Need positive stories on weight gain

[BigCuteBaby567]

Nice replies only as I'm a woman on the edge. I'm 33 weeks pregnant and 200lbs! I am shocked. I've put on 55lbs already and have like 2 months to go??? I look so ROUND all over.

Before pregnancy, I maintained my weight by eating 3 large meals a day and staying active. Snacking etc does NOT work for me, my brain does not work that way. I need to eat something big with protein then not think about food. Works great.

So you can imagine pregnancy has thrown that out the window. First trimester all I could eat was pure white carbs in little amounts or I'd be sick.

Then got quite bad SPD at week 15 and all cardio, fitness, walking went out the window. I'm doing exercises to maintain muscle tone from physio but they don't burn anything. I just sit on my arse all day and work. SPD makes it too hard to go to the office much so I'm WFH which has taken a toll on my mental state.

Now in my 3rd trimester, I'm heavy, and I can’t stop eating. I can't have full meals, they make me sick. But it means I'm hungry within 2 hours and it's impossible to make sure every snack is healthy.

I've got other pregnancy complications and work very long hours so my mind is a mess. How the hell am I going to lose this afterwards??? Am I going to get high blood pressure now too?

I KNOW there are bigger things to worry about! But I just woke up today looking HUGE.

OP sounds like you are in a tough place with lots of factors like SPD and WFH outside of your control and making healthy weight harder to achieve.

So let's look at what IS in your control.
What are you drinking day to day, any room to make some health swaps there?
Can we think of some novel snack ideas for you to keep you focused for the final 7 or 8 weeks of pregnancy? (When I had gestational diabetes, I found sugar free jelly filling, hydrating and very low calorie, have alongside a small savoury snack)
Are you able to swim in order to do some low impact exercise that won't hurt your SPD? Even once a week for 30 mins would make a difference.

Wishing you all the best in taking control of this

This was me, I gained a huge amount in pregnancy, really ballooned. A lot was water retention I think plus I had a big baby because I lost a lot in the first few weeks quite quickly. After that I wasn't drinking alcohol or snacking much so that plus pushing the pram and bouncing a baby all night did the rest and I ended up smaller than pre pregnancy with no formal exercise as such. My advice is to respond to what your body wants while pregnant and with a newborn and give yourself time post partum!

@SouthwestSis thank you! There is a lot going on and I do at least cook everything from scratch at home, even things like banana bread and granola I make myself so there's no sugar in it. I order a salad when I'm lazy. DP cooks dinners and at weekends so I'm getting good food in. Just A LOT of it.

Sweet treats are my downfall too as I can't help buying them from the shop/when out as it's the only joy I get, I feel like I'm being denied so much I might as well have the donut. I enjoy walking and exercising so mentally I've really struggled without it. I start every day thinking I won't eat sweets today and I'll eat less food but the third trimester brain takes over!

I have definitely eaten way too many pastries and cakes, this is not water weight 😐 I need to cut that out.

Luckily I don't drink juices and sodas, they give me heartburn!

I do swim a couple of times a week (physio recommended) but very slow, it's starting to give me ligament pain.

I'm also worried because I only get 5 months mat leave (not in the UK, I live abroad, which I regret now, I'm terribly homesick) so I need to be back at work around the time I can really start exercising again and I have no clue how I'm supposed to work 50 hours a week, care for a baby, and also diet and exercise for weight loss?? Maintenance is one thing, weight loss is brutal.

I honestly did not expect how hard this would be!