GAINING WEIGHT

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1. All calories are not created equal. All foods contain nutrients, but some are more nutritious than others. "Empty calorie" foods (junk food!) contain calories but do little to help your body stay healthy. Nutrient- dense foods provide a lot of nutrition in a small volume and for a reasonable number of calories. The key to healthy eating during pregnancy is to eat nutrient-dense foods that ounce for ounce contain both the nutrients and calories you need.

2. Crossover corrects for different tastes. Food likes and dislikes are part of human nature. If you develop an aversion to broccoli during pregnancy, you can easily find the same nutrients in other foods that have a nutritional quality called "crossover."

3. Excess calories turn into excess fat. Eating too many calories will put excess weight on your baby in the form of excess fat. You have a basic caloric need, meaning the minimum number of calories your body needs to grow and function. Eat less of this and your body must burn stored fat. Eat more and your fat deposits grow.

4. Every bite adds up. Even a little nibble may show up on your body while pregnant. An extra chocolate chip cookie each day (over your basic caloric need) adds up to an extra pound of body fat each month or an extra 9 pounds of excess fat you must shed after baby is delivered. Unfortunately it's a lot easier for people to gain weight than lose weight. Before you are tempted to indulge, consider what you have to do to work off the extra 9 pounds gained in 9 months. Remember, it takes 1 hour to burn off 500 calories; and 1 week of one- hour-a-day of vigorous exercise to burn off the 3500 calories in one pound of fat.

5. Control weight by exercise and healthy eating. An hour walk each day is good for body and mind. Exercise burns calories from unneeded fat stores. It also stimulates your body to produce endorphin hormones, and exercise improves your sense of well-being.

6. Too much fat in the food yields too many fat on the body. One gram of fat contains 9 calories, more than twice as many as 1 gram of protein or carbohydrate. That's what makes fat a more efficient fuel. Yet it's also the nutrient that contributes most to unneeded weight. Body fat is the body's fuel storage system. Everyone needs fat, but the pregnant body needs more. But excess fat in the diet is all too readily stored in the body as fuel you will never use.

7. Value the fiber factor. Pregnant women need extra fiber to speed up the passage of food waste through their slowed-down intestines. Include fiber foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, and the P foods� prunes, pears, plums, peaches, and psyllium.

A. The currently recommended healthy weight gain is 25 to 35 pounds. Where you fit into this range depends on two factors�your body type and whether you start your pregnancy under, over, or close to your ideal weight Tall and lean women (ectomorphs) tend to gain less, short and pear-shaped women (endomorphs) tend to gain the most, and women of average build (mesomorphs) gain somewhere in the middle of the 25 to 35-pound range. If you are underweight at the beginning of pregnancy, you may need to gain more. If you are overweight, you may need to gain less. Every pregnant woman needs a fat reserve�to ensure there will always be a steady supply of calories available to baby in case she under eats for a day or two. This fat reserve supplies energy for milk making after baby is born. Keep in mind that weight charts for growing mothers, like those for growing babies, present ranges and averages. It doesn't mean you are unhealthy if you don't fit in the right slot on the chart. Here are some guidelines:

3. Q. I was so sick during the first few months that I could hardly keep food down and did not gain weight. Did I harm my baby?

A. No. Don't worry. It's the rare mother who eats by the balanced book of nutrition during the nausea-prone first trimester. Most women enter pregnancy with enough nutritional reserves to provide for mother and baby, even if mother eats barely anything during those early food-aversion months. Most mothers also gain the most weight during the second-trimester, and second-trimester eating habits have the most influence on baby's eventual birth weight.

4. Q. My pregnant friend is on a diet because she heard it's easier to deliver a smaller baby. Is this true?

A. No, she is wrong. First it's a dangerous myth that smaller babies are usually easier to deliver. Second, being smaller because of being nutritionally deprived is not a fate any mother would wish for her baby. Nutritionally deprived babies (low-birthweight infants) have a higher risk of newborn complications and delayed growth and development. Studies show an undernourished mother is more likely to deliver a baby who is also undernourished. A nutritionally deprived baby not only will have narrow shoulders, all the baby's organs will be compromised.

5. Q. I want to get back to my preprenancy figure as soon as possible after birth. What can I do during pregnancy to make this happen?

A. How quickly you get your figure back depends not only on how well you care for this body during pregnancy, but also on the body habits you brought into the pregnancy. If you exercise regularly and eat wisely before and during your pregnancy, you are likely to reclaim the figure you want more quickly than if you brought a poorly toned and undernourished body to the birth. If you gain more fat than you and your baby need, it will take you longer after the birth to lose the excess. You will lose around half the weight gained when you deliver your baby (baby, amniotic fluid, and placenta). During the first few weeks postpartum, you will lose a few more pounds of excess fluid. You will continue to shed pounds if you continue to eat carefully and exercise regularly. Breastfeeding may help take off some of those pounds between three to six months postpartum, when milk production is at its highest. During the first nine months postpartum, you will have around 5 to 10 pounds to "work" off. Realistically, it takes around nine months to take off whatever you put on during pregnancy. Many women who eat right and exercise still maintain a few extra pounds after giving birth and become more full-figured as a mother.

A. Sometimes a greater-than-average weight gain is the first clue that you are carrying more than one baby. To all the guidelines for ideal weight gain, add another 10 pounds for twins, more for additional multiples.

7. Q. Why must I gain so much weight during pregnancy? Where does the extra weight go?

A. Extra weight goes to your baby, the extra blood volume, amniotic fluid, uterus, placenta, breast tissue, and "reserve," in case of illness or "hard times."

8. Q. Do I have to be a health food nut, calorie counter and exercise freak to be a good mother?

A. NO! To be a healthy mother, most women become amateur nutritionists. But the good news is that there is very little you need to do differently during pregnancy�you just do a "little" more or less. Pregnancy convinces many women to improve their style of eating and living and to get their whole family on a healthier track.

9. Q. I began my pregnancy more than 20 pounds overweight. Can't I safely diet during pregnancy without harming my baby?

A. Yes and no. You can "diet" in the sense of changing your eating habits for the better, leaning to eat healthy. But you should not diet to lose weight. An undernourished baby has a higher risk of complications at birth and of delayed growth and development. Here are some safe ways to stay healthy:

Baby � 7½ pounds
Enlargement of uterus � 2 pounds
Placenta � 1½ pounds
Amniotic fluid � 2 pounds
Breast enlargement � 2 pounds
Extra blood and fluid volume � 8 pounds
Extra fat stores � 7 pounds
Total � 30 pounds