Obese
and Pregnant — How Will It Affect You and Your Child?
Pregnancy can further worsen the possible health complications
associated with obesity. If you're obese and pregnant, you may be at risk
of the following conditions:
Blood clots: All pregnant women
are at risk of developing blood clots, but obesity can increase this risk
further.
Gestational diabetes: This is a type of
diabetes that develops during pregnancy. Experts are not entirely sure how it
forms, but it is believed that hormones produced during pregnancy to help the
baby grow block the insulin, thereby causing insulin resistance.
Preeclampsia: This condition is
essentially the development of high blood pressure during or after pregnancy.
It can cause several complications to your health, such as liver and kidney
failure, as well as a rare chance of stroke.
Sleep apnea: This is a sleeping
disorder wherein you suddenly stop breathing while you're sleeping. It can
increase your risk of developing heart and lung disorders, as well as
preeclampsia and fatigue.
Not only does obesity endanger your health, but it can affect your
unborn child as well. Several obesity-related complications can arise while the
child is in the womb:
Miscarriage and
stillbirth: The risk of losing the pregnancy can increase due to
obesity.
Birth defects: The child has an
increased risk of developing heart and/or neural defects when they are born.
Macrosomia: In this condition,
the baby's birth weight is higher than the expected number. As a result, it can
increase the baby's risk of developing injuries, such as their shoulder getting
stuck in the birth canal during delivery. It also increases their chances of
developing obesity in the future.
Premature birth: Complications caused
by obesity may necessitate an early, medically-induced delivery to help save
the child's life.
To lower the chances of developing complications during pregnancy,
it's highly recommended that you shed the excess weight by eating healthy foods
and getting regular exercise. You may consult with a doctor on which foods you
can eat, and what exercises are safe to do throughout your pregnancy.
Obesity Prevention:
Effective Strategies to Help You Lose Weight
Fortunately, obesity can be prevented. There are many strategies
available that you can implement, but it's important to begin with creating the
proper mindset first. Without the proper attitude, you may have a hard time
losing weight.
To start, you may want to seek out therapy or counseling to help
you change certain behaviors that prevent you from losing weight. Trained
professionals can get to the bottom of your condition, allowing them to create
behavioral strategies that you can follow. In addition, joining support groups
can help bolster your confidence as you start your journey towards a healthier
body.
Your Diet Is Crucial for
Shedding Off Excess Pounds
A huge contributor of excess weight is poor dietary choices. You
will have to eliminate foods that are bad for your health, especially those
that are high in sugar and trans fat, from your diet. Here are five effective
strategies you can adopt:
Drastically Cut Back or
Eliminate Sugary Foods from Your Meals
It's important that you
cut back, with the goal of eliminating, sugary foods from your diet,
especially those that contain fructose. This type of sugar is one of the
greatest contributors to the growing obesity epidemic in America. It wreaks
havoc on your health by diminishing certain digestive functions, such as your
ghrelin (or hunger hormone), causing you to overeat.
Furthermore, it converts
to fat more directly than any other type of sugar. And if consumed regularly,
it can contribute to insulin resistance, increasing your chances of developing
diabetes. To help you lose weight, it's important that you strictly limit your
sugar consumption to 15 grams a day only — including fruits.
Reduce and Eventually
Avoid Grain Consumption
Alongside sugar, grains
are another major contributor to weight gain. They contain gluten, an elastic
compound that impedes proper absorption of nutrients from the other foods you
eat. In addition, grains convert into sugar when digested, leading to excess
weight. Common grain sources you should cut back on include bread, rice, potatoes and
pasta.
Increase Your Intake of
Healthy Fats
As you begin to decrease
your dependence on grains and sugary foods, you need to increase your intake of
healthy fats. They contain specific compounds that can bring a variety of
health benefits, especially if you're trying to lose weight. Healthy fats help
you feel full longer, helping lower your calorie intake. They're also a good
source of energy because they last longer than the energy provided by sugar.
They also help you avoid increasing your cholesterol levels.
More importantly, healthy
fats play an important role in nutrient absorption, because many vitamins and
minerals are fat-soluble. If your body only has a small amount of healthy fat,
fat-soluble nutrients aren't absorbed efficiently, making you miss out on their
health benefits.
Great sources of healthy
fat include coconuts and coconut oil, grass-fed meats and dairy products,
raw nuts and organic-pastured egg yolks. Fish is rich in healthy fat as well,
especially wild-caught salmon, anchovies and sardines. If you're
consuming fish, however, be sure to purchase from reputable organic providers,
because commercially harvested fish is filled with toxins.
Eat Organic Vegetables
It's no secret that
vegetables are good for your health. They're low in calories and rich in
various nutrients that can help contribute to optimal health. Another main
benefit of eating vegetables is their fiber content, because it can help lower
your risk of certain health complications related to obesity. For example, a
study showed that a high-fiber diet can help lower your risk of heart disease
by 40 percent.
In another study,
researchers suggested that for every 7 grams of fiber you consume each day,
your risk of developing a stroke is reduced by 7 percent. And similar to
healthy fat, fiber helps you feel full longer, thus reducing calorie intake. In
a related study, researchers specifically mentioned that fiber can benefit
obese people.
Alongside
Diet, Exercise Is Key in Helping Lose Weight
While your diet is important in optimizing your health, exercise
is another important weight loss strategy that you should not ignore. Not only
can it help you avoid packing on excess weight by burning calories you've
consumed, but it may help improve your cognitive function as well. According to
one study, people who exercised regularly reported higher cognitive performance
compared to those who didn't exercise as much.
When it comes to exercising to reduce obesity, it's important to
start slow and simple. The frequency and duration is more important than the intensity
of the exercise. You can start with simple activities such as walking, swimming
and cycling. This will help lower the stress on your knees and your other
joints, so that you can get used to increased physical activity in the future.
Try exercising four to five days a week for a total time of 30 to
60 minutes. You can break it up into smaller 10-minute sessions to allow your
body to adjust. You can start slowly on the first five minutes on your first
day of exercising, and then gradually build up the intensity as you get better.
Most importantly, listen to how your body responds while
exercising. Due to the lack of physical activity before, you may find it hard
to perform physically strenuous movements. If you feel any sort of sharp pain
in your muscles, stop immediately and rest. Remember to keep yourself hydrated,
because obesity tends to make you dehydrated.
Finally, you may want to seek out help from a physical therapist
or a personal trainer to help create an exercise program suited to your
preferred activities, so that you can enjoy exercising in the long run.
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