My individual is a 25 year old female that is pregnant. While she has been pregnant she has only been craving unhealthy foods and therefore hasn’t been eating anything healthy. At the moment my individuals weight is 9st 10lbs however it was less than this before she became pregnant. She is a catholic and goes to church quite frequently. Her religion does not require her to have any specific dietary needs. She tries to exercise as frequently as possible, but the more heavily pregnant she gets, she finds it harder to do exercise. Before she fell pregnant she used to exercise 2-3 times a week and ate a healthy balanced diet, but falling pregnant has led to a massive change in her lifestyle.

My individual cannot eat anything with a lot of caffeine in it, so therefore should try to avoid energy drinks. She should also try to avoid many different cheeses such as soft cheese and Danish blue cheese. She also cannot have any alcohol so needs to avoid cooking with alcohol. She can also not eat home-made mayonnaise. Full fat milk is also the best option for her even though it is quite unhealthy.

My aim is to try and make her diet a bit better, following the guide lines for what pregnant women can eat. I have to ensure that I am giving her the right things for her diet and make sure that she isn’t eating anything that she shouldn’t be. I will try to give her a balanced diet and take into account her cravings and try to change them to something healthier so that once she has had the baby, she will not have put on loads of weight and will be able to go back to exercising and eating like she used to, instead of being dependent on unhealthy foods, and then not being motivated to go to the gym because she is becoming over weight and embarrassed of the way she looks.

Overall I have a lot to take into account because my individual is pregnant but I am going to ensure that she starts to lead a healthier lifestyle and that this also carries on when she has her baby. I will ensure that she eats healthy snacks and we try our best to ignore the cravings and swop the chocolate for a healthier option such as fruit.

What I will change.

At the moment my individual’s diet is quite bad. She does not seem to eat the right foods, and although this may not be her fault, due to the cravings she is experiencing because she is pregnant, this is something we need to change because otherwise she is going to become an unhealthy individual. One thing I am going to change about my individual’s diet are the snacks that she has during the day. This is due to the fact that she eats very unhealthy foods as snacks and this needs to change. Her snacks will become things such as fruit and vegetables or maybe even fresh yoghurt to ensure that she doesn’t start putting on a lot of weight.

The next thing I will change about my individual’s diet is the way she eats her breakfast and the things she has for breakfast. Her breakfast in the morning is always rushed and very unhealthy. I will ensure that she has things such as Weetabix and fruit for breakfast and she doesn’t eat it quickly and that her breakfast is always substantial to ensure she has the energy to get through the day ahead of her. She needs even more energy due to her being pregnant and providing her with a good substantial breakfast will ensure she has plenty of energy through the day.

For her lunch, I will ensure that she isn’t tempted to go to the chip shop up the road or eat something that’s quick and easy, but very bad for you. The best way to avoid this would be her making a packed lunch before she goes to work every morning, with whole meal bread with something like roast chicken and salad or tuna, with some fruit in her lunch as well. This will then ensure that she doesn’t go elsewhere for her lunch and she has the right options for her.

For her dinner, we are going to make sure that there is always vegetables involved with her meal or some sort of salad, and if she has desert then this could be fresh fruit or something that is healthy. She should also drink plenty of water during the day and then maybe some fresh orange juice with her dinner to provide her with something different so she doesn’t get bored.

At weekends it may be okay to have something slightly unhealthier on a Saturday night to ensure that her cravings are cured, however this can only be on the odd occasion because otherwise she will start to become unhealthy again.