How to not absolutely blow up with this pregnancy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have three kids and am pregnant with my 4th. With each pregnancy I gained a TON of weight - between 50 and 80 pounds. I eventually lost the weight after my second but got gestational diabetes with my last one and have been working out for a year and changed my diet (no gluten, very limited sugar, almost all “whole” unprocessed foods) - losing the weight has been slow going. In any case, what did you do to avoid blowing up in pregnancy, particularly if you’d already had a pregnancy (or more) where you had? TIA.

Youd be surprised at what foods cause spikes. I tracked religiously with GD and managed with diet. I found that a lot of items I could eat in normal portions without a spike but then others would cause a spike. For example, I could eat potatoes just fine but not rice, bread, some fruits or vegetables, etc. In sum, some fruits and vegetables caused more a spike than the same grams of carbs in potato form.
Try the nichols book on pregnancy diet?

[Anonymous]

I had to eat like I wasn't pregnant.

Pregnancy was shocking to me. I ate the exact same amount (very healthy, not dieting) and didn't pretend like I was eating for 2, but I still gained 35lbs (I weigh 110). After I gave birth, I only lost 10lbs and basically had to starve that last 25 lbs off. It was painful and I had to be very dedicated. I did lose all but 5lbs by 12 weeks though, but we're talking about 2-3 hours a day of walking.

Every once in a while I see someone tell a pregnant woman- "don't worry about the weight, it just falls off after!" Yeah no. That didn't happen to me with any of my 3 babies. I exclusively breastfed and was an overproducer too. Breastfeeding didn't burn calories, it just made me ravenously hungry and made the weight loss harder. With baby 3 I was the most active I've ever been and ate the healthiest. I only gained 25lbs, but had a 9lb, 13 oz baby! Still blows my mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had to eat like I wasn't pregnant.

Pregnancy was shocking to me. I ate the exact same amount (very healthy, not dieting) and didn't pretend like I was eating for 2, but I still gained 35lbs (I weigh 110). After I gave birth, I only lost 10lbs and basically had to starve that last 25 lbs off. It was painful and I had to be very dedicated. I did lose all but 5lbs by 12 weeks though, but we're talking about 2-3 hours a day of walking.

Every once in a while I see someone tell a pregnant woman- "don't worry about the weight, it just falls off after!" Yeah no. That didn't happen to me with any of my 3 babies. I exclusively breastfed and was an overproducer too. Breastfeeding didn't burn calories, it just made me ravenously hungry and made the weight loss harder. With baby 3 I was the most active I've ever been and ate the healthiest. I only gained 25lbs, but had a 9lb, 13 oz baby! Still blows my mind.

People do massively overestimate how much extra you are supposed to eat while pregnant. It's basically nothing the first trimester, about 300 in the second and 400ish in the third (needs vary). You can easily get there with a couple snacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had to eat like I wasn't pregnant.

Pregnancy was shocking to me. I ate the exact same amount (very healthy, not dieting) and didn't pretend like I was eating for 2, but I still gained 35lbs (I weigh 110). After I gave birth, I only lost 10lbs and basically had to starve that last 25 lbs off. It was painful and I had to be very dedicated. I did lose all but 5lbs by 12 weeks though, but we're talking about 2-3 hours a day of walking.

Every once in a while I see someone tell a pregnant woman- "don't worry about the weight, it just falls off after!" Yeah no. That didn't happen to me with any of my 3 babies. I exclusively breastfed and was an overproducer too. Breastfeeding didn't burn calories, it just made me ravenously hungry and made the weight loss harder. With baby 3 I was the most active I've ever been and ate the healthiest. I only gained 25lbs, but had a 9lb, 13 oz baby! Still blows my mind.

People do massively overestimate how much extra you are supposed to eat while pregnant. It's basically nothing the first trimester, about 300 in the second and 400ish in the third (needs vary). You can easily get there with a couple snacks.

Eh. I probably come close to doubling the calories I normally eat because I eat like a bird when I’m not pregnant and am plain old hungry when I am. Have gained 35-40 pounds every pregnancy, worked like a dog to get it off every time and absolutely no regrets about my pregnancy diet. Who wants to be pregnant AND starving.