Pregnancy After Years in a Deficit

Intentional_Me
Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
edited December 4 in Health and Weight Loss
What are your thoughts on getting pregnant after maintaining a deficit for 2+ years? Are there any legitimate sources that discuss this topic and any associated risks?

The reason I ask is because my husband & I have two children, both within the last 3 years and it'll take me at least a few years total to reach goal weight (70 pounds down now!) As you know pregnancy takes a lot from your body, will two pregnancies followed by years of deficit and then another pregnancy at goal weight be smart health wise?

Replies

  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    ^ I agree with above!
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    littlemissbgiff wrote: »
    Seems like a better place to ask would be your ob/gyn

    They don't really answer these types of questions over the phone and I'm not going to pay for an appointment for something we may or may not do in a few years, but this is a valid response.

    Maybe I'll just have to ask when the time comes. If it does.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited November 2016
    As long as you're planning to eat enough during the pregnancy, I don't see a problem with it. This is assuming that you're eating a healthy balanced diet full of nutrients while in caloric deficit. Slow steady weightloss isn't inherently hard on the body. Malnutrition is. It's all about the nutrients.

    At our prenatal class, the nurse recommended waiting two years before getting pregnant again for the body to have fully replenished itself with nutrients - but neither of my OBs had any concerns on that front when I got pregnant 15 months after the first birth (and they were ubercautious about everything in that class).
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    Thank you for the replys! I focus on meeting my macros most of the time and take a multivitamin :)

    Great suggestion to figure out maintenance first.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Seems to me you have two choices

    You lose your excess weight and get fitter and if a pregnancy happens it happens

    Or you stay overweight and if a pregnancy happens it happens

    The type of defecit you follow will probably be key. So moving more, following a progressive resistance plan and eating a nutritionally wide ranging diet to a calorie defecit in order to get to a healthy weight range will always be preferable for your overall health, and what's good for a mother is good for a foetus

    I'm struggling to see the conundrum here TBH
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Seems to me you have two choices

    You lose your excess weight and get fitter and if a pregnancy happens it happens

    Or you stay overweight and if a pregnancy happens it happens

    The type of defecit you follow will probably be key. So moving more, following a progressive resistance plan and eating a nutritionally wide ranging diet to a calorie defecit in order to get to a healthy weight range will always be preferable for your overall health, and what's good for a mother is good for a foetus

    I'm struggling to see the conundrum here TBH

    I'm clearly not going to stop losing weight. I'm 70 pounds down and pretty invested in the process if you haven't seen me in other threads . The conundrum is that I wouldn't want to chance another pregnancy if it were just going to be too much stress on my body. I didn't know if there was any science behind multiple pregnancies (which are hard on your body), a deficit and another pregnancy at maintenance. I'd rather be healthy than add extra stress to my body.

    I'm not sure why this is such a weird question to people but I do appreciate the answers.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Well it seems weird to me because I don't see why you think a nutritious balanced diet cannot be acheieved in defecit. And why you think pregnancy would put such undue stress on your body that moving to maintenance wouldn't be sufficient

    And I say that as someone who had a couple of unusual pregnancies
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    My thought is that you are eating in a deficit but have the energy stores (fat) on hand to handle it. If you were malnourished/undernourished going straight into pregnancy I would be concerned. I don't know how much you have left to lose but the fact you said it will be a few years total to reach goal leads me to believe you are not crash dieting. Healthy dieting is going to help rather than hurt a future pregnancy.
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    edited November 2016
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Well it seems weird to me because I don't see why you think a nutritious balanced diet cannot be acheieved in defecit. And why you think pregnancy would put such undue stress on your body that moving to maintenance wouldn't be sufficient

    And I say that as someone who had a couple of unusual pregnancies

    I didn't say a nutritional diet can't be achieved in a deficit. I think you're looking for something that isn't there. I was not sure if it is stressful on the body to be in a deficit for so long but I am sure that pregnancy takes a lot from my body. And my stress hormones are currently high according to my last labs. I'm just trying to be health concious.
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    My thought is that you are eating in a deficit but have the energy stores (fat) on hand to handle it. If you were malnourished/undernourished going straight into pregnancy I would be concerned. I don't know how much you have left to lose but the fact you said it will be a few years total to reach goal leads me to believe you are not crash dieting. Healthy dieting is going to help rather than hurt a future pregnancy.

    Thanks for the insight. I'm currently 218 and my goal weight is 130 to start. (5'3). Currently set to 2 pounds a week but will be changing to 1.5/week at 205 and so on as I get closer to goal weight.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    oliverneedsyou wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    My thought is that you are eating in a deficit but have the energy stores (fat) on hand to handle it. If you were malnourished/undernourished going straight into pregnancy I would be concerned. I don't know how much you have left to lose but the fact you said it will be a few years total to reach goal leads me to believe you are not crash dieting. Healthy dieting is going to help rather than hurt a future pregnancy.

    Thanks for the insight. I'm currently 218 and my goal weight is 130 to start. (5'3). Currently set to 2 pounds a week but will be changing to 1.5/week at 205 and so on as I get closer to goal weight.

    I think you are on a good path. I always am happy to see people with reasonable expectations. It's like a breath of fresh air when I read posts like this.
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    oliverneedsyou wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    My thought is that you are eating in a deficit but have the energy stores (fat) on hand to handle it. If you were malnourished/undernourished going straight into pregnancy I would be concerned. I don't know how much you have left to lose but the fact you said it will be a few years total to reach goal leads me to believe you are not crash dieting. Healthy dieting is going to help rather than hurt a future pregnancy.

    Thanks for the insight. I'm currently 218 and my goal weight is 130 to start. (5'3). Currently set to 2 pounds a week but will be changing to 1.5/week at 205 and so on as I get closer to goal weight.

    I think you are on a good path. I always am happy to see people with reasonable expectations. It's like a breath of fresh air when I read posts like this.

    I hear that. Someone argued with me the other day that my protein intake is far too high at 100g while in the same breath told me her adult daughter is on a 500 cal diet. What?! Lol
  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    I would think it would be healthier to have been at a deficit for a couple years and get pregnant at a healthy weight rather than to be overweight at the start of the next pregnancy. Assuming your deficit is not unreasonable (which it sounds like you are doing a reasonable plan so I don't see concern there) and you are getting all your nutritional needs met, especially in the few months leading up to conception, it strikes me that it would be the better option (as opposed to staying overweight because you might want another kid a couple years from now). I've had four kids (I have a 9 year old, an almost 7 year old, a 4 year old, and a 15 month old). The first two pregnancies, while uncomplicated, were more uncomfortable due to being overweight at conception. I dieted down between each pregnancy, got to a healthy bmi before the last one, and everything was great. Despite being over 35 at the time of my last child's delivery, that was by far the easiest, most comfortable pregnancy of the bunch (and very straightforward, my OB told me she could have written a textbook based on that pregnancy). I attribute a lot of that to having gotten to a healthy weight beforehand (and staying active during).

    Keep losing at a steady, reasonable rate, take a daily multivitamin, get/stay active, and consider sticking to maintenance for a few months before TTC, and I can't see having any problems. If anything being a healthy weight to start reduces pregnancy risks.

    Good luck!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    oliverneedsyou wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Well it seems weird to me because I don't see why you think a nutritious balanced diet cannot be acheieved in defecit. And why you think pregnancy would put such undue stress on your body that moving to maintenance wouldn't be sufficient

    And I say that as someone who had a couple of unusual pregnancies

    I didn't say a nutritional diet can't be achieved in a deficit. I think you're looking for something that isn't there. I was not sure if it is stressful on the body to be in a deficit for so long but I am sure that pregnancy takes a lot from my body. And my stress hormones are currently high according to my last labs. I'm just trying to be health concious.

    It sounds to me like you're being absolutely health conscious and doing the best you can for yourself and your body ..you're losing weight slowly and clearly getting direct medical support

    Perhaps some mindfulness meditation would help after all not worrying about things is a huge stress salve
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    oliverneedsyou wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Well it seems weird to me because I don't see why you think a nutritious balanced diet cannot be acheieved in defecit. And why you think pregnancy would put such undue stress on your body that moving to maintenance wouldn't be sufficient

    And I say that as someone who had a couple of unusual pregnancies

    I didn't say a nutritional diet can't be achieved in a deficit. I think you're looking for something that isn't there. I was not sure if it is stressful on the body to be in a deficit for so long but I am sure that pregnancy takes a lot from my body. And my stress hormones are currently high according to my last labs. I'm just trying to be health concious.

    It sounds to me like you're being absolutely health conscious and doing the best you can for yourself and your body ..you're losing weight slowly and clearly getting direct medical support

    Perhaps some mindfulness meditation would help after all not worrying about things is a huge stress salve

    Thanks. I'm considering taking up some yoga and trying to practice more mindfulness
  • fidangul
    fidangul Posts: 673 Member
    I have always wondered what other women feel about this issue. I have just completed my 6th month of maintenance. And if I were to consider having another baby the only thing that would put me right off would be the idea of potentially gaining all the weight back on. Obviously this shows that I'm probably not ready emotionally or practically.

    After having my second baby I thought to myself "I'm not having another baby unless I'm at a healthy weight". And now that I am, I'm afraid of undoing all my hard work.

    Anyway, I guess I would need to be confident in my abilities to maintain 'healthy' eating. For me this usually means portion control. And past experiences of pregnancy bring up other food related issues too. And not forgetting 9 months of ALL DAY SICKNESS.

  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    fidangul wrote: »
    I have always wondered what other women feel about this issue. I have just completed my 6th month of maintenance. And if I were to consider having another baby the only thing that would put me right off would be the idea of potentially gaining all the weight back on. Obviously this shows that I'm probably not ready emotionally or practically.

    After having my second baby I thought to myself "I'm not having another baby unless I'm at a healthy weight". And now that I am, I'm afraid of undoing all my hard work.

    Anyway, I guess I would need to be confident in my abilities to maintain 'healthy' eating. For me this usually means portion control. And past experiences of pregnancy bring up other food related issues too. And not forgetting 9 months of ALL DAY SICKNESS.

    I'm curious to know if I'll feel this way at goal weight as well. I can understand the fear and I'm with you. Pregnancy is not pleasant .
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