to ask how much you managed to control pregnancy weight gain?

[dietcoketime69]

I'm currently expecting dc1 and in 1st trimester. I'm curious to know more about how realistic it is to try to control weight gain during pregnancy.

I'm normally a healthy BMI and as I'm sure is similar for lots of women, I'm hoping to be able to monitor my weight gain to avoid it going through the roof... cue everybody telling me I'm looking at this through rose tinted glasses!!

I completely understand weight gain is inevitable/healthy etc and would never consider "dieting" during pregnancy - I'm just keen to hear experiences from women who have been there and done that :-)

Would love to hear your stories, whether you felt you succeeded in keeping your weight gain in check or whether your good intentions just went to pot?! :-)

Watching with interest, I put on 4 stone in each of my pregnancies which didn't fall off with breastfeeding and took ages to shift (most) of it.

Am now pg with dc3 and have put on 11lb in 13 weeks . Now that the nausea is easing I'm going to try and be much healthier than I have been in the last 13wks, not dietingbut just eating healthier foods and nojunk. Also getting back to walking as in the first tri i have had no energy to do anything.

My midwife said Slimming World is approved for use during pregnancy.

Interesting thread. I didn't put on that much weight with Dd. I was a normal weight at the start. I think I probably put on about 2stone in total. When I'd had her I was a bit bigger than usual but not much. It gradually came off in the next year, I didn't do much about it really, wasn't overly fussed.

During my pregnancy I ate as I pleased, had horrible morning sickness for the first bit so keeping food down at all was the hardest part. Then I just ate what I fancied really. Some friends of mine have absolutely ballooned in their pregnancies and others have put on very little weight. Everyone is different. I'm sure you'll be fine if you just try to stick to healthier foods.

Hey Dilys thanks for your reply :) so when you gained 4 stone, did you pretty much eat what you wanted the whole time or did you try to eat sensibly?

I guess I'm curious as to whether it's down to your genes how much you gain etc. or whether it's dependent on diet over the 9 months :) some of my friends have said they were able to monitor their gain by eating sensibly, whereas others have said it doesn't really matter what you eat, it's up to your own body how much you gain!

Well I'm pregnant with baby number 4,I'm 34 weeks and I weighed myself 2 weeks ago and I hadn't put on a stone then, I'm wondering if my home scales are wrong as I've really not been eating too healthily, my good intentions did go to pot lol.

I think the extra calorie you need is actually very low. Something like only 200 cal a day in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. And that's not even a slice of cake! However I found the problem is that I feel sick not eating. I have two lunches a day to keep me going! One at 11pm and another at 2-3pm. I'm just so hungry.

That said I'm not fussed about the weight gain. As long as I can breast feed my new baby successfully again. I know I will have no problem losing it all and more. I was down to a smaller jean size than I was for my DD. I think it was around 6mo I became a size 8 in topshop skinnies. Not a pretty sight though I can tell you. I was so thin. I am much happier once I gained back the weight.

I've been following Slimming World since before I was pg and now I am, I'm eating the same things I would before but if I fancy a bit of cake or bread etc I'll have it. I'm not dieting but I'm not eating for twothousand either and using my baby as an excuse to eat crap.

I'm not being weird about it and it's not to try stop me getting fat, it's because I've spent ages trying to lose 3 stone and wean myself off sugar and I'm not going to ruin it. Of course I'll put weight on, and I am, healthy amounts, but it will be my baby weight, not my ate crap for 9 months weight. I'm lucky in that I've not been very sick and can eat all the same things other than red meat which now just tastes like blood and bile to me

I'm also keeping sensibly active. I'm glad to be having a healthy pregnancy than using it as an excuse to let myself slip. Before, I would have totally eaten jammy dodgers for every meal and not moved ever under the guise of 'rest' but I've changed my whole lifestyle to a generally better one. I've heard that being active and healthy can help with easier, less complicated labours, I'm not banking on it because labour is so personal and unpredictable but it can't hurt to give it a shot! I'll be watching with interest now to see if my plan has worked for others

First baby, I put on 18lb and kept it on. BMI 30.

With the next baby I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Changed my diet radically and when I gave birth I was lighter than I had been in years. I avoided chocolate and sweets (a serious weakness) and ate whole, unprocessed foods. Have managed to lose more weight with the new way of eating and am lighter than I have been in a long time.

I ate for two with my first pregnancy, but wasnt especially big until the last six weeks or so. I had put on 4 stne by the end though, and I reckon about a stone of that was in that last six weeks. Too much cake! Weight was a bugger to shift, too.

I ate heartily, but healthily in my second pregnancy. Didnt go overboard on treats. Also, although I am an exercise phobe, I walked every day with my 2nd, rather than sitting on my arse a lot during my first. Might have had something to do with having an active toddler to keep occupied! I put on just under three stone. Lost 2 stone of that within days of birth.

Disclaimer - this is my experience only, not meant to apply to all pregnant women:

First baby, I put on 4 stone and only lost it due to a postpartum thyroid disorder. Second baby, I don't know how much I put on, but it wasn't even half as much. From my experience, my advice would be: Just don't eat ALL THE THINGS, like I did first time round. I really did think I could simply replace wine calories with chocolate calories, and I was doing other stuff like having a bacon and egg roll most days for brunch at work, and just snacking all the time, and if I was at home and having a "light salad" I would chop up a whole ball of mozzarella and tomatoes and have it with half a toasted loaf and a vat of olive oil.

Stuff like that. Actually it was great fun now I remember it, and I loved not caring about having a belly. In fact it's the only time in my life I've ever consciously stuck my gut out rather than suck it in, during that bit when no-one can quite tell you're pregnant yet and you just look a bit thicker around the middle.

Second baby, I ate pretty much normally, and exercised three times a week (gentle stuff) and was much the same size after the baby was born as I had been before I was pregnant.

I didn't, put on three stone with dc1. My body just demanded food.

Blood pressure dropped to 85/50 and my body craved bacon butties the whole way through and chocolate and cake

Morning sickness could only be kept at bay by constant eating. At 15 weeks I felt human again so tried to do some exercise only to get SPD. Was advised to rest as much as possible.

I did have good intentions but they went out of the window.

congrats op hope you have a good pregnancy

Oh and anything from mcDonalds (must be the salt)

Yes yes to McDonalds. I don't know what it is about it. And Gregg pies.

koff double bacon and egg mcmuffin koff

with DD1 I put on 2st and then a further 1st after having her! With dd2 I put on less than 1st and she was nearly 9lbs of it and lost the rest really quickly. First time round I just ate everything! Second time I craved oranges and stew and watched what I ate but still had some treats I also was a lot more active in my second pregnancy and walked a lot. HTH

It is absolutely possible. There are guidelines about weight gain, so weigh yourself once a week to see where you are.

For me, it's not about dieting, it's about healthy eating. Think about nutrition...how much nutrition are you getting from the food you're about to eat? If you're eating a chocolate bar, that's taking the place of something else (eg apple) which would be much more nutritious. That mentality helped me stay within guidelines.

There is no need to eat for two. Eat until you are satisfied, then stop. At some points during the pregnancy, you won't be hungry. That's ok. At other points, you will be ravenous. Listen to your body. (if you are LOSING weight or are concerned at all about your appetite then talk to your doctor)

Do you exercise? It helps to keep up some level of activity, starting as early as you can, and gently at first if you're not used to it. I found weight training, elliptical and lots of walking worked well until 3rd trimester. Then I swapped to just lots of squats to help with the birth itself, and arm exercises to help with carrying the baby/car seat etc. There are specialist trainers for pregnant ladies, it's worth going for a session or two if you can, or watch youtube videos of Tracy Anderson etc.

After birth, it takes roughly 6 weeks (varies a lot by person) to be able to move comfortably/bend down etc. You will be very grateful after birth if you have given yourself a head start on fitness etc. To get back into shape, there are mummy and baby fitness classes which are a great workout, tailored for postpartum ladies, and are a good way to meet other mummies IME.

Good luck. It's totally achievable.

Guidelines say you only need an extra 200 calories a day in the last 3 months (roughly a glass of milk). Apart from that you can continue to eat the normal amount (roughly 2000 calories per day).

That being said I know sometimes eating frequently is an easier option for some especially if you are feeling weak, but I would still break it down into smaller calorie meals more frequently if you are worried.

I have put on 8kg (1st 3lbs) and am 9 months pg with Dd2. That's not a lot given that baby is roughly half of that and the rest is fluid/my giant bazzongas!
But in saying that I had a 'buffer' of constant nausea/vomiting which I wouldn't wish on anyone!!!

Congratulations btw

I had 9 months of horrid morning (afternoon and night) sickness and the day after I had DD I weighed a stone less than when I got pregnant, 8 st 5 lb. I wouldn't recommended that though!

Thanks everyone, your stories are so so helpful to hear :) ill use you all as my inspiration to not to go mad with treats etc. Just because I'm pregnant :)

I managed to lose about a stone with mine! Not on purpose, but I completely went off cheese and butter which I normally eat too much of, and went off tea with milk in so was drinking green tea instead. I did eat, but much better! I was also quite active, went to gentle exercise classes a few times a week and walked a lot.

PS higher than recommended weight gain is associated with a bigger baby (therefore a host of complications) and gestational diabetes. Who knows whether it's cause or effect (the studies I have seen are not conclusive) but IMO it's best to err on the side of caution :)

I wanted to control my weight during pregnancy too I don't know how much weight I put on, I had morning sickness for the WHOLE of the pregnancy, even while in labour so that probably helped a little. I tried to eat healthily, I craved salad some days but I found that whenever I ate healthier options the sickness was worse so ended up eating lots of ice cream, jelly sweets and KFC chicken I did lose most of the weight within 6 Weeks of giving birth though, I used to be a size 8 but stick at size 10 now

I put on 8lbs with dd, she was 6lbs. Basically don't 'eat for 2' you only need something like an ectra 400calsin your last trimester

It's probably possible to control if you're not exhausted and feeling sick all the time. My morning sickness lasted till month six and was that horrible kind where you weren't actually sick, you just had to eat bread constantly so as not to feel nauseous. I was exhausted all the way through! Never got the second trimester energy everyone bangs on about. I am crap at being pregnant though, I just felt atrocious and hated it, like I had a hangover every day for 9 months. You I'm sure will be different. I put on shitloads and I'm still chubby now due to tiredness and crazy bf-ing hunger (DS is 18 months). I'm trying low carb at the moment but do wonder if it's a hopeless case until I get DS off the boob.

McDonalds for me too! I never fancied it much before being pregnant (not snobby about it, just not fussed on burgers) but DH was dispatched for my first ever Big Mac in month six...

First DC I managed by snacking on fruit and keeping up my exercise. Gym 3/week, switched to swimming near the end.

2nd DC had really low blood pressure, couldn't exercise at all, couldn't even get groceries out of the car without being dizzy. And went off vegetables and fruit completely. Of course, put on about 20kgs. and still have 4kgs to lose 3.5yrs later

I followed the guidelines of only about 200 extra calories and put on about a stone and a half. I did get a massive sweet tooth though so really had to use my willpower not to go too overboard. Just don't eat too much, everything in moderation so you don't feel deprived, and walk as much as you can.