First Trimester weight gain

[novamama]

Hello mums and future mums!

I start this thread in hope of advice of how to deal with eating habits due to nausea in the first and beginning of second trimester.

This is my first pregnancy, so it's been a discovery journey for me. I am now 15 weeks, and I have already gained 3.5kg since the beginning of my pregnancy, which I am quite worried about. I blame this on my changed eating habits due to nausea - I have basically been constantly eating to keep nausea at bay. This includes many more fruits, "healthy" nut snacks, bananas. Although I am in my second trimester now, I am still nauseous, so I don't know how to manage eating, and I am gaining weight fast.

I just don't want to eat so much because I worked so much to feel confident in my body and weight, that now it feels like I chucked years of work down the drain in 3 months.

How did you deal with the first trimester nausea? Any tips to limit food intake to a normal caloric day and avoid overeating due to nausea? Any help would be much appreciated, and please do share your stories and struggles.

Hi OP,

No real advice to give, but hope it's reassuring that you're not alone in this! I really worried about it in my first trimester too, but found my appetite and weight gain varied throughout pregnancy. In the first trimester I was starving, and constantly eating toast / any carbs within reach. In the second, a bit more normal (for me). And in the third, my appetite naturally evaporated and weight gain slowed to almost nothing, seemingly regardless of what I did / didn't eat. I tried to just be guided by my appetite, and trust my body without being too restrictive about what I ate. Overall, my pregnancy weight gain was average despite the initial rapid weight gain, and a lot of it fell away naturally in the first week or two after I gave birth. Still working on the rest, but I'm much less worried about that now that my DS is here.

I’m in the same boat. 14 weeks yesterday and I have been constantly hungry so far but don’t want to gain so much weight it will be hard to lose as I struggle to lose weight anyway! Equally I want to enjoy my pregnancy and not worry about weight etc!

I think what is making me feel worse at the moment is the fact I don’t have a bump yet but my midsection is definitely larger whether it’s from weight gain or everything moving. I just feel so frumpy! I have never had a brilliant relationship with body image but was at a point I was happy with myself and now I feel awful all of the time 😭 doesn’t help I’m only 5’4 so don’t carry it we’ll.

hoping I can control my food cravings and keep my walking/jogging up to stay active and limit any unnecessary weight gain:

Oh my goodness me too.

I've not told anyone at work yet apart from my line manager and would prefer not to broadcast beyond immediate friends and family til 20 week scan so finding dressing difficult.

OP I found 15 weeks was when my ausea subsided significantly, hopefully for you too. I'm trying to eat smaller portions each time so often but little. And having some fruit and veg and protein prepared or easy to eat has helped once I've satisfied the initial carb craving.

The fatigue has also subsided enough that I can do a bit more exercise which I'm hoping is going to help me feel more like myself. But the midwife reassured me this week that some weight gain is normal even if you are eating 'sensibly'

@Whataretheodds @Freshgreenrosemary @BEO Thank you so much for replying. It definitely helps to hear that I'm not alone in this. I'll try to eat small regular and healthy snacks to keep me going. I think it's finally starting to subside, just turned into week 16. I've been much more active this week which helped at least to feel less guilty about snacking.

I hope I won't gain lots in the second trimester, and for my journey to be balanced overall.

I'm not on the same boat (in fact I've already lost 2kg in the 1st trimester), but 3.5kg is not a massive weight gain.

Healthy weight gain is between 12 and 16kg over the whole pregnancy, so 3.5 in the 1st 4 months sounds about right!!
Careful not to restrict yourself too much in pregnancy (though I do understand not wanting to gain ALL THE WEIGHT)

I was weighed at the beginning and I was about 67kg which is average for me- I often fluctuate from around 64-69kgish. I’m currently 70.6 so have gained similar to you since the start. Hoping it slows down if I can keep activity up. I have been snacking more and eating more crap 🙈 and have been put on light duties at work so more sedentary than I am used to! But going to try keep active and make healthier choices. It’s so hard when you have a negative body image already. I was already borderline over weight (bmi 25.5) so don’t want it getting out of hand x

@ASGIRC I hope you are feeling better in case you lost weight due to feeling sick.

My understanding was that little to no weight gain is to be expected in the first trimester, and that the average weight gain throughout the pregnancy is actually 10-12kg (based on NHS information I found). I would have preferred to put those steadily from now on, as I'm currently on track to get huge if my weight gain doesn't get steadier.

I just hope I'll feel better overall so I can get to eat my regular timed meals as before pregnancy. I am pretty certain it's the continued snacking that has hugely shifted my weight gain.

@novamama all the things I've read point to 2/3kg in the first trimester.
And if you think about it, zero weight gain would have to be a weight loss, as even a small baby has weight, plus all the extra fluid, blood, etc.

I think if you don't gain exponentially in the second and third, you'll be just right.

And yeah, once the nausea goes away, it should get better.

Yes, I have lost weight due to not feeling great. And eating doesn't help me. Mostly because my main issue is food aversion (to almost every single thing!!)

So, just as an update. I am 24 + 3 weeks and I officially gained 10kg so far. I am on track to gain over 20kg in this pregnancy, please wish me luck as I am completely petrified.

@novamama . I hit about 10kg and I’m 23 weeks. I’ve decided not to weigh myself again until the very end- even then it’s just to see what I weigh so I can see how fast/slow it falls off.

I’ve decided weighing myself is just making me depressed. I’m pregnant and growing another human so I’m cutting myself some slack. I try to be active and not eat too much rubbish and that’s all I can do.

please try to not worry and maybe put the scales away as I think they do more harm than good .