Can you lose weight safely first trimester?

[87Rainbows]

I’m 4 weeks pregnant and really overweight, has anyone safely lost any weight in the first three months?

I think the advice is usually to avoid gain if very overweight and pregnant, rather than try to lose lots of weight.

If you focus on nutrient density in what you choose to eat and portion control if usually excessive that should be enough, along with trying to be as active as possible without embarking on anything wildly strenuous for the first time.

Good luck!

I don't think you'd want to be actively trying to lose weight once you're pregnant. But you can limit how much weight you gain, focus on a balanced nutrient rich diet - you don't need any more calories than someone who's not pregnant. And exercise if you feel up to it, even a walk is good.

Being overweight in pregnancy is not as risky as people make it out to be, I started losing weight in January last year and had lost 17kg by June when I had a positive test but I was still morbidly obese. I did not get gestational diabetes or preeclampsia and I had a beautiful healthy son in February. I'm still not trying to lose more weight yet as I'm breastfeeding and I want loads of goodness going into my milk. When baby is eating solids as his main source of nutrition I'll start up again. Please don't go on a diet in pregnancy, just eat loads of nutritious food and stay very hydrated!

I’d be interested to hear from people who did lose weight - I saw a few on old threads but I wonder if there’s anyone who’s done it recently?

How much would you be hoping to lose? I know someone who overall lost about half a stone across her pregnancy. Her BMI was about 37. Taking into account baby + fluid + placenta weight I guess that means she effectively lost about 2 stone.

There's evidence to suggest that women who don't not eat sufficiently during their pregnancy increase the risk of their child going on to be obsese themselves. I wasn't the weight I wanted to be when I got pregnant, but this was the main reason I didn't diet.

As PP said, being overweight and pregnant isn't the end of the world. In fact, if you are healthy and have a high bmi there no higher risk. It's only if you suffer with health problems associated with high bmi that it becomes a problem.

Concentrate on healthy eating and mild to moderate exercise rather than weight loss is the best way forward.

Thank you everyone that’s really helpful! Healthy eating it is. I’m going to keep up my Pilates and walking too.

@Sara1988 interesting you're saying it's not the weight itself but weight associated health problems that are the issue. I am overweight (and have an autoimmune issue affecting my joints) but my BP, blood sugar, heart rate etc have always been completely normal, during pregnancy and when not pregnant. So am I right that you're saying the weight in and of itself isn't the issue in pregnancy, it's if a woman has those other associated problems (pre eclampsia, gest diabetes etc)?

I am 18weeks and I'm about 2lb lighter than when I got pregnant.

Sickness had me losing weight in first trimester and now I'm just averaging out. Very little being put back on at the moment, but I'm sure that will change as my appetite is definitely improving (albeit I am still probably eating less than pre-pregnancy).

I had a BMI of about 32, so in the obese range 🙈

I lost 2 stone when pregnant with my son, but I had a very high BMI (40) when I first got pregnant.

it wasn’t necessarily intentional weight loss, I just had a lot of evening sickness that put me off eating in the first trimester, then I found that he was squashing my stomach so much in the second trimester I couldn’t really eat much anyway, then I went super low carb due to gestational diabetes in the 3rd.

tbh I didn’t even notice the loss until I was walking to the office at 35 weeks preg and was having to pull my jeans up constantly on the way because they were falling down!

Yes - so high bmi pregnancies are more risky because there is a correlation between high bmi and other health problems (like the ones you've mentioned) but healthy high bmi pregnancies are not different to none high bmi pregnancy. In fact, healthy high bmi pregnancies have better chances of vaginal births.

I did a lot of reading on it when I fell pregnant as I was so worried but went on to ace all of my tests. Will look for some of the papers I read and share.

I think my BMI was 33 and I’d lost a couple of lbs in the first trimester but that’s it. Just try to eat healthy and exercise and maintain if you can (for now). I doubt it would harm losing a few lbs if you are very overweight though! Some women literally can’t keep anything down and end up losing weight with perfectly healthy babies

Thanks so much @Sara1988. Yes please do send some links, I have always wanted to ask someone about this. Really good to hear there's actual research. I'm wondering what makes a high BMI but healthy pregnancy more likely to give birth vaginally though?

I lost loads of weight and was the skinniest I'd ever been the day after I gave birth...I went from 14 pre-pregnancy to size 6. I just ate healthily from day 1 and I think my baby just was greedy in the womb! He was quite big when he was born. I ate lots of red meat as my body seemed to crave it during pregnancy, I guess I was a bit anaemic. I didn't actively try at all, but just ate good things, did some yoga etc and plenty of rest while I waited for his arrival...

@DancinOnTheCeiling so I asked my midwife at my 31 week appointment if my weight would make my actual labour harder and she said bigger women have easier births, so I've been on the hunt for evidence of this ever since!

Thanks @Sara1988

I put on 5 stone with my first, only 2 stone of that was baby. Put myself on a healthy eating regime straight away as soon as I was home from the hospital. Got pregnant again when she was 4 months old and had lost 2 stone at that point. Continued with the healthy eating and only put on 2 stone which was all baby, back to the same weight I'd been before the second pregnancy a week after DD2 was born. Basically no crisps, snacks, sweets or puddings. I couldn't bear going through that all over again. It may have helped that I was breastfeeding and walked a lot.

I wasn't overweight but I lost weight in my first trimester due to sickness and started losing weight in the third trimester too when the sickness returned. I went back in on antiemetics and had to take advantage of any moments when the nausea and sickness lessened to eat.
I was at my prepregnancy weight by 10 days and then proceeded to lose a lot of weight and then struggled but was very underweight by this point.
Being cautious and sensible I think it would be possible to lose a little weight or minimise weight gain in pregnancy. It might be worth a chat with your GP or midwife about what is sensible for you and your medical history. I found the post partum period harder because of my weight loss in pregnancy. I was on a heavily restricted diet due to my daughters food allergies and had poor appetite due to pnd. I think in many ways the "fourth trimester" applies to mum's too as you as their needs at times swamp mums needs. I had a very unsettled baby and for me at least that was my experience.

I lost at least 10lbs between week 4 & week 14 due to sickness/complete loss of appetite. Was never raised as an issue & I wasn't concerned.