Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Enough calories during second trimester?

6 replies

decodecolife · 04/10/2022 05:55

After a first trimester of eating to ease my nausea, I gained over a stone already. At 5 foot 7 I'm now already 11 stone at only 20 weeks pregnant. 11 stone is what I weighed at 40 weeks pregnant with DC1 🤦‍♀️

Now my nausea has finally eased, I want to keep a very careful eye on my weight gain/ideally not gain much at all from now on, but still provide enough nutrition for baby. Is 1400 calories a day enough?

This is what I ate yesterday:
B: Date porridge with skimmed milk and a handful of mixed berries (322 kcals)

L: chicken, light mayo and cheese on a whole meal bagel thin, a red pepper, two babybel lights and 100g of mixed berries (484 kcals)

D: chicken with lettuce, celery, half a bag of cherry toms and light dressing

Evening snack: 2x beetroot Kallo rice cakes, Dairylea triangle, bag hula hoops, bag popcorn

Any thoughts? I wasn't hungry in the slightest.

OP posts:
decodecolife · 04/10/2022 05:56

Should have said- dinner was 334 kcals and snacks totalled 267 kcals

OP posts:
decodecolife · 04/10/2022 05:59

The day before I had:

B: berry granola and bran flakes with skimmed milk, and a Kvarg protein yoghurt (276kcals)

L: same as yesterday (484 kcals)

D: half a pizza with 2x celery sticks and a bit of houmous (689 kcals)

No snacks

OP posts:
decodecolife · 04/10/2022 18:18

Hopeful bump?

OP posts:
MatchaTea · 04/10/2022 23:18

Focus about the quality of your diet first, quantity second. Your baby's brain is developing until the very last day in your uterus and even after birth, so your diet matters.
You are eating a lot of processed and industrial baked goods, the granola in the morning , the thin bagel, the pizza, the rice cake, the hula hoops, ....
The calories might be low, but so is the quality of what you and baby are eating.
Do not underestimate the incredible work your body is doing for two. You are also developing the microbiome your child will go through and what you eat will determine the species and be the foundation of his health.

Focus on adding, so if you like yoghurt and berries for the morning, great, then add 1 or 2 tablespoons of grounded flaxseeds (rich in ALA one of the 3 Omega 3s) and opt for rolled oats.
For lunch, if you can, try to have processed meat only once a week, and depending where you eat, at work or home, opt for salads (homemade chickpea salad, pasta salad, nicoise, caesar, ...) or soup with beans such as minestrone, lentil soup, ...
For dinner, think salmon filet for the EPA and DHA, a steak, or a chicken breast, a stew, a pasta , brown or black rice, cauliflower steak,
Hummus is great, try to make your own, for less additives and more nutrition and have way more veggies with it. Carrot, fennel, cucumber, celery, red pepper, ...

You can have eggs either with your salad (a boiled egg) or as a dish.If you need an evening snack, take a plate with an apple, pear, some cut melon, watermelon.

Opt for the whole product, so whole milk, whole mayo, and maybe try to make your own tahini dressing as an alternative to mayo,
Plan your meals around vegetables, try to have some fish at least twice a week, some pulses, be it lentils, beans (this recipe is really nice www.theguardian.com/food/2022/aug/27/vegan-celery-saffron-white-bean-stew-recipe-meera-sodha but cut the celery smaller) , chickpeas... there are so many variations of hummus with beetroot, eggplant, ....at least 3 times a week (out of the 21 meals), yes to meat, but not processed unless you make your own burgers . You can use chickpea flour to make a tasty flatbread called socca, or falafel, veggie burgers, ...

Get the habit of eating well, less processed, and you will pass that habit when the time will come to wean your baby. There is so much great food, great recipes, pleasure out there, why waste it on crap.
Your skin will be more elastic, you will be able to control weight, be satisfied, and bounce back to your pre-pregnancy weight.

You deserve some sweetness, or you will crash and hit the cupboard in the middle of the night. And it is ok, but have good quality dark chocolate , a small piece of the Sunday cake.

You have another child, this all great food for her/him as well.

decodecolife · 05/10/2022 05:44

Thank you- thank you for taking the time to reply-so is the quality not good at all then? I thought I had been trying quite hard!

You say don't worry about quantity so much- the fact is that if I take in more energy than I expend then I will gain (more) fat. Houmous is great, you're right, but it's so very calorific that I had to measure out a tiny portion. If I continued to eat that and made the other swaps you're suggesting then my calories would go way up, not down.

I'm also trying to make my diet as achievable as possible. The inclusion of the more processed foods (eg the pizza I had for one dinner) is because I'm definitely more of a savoury person rather than sweet. I'm never going to crave chocolate etc, but I will feel deprived if I don't get the off savoury treat- I thought everything was ok with balance?

Same thing with the bagel thin- chickpeas etc all well and good but unless some time is spent on them (which I don't have as I work and have a young child and spend enough time prepping other meals throughout the week) then they can be so flavourless. I feel like a tasty and quick bagel with all of the added veggies and fruits is an ok substitute?

The idea of adding flaxseeds is a great one, thanks.

I just want something that's realistic and that's not going to up my calories too much.

OP posts:
decodecolife · 05/10/2022 05:49

I should add as well that my evening meals on my non working days are normally more nutritious because I have some time to be able to prep them. So lentil ragu with wholewheat pasta and shakshuka are what I will have later in the week.

Also I like the suggestion of soups for lunch to add nutrition, but they wouldn't (and haven't in the past) fill me up enough- I would end up adding some carbohydrates like a bagel thin anyway and then once again my calories would be way up.

It's a real struggle!

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page