Expect the Best: Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy (American Dietetic Association) [Paperback]

ADA (American Dietetic Association) (Author), Elizabeth M. Ward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0470290765 | ISBN-13: 978-0470290767 | Edition: 1

"A fabulous resource for moms-to-be! In this comprehensive guide to nutrition and health during pregnancy, Ward provides solid, research-based answers to women's most frequently asked questions about diet, exercise, weight gain, and supplements and offers specific advice that's easy to incorporate into your daily routine.''

-Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., bestselling author of Joy's Life Diet and nutrition/health expert for the Today Show

"Ward and the ADA serve up practical, easy-to-use advice that is sure to help inform and inspire new and expectant moms."

-Laura A. Jana, M.D., coauthor of Food Fights and Heading Home with Your Newborn

"Any woman who is even thinking about getting pregnant for the first or third time needs to read this excellent and timely book. Ward has done a fabulous job compiling the most recent scientific evidence about pregnancy and translating it into a fun, easy-to-read book with quick, nutritious, and delicious recipes."

-Kathleen M. Zelman, M.P.H, R.D., Director of Nutrition, WebMD

"This book shares a wealth of information that takes into account all the different ways a pregnant woman and new mother lives her life. It might be the only book on prenatal nutrition you'll ever need."

-Peg Moline, Editor in Chief, Fit Pregnancy magazine

Are you thinking of having a baby? Perhaps you're pregnant or nursing a newborn. Whatever the case, Expect the Best shows you how a healthy lifestyle from preconception to postdelivery will help you to have the brightest, healthiest child possible. You'll find dozens of useful, easy-to-follow tips for healthy eating and physical activity, including:

• Why you (and your partner) should achieve a healthy weight before trying for a baby, and how good nutrition helps maximize fertility in women and men

• Trimester-by-trimester advice about nutrition and exercise during pregnancy

• Safe postpregnancy weight loss, and the best eating plan for nursing moms

• How diet can help you handle conditions such as gestational diabetes and morning sickness

• 50 delicious, nutritious, and easy recipes your entire family will love

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION is the largest group of food and nutritional professionals in the world. ELIZABETH M. WARD, M.S., R.D., is the author of several popular nutrition books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler. She writes frequently about nutrition and health for WebMD.com and USAToday.com. Visit her Web site at www.expectthebestpregnancy.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470290765
• ISBN-13: 978-0470290767
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Pregnancy

More About the Author

I am a mother, author, and registered dietitian. My passion is nutrition, especially when it comes to helping women (and men!) prepare to have the healthiest babies well before they conceive, and to coaching moms about how to feed their growing families while nurturing themselves, too. As a mother, I know that most of us act as the "gate keepers," of the household (my apologies to the dads out there who do the same), deciding what foods to buy and to prepare. Our job is one of the most important of all because we're setting the stage for our child's health, in the short-term and the long run. Like most working moms, I'm busy, and I am always looking for great tips and simple solutions for feeding my family the most nutritious foods, and that's the stuff of all of my books, including my latest, Expect the Best, Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy. If you're looking for tasty and delicious recipes, Expect the Best has 50 of them that the entire family will love. And, check out my blog at dietchallenge.usatoday.com for a new family-friendly recipe every week.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Men Read "Expect the Best"!, January 4, 2010

By 

David Grotto "Author of 101 Foods That Could ... (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Expect the Best: Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy (American Dietetic Association) (Paperback)

Not that I'm the spokesperson for all guys, but generally speaking, we are clueless when it comes to knowing what we can do to support our wives during pregnancy. Finally, we can stop "scratching our heads" when it comes to meal preparation - not only does Expect the Best make it abundantly clear what is best nutritionally for mother and child but the easy-to-prepare and delicious recipes are sure to bring pleasure to her palate. Do yourself (and her) a favor guys - GET THIS BOOK!!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of details. Lots. If you dig details, this is for you., November 2, 2010

By 

D. Hurst "Roastermaster General" (Detroit) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Expect the Best: Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy (American Dietetic Association) (Paperback)

When I found out my wife was pregnant, I went a little crazy ordering pregnancy and baby books. Just wanted to make sure we were knowledgeable. This was one of them.

First, don't get me wrong, this is a good book. It's a quick and easy read. There is a lot of great information, and it's well laid out which makes it easy to reference. I have found myself looking stuff up in it a couple times.

However, there is not a lot of new information in it. As the cook in the household, I am always working to create balanced meals with lots of veggies and fruits available. I may have shifted what I'm making a little bit, but to be honest, the outline of this book was given to us by our doctor at our first appointment, and I found it be very repetitive of things I've already heard, but with a LOT more details. If you like the details, then you'll probably enjoy the book more than I. Frankly, I'm not sure what I expected, but I didn't really need to know all the specific things that each vitamin does.

Basically, I suspect if your diet before pregnancy consists mostly of pizza, burritos, McDonalds, a periodic salad, and lots of coffee and soda, then you might get more value out of this book than I did. If you already are honestly trying to eat a balanced diet and have a good doctor who walks you through your caloric needs, then this book is probably more detail than you need.

I've only tried one of the recipes at the back of the book and it was good (not great, but good). I will likely try others, but may do some customizing to make it a little more flavorful.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have for Any Mother To Be, July 16, 2009

By 

Elisa Zied "Registered Dietitian, Spokesperso... (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Expect the Best: Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy (American Dietetic Association) (Paperback)

As a registered dietitian, author, and most importantly a mother of two, I know firsthand how important it is to not only take the best possible care of yourself before, during, and after pregnancy, but to have information that's practical, real-world, and science-based. Liz Ward provides readers with all that and so much more in Expect the Best. New mom's everywhere can rest assured that the information in this book is extremely accessible and understandable, and most importantly accurate and based on the latest science. We mothers (especially new ones!) have enough to worry about without having to worry so much about what we should or shouldn't eat; this book takes all the guesswork out of the equation and helps women nurture themselves during their transition to motherhood. No mother-to-be (or even mother of more than one) should live without this book!