I will be 7 months on the 28th of October and I feel like the pregnancy cravings have been getting the best of me!! So I want to make a goal from this point forward to eat healthier and be on a pregnancy diet that restricts me from eating too much of the "good" stuff that's bad for me!
With some research, here is the ideal amount of each food groups that should be consumed on a daily basis -
Grains: 6 to 8 ounces a dayGenerally, an ounce of grains equals a slice of bread or half a bun, 1 small corn or flour tortilla, 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal, or 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta. For at least half of your daily grains, choose whole grain varieties like whole wheat bread or brown rice. Whole grains contain the most fiber, vitamins, and nutrients.
Vary the color of the fruit you eat and choose fresh over canned – many prepackaged varieties are preserved in sugary liquid. Bonus: The fiber in fruit helps head off two common side effects of pregnancy,
hemorrhoids.
Vegetables: 2 1/2 to 3 cups a day
As with fruit, fresh is best for fiber and vitamins. For maximum nutrition, vary the color of the vegetables you choose. Broccoli, for example, is packed with folate, calcium, and B vitamins. Sweet potatoes provide vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber.
Meat and beans: 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 ounces a day
This amount is about 2 servings that are each the size of a deck of cards. Choose lean meat and limit
fish to 12 ounces per week. (More than that may expose your baby to harmful levels of mercury.)
Milk, yogurt, and cheese: 3 cups a dayIn the MyPyramid plan, a cup of dairy equals 1 cup of milk or yogurt, 1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese, and 2 ounces of processed cheese. Dairy products, in general, are a great source of calcium and protein. Low-fat varieties give you all the nutrients you need without the extra fat.
Oils: 6 to 8 teaspoons a day
The best sources include canola oil, olive oil, safflower oil, fatty fish, avocados, nuts, seeds, and olives. Note: Avocado is a fruit but most of its calories come from fat, so it's included in the oils category.
Discretionary calories: 165 to 360 a day This MyPyramid plan budgets 165 to 360 "extra calories" that you can spend as you choose! They could be used on extra servings of grains (like a little more pasta), extra protein at meals, whole milk instead of low-fat, some sugar in your decaf iced coffee, or an extra scoop of ice cream.
If you're not sure which group a particular food is in – or how many servings or calories it amounts to – simply type it into the program's
MyFoodapedia page. You can even compare two different foods at a time.
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