[angelaw]

I am actually under doctor's orders to either maintain my weight or limit my weight gain to 10 pounds during this pregnancy. So, I have to watch my weight and follow a diet plan while pregnant. Is anyone else doing this?
I am struggling and going to talk to a nutritionist/dietician about ways to accomplish this because I am up 7 pounds already at 17 weeks.

[beerab]

How about taking a long walk each day? Or a few walks a day? That might help with just burning a few extra calories a day.

[Latchkey Princess]

I am. But not really intentionally or anything. My metabolism kicks into high gear when I'm pg and I can eat like I used to and not gain anything or eat just a little less and lose. My midwives are actually not too happy when I lose, they want me to gain between 20-25lbs. But I never do. The most I've put on was 10lbs with my first kid, and that was all due to binging during the third trimester. With my second I was the same when I gave birth as I was when I got pg. Anyway, when I'm losing I'm generally eating more whole foods and limiting junk food and sweets. I also drink mostly water and limit my soda to one every couple days or so. You can also go for a walk, or if you have an indoor pool in the area go swimming (swimming is so easy on pg joints!). Also try not to give in to those pregnancy cravings. Or maybe just don't give in as much (for me that means having 1-2 pieces of homemade veggie pizza instead of a whole medium veggie lovers pizza hut pizza).

[tattoodles]

Ten lbs for the whole pregnancy???!? Or in addition to the 7 you already gained??? Either way, during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters you should be eating an additional 300 calories per day. So if you normally need 2100 calories per day to sustain your weight, you should eat about 2400 while pregnant. When I was pregnant, I lost 10lbs from morning sickness and then gained 28. My doctor got on my case cuz I still hadn't gained any weight into my 5th month.

I really think for someone at your weight 10lbs is way too restrictive. Not that you should go crazy and literally eat for two (I have seen too many people do this with TERRIBLE outcomes). Just eat a lot of small meals, focus on the nutritional value of what you're eating and don't stress out about what the scale says.

[livb528]

My baby is 8 months now, but I started out at a higher weight than you (228) and my midwife still wanted me to gain a normal amount of weight of 35 lbs. I lost 25 of it within 4 weeks and only had 10 lbs leftover which is very average. I lost that by the time she was 6 months (when I got serious about consistently working out again-my fault for not starting earlier) and then the holidays hit and I gained a few back.

Have you read anything about the work of Dr Brewer? He advised all women to gain 25-35 lbs and to focus on protein to prevent pre-eclampsia, pre-term labor, etc. He and many other Drs/Midwives subscribe to the notion that if you're not taking in the nutrients that your baby needs, then your baby isn't getting them. It may be worth looking in to. I followed the Brewer Diet and my baby was born very healthy. (Not trying to say that your baby won't be) Obviously, that doesn't mean that I got to indulge in ice cream every night or eat whatever I wanted because I was pregnant, but more that I truly focused on healthy eating.

For the 1st half of my pregnancy, I saw an OB who was also weird about my weight. At first, every appointment I was being yelled at because I wasn't gaining (because of morning sickness) and then when I gained only 5 pounds, I got told that my baby was going to be HUGE. Wtheck?!? This was at 20 weeks when there is no way to tell what a baby will weigh at birth. And she was 8 lbs 4 oz thankyouverymuch. Not huge. I then switched to a midwife (for many different reasons) who was not focused on numbers but more mine and my baby's health. (Which was perfect!)

Sorry this is so long! I know this is not what you asked for and I am obviously not a Dr, but I merely wanted to offer another perspective about weight gain during pregnancy and that different providers have different thoughts on it.

[livb528]

Sorry to post again but I just found this on webmd or something similar. Just because you gain weight doesn't mean you're just getting 'fat'. There's so many different things going on during pregnancy that we don't think about!!

Where Does the Extra Weight Go During Pregnancy?

Baby: 8 pounds

Placenta: 2-3 pounds

Amniotic fluid: 2-3 pounds

Breast tissue: 2-3 pounds

Blood supply: 4 pounds

Fat stores for delivery and breastfeeding: 5-9 pounds

Uterus increase: 2-5 pounds

Total: 25 to 35 pounds

HTH!

[angelaw]

Originally Posted by tattoodles

Ten lbs for the whole pregnancy???!? Or in addition to the 7 you already gained??? Either way, during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters you should be eating an additional 300 calories per day. So if you normally need 2100 calories per day to sustain your weight, you should eat about 2400 while pregnant. When I was pregnant, I lost 10lbs from morning sickness and then gained 28. My doctor got on my case cuz I still hadn't gained any weight into my 5th month.

I really think for someone at your weight 10lbs is way too restrictive. Not that you should go crazy and literally eat for two (I have seen too many people do this with TERRIBLE outcomes). Just eat a lot of small meals, focus on the nutritional value of what you're eating and don't stress out about what the scale says.

10 lbs total throughout the pregnancy. I started out at 206 and I'm 5'7''. The doctor said since I am obese she didn't see the point of gaining anything. ? Granted, I have since found a new doctor (a completely different practice in a different state) he still suggests that I monitor my weight gain. This is my third pregnancy. My first I started out at 172 and gained 30 lbs. Second, I was 215(I had been on steroids) and carried twins, gaining 30 lbs that time as well. I have never had troubles or complications with pregnancy or delivery. But, I have read that research is being done on obese women and weight gain during pregnancy.
I want to be healthy, and don't plan to gain tons of weight, but I thought that 20 pounds would be ok. I was wrong.

[angelaw]

Originally Posted by livb528

Have you read anything about the work of Dr Brewer? He advised all women to gain 25-35 lbs and to focus on protein to prevent pre-eclampsia, pre-term labor, etc. He and many other Drs/Midwives subscribe to the notion that if you're not taking in the nutrients that your baby needs, then your baby isn't getting them. It may be worth looking in to. I followed the Brewer Diet and my baby was born very healthy. (Not trying to say that your baby won't be) Obviously, that doesn't mean that I got to indulge in ice cream every night or eat whatever I wanted because I was pregnant, but more that I truly focused on healthy eating.

.

I would be interested in the Brewer Diet. I have heard about it before from a midwife I called when looking for a new ob.

[Gale02]

My Dr said the same thing to me when I got pregnant with my second (although I weighed considerably more than you, 264lbs.) I ended up gaining 27 lbs and lost all of it by the time my baby was 6 weeks old. Some women can go through a pregnancy not gaining much if any weight (I've known several), but the rest of us gain weight while we're growing a baby. I think the main focus should be to keep your gain to a healthy level. Eat mostly whole, healthy foods, exercise and make good decisions about sleep and stress if you can. As long as you're not getting your calories from chocolate or copious amounts of butter, you should be fine.

[Shmead]

Did the second doctor tell you to only gain ten lbs as well? That just seems crazy at your weight.

[runningfromfat]

My understanding was that if you're in the obese range (and especially since you're in the lower end) that you should gain 10-20 lbs so only gaining 10 since like a pretty arbitrary limit to me!

I've heard good things about the Brewer's diet and probably will follow something similar once we're no longer staying with my in-laws (I don't have much say over our food here).

So far I've just lost weight (about 9lbs) in my pregnancy due to lack of appetite. Plus I'm nursing and doing water aerobics so I just can't force myself to eat that many calories! I eat until I'm full and my midwife isn't concerned. However, I gained 65lbs last pregnancy and my family tends towards BIG kids so I wouldn't be surprised if I gain quite a bit later on. I also am very prone to putting on water weight too! Last pregnancy I dropped 35lbs almost immediately just between giving birth and water weight. Granted I gained weight again once I went back to work and breastfeeding made me insanely hungry but that I know what to expect this time around and am hoping I can make better choices!

[lindalee9]

livb528 - my experience was almost identical to yours! I weighed 218 when I got pregnant with my first and gained about 35 lbs, lost most of it right away but those stubborn 9 lbs. Then I joined 3FC and lost 30 lbs, but now am pregnant again.

I am going to read up on the Brewer diet as well, since I didn't really follow a plan the first time around and have not been following any sort of plan this time around either. I have the (wrong) mentality that being pregnant gives me a pass to eat whatever I want. So far I have gained 7 lbs and am 26 weeks.

[mom4life]

With my last pregnancy, I continued calorie counting according to what I weighed as the pregnancy progressed. I gained 40 lbs which wasn't bad compared to the 60+ lbs I gained with each of my others. I focused on eating more protein to sustain me longer so I wouldn't have crazy cravings.

[livb528]

Originally Posted by lindalee9

livb528 - my experience was almost identical to yours! I weighed 218 when I got pregnant with my first and gained about 35 lbs, lost most of it right away but those stubborn 9 lbs. Then I joined 3FC and lost 30 lbs, but now am pregnant again.

I am going to read up on the Brewer diet as well, since I didn't really follow a plan the first time around and have not been following any sort of plan this time around either. I have the (wrong) mentality that being pregnant gives me a pass to eat whatever I want. So far I have gained 7 lbs and am 26 weeks.

I am pregnant again too! A wonderfully welcome surprise Not sure of the due date yet, but my babies will be 18-19 months apart. A little daunting to think about but I think it will all work out. I was a little disappointed that I hadn't lost all the weight I had wanted to first, but I will take a baby over a perfect body any day. Doing the Brewer Diet again. It always makes me feel so good when I focus on protein! Good luck with all your pregnancies ladies!

[Goddess Jessica]

There's lots of research that says gaining only 10 pounds during a pregnancy if you're already obese is completely reasonable. I don't think it's ridiculous to try to maintain or gain just a few pounds.

I've gained around 10 pounds since the first doctor's appointment (week 9). I'm in week 30 now. I will clarify that I gained about 20 pounds BEFORE the first doctor's appointment due to really bad nausea. And I expect I'll gain a few more in this final stretch.

I increased my protein to around 100 grams a day but that was the only real change I made.