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A lot of packaged foods have nutrition labels. Give us a quick lesson on what to look for.
When you look at a nutrition label, like on this box of crackers, you want to check the
serving size to make sure it's the amount you plan to eat. In this case the number of
crackers. Now check the grams of total carbohydrate, and make sure that fits into your meal plan.
Focus on the total carbohydrate number. That number includes the amount of sugar in the
food. Remember 15 grams of carbohydrate is equal to one portion of starch. Now read the
ingredient list, because sugar can be called many different names. Stay away from foods
that have these names listed in the first four ingredients: those ending in --ose, such
as sucrose and fructose, also corn syrup, and natural sugars such as honey, molasses
and brown or raw sugar. Any other tips for buying or selecting which
foods to eat? When choosing from the starch group, choose
high fiber foods such as whole wheat tortillas, brown rice, whole grain breads, old-fashioned
oatmeal and whole wheat pasta. High fiber foods are filling and typically have more
nutrients. They also take longer to break down, which can reduce the rate at which your
blood sugar rises. Eating foods that have carbohydrate is important to ensure you have
enough energy each day, just be careful of the portions.
You need to limit the amount of fruit you eat to two to three portions a day. Fruit
has good nutrients, but eating too much at once could raise your blood sugar too high.
What about suggestions for what to drink? To stay well hydrated, it's important to drink
about eight cups of fluid a day. This can include water, soup, non-caffeinated diet
drinks and milk. Drinking too much milk at one time can raise your blood sugar too much.
Make sure you drink no more than one eight ounce cup at a time. Drink-wise, it's important
to stay away from alcohol while you're pregnant. Drink only a moderate amount of caffeinated
drinks, such as coffee and tea. Any final thoughts?
It's really important that you don't skip meals or snacks. A lot of women find it easiest
to plan their meals and snacks the night before. And if you're on the go, bring a cooler and
ice with you so your food won't spoil on the road. Following a new meal plan can seem difficult
at first, but once you get started it does get easier. If you're having trouble with
the plan, ask your health care provider for help. Many women say that they have more energy
and feel better when following the meal plan. Remember, when it comes to controlling your
blood sugar, you're the one who's in charge, and you can do it. I am confident you can
do it. My motivation to make all these changes and
to stay with the meal plan was obviously the baby inside. I wanted him to be healthy. I
wanted me to be healthy. So following the meal plan was pretty easy because, you know,
you've got this little person, you know, depending upon you.
Don't look at it as something that you have to do. It's something that you want to do.
Even with all the concerns that you have about how the baby's going to turn out. Your body's
behaving differently. Uh, your emotional chart is all over the place. Even with all that,
the meal plan is completely do-able. The baby's health, my health actually became so much
better with the meal plan.