Pregnant and try to figure out my calorie needs...please help!!

jax_006
jax_006 Posts: 87 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was 131-133 pre pregnancy (5'3). I have gained arounnd 10lbs almost 18 weeks. Now that I'm feeling better and able to eat healthier and workout how do I calculate my calorie needs? Do I take my pre pregnancy bmr and add 300 calories to that? Or would it be my pre pregnancy tdee and add 300 cals to that? I am try my best to only gain 25 lbs so I would like all the tools and knowledge on how to go about that. Thank you so much!!

Replies

  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    TDEE is what you add to. I don't know the additional needs for pregnancy so will let someone else chime in on that.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    Roughly an extra 300 in the second trimester and 500 in the 3rd trimester according to my midwife
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Ask your doctor.
  • annacole94
    annacole94 Posts: 994 Member
    Switch your goal to "gain a half pound" now, and then to "gain a pound" for third trimester. Log your food and exercise. And then know that while you can try, some of it is out of your control - fluid retention at the end can be a beast.
  • Harbin2017
    Harbin2017 Posts: 32 Member
    edited March 2017
    I am also 5.3 and was 130 pounds pre-pregnancy. I lost weight in the first trimester (about 3 pounds or so) and started gaining in the second trimester once i was able to eat normal again. Alltogether i gained 25 lbs and was 150 when discharged from the hospital. I didn't have MFP last year so i didn't track anything, but i did listen to my body carefully. I literally couldn't stand any fast food or in general restaurant food, craved homemade meals from my childhood instead. So i cooked that and ate it. This was the main reason that i didn't gain that much. On my profile picture is me 5 days before my daughter was born. I still think i gained bit too much though.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    You should be calculating from your TDEE + calories from pregnancy. For me it was 2050 calories which seems like a lot but I only gained 17 pounds in pregnancy. Good luck!
  • tabletop_joe
    tabletop_joe Posts: 455 Member
    Definitely ask your doctor. It might be a good idea to get a referral to a nutritionist who specializes in prenatal care Pregnant women should get tailored care; every pregnancy is different.
  • hellobaconplease
    hellobaconplease Posts: 108 Member
    My midwife gave me a printout that helped. In my case I was obese, so I tried to lose a little weight. I lost a bit, then gained a bit, ended up weighing about 8lbs under prepregnancy weight after I had the baby.
  • JuliBiGoolee
    JuliBiGoolee Posts: 204 Member
    hellobaconplease wrote: »
    My midwife gave me a printout that helped. In my case I was obese, so I tried to lose a little weight. I lost a bit, then gained a bit, ended up weighing about 8lbs under prepregnancy weight after I had the baby.

    I would be interested in the printout you received, I am 200lbs and 8 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child. I really want to keep any weight gain in the recommended 10-20 lb range. Do you mind if I friend you and you can share your experience with me?
  • ottawagirl613
    ottawagirl613 Posts: 112 Member
    Most of what has been posted is right in line with recommendations, so you’ve got somewhere to start off. If I can chime in, adjust your calories on MFP to roughly what has been recommended (of course run the numbers by your doctor), and then listen to your body. I didn’t find that I was much hungrier than normal, and didn’t force myself to meet my calorie goal (or stay below it on days that I found I was hungrier). But I did log, because it’s easy to lose your good habits and difficult to judge if the weight gain is from baby or diet when you’re pregnant. Gained 28 lbs and lost it relatively quickly after baby. Good luck!

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