Britt Brandon - The Everything Guide to Pregnancy Nutrition & Health: From Preconception to Post-delivery, All You Need to Know About Pregnancy Nutrition, Fitness, and Diet!

Dear Reader,

Congratulations! Whether you are planning to become pregnant, or have already seen the life-changing positive pregnancy test result, your search for information to help you live the healthiest life during this especially important time is something you should take pride in! Before, during, and after your pregnancy, the choices you make about what you do and how you live have profound impacts on you and your baby. Knowing as much as you can about the good, the bad, the right, and the wrong while pregnant can help you make the right decisions, and find peace in knowing that you are doing the best you can for your baby and yourself.

As a mom of three, I know firsthand that every pregnancy is different. As a personal trainer and fitness nutrition specialist who specializes in pre- and postnatal health, I know that every pregnancy is different. Luckily, though, there are healthy habits every woman can implement while pregnant that can promote a healthy pregnancy, a healthy mom, and a healthy baby. My goal is to offer answers, advice, and direction in a time that can be one of excitement, but also concern. In this book, I am happy to share information that has helped women like myself make decisions about fitness, nutrition, and life that have made for a healthier, happier experience before, during, and after their wonderful bundle of joy arrives!

These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.

You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and e-ssentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too.

We now have more than 400 Everything books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When youre done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything!

PUBLISHER Karen Cooper

MANAGING EDITOR, EVERYTHING SERIES Lisa Laing

COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert

ASSISTANT PRODUCTION EDITOR Mary Beth Dolan

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Lisa Laing

DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Brett Palana-Shanahan

EVERYTHING SERIES COVER DESIGNER Erin Alexander

Visit the entire Everything series at www.everything.com

GUIDE TO
PREGNANCY
NUTRITION &
HEALTH

From preconception to post-delivery, all you need to
know about pregnancy nutrition, fitness, and diet!

Britt Brandon, CFNS, CPT with Dr. Heather Rupe

For my wonderful children, Lilly, Lonni, and JD.
And for every mom and mom-to-be who shares the amazingly unique and precious love for their children that can be compared to no other!

First and foremost, my eternal thanks will forever be for Katie Douglas, my amazing Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) who delivered all three of my beautiful children. While pregnant with my first daughter, I was blessed to have her teach me to embrace everything I would experience in my pregnancy, trust in myself and my body, live my life for my baby, and have faith that my little angel would be a happy, healthy, astounding human being. Through the amazing moments, and the scary ones, she was the rock that my family and I leaned upon for strength and support and we will forever be grateful for this astounding woman who helped us bring our children into this world, and better our lives beyond our wildest dreams!

I could never forget to thank the best pediatrician any mom could ever ask for, Dr. Douglas Bowling. From breastfeeding to first foods, healthy activity ideas and beyond, we have been so very lucky to have such a wonderful doctor help us understand the best ways to keep our children happy and healthy. We count our blessings each and every day to have had a pediatrician who seems to have the perfect answer all the time, gives us the best ideas to help our children thrive, and has taught us to always trust our instincts since day one!

To Jimmy, Lilly, Lonni, and JD, who have made becoming a mom the best experience of my life! I learn something about you (and myself!) every day, and couldnt imagine a better life than the one I have with you guys! I love you!

YEARS AGO, PREGNANCY WAS considered a time when women were expected to let themselves go: indulge in foods they craved and limit or refrain from exercise altogether. Weight gain was thought to be a sad and inevitable consequence of the pregnant condition, and the body of a mother was nothing to which the vain would aspire. While healthy eating and fitness habits were pushed to the wayside, unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, and a sedentary lifestyle remained the same while pregnant, and that was just the way it was.