregnant will risk injury to yourself or to your baby.

Swimming is also excellent as a low impact exercise and it helps you to remain cool. If you enjoy aerobics, I would advise you to stop any high impact workouts in the second trimester. You will not want to be jumping around with a baby pushing on your bladder, and high impact exercise is not good for your baby.

Enjoy your efforts to stay skinny while pregnant, but remember your end goal – a healthy baby. You will lose weight after your pregnancy naturally by breast feeding, so a few extra pounds over the minimum gain will not hurt!

Good luck skinny girl!