Many women who never had diabetes are shocked when they are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Food takes on a whole new meaning. It is the stuff of life – but, could also trigger a diabetic coma if you treat your diet casually. The good news is that your gestational diabetes and food suspicions will end as soon as the baby pops out. The better news is that nine months or so is good time to learn better eating habits for your overall health, not just your blood sugar levels.
Pay Attention To Your Carbs
With gestational diabetes and food, counting your daily intake of carbohydrates is key. Carbohydrates converts to glucose (blood sugar), which is what you will watching like a hawk. Carbohydrates effects your blood sugar and monitoring your blood sugar helps you with monitoring your carbohydrates. It might seem daunting at first, but you’ll get the hang of managing gestational diabetes with food.
You want to make sure your carbs are spread out throughout your day. This is also true of your calories. With a growing baby, you need to eat about 300 extra calories per day. That means you will be eating about 2200 calories per day. Check with your doctor to be sure. You need to have five or six small meals rather than three large ones.
You also need to cut out fatty meats, high fat snacks and lots of processed or fast food. A good idea is to fill a third of your plate with protein, a third with carbohydrates and another third with fruits and vegetables.
Your Relationship With Food
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A major gestational diabetes risk is if you are overweight and over 25 when you get pregnant. This means you have probably been having some food issues and have been trying to have a better relationship with food, anyway. Well, gestational diabetes will force you to eat better. This will help not only your growing baby’s health and your blood sugar, but your joints, your heart and many other health conditions.
With gestational diabetes, food intake alone will often not be enough to be sure that you and your baby get through the pregnancy okay. You also need to go to all of your check ups, learn to monitor your blood sugar, exercise regularly and take any medication prescribed. Please don’t do any fad diets, colon cleansings, fastings or any drastic measures like that. Your body will not be able to handle the shock.
