To want to lose weight while pregnant?

[mrsmrt1981]

AIBU to want to lose weight while pregnant? I am currently eleven weeks and have a BMI of 29.1. Can losing weight be done safety without harming my baby? If so what's a safe weight loss to aim for per week?

I put on a lot of weight before becoming pregnant because I was drinking alcohol excessively (I went through a difficult bereavement and my mental health crashed). I am no longer drinking so in theory losing weight should be easy. This is my first pregnancy and not really sure what to expect.

Thanks

I was also drinking quite a lot before pregnancy and by 12 week scan had lost 8lbs. You shouldn't be looking to lose weight during pregnancy but if you eat healthily and exercise sensibly you won't gain huge amounts

Your midwife or GP will be able to advise you on the best approach but as far as I am aware it is safe to loose some weight while pregnant so long as it’s done very sensibly, no crash diets etc. Given that you aren’t drinking anymore you might be best to just try and focus on a healthy and nutritious diet though and see how you get on rather than focusing on reducing calories, I started eating a lot healthier than I had previously in my first pregnancy as the thought that I was nurturing my unborn child rather than just myself helped me put more effort into eating well. I think pregnancy is a time to really look after yourself more than to try and follow any diet where you feel like you’re depriving yourself.

I ate very, very healthily whilst pregnant and my weight stayed constant. I did not go without anything, but I did up my vegetable consumption as I was prescribed iron tablets that gave me constipation. My doctor said that maintaining a constant weight amounted to weight loss and after the birth I was two dress sizes smaller. But I did not diet, I was eating to give the baby the best possible supply of nutrients and to help with constipation! I had the odd glass of wine as in the country that I was living in did not consider an occasional drink to be a problem. Broccoli has my best friend - raw, steamed, roasted, hot, in salads.... yum!

Talk to your midwife. Trying to lose weight while pregnant can damage your baby. Can’t you wait another 7 months before trying to lose weight, for the health of your baby?

I lost weight during pregnancy but my BMI was a fair bit higher than yours, plus I felt so incredibly sick that I lost some from that anyway. In your case, I would just not eat any rubbish but eat plenty of good food.

As Yarboo says- it can be done safely if you aim to maintain throughout pregnancy.

Definitely speak to your midwife.

Good luck!

In the same boat re bereavement weight gain, although I was binge eating rather than drinking. Hoping to maintain weight during this pregnancy.

It's perfectly safe to lose weight whilst pregnant as long as you don't indulge in any fad diets, fasting, or miracle weight loss drinks / pills.

Remember you are not "eating for two" (very very out of date and incorrect), just focus on healthy eating and exercise. Exercise does not have to be super gentle but I wouldn't do anything intense.

Life does not stop when you are pregnant. You can still do almost everything you did before.

@Lockheart

It's perfectly safe to lose weight whilst pregnant as long as you don't indulge in any fad diets, fasting, or miracle weight loss drinks / pills.

Remember you are not "eating for two" (very very out of date and incorrect), just focus on healthy eating and exercise. Exercise does not have to be super gentle but I wouldn't do anything intense.

Life does not stop when you are pregnant. You can still do almost everything you did before.

Thank you. That's what I thought. I feel pretty shit about myself so would like to start making changes now. Plus I don't think it will be nice for baby to have an unhealthy mum. I am vegan so eat pretty well in general, it was just the booze that caused me to gain (we are taking multiple bottles of wine each night). 😬

You can do slimming world while pregnant because it's just normal low fat healthy eating with limited crap, so if you eat like that you'll naturally lose weight of you're overweight to start. Plus not drinking will also help, fewer empty calories.

@VeniceQueen2004

In the same boat re bereavement weight gain, although I was binge eating rather than drinking. Hoping to maintain weight during this pregnancy.

@VeniceQueen2004 Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to survive. Good luck with the pregnancy x

Thank you. That's what I thought. I feel pretty shit about myself so would like to start making changes now. Plus I don't think it will be nice for baby to have an unhealthy mum. I am vegan so eat pretty well in general, it was just the booze that caused me to gain (we are taking multiple bottles of wine each night). 😬

Well the pregnancy will certainly help with that!

If you don't already do much exercise, I recommend starting with things like yoga classes (some places will even do specialist pregnancy yoga!) and making sure you take a walk every day, aiming for about half an hour.

Best of luck!

@mrsmrt1981 same to you m'dear. It's true, I'm a bit appalled where I've let myself get to physically but I'm not going to hold it against myself after what I went through. Neither should you!

It's certainly motivational to take better care of ourselves when it's someone else we're taking care of too. All the best x

I wouldn’t go on a diet to loose weight whilst pregnant. When I first got pregnant I was a bit concerned about putting weight on. If you are over weight I would cut down on portion size and maybe cut some sweet things out of your diet. But don’t diet you will struggle past 6 months when you tend to pile weight on. Just enjoy your pregnancy OP. You surely don’t want memories of been on WW.

@MaskingForIt fast or excessive weight loss could be damaging but as a higher BMI can lead to complications in pregnancy it can be prudent to loose some weight for the health of both the baby and mother.

That’s why I said she should talk to her midwife. She’s 11 weeks so will have had a booking in appointment by now.

Going it along and fasting/binging/trendy diets can be dangerous.

I think that as long as you don't replace the alcohol calories with food, and you focus on eating all the requisite fruits and vegetables, you'll probably find that the weight falls off naturally. I know a few people who were a dress size smaller after having their baby, because most of their excess weight pre-pregnancy was from drinking.

@MaskingForIt

That’s why I said she should talk to her midwife. She’s 11 weeks so will have had a booking in appointment by now.

Going it along and fasting/binging/trendy diets can be dangerous.

@MaskingForIt I did plan to discuss it with her but next appointment isn't until late September.

If you live as if you have GD you'll lose weight but eat healthily so no risk to baby.

@Yarboosucks what were your meal plans? Did you give up sugar and cheese completely? As my weight has gone up much quicker for my 2nd pregnancy and I am only 22 weeks.

Since you’ve obviously cut out the calories from the alcohol I think the sensible approach would be just to carry on eating a good balance of healthy foods without weighing or restricting anything, and doing some regular exercises at a level that feels comfortable. Walking and swimming (covid allowing) are great, even if you didn’t exercise much beforehand. Anything more intense you’d want to be just continuing exercise that you did pre-pregnancy. Basically it’s totally possible to run a marathon while pregnant (probably earlier on and not at 30weeks!) but only if you were already a marathon runner. Starting a training program with the goal of running a marathon while pregnant would be ill advised. Depending on how crazy scales make you feel, I’d recommend only weighing yourself about once a month. Weight gain during pregnancy is a mix of the weight of the baby, (3kg ish) the placenta, (750g ish) amniotic fluid,(a litre or so I think) extra blood, (1.5 litres ish) breast tissue increase, sometimes people get extra fluid (oedema) especially towards the end, and then it’s normal for your body to store a bit of fat, particularly for women who start off underweight or at a normal weight. So 7-10kg gain during pregnancy is not really a gain at all and anything under that and you must have lost weight really.

Sorry just realized this is an old post. I hope your pregnancy went well and that you enjoyed it whatever happened weight wise!

Avoiding sugar is good to ward off gestational diabetes.
If you are able to breastfeed your health is obviously important to your baby so it can be an extra incentive to eat healthily.

! I read the thread but it’s early and I didn’t notice the date! Thanks baby

Beware zombie

Yeah as long as it's not anything restrictive...just healthy foods and good portion sizes and you should still be able to lose.