How to minimise weight gain while dealing with nausea and food aversions?

[Anonymous]

I had a similar problem with my second pregnancy, all I wanted was carbs and cheese for WEEKS. I put on a ton weight in the first trimester, it sucked.

My advice (which I did not follow, but looking back!) is NOT to stress yourself out about it while you feel like this. You gotta do what you gotta do to get through the first trimester.

BUT as soon as you start feeling better, there will be lots of stuff piling up - you'll feel like you weren't great at your job and you're behind so you want to catch up, and projects (personal and professional) got ignored for weeks, and the house is a mess, and you have six phone calls to return, and your poor husband has been ignored for four weeks, and OMG I'm 14 weeks already and we've done nothing to prep for the baby (laughable to moms of more kids, but a common emotion for the first), etc, etc, etc.

All that will hold another week or so - as soon as you start feeling better, get back on top of eating healthy! Start immediately getting back in the habit of eating lots of fruits and veggies and protein. Fish is so good for you, peanut butter is a good pregnancy food (tons of nutrients, and a good option if you're in the mood for sugar), maybe make some green smoothies with lots of spinach.

So basically - do what you gotta do to survive and decrease your misery as much as possibly while you're in it, then pivot as soon as your out! It's not the 9 lbs of the first trimester that you'll regret. It's the other 10 extra you put on in weeks 14-20, that honestly, you could have avoided that you might regret.

[Anonymous]

I disagree with the people saying not to worry about weight. I'm pretty sure weight caused my unwanted, unexpected c section with #2 after my vaginal birth with #1, plus there are plenty of risks to baby

Try some boiled chicken breast and egg whites to fill you up

Baby won't be hurt by an hour of walking a day

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure the PP suggesting egg whites, chicken, and an hour of walking a day never experienced severe nausea. Going through it right now and those things would result in vomiting and misery. First trimester really is about survival.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure the PP suggesting egg whites, chicken, and an hour of walking a day never experienced severe nausea. Going through it right now and those things would result in vomiting and misery. First trimester really is about survival.

PP with 3DC/gained 30 lbs ea baby:

I was too queasy to exercise and was a college athlete. Brushing my teeth made me gag and sometimes vomit.

First trimester is truly survival. I recall wanting only very specific carbs; mashed potatoes, stuffing, Ritz crackers-quite literally everything else was hard to keep down. Nothing carbonated. Nothing with a “smell” because that would have me gagging.

Fresh air and staying cool helped. Love the idea of eating outside.

[Anonymous]

OP right now you are in survival mode. Once you start feeling better you can focus on what you should eat.

[Anonymous]

Try to avoid snacking between meals. Don't buy stuff you can't resist overeating. Exercise as much as you feel able to.

But also don't stress too much. I worked out a lot in pregnancy, but also ate a lot of crepes and raspberry jam and had aversions to meat. I gained 47 lbs. It came off within 3 months, and the majority came off in the first 2 weeks (pre-E water weight). Some of it is just how you carry - I carried "all in front" and got lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try to avoid snacking between meals. Don't buy stuff you can't resist overeating. Exercise as much as you feel able to.

But also don't stress too much. I worked out a lot in pregnancy, but also ate a lot of crepes and raspberry jam and had aversions to meat. I gained 47 lbs. It came off within 3 months, and the majority came off in the first 2 weeks (pre-E water weight). Some of it is just how you carry - I carried "all in front" and got lucky.

Frequent snacking is actually recommended to combat morning sickness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try to avoid snacking between meals. Don't buy stuff you can't resist overeating. Exercise as much as you feel able to.

But also don't stress too much. I worked out a lot in pregnancy, but also ate a lot of crepes and raspberry jam and had aversions to meat. I gained 47 lbs. It came off within 3 months, and the majority came off in the first 2 weeks (pre-E water weight). Some of it is just how you carry - I carried "all in front" and got lucky.

Frequent snacking is actually recommended to combat morning sickness.

Yep - that is the only way I could survive morning sickness - frequent snacking. My diet completely changed during first trimester - much more carby in general (although I went through a brief cheese phase and then couldn't stand the sight of cheese.) However in second and third trimester much more back to my usual diet.

[Anonymous]

OP, as a mom who had hyperemesis with all three pregnancies, take the damn Zofran. Take it daily; it's much less effective if you take it at regular intervals (trust me on this one). Doing that and moving into your second trimester will help you feel better physically, and likely more able to tolerate different foods.

Focus on getting enough protein, eating at regular intervals, and staying hydrated. The latter was an issue for me because I had such an aversion to plain water, but it's worth trying different things if it's a problem for you. Minimizing weight gain is important, but so is getting through the days. Take the meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure the PP suggesting egg whites, chicken, and an hour of walking a day never experienced severe nausea. Going through it right now and those things would result in vomiting and misery. First trimester really is about survival.

Yup. The smell of egg whites alone would have sent me to the bathroom to hurl.

PP, imagine you're drunk and have the spins. Now imagine it lasts all day. Still want to eat egg whites and walk for an hour? I could barely get out of bed in the first trimester of my second pregnancy.

[Anonymous]

I want to say that a lot of first tri weight gain will go away in the 2nd tri. The increased progesterone of first tri makes me get puffy and gain weight. The second I hit 13/14 weeks I felt so good that I am back to eating like a normal person. It's crazy how much better I feel and eat when Im not nauseous.

Best thing you can do to avoid gaining too much is staying very hydrated. A lot of hunger cravings are actually dehydration, especially in pregnant women. And since you're taking the unisom- go to bed early at 9pm or so. Late night snacking is killer.

[Anonymous]

You are growing a human!!! If you are hungry your body is telling You it needs food. Make good choices. Break feed and the weight will be off in three months.

[Anonymous]

OP, don't worry about it too much. I have been the same throughout my three pregnancies, and unfortunately ended up gaining 50 lbs with each, but it does come off with some work after baby is born. For me, the weight loss was never easy.

This time around, I am being more conscious of what I can control -- so first trimester was entirely bread and cheese, but now that my aversions have improved, I am making a conscious effort to eat more fruits throughout the day and salads whenever I am remotely interested in vegetables. My body does still demand a lot of crackers, but I'm doing my best to balance. Good luck, and don't be too hard on yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MFM (high risk OB) told me to eat what the baby wants you to eat.

What if "the baby wants" girl scout cookies at 11:30am.

Then you eat them.
Girl Scout cookies in the middle of the day doesn’t even sound like a bad thing for a not pregnant person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure the PP suggesting egg whites, chicken, and an hour of walking a day never experienced severe nausea. Going through it right now and those things would result in vomiting and misery. First trimester really is about survival.

Yup. The smell of egg whites alone would have sent me to the bathroom to hurl.

PP, imagine you're drunk and have the spins. Now imagine it lasts all day. Still want to eat egg whites and walk for an hour? I could barely get out of bed in the first trimester of my second pregnancy.

That actually made me laugh out loud. Just thinking about "boiled chicken and egg whites" is enough to make me nauseous just from memory of how sick it would have made me feel.

Risk is much higher with underweight babies OP. Take the advice from the majority here that you need to feed yourself and your baby, listen to your body, and just get through. It's hard to control your weight gain during pregnancy - everyone's body does it differently and it often doesn't have to do just with what you're eating. It's all sorts of things. For example, I was at a lower weight and had just lost some weight not long before my first pregnancy. I gained weight quickly that time in the first trimester and then it evened out. This pregnancy I'm at what is probably a more normal weight for me (now I realize this as I"m not dieting so much), and didn't gain anything the first trimester this time and have slowly gained throughout. My guess is my body was responding to different situations and did what it needed to do both times.