Dieting in pregnancy

[timetochange85]

I have recently found out that I'm pregnant with my second child. After I had my first child I suffered with PNA and struggled for leave the house much for his first year. I did a lot of comfort eating and not much exercise but to be honest I was having such a tough time I didn't notice the weight creeping up. I was about 1/2 heavier than I should have been before DS.

Things have improved drastically, DS is 2 and baby 2 is on its way. I had my booking in appointment last week and was absolutely mortified to see my weight is 4st more than it should be.

So, I've decided that better late than never it's time to get healthy. My DH however is totally against any sort of dieting in pregnancy and is worried that cutting calories at the moment will be harmful and make me even more tired than I already am.

Typically, this is the sort of day I'm aiming for (this is based on today). In addition to this I'm looking to have lots of water. I should add that I normally eat almost no fruit and veg so I'm making lots of soups and home made sauces to pack them in. I can only eat them blended.

Breakfast: Porridge with skimmed milk and 1tsp honey + pregnancy vitamins. Decaf coffee with skimmed milk

Lunch: Large bowl of homemade 9 veg & lentil soup with 2 slices of wholemeal bread

Mid afternoon: Bag of quavers (I love crisps, these are my compromise) and decaf tea

Dinner: Medium baked potato with tuna and low fat mayo, maybe a little bit of mature cheddar and lettuce.

Dessert: Low fat yoghurt

I don't think this is a bad day. But DH is quite worried because it's quite an extreme change for me.

Thoughts? AIBU?

Talk to your dr - if nothing else it will put DP's mind at rest.

But there's nothing wrong with eating much healthier foods. More vegetables, more fish and lean meat (if you eat them), milk etc. Just try and see it that way; don't focus on losing weight. That might also help your DP get on board with it. After all, the baby isn't going to miss chocolate and cakes!

Congratulations on your pregnancy :)

Does he always micro manage you? You might like to tell him obese mothers pass on the risk of heart disease - and you dont particularly fancy gestational diabetes either.

Low fat often means high sugar, so watch out for that.

You need potasium and zinc to stop cramps - eat a lot of bananas. And you need iron, so you need green veg or red meat. Make sure you have enough calcium.

I'm just trying to make sensible changes really. For example last week I made us bolognese which normally isn't that healthy because I have too big a portion, loads of cheese, sauce from a jar, etc. This time I made my own tomato sauce packed with lots of veg, really lean mince and a measured portion of wholemeal pasta with just a bit of cheese. No garlic bread.

I'm not talking about doing extreme restrictions or anything. But even my
Mum was a bit horrified when I said I was trying to lose a bit of weight. I had a friend who thanks to doing slimming world ended her pregnancy almost the same weight that she started it when she had a lot to lose!

He doesn't micro manage me usually no, he's just worried I think and thinks pregnancy isn't the time to be thinking about weight loss. I would agree if I was thinking of doing something of daft like slim fast or something. But 4st overweight! That won't fucking do!!! I'm already at risk of GD because I have PCOS too.

It sounds as if you're already doing the right things! I would suggest simply saying to people that you're eating healthily when you're pregnant (more walking or swimming or something if you can manage it would be good too) rather than trying to lose weight. Who wouldn't agree with that?!

The PP is right about GD. I have pricked myself 17 times since sat morning, had precisely 2 meltdowns about figures i couldn't control (the rest have been good but with bloody hard work and restrictive diet) - now you won't cause GD by eating sugar, but it certainly won't help, so why take the risk?!

Don't fall for the 'eating for two' myth either. I think its something like 600 calories* more a day you need to sustain a healthy baby. Or two bananas or a bowl of cornflakes to put it in perspective.

*Or it was when I was pregnant all those millenia ago

Fine, but remember low fat means added sugar( and worse taste) and honey is sugar.

Yanbu. Speak to your mw about doing slimming world maybe? I don’t like slimming clubs generally, but I think SW is meant to be really good in pregnancy.

I imagine your mw and mostly HCPd would encourage you to ‘diet’ within reason. I don’t really understand why your dp isn’t on board tbh. Healthier mum = healthier baby!

HCPs*

Your mw can refer you to slimming world for free I think it was as she suggested it to me (I didn't go but I really should have!) my mw told me to lose weight in pregnancy as I was overweight so even hcp are not against it.

I was offered slimming world free at booking in @TheDailyMailIsADisgustingRag but the problem is I'm so fussy with fruit and veg it just doesn't really work for me. I can eat them blended - soups, sauces, smoothies - so I'm doing my best with them but I couldn't eat a veg packed stir fry, or fill up on an apple for example. My MIL does SW (successfully) and I've had a good look through the books she's got.

If you're worried about sugar, watch the fruit smoothies - it's digested much more quickly than actual fruit so you get a much bigger sugar hit. My dietician when I had GD the first time around likened it to taking the wrapping paper off the parcel! Not saying no smoothies; just not a massive one every day perhaps.

Soups are excellent - and there's a limitless variety of recipes.

You absolutely can diet whilst pregnant and you can have a calorie controlled diet too if you want. Slimming World will give pregnancy diet support if that’s a route you want to go down. If you are as overweight as you have stated, if absolutely will not hurt to lose weight during your pregnancy. If you can lower your BMI before the birth, you will cut the risk of complications significantly.

Absolutely nothing wrong with eating healthier, and home made is definitely better for you at this time than processed food, so go for it!! I maybe wouldn't be bothering dropping to skimmed milk, milk is a great filler upper and may stop you grabbing for unhealthy food in desperation. There is also evidence that a glass of milk at bed time in pregnancy has a positive effect for baby (also keeps you full over night).

I've found during my pregnancy that I've not really had a huge amount of say in how much I've eaten, its very much been dictated to by my body (for several months I needed to eat every Hour and a half or I threw up at the 2 hour point!! This has eased to just nausea if I leave eating to long for the remaining part of the pregnancy).

If you are a crisps person (I wasn't until pregnancy but it was carbs I need to stop the vomiting), try Tesco sour cream and chive lentil curls they are very similar to quavers.

Also think about what low impact regular exercise (daily walking maybe) you can do, I have a dog, so he is a great motivator (pain in the arse stuck in the house) for getting out walking every day!!!

Oh, I drink skimmed milk anyway. We have all 3 in the fridge - skimmed for me, semi for DH and whole for DS. I'll probably switch back to semi once it gets to the point where it helps with indigestion!

Yep I've been looking at exercise too. Been doing a daily 45 minute walk with DS in the pushchair, bribing him with carrot sticks to get in there as he loves them and hates the chair (I'm not sure he's mine ) ! I'm also going back to the gym, whether DH likes it or not I've decided. Just to get back into doing my cycling. I loved cycling on the static bike with the back support until I broke my ankle last year.

I am so fortunate, I never had a day of sickness or particular cravings with DS and so far (8 weeks in) I'm the same with this pregnancy. Fingers crossed it stays that way so I can feed myself good things.

I know four people who did sliming world while pregnant and two of them lost weight during the pregnancy and mothers and babies were healthy. Although I don't think SW advocate weight loss during pregnancy but they work with midwives to monitor it and I don't know if the food plan is tweaked for pregnant women.

They all weighed less after the baby was born than what they did when they fell pregnant.

I'd speak to your doctor just to be on the safe side. In my non expert opinion I'd say you could safely lose weight if you're 4 stone overweight.

You should defo talk to ur midwife or dr, but rmbr one is not supposed to eat for two! Adding extra nutrients is all you need, after all after having one is still stuck with all the extra weight it doesnt disappear!
I think most learn that in ones first pregnancy and learn from mistakes in all those that follow!
Good luck!!

@Fertile87 I wish I could blame it on my first pregnancy. I had a huge bump and did gain some weight but was pretty much back to normal within about 4 months (so I was still about half a stone overweight but that's what I was pre-pregnancy). Nothing drastically bad or anything that a bit of hard work couldn't have shifted.

My problem was instead of carrying on losing I was cooped up in the house in a bit of a state and trying to eat my way to freedom I think. Too easy to think 'I've had a horrible day, I deserve a treat' or 'I'm so tired, something sugary will help'

No! I could absolutely bloody kick myself, what an idiot. I knew I was bigger, obviously, from clothes but not 4st bigger. I could have cried at my appointment last week.

Don't beat yourself up, OP. It's done now and feeling sad won't help you or the baby. You can eat really healthily now, give the growing baby lots of healthy food, and you won't gain as much when pregnant.

I loathed having GD but I only gained 12lbs overall and when DD was born, i weighed 3lbs less than when I got pregnant! This time around I'm 8 months and I've gained 11lbs, but I lost 13lbs in the first trimester so technically I'm still in the negatives! And I mostly eat healthily - l don't have many carbs but I have lots of fish, vegetables, nuts etc.

Plenty of people do Slimming World during pregnancy.

It's basically just healthy eating, unlimited fruit, veg, eggs, fish, lean meat, yoghurt, pasta, rice, potatoes etc etc.

Better to eat healthily while growing a baby.

It’s an extra 200 calories for a pregnant woman, which really is pretty limited.
The slimming world plan is tweaked for a pregnant or breastfeeding woman, and is accredited by the royal college of midwives so perfectly safe to do. Your midwife will be aiming for you to maintain your weight instead of losing, but that is an amazing achievement, don’t underestimate that.
Healthy food and lifestyle will do nothing but benefit you.

Well you've all reassured me that I'm not being moronic anyway! I am off out for a pushchair walk to celebrate

Anyone know of any good veg packed sauce recipes that aren't either tomato for pasta, chilli, curry or stew (just as I already have these - my stew gravy is made of beef stock and lots of blended veg, I know its weird but it works). I also already do a basic vegetable soup with stock, celery, onion, carrot, garlic, butternut squash, red and yellow pepper, sweet potato, spinach and red lentils. Any new ideas much appreciated!

Not a sauce but butternut squash, sweet potato and chilli soup is amazing