Weight Management During Pregnancy for Women at Risk of Gestational Diabetes

By Nitika Arora - Updated: December 16, 2020

Pregnancy is one of the important phases of a woman’s life. For the first time, you feel responsible for the health and well-being of a tiny, little bundle of joy developing day by day, week by week inside us. We try our best to ensure everything we eat and everything we do is in the best interest of the baby. Weight can be one of the factors that can be affecting your pregnancy journey to a large extent. I was a little overweight when I conceived and all my vital parameters were fine when I took the necessary tests and only because of my weight, my doctor said that I may be at the risk of developing gestational diabetes. Here’s what I did to avoid it.

This is my daily routine during pregnancy, which helped me maintain a healthy weight throughout my pregnancy

• I use to start my day with a glass of water at around 7:00 am.

• Around 8:00 am, I used to have my breakfast comprising of either poha/ besan chilla/ paratha (prepared in homemade desi ghee) along with water (no tea/ coffee, to avoid morning sickness or acidity).

• Around 10:30 or 11:00 am, I used to have protein powder in milk or Theraptin-Lite biscuit (as per my gynaecologist’s recommendation).

• I would go for a walk of 30 minutes post that to breathe in some fresh air.

• Around 2:00 pm, I used to have my lunch comprising of either roti sabzi/ dal chawal/ idli sambhar or pulao with curd and salad.

• After that, at 5:00 pm, I used to have an apple, boiled chana or boiled egg or any other non-fried snack.

• Then, I again used to go for a walk of around 40 to 45 minutes (depending on how I felt).

• At around 7:30 or 8:00 pm, I used to have my dinner which would be dal khichdi /curd rice /roti sabzi.

• For those midnight snacks, I used to have roasted makhana/ bhuna chana or any fruit.

These are some things that I particularly followed:

Avoided white sugar at all costs.
Avoided caffeine (tea/ coffee as much as possible).
No juices (packed or fresh as it spikes blood sugar).
Walk regularly.
Eat healthy most of the times.
Eat only homemade fresh food.
Tried to be active and up most of the times.

Eating healthy and regularly exercising is essential to prevent gestational diabetes. By following these steps, I was able to remain healthy and have a safe delivery!

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