Protein in Your Pregnancy Nutrition Plan
For adequate pregnancy nutrition, women should eat 2 to 3 servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, or nuts. One serving of protein equals:
- 2 to 3 ounces of cooked meat, poultry, or fish (about the size of a deck of cards)
- 1 cup of cooked beans, such as kidney beans
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons of peanut butter or 2/3 cup of nuts.
Choose lean cuts, and eat no more than 5 to 7 ounces of meat, poultry, or fish a day.
Water in Your Pregnancy Nutrition Plan
For adequate pregnancy nutrition, women should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Drinking milk, 100-percent juice, seltzer, or other non-alcoholic beverages counts toward your amount of daily water.
Pregnancy Nutrition: How Much to Eat
Eating the right number of calories lets you and your baby gain the proper amount of weight. During the first 3 months of your pregnancy, you do not need to change the number of calories you are eating for adequate pregnancy nutrition.
Normal-weight women need an extra 300 calories each day during the last 6 months of pregnancy. This totals about 1,900 to 2,500 calories a day. If you were underweight, overweight, or obese before you became pregnant, or if you are pregnant with more than one baby, you may need a different number of calories. Talk to your healthcare provider about your
pregnancy weight gain and how many calories you need.
Each of these healthy choices has about 300 calories:
- 1 cup of nonfat fruit yogurt
- A medium apple
- 1 piece of whole wheat toast spread with 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 cup of beef and bean chili sprinkled with ½ ounce cheddar cheese
- 1 cup of raisin bran cereal with ½ cup of nonfat milk and a small banana
- 3 ounces roasted lean ham or chicken breast and ½ cup sweet potatoes
- 1 flour tortilla (7-inch), ½ cup refried beans, ½ cup cooked broccoli, and ½ cup cooked red pepper.
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