pregnancy weight gain
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Anonymous
| If you only need 300 extra calories a day during pregnancy, how is it that they recommend a 20 to 30 pound weight gain? It takes way more calories that 300 to gain a. Pound. |
Anonymous
|
Because the baby and baby-related accessories are not fat, but they do weigh and they need calories in order to be created and supported.
The baby ends up weighing between 6-9 lbs. Plancenta is another lb or two. Increased blood volume adds a couple of lbs, etc etc etc. |
Anonymous
|
300 calories a day
40 weeks of pregnancy = 280 days of pregnancy 280 days x 300 calories = 84,000 extra calories over the course of a pregnancy 3000 calories = 1 pound 84,000/3000 = 28 lbs How does that not make sense? |
Anonymous
| Much of what you gain isn't fat, but the weight of the baby, extra blood volume, amniotic fluid, the weight of your placenta and enlarged uterus, etc. There is a reason that most women are 20 lbs lighter one day after giving birth! |
Anonymous
| A lot of the weight you are gaining is not calorie weight- By the time you're done the baby weights 6-9 lbs on his/ her own, then add the weight of the amniotic fluid, your uterus gets bigger/ weighs more, your blood volume increases, your boobs get bigger. The 300 calories aren't turning directly into lbs, they are nutrition for the baby, but the weight is coming from other sources than increased fat. |
Anonymous
Yeah, but the baby is made up of stuff which comes from calories that come from somewhere: the food you eat. Similarly with the extra tissue in your uterus and breasts etc. The only weight gain that is not associated with the food you eat is the water weight (which is a few pounds). So there is a correlation between how many extra calories you eat and how much weight you can conceivably gain...though as PP notes, 300 calories extra per day is sufficient to explain the amount of weight gain. |
Anonymous
So you're saying that if you were previously taking in the exact amount of calories to maintain your weight and you got pregnant and did not increase your calorie intake, you would not gain any weight while pregnant? Yes, there is a correlation (which is why I gained a lot more than 30 lbs) but I still think you would gain weight. |
Anonymous
Yeah but 20-30 lbs is not 1lb a day for an entire pregnancy... |
Anonymous
All of these things above plus the extra calories is what makes up the weight gain. Technically...very little of that should be coming from food because its about 300 to 500 extra colories a day. Thats why I dont get the whole I gained 50+ lbs thing because no where does it say to start eating out of control or to eat for "two." I know everyone's bodies are different but I am 5'1 and to gain anything like 50 lbs is an extra person on me and I dont see how I could do that without eating out of control and I would feel horrible. |
Anonymous
Well, your body's metabolism may change to slow down/speed up the rate at which it burns calories so it's not precisely one-to-one...but generally yes, you wouldn't gain much more than the water weight. The baby (i.e. its fat and bones and blood) is made of something. It doesn't must materialize out of the air. I'm talking about weight gain during pregnancy. A lot of that isn't your body, as PP points out, it's the baby and the placenta. Your food intake builds those things, but they are no longer in your body once you deliver. You also lose some of the extra blood etc soon afterward as well. |
Anonymous
LOL what is hard to understand about this?? A pound is 3500 extra calories. You are advised to eat 300 extra a day, which equals more or less a pound every 10-11 days. 40 weeks of pregnancy = 280 or so days. 280/10 is 28 lbs. nobody is saying 300 calories equals a pound a day or that you're supposed to gain a pound a day. It's impossible to tell what is going on in your head but this is not confusing! |
Anonymous
3500=1 pound I would also argue that you dont know your are pregnant for the first 4 or so weeks, but the rest of that all makes sense. |
Anonymous
This statement is baffling. Where do you think the placenta comes from? Your body uses the calories you eat to make it. If you didn't eat extra, it would steal from your pre-pregnancy reserves, leaving you weighing less after you deliver (part of the reason the recommendation for weight gain is less for women who start off overweight). People who gain 50+ lbs probably do eat more than 300-500 extra calories a day. Maybe that's hard for you to imagine doing, but I don't think it is. 300 calories is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a single scoop ice cream cone. A single extra whopper is more than twice that...or a milkshake. I don't typically eat or like these things, but I don't think it's that hard to eat that much extra. I've had a fair amount of morning sickness with vomiting, but when I can hold stuff down I'm surprised by how much more I can eat at a single time while pregnant than ever before. |
Anonymous
Damn Girl. I"m impressed with your rapid math/logic. |
Anonymous
Your body is metabolizing those extra calories to support the baby. So how does it equal that much weight gain? Yes, the placenta. Yes the baby. Yes the extra blood. But there is still some unaccounted for poundage there. |