Pregnant - Nursing - Has any heard of losing weight while pregnant!

I currently am trying to get pregnant but want to continue to work out and lose weight as i am pregnant. Since i currently weigh 220 pounds, is it possible to lose weight while being pregnant. I have been working out for 5 months and have lost 20 pounds. I have just started trying to get pregnant this week.

Has anyone heard of losing weight healthily while being pregnant?

What kind of weight loss are you talking? I know that with my first two children I would have weeks where I had lost weight, like up to 10 pounds... but, I would continue in the end to gain. With both of them I stopped listening after they got to 60 pounds at my office visits.

With my third, I started out already heavier than I was with the first two... I started at 185.... and then got up to 214 by the end, which is quite a bit less than the 60+ with the others... but with the third, since I started out heavier, I managed my weight gain more, and paid attention more, so that I could gain a healthy amount that took into consideration what I weighed, added to what I was likely to gain, and where I would be headed with my end weight.

If your goal is to try and not gain so much that you end up with a lot of weight to lose after you have the baby, I'd talk to your doctor and see what they recommend you shoot for as far as total weight gain for your body type, projected baby size, and reasonable expectations for weight gain relative to making sure you and your baby are your healthiest.

My guess is that it is probably better to work on losing weight while you aren't pregnant, maintaining something reasonable and healthy while you are.... even if you are overweight.... but really paying attention to what you eat while pregnant, and then worrying about taking off the baby weight after you have the baby.

And, you'd be surprised how your food preferences can change while pregnant and then after. I really like carrots dipped in this low cal dressing, plus other things that really weren't all that high calorie, but more healthy. I think that helped me keep my weight gain low. Now, of course, all I want is sugar and chocolate... which is keeping me from losing.

But.... really.... if you get pregnant, I'd talk to your OB before trying a weight loss diet. You wouldn't want to risk something nutritionally and developmentally necessary for your baby.

I weighed 217 when I got pregnant; 2 weeks after my daughter was born I weighed 200. My doctor recommended that I not lose weight while pregnant, instead, she wanted me to not gain much. I gained about 0.5 lbs per month, and exercised (swimming was all she allowed, because of my asthma), but at the end I was wearing smaller sizes than I had in years.

I really put on weight after dd was born, though. When I was pregnant, I worked and was in control of my time. When I became a mom, I lived at the beck and call of a fussy little girl who cried everytime I touched a fork to a plate - I ate cold food for 2 years.

I remember, many years ago, when I was a member of a slimming club - a real, branded one, not a weirdo one - there was a young woman who was there while pregnant. At the time she was told that 30lbs was the max. a pregnant woman should gain. By the end of the pregnancy she was about the same weight as when she started, so she'd lost 30 fat lbs (and had a healthy baby).
I would suggest it should only be done under medical supervision though!

I really wouldn't advise it at all. Period. Even if a doctor said it was okay. That is my two cents.

I would not advise it, either.

Your baby is going to be 5-9 pounds, and you are also going to have around 15 pounds of NECESSARY weight that has nothing to do with the actual baby. The uterus grows from the size of a lime to a watermelon and gains a couple of pounds over the course of the pregnancy. You gain extra blood volume-which means weight. You have the sack of amniotic fluid that has weight. Your breasts get larger and their weight increases due to breast milk production. There are many things like this that are the reason for the recommended 25-35 pound gain.

It is very dangerous for your baby if you lose weight while pregnant. I strongly advise you to have a pre-conception appointment with an OB/GYN and talk about nutrition so you know what to expect while pregnant.

I gained 5.8 pounds during my entire pregnancy..my baby weighed 7.4 pounds at birth and is in perfect health. i have lost 22 pounds so far since giving birth one month ago.
I was significantly much more overweight than you,, almost 400 lbs :( my doctor advised me to not gain weight and was happy with my progress and did many ultrasounds to check on the baby.
As long as you are eating a well balanced diet you will be fine...i think with myself i was much more aware of what i was putting in my mouth and made healthier choices than i have made in my life and this helped to keep weight gain down.

Thanks to everyone for giving their thoughts and opinions. I really am focused on a healthier me before, during, and after i get pregnant. i have two children and gained like forty pounds with each of them. I was a teenager then, and did not think about what was going in to my body at the time. Now that I am older and wiser I want to be as healthy as possible with this pregnancy and not feel like a fat pregnant lady. I do not plan to go an any type of starvation diet, i just want to be able to eat right, exercise, and feel good about myself as a soon to be mother (again)!

I gained 5.8 pounds during my entire pregnancy..my baby weighed 7.4 pounds at birth and is in perfect health. i have lost 22 pounds so far since giving birth one month ago.


Did you only gain 5.8 pounds because you were exercising. If so, what type of exercises were you doing?

I would not advise it, either.

Your baby is going to be 5-9 pounds, and you are also going to have around 15 pounds of NECESSARY weight that has nothing to do with the actual baby. The uterus grows from the size of a lime to a watermelon and gains a couple of pounds over the course of the pregnancy. You gain extra blood volume-which means weight. You have the sack of amniotic fluid that has weight. Your breasts get larger and their weight increases due to breast milk production. There are many things like this that are the reason for the recommended 25-35 pound gain.

But if I am already over-weight would there be anything wrong with maintaining the weight that i am at by losing the weight that the baby is replacing. (Example: My starting Weight s 220, As the baby grows and puts an extra 5 lbs on me, I work to lose that 5 lbs only.

What I think you need to understand, is that the more you weigh, the more calories that you can eat per day and maintain, and or lose weight.

So...for someone who is around 400 pounds, they can eat a lot more to maintain that weight than someone who is almost half their size.

So, it is a completely different scenario.

Someone who is 400 pounds might be able to eat 2500-3000 calories a day and maintain that weight, or even lose a couple of pounds over the 9 month period. However, that person would not be starving themselves, eating a low calorie diet.

Someone who is around 200-220 pounds might need to eat 1500-2000 calories a day to lose weight, because they are so much smaller.

Do you see what I am getting at? For YOU to lose weight while pregnant, it is going to take a much more drastic calorie cut than it is for someone almost 200 pounds larger than you.

This is why doctors are okay with someone who is very obese to NOT GAIN weight during their pregnancy. If they maintain their weight, they are still eating plenty of calories and getting plenty of nutrition. Someone much smaller would have to be cutting their calorie intake, and their nutrition, a LOT more to achieve the same type of result...which could affect the baby.

This is why doctors often use a scale of 25-35 pound recommended weight gain for average women, 15-25 pound weight gain for overweight women, and in cases of extreme obesity-they are okay with them maintaining their weight for the most part.

It is because of the calorie intake being so different.

For you to do what she did during her pregnancy, it is going to require you to cut your calorie intake much further, and it is something that could definitely be unhealthy.

No one is saying to gain 50, or 80 pounds during your pregnancy...but you shouldn't be trying to lose 20 pounds during pregnancy, either. If you want to lose weight, I would concentrate on that BEFORE you get pregnant.

I wouldn't diet by any means. I do think though that it is possible to lose weight while pregnant. Often someone goes from a horrible diet to making good choices and naturally looses more body fat than pounds the baby is gaining.

I would definitely talk to your doctor about it to make sure you are getting ALL the nutrients you and a baby will need. If you are already exercising then there shouldn't be any reason to stop. I don't think I would try to get faster/stronger though. Just keep doing what you are doing unless the doc says otherwise.

I did the "leslie sansones walk away the pounds" videos throughout my pregnancy:)

i think as long as you are eating sensibly and excercising you will do just fine. With my first pregnancy (10years ago), i literally ate for 2 and i gained 40+ pounds,, i didnt care what i put in my mouth and ate all the junk i wanted,, this time i around ,, i really concentrated on my food choices and ate so much more healthier,, i even counted calories throughout my pregnancy. There is no better time for healthy eating than while pregnant. Just knowing that my little one was inside me depending on me helped to keep me focussed.

I only gained 5lbs when I was pregnant. I weighed 240 when I got pregnant and never binged or ate more than I needed. I only ate healthy food-veggies,red meat and apples( 5 a day because I craved them). My son was 10lbs when he was born & healthy. Alot of my friends gained alot of weight but its not healthy for you or the baby. Talk to your OBGYN about a healthy eating plan.

Your body does some weird things while your pregnant. I've lost 7lbs since I've been pregnant without trying or getting sick.

I was up to 5.6 pounds gained, but got the ok from my dr to do more cardio at the gym and some light weight training and am now down to only 1.4 pounds higher than starting weight. I am 14w2d. I eat plenty, take my vitamins and drink about 3L of water a day. As long as I don't see an adverse reaction with the baby, I don't see anything wrong with this. The baby takes the nutrition first, so as long as I am eating right, the baby will be fine. My bf, on the other hand, is freaking out. When I see the dr in a few weeks, I am sure she will have some input on how much she wants me to gain.

1.4 pounds gained at 14 weeks (end of first trimester/start of second) at your current weight isn't bad. Since you are starting your pregnancy overweight, your doctor is most likely going to want you to gain around 15-20pounds, give or take, by the end. Most of this will happen in the second and third trimesters anyway. You have still made it to your second trimester with a gain, even if it is slight.

However, this is different than someone wanting to lose 20-30 pounds during their pregnancy.

my husband was the same way throughout my pregnancy..constantly fearing that i wasnt eating enough since i wasnt gaining huge amounts of weight...i ended up gaining 5.8 pounds throughout my pregnancy and baby is/was in perfect health, weighing 7.4 pounds at birth.

As long as you eat healthy and eat enough to sustain yourself and add in some calories in the 2nd and 3rd trimester, you are going to be just fine!!

I am in a similar place. I weigh 220 and just got in the eat-right-exercise groove and then found out I'm pregnant. With my first two, I gained about 15 pounds with my first and 20 with my second and two days later was at my pre-pregancy weight (and into my jeans). (My problem was breastfeeding. No matter what I did, it didn't seem that I could keep up my milk supply unless I ate TONS of calories. Never got the balance right and ended up gaining 25 pounds nursing my last one. Sorry--you probably didn't want to hear that.)

Anyway, what I plan to do this time around is the Brewer Diet. He was an amazing, passionate doctor who developed this diet to help women have successful, healthy pregnancies. I came across this diet with my first and actually called him up and asked him some questions. (He was an elderly gentleman who just loved to talk with people and help them. He has since passed away.) Anyway, his information is at http://home.mindspring.com/~djsnjones/, or you can google "Brewer Pregnancy Diet" and go to the mindspring site (in case the link gets removed). The Bradley Method also endorses this diet. You can download an excel version of the diet from their website.

Anyway, what I plan to do this time around is that I want to stay in the "diet" mindframe (so that I don't eat McDonalds for breakfast and Einstein's bagels for a mid-morning snack and tons of sweets and junk like I did with my last one), but make sure that I get all of the food that he recommends in each of his 10 categories. (I know ... it's complicated, but makes sense, and imho is worth the effort.) I also plan to exercise. Then, whether I gain or lose, I know that the essential thing ... taking care of growing my baby is covered.

One more footnote ... the interesting thing is that I put all of this into a diet calculator just to see what would come up, and as long as I focus on non-starchy vegetables and a few fruits, it is basically the same as what the Protein Power (low carb diet that I have been following) doctors recommend for pregnancy ... following their maintenance phase. I thought that was pretty interesting.

my advice is DO NOT restrict your food intake. There is a reason that you are more hungry when you are pregnant than any other time in your life! What you CAN control however is what you are putting into your body. You need plenty of protein, and that can be where the bulk of your calories come from. Then when you feel like you could put down 2-3 mcdonalds value meals, get creative with making salads at home! Get a huge mixing bowl and put in all kinds of fresh sliced veggies and pig out on that. You might gain 5-10lbs doing this, or maybe none at all if it is healthier than you are eating now, but after the baby comes after a few days you will weigh less than you did when you got pregnant! Breastfeeding can also cause some people to lose weight also so I encourage you to breastfeed, it's best for your baby and you because it also reduces your risk of breast cancer by 50%!

I 2nd the others on the board who stated "weight loss during preg is scary"

If you are already over weight the physician may recommend a smaller weight gain. I gained 20lbs or so. 8 of it baby. And it dropped off FAST after. I breastfed. During preg I exercised. really watched what I ate. I was probably the healthiest I ever been while I was pregnant.

you might be able to lose weight and still have a healthy baby but, it's your baby at risk...for me it wasn't a gamble I wanted to make.

good luck. low weight gain during pregnancy isn't easy either. It was work ever single day.

I lost fat while I was pregnant.

I won't say weight, because the scale did move up 17 lbs by the time I was 38 weeks pregnant.



So basically, I was 251 lb pre-pregnancy....was 268 lbs. when I delivered at 38 weeks.... gave birth to a healthy 9.5 pound baby.... and then 1 week post partum stepped on the scale and weighed 241 lbs. Some people say I nursed it off, but I don't think that's possible to do so fast! My only explanation is that I lost fat while I was pregnant and the 17 lbs. was baby, placenta, extra blood, amnio fluid, etc.

ETA: While I was pregnant I ate a normal healthy diet and plenty of snacks, and lots of protien. I didn't count calories, and I did indulge when I had a craving or when i was eating out at a restaurant. I drank LOTS of water because I have a history of low amnio. fluid and I was pregnant in the summer in Las Vegas.

I did have morning sickness about 50% of the time in the 1st trimester.