Weight Loss and Fitness in Pregnancy

[Libbylove2015]

Hi,

I am 7+3 pregnant and frankly, a bit porky.

I got married in September this year and had been dieting all summer to squeeze into my tiny dress which was a 12. I am now a 16!

Since then, I am ashamed to say I have eaten like Pacman and I am now about 1st 9lbs heavier than I was in September!

I wasn't expecting to conceive so quickly (we had been trying for six months prior with no luck) and with hindsight, wish I had been eating healthily and exercising (used to be a good runner). But I didn't - I just ate and drank freely because I felt I had been so good for so long.

Aaanyway, I am reading lots of stories about labour being much harder if you are overweight, and risks being worse.

I was thinking about starting jobbing gently again (while I can anyway) and going back to my 'clean eating' club (KSFL with Rachel Holmes).

The last time I did this, I lost a lot of weight, but in a healthy way. I ditched wheat and dairy (getting calcium from other sources) and ate nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruit and lean meat/fish in abundance. Calorie wise I was eating at least 1500 a day, but lost at least two pounds each week and felt full of energy.

I wouldn't for a second do anything which risked not getting enough nutrients, but I can't help thinking I would benefit from doing it in terms of labour/pregnancy health? Not really fussed about appearance, although I would love to look like a yummy mummy the likelihood is that people won't even realise I am pregnant until I am nearly there!

Is this dangerous? I know it is not recommended to go on a 'diet' during pregnancy, but surely this is more aimed at the drastic vlcd type diets rather than sensible eating that happens to result in weight loss?

Would love to hear others' thoughts.

Personally, I'm not sure I would go on a restrictive diet where you cut out whole food types - can you not eat healthily instead, stick to lean meat, fish, fruit & veg with some wholegrain and dairy, no cake/ crisps/ chocolate etc? Being pregnant, I find myself hungry all the time and sometimes carbs are just necessary to fill me up!

Yes to exercise though - as well as jogging, you could go swimming or do yoga/ Pilates/ strength training. The more, the better as long as you don't over exert yourself I found some really good prenatal workouts on YouTube, just do them at home with a yoga mat and 2 dumbbells. Keeping your metabolism up should keep any weight gain within healthy levels. Have you checked the recommended weight gain in pregnancy for your bmi?

Good luck and enjoy your pregnancy! If it's too hard, don't push it, you can always lose weight afterwards.

First things first, talk to your doctor before making any major dietary changes. They know your situation better than we could hope to!

I agree with Cuppaqueen that you probably shouldn't cut out entire food groups, but focusing on eating healthy is great idea for you and for baby and well almost certainly help you slim down.

Exercise is definitely a great idea as long as you don't overexert yourself, especially if you weren't very active before getting pregnant. I did a lot of power walking and did Beachbody's pregnancy program by Autumn Calabrese: www.beachbody.com/product/bod/exclusive/pregnancy-workouts-exercises.do