How to Increase Appetite in Pregnancy
A woman's appetite often changes during pregnancy. Early on food might completely repulse her, and later she may seem to crave anything under the sun. While it might feel like you need to eat enough for two people, remember that one of those people will weigh between an ounce and a few pounds for quite a while. Consuming 300 extra calories at a time is all that is necessary to keep you and baby well--as long as those calories are nutritious ones.
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Drink fluids. In the first two to four months, many women feel morning sickness. It can range from a mild aversion to some foods to a complete rejection of almost anything. If the sickness is severe enough, a mother can become dehydrated enough to require evaluation by a doctor. It is important to keep drinking fluids during this time. Of course, water is the best drink for a mom-to-be, but sometimes water is not a good drink during morning sickness as it seems to aggravate the symptoms. Drinking decaffeinated teas, decaffeinated sodas, even milkshakes provide a mother with a needed sugar boost and liquid during a particularly bad period of nausea.
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Exercise daily. It is difficult to actually increase your appetite, particularly if food is repulsing you or you are very fatigued. However, trying to exercise every day, even for a few minutes at a time, will increase your metabolic function and should help increase your hunger. Sometimes eating a little something you can tolerate can help settle your stomach.
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Understand that the majority of weight gain during pregnancy isn't (or shouldn't be) from extra calories. The calories you eat are providing nutrition for the baby and yourself, but your baby will gain weight naturally, too. According to kidshealth.org, your weight gain will be comprised of:
7.5 pounds: average baby's weight
7 pounds: extra stored protein, fat and other nutrients
4 pounds: extra blood
4 pounds: other extra body fluids
2 pounds: breast enlargement
2 pounds: enlargement of your uterus
2 pounds: amniotic fluid surrounding your baby
1.5 pounds: the placenta -
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Eat healthy. It is important that the food you do eat during pregnancy packs as much of a nutritional punch as possible. Opt for healthy grain cereals, either cold or hot, in the morning or an omelet with lots of veggies. Have a muffin, certainly, but try and make sure it's made with whole grains and fruit rather than bleached flour and chocolate chips. Follow this same train of thought with all of your food choices. Have that cheeseburger, but grill it yourself (or have your partner do it) and put it on a whole grain bun, and eat oven fries instead of the deep-fried version.
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