Maintaining healthy nutrition during your final stretch of pregnancy is important for your growing baby—and your ever-changing body! To cross the finish line feeling strong, follow our tips.
Switch to mini-meals.
You may gain between 4 to 8 kgs this trimester. As you progress with the pregnancy and the baby get bigger, you may not feel like eating three regular meals. So switch to five or six healthy and lighter meals spread throughout the day.
Eat your nutrients: calcium, protein, vitamin B6 and omega-3s.
Your baby's growing bones need more calcium, and their growing muscles and tissues need protein. Your baby also needs omega-3 fatty acids and zinc. Plus, you need more vitamin B6 in your diet to help metabolize extra protein.
Eating well now can also help your body recover and repair itself after you give birth. So fill your plate with lean meats, legumes, soybeans, fish, and broccoli, as well as other healthy foods. These nutrients will help you produce the breast milk your baby needs after birth.
Note: If you have nutrition questions, be sure to speak with your doctor. They can help create a pregnancy diet, especially suited to your third-trimester needs.
Drink water, water, and more water!
It may feel like you're spending your life in the restroom these days. At this stage of pregnancy, your baby is large enough to be pressing rather steadily on your bladder, making those trips to the bathroom much more urgent, no matter the time of day (or night!)—small wonder.
But that doesn't make proper hydration any less important. In fact, it can even help reduce or prevent constipation. So keep on downing those 10 cups of healthy liquid beverages a day.
Maintain your exercise routine.
Even a little exercise during pregnancy can help you stay fit for birth and beyond. So don't give up now, even if getting physical is the last thing you want to be doing. Do what you can, and what your doctor says is OK.
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