HI everyone - I am new to the forum and I have a question or just looking for advice really. I am 29 years old - female - have always fought my wieght after i had my first baby - now 11 years old - I have found out I am pregnant again will be our 5th child - The problem is I weigh 275 - I know diet is a bad word and a big no no when it comes to pregnancy - but with my wieght as high as it is - If i were to "change my eating habits" would that be ok? What kind of calories are needed to keep baby in good health - I understand what i need to eat and that is not a problem i eat fruits and vegtables already and I havnt eaten j"junk food" in over a month . I guess what i want is some healthy input on my situation I dont want to put baby indanger by the way i eat or not eating or by the way i weigh. Thanks in advance for any information.

J

Hello There,

I researched this a lot while I was pregnant and found that if you maintain your weight while pregnant (which actually means you are losing weight), you can do it very safely. As long as you are getting all the nutrients your body needs (calcium, protein, etc...), it is fine to cut back on caloric intake. Make sure to take your prenatal vitamins and drink plenty of water. My Dr. told me that while you are pregnant, you really only need about 200 extra calories per day, so for example; if you would normally eat 1400 calories per day to lose weight, eat 1600 instead.

I wish you the best!
Melanie

great thanks alot!! I am taking a prenatal vitamin that looks like it has every possible thing in it and drinking alot of water - Thanks again for the help

Although your best bet is to discuss this with your doctor, I agree with Melanie. I lost weight with each of my pregnancies and delivered perfectly healthy children. I swear that the process of growing a baby had to have revved my metabolism. I was completely sedentary and so any "activity" had to have made a differnce. LOL. Of course, the weight loss didn't show on the scale until after I delivered and I always managed to gain it back over time. Anyway, the notion that you have to eat for "two" is somewhat deceiveing considering that one of the two is so small. While you may need a couple hundred extra calories each day it is the KIND of extra calories that will make the biggest difference in the health of your baby. So, continue making the best food choices that you can and exercise for as long as your doctor says it is safe and I bet you will see a loss by the time your bundle of joy gets here!

Just read an article in one of my pregnancy mags that listed appropriate weight gain. And if you're overweight, it's fairly low anyway. I believe like 15 pounds.

Changing to a healthy diet is certainly not going to be bad during pregnancy. It will, if anything, be one of the better things you could do. And continuing through, if you're breast feeding, also benefits the baby.

almostheaven is right, the weight gain for an overweight woman during pregnancy is only "supposed" to be about 15 pounds.

I have to agree, swtiching to the healthiest diet you can eat during pregnancy is one of the BEST things you can do for yourself and your baby. If you fill up on healthy foods, you may lose weight because you end up taking in less calories. I think you should talk to your doctor about what you realistically need to take in during pregnancy. Is it possible to meet with a nutritionist? My insurance covered 3 meetings with a nutritionist during pregnancy. I am ashamed to say I never took advantage of that, but I wish I had. That would probably be very helpful for you in making sure you get the right amount of calories from the right places. Eating healthy is never a mistake though, especially when you're building a baby. And as you must know with 4 other kids (you're my hero, by the way. I can hardly manage my 2 sometimes.) keeping yourself active helps with the aches and pains of pregnancy, too.

Now if I could have just stayed within my recommended gain of a max of 30 to 35 pounds I believe it was. But nooooooooooo. I've gained 43. I'm holding steady at that now, but sheesh!