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Some women feel panic when they think of the weight they will gain during pregnancy, while others may see it as a free pass to eat that extra cookie after lunch. It's always better to avoid the junk food as much as possible but you should be able to find a healthy but happy medium during your pregnancy.

You may be eating for two now, but not two adults. Without some guidelines it can be hard to know exactly what eating for two should mean. How much is too much and how much is not enough? It's important to understand both ends of the spectrum.

Generally speaking if you are at a healthy weight, based on your height, when you become pregnant you should gain around 25 to 35 pounds during your pregnancy. The amount you should gain will depend on your personal situation though so it's important to have a discussion about this with your doctor.

This may sound like a lot considering the baby will only weigh a fraction of that, but that only means eating around 200 extra calories a day in the first trimester and around 300 calories in the second and third trimesters. Steady weight gain is more important in the last two trimesters. To help support the growth of the baby you will want to make those healthy calories.

Women who are underweight when they become pregnant will need to gain a bit more, 28-40 pounds during pregnancy. But women who are overweight should gain less, 15-25 pounds. While loosing weight can help with various health issues, trying to loose weight while you're pregnant isn't a good idea. All women need to gain some weight while they are pregnant.

While it's important to gain weight during pregnancy too much weight can cause more problems with things like backaches, varicose veins and high blood pressure. Gaining too much weight also makes it harder to get back to normal after the baby is born, and contributes to more stretch marks.

But it's important to gain the right amount of pregnancy weight to help your baby fully grow and develop. If you don't gain enough weight the baby may be born underweight or born early.

You'll want to look at your food more thoughtfully and find ways to add more nutrients to your diet. The benefit is maybe some of the changes will stick even after the pregnancy. For example eat whole grain breads and pastas instead of white, eat deep green lettuce instead of iceberg, and add black beans and nuts to your salads instead of eating crackers. Little changes along the way can really add up.

If you end up gaining 30 pounds during pregnancy and your baby is born weighing 9 pounds you may wonder where the rest of the weight is concentrated. Things that make up for that extra weight include the placenta, amniotic fluid, larger breasts and uterus and increased fluid and blood volume.

What you eat and the amount you eat during pregnancy is so important for the health of your new baby. It's good to focus on eating a variety of foods and as many nutrient dense foods as you can. As long as your core diet is healthy giving into a few of those junk food cravings won't be so bad as long as it's within reason.