Weight Gain Plan and Calorie Targets

keriharwood

So how did everyone establish their calorie targets and weight gain plan for their pregnancy?

I haven't lost all my baby weight and have found myself pregnant again. Is it bad to loose some weight maybe at first? This is my 3rd pregnancy. Even tho I stay active I have a history of still gaining about 45-50 lbs. I would really like to stay on track better this go around. As I get older it gets harder to rebound for sure.

Any advice on setting goals and calorie targets?

marieamethyst

Make sure you talk with your provider first, but with my last pregnancy I switched MFP to maintenance calories for the first two trimesters, then gain half pound/week for the third. Ended up gaining 23 lbs, so right around the 25 lb gain my midwife wanted to see.

Hope you have an easy and awesome pregnancy!

VeryKatie

I do a results oriented method. I eat an amount for 2 weeks and if I gained too little, start eating more, or if I gained too much start eating less (logging daily of course). I do that till I reach the desired weight gain per week. Didn't take too long since I know approx how much to start with, so it's just tweaking.

For starting in a normal BMI:
First trimester = mainentance
2nd = maintenance + 300 ish
3rd = maintenance + 500 ish

Add a bit less to maintenance if starting over, or add more if starting under. It helps to have at least a ball park to start with. And every pregnancy is different. I'm able to eat a little less this time around than I did with my first for the same weekly gain.

Also everyone's body is different. Curious, did you also lose a bunch of weight in the first week after your last pregnancy? Some women just retain extra fluids. So my friend who gained 60ish for hers lost about 25 or 30 in the first 4 days or so. But I only lost 14 lbs after gaining 25 lbs. So it was kind of relative. Plus it depends on one's symptoms. I don't really get many symptoms... but my friend was dealing with borderline HG, so she had to resort to eating what she could handle when she could handle it - which ended up being a lot of crackers. Whereas I get kind of turned off of food for the first trimester so it's easier to maintain weight that first bit. I'm of the mindset that as long as you are conscious of your eating and doing the best you can, there is no point beating yourself up about what happens. I think it can truly be out of our control sometimes, too many hormonal changes to keep up with!

I used this post for info a ton my first pregnancy, it was so helpful:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10176233/gaining-weight-during-pregnancy-and-losing-it-post-partum/p1

keriharwood

VeryKatie, I did have a lot of nausea so I would eat to keep me from feeling sick. I also craved a lot of unhealthy food when normally I am very heath conscious. My tastes bud change a lot and I am so tired I don't feel up to meal prep so I resort to "easy" prepackaged foods. I didn't loose a lot of weight directly after birth so I am pretty sure I did gain a lot of fat. I am in an ok BMI currently but not optimal. It is just so hard to get back fit after pregnancy for me so I want to stay as healthy as possible and of coarse me being healthy is good for the baby too. Yes for me I do feel like I am not one of the "skinny" pregnant girls but to me that is ok. I am more large framed but I am ok with that. Like you said want to do the best I can. Thank you for your comment.