Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Weight Gain - How to cope with binge eating issues?

4 replies

SquealyB · 20/06/2012 14:57

Hi all

This is my first pregnancy and I am now 8 + 5 and thrilled to be up the duff.

Before I got pregnant I had a serious weight problem. I lost about 5 stone on Lighter Life last year but never managed to get down to my goal weight. Pre-pregnancy I was about a size 16 (I am 5ft 8) so it is fair to say I still had about 1.5 stone to lose to get to a healthy weight. I was exercising regularly, watching my diet etc. and was in the process of trying to lose the last stone when I got PG.

Anyway the crux of the matter is, I have always been an emotional eater. Pregnancy hormones are, frankly, making me an emotional wreck and I know I am slipping into old unhelpful eating habits. I am also so exhausted that my exercise regime is falling by the way side and I can see the pounds creeeping on!

Is there anyone out there who has had serious eating problems before and how did you cope during pregnancy. I am terrified of putting all the weight back on but cannot seem to control binge behaviour. Can any one offer any advice?? DH is being lovely but he really doesn't get it Sad

TIA

OP posts:
Paddocks1 · 20/06/2012 15:38

Hey,

I was on a weight loss regime before i got pregnant (currently 16+4) lost around a stone since January 12 then found out i was pregnant in February and still ideally needed to lose 1.5 stone! Not ideal but after 2 years of trying for a baby i was over the moon so it didn't seem to matter anymore
I can understand where you are coming from as i had no control at the start, was eating all sorts constantly and tbh didn't even realise.
I have started pregnancy yoga and i am going to take up aqua natal as well to try and make me feel better. I think if you can get your head around the eating healthy not just for you but for your baby (which i struggled with) then you should be ok. I'm just dreading after the baby is born the struggle to lose weight so that's motivating me as well x

Cheekychops84 · 20/06/2012 18:03

I was trying to loose weight when I fell and it is really a struggle as it's inevitable you are going to gain something although there have been some posts on here where larger ppl have sustained their weight but through healthy eating obv you can't diet to loose weight at this point. I think if you can keep as active as possible which you probably can do once your in your 2nd trimester that will make you feel better even if it is just an half an hour walk everyday and perhaps some swimming.

Cosmo89 · 20/06/2012 20:56

Squealy - I am not a health professional - just someone who has had a rocky relationship with food in the past - and my meandering mutterings below represent the best advice I can give you, based on what worked for me.

Firstly, forget your weight and actively dieting. Just let that one go for now. You need to re-establish your relationship with food. That doesn't mean you're condemning yourself to giggantic weight piling on at all. You're just not going to put yourself (and your weight) under the microscope for the next few weeks. Stop policing yourself and berating yourself - you're probably sick of giving yourself a hard time with this anyway. Be nice and play nicely with yourself. Your body is doing an amazing thing. YOU are doing an amazing thing.

Consider chatting to your GP. If you are what you describe as an 'emotional eater', Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) might work for you - there's a book called 'Mind over Mood', which you can get on amazon, which is very hands on (providing exercises you can do yourself, and giving you an idea about whether you think a more structured approach to CBT might work for you). There are other therapies out there that might help you. Not all people get on with CBT, but I think there is some considerable evidence that points to success as far as eating problems go. Your GP will help you access these, and you may find you're helped more quickly because you're pregnant (then again, you may not - obviously a variable one that one!).

Also, take a hands on approach to your food consumption. SOme people advise a food diary of everything you eat for a week and have a look through it at the end, looking for patterns or 'triggers' that cause binges. If you're like me and you don't feel so comfortable with this idea, you can instead mentally note the 'triggers' that lead to the binges. You might already know what these are if you've lived with this for a while. You might be bingeing because you're not actually getting the calories/vits/mins you need during one part of the day. Blood sugar lows can be a trigger for binges, as well as emotional issues. Do you find you binge at certain times, for instance? Do you find you binge only on certain foods. (ie. ones you're trying to restrict, for instance?) Do you binge when you're tired?

What might help too is altering your eating habits - considering your intake of food as spread over 6 smaller meals in the day - make sure you have a whole spread of goodness (including carbohydrates etc). Eating mini meals (not snacks, just smaller portions of things you would eat for a meal or more wholesome things like yoghurt with nuts and dried fruits etc) like this keeps your blood sugar up = it also has the added bonus of shortening the time between meals (c. 4-5 hours) so you know that you'll be eating soon and you're not so desperate to eat all at once. Go for low GI meals that keep you fuller for longer, with lots of protein, so your body remains balanced. Don't restrict though! If you want to eat a bit more then do. If you want to eat biscuits (or whatever your naughty food of choice is) then incorporate them into the plan, but balance them with other things. You never know - you might enjoy it. REally make the effort to vary your diet and try things you wouldn't normally go for.

You're also pregnant, don't forget! You need to make sure your iron consumption is good (could itself be a reason you're wanting to binge) and you're getting enough calcium, omega 3s etc. Do you supplement at all?

As far as an 'exercise regime' goes, leave the old one by the wayside for the moment...everyone else is! Do something every day that keeps you active - however short it might be for - a walk, maybe some stretching, some swimming? Do only what you can manage and make sure you prioritise SLEEP - you need it. Later on you will feel better and you'll be able to up the exercise. I carried on running until about 8 weeks - then I couldn't manage it at all. I was falling asleep before 9 each night. I left it for two months (an AGE in any normal persons timetable) but made sure I walked as much as I could - it made me feel better. I picked up the exercise again when I was about 17 weeks and was surprised at what I could manage, being much more pregnant and after a long gap. But walking helped lift my mood, and my tiredness.

I've written WAY more than I intended and I hope there's something in there you might find useful - at a basic point, there are practical ways you can help yourself and many other besides the ones I've detailed here. Good luck with it all and enjoy your pregnancy - the first trimester sucked for me. It does and will get easier.

SquealyB · 21/06/2012 10:36

Cosmo - just wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to write your response above. I will check out the CBT book. My GP has always been a bit rubbish TBH, they they trot out the healthy eating and exercise mantra (and if it was that easy for me I would just do it already).

I find it very dificult that I struggle with these issues (as I am complete control freak in all other areas of my life) so thank you to all those who responded for being understanding and helpful.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page