How to maintain a healthy weight while pregnant?

chai_latte

Hi everyone,

I hope I am posting in the right place!
I am pregnant for the first time and in my second trimester. I want to ensure that I do not gain too much weight during this time. My OB advised me to only gain 10-15 lbs because I was already over my BMI when I got pregnant.
I would like advise from currently pregnant ladies and those who have had babies as to how you kept your weight within check.

Weight gain thus far: I am almost 16 weeks along and I have gained 3 lbs. My jeans are much tighter on me (thighs and butt and belly). I feel more comfortable in yoga pants and stretchy sweat pants right now.
My food habits: I am vegan and I am trying to opt for more fruits and veggies in my diet. Trying to stay away from vegan junk food. I have my prenatal and iron tablet every day. I need to up my water intake though.
Exercise: First trimester was horrible. No workouts due to fatigue and nausea. I find my energy has slowly improved and finally got on a treadmill to do a 30 min walk. I hope to keep this up.

Thank you so much

VeryKatie

The way i do it is to take the min amount i am supposed to gain and divide what i have remaining over the remaining weeks.

So say you want to gain 10 lb and are up 3. You have 7 left. So 7 over the remaining 24 weeks to see how much is a goal weekly gain. The other 5 lbs of the 10-15 are buffer. And then i keep counting calories. I weigh myself twice a week to try to see what my body is doing since it can be so unpredictable during pregnancy. I use lots of spreadsheets to help me keep track.

You could start by eating maintenance calories and slowly increase from there to get the desired weight gain. I think if i was aiming to gain 10 to 15 i would attempt to stick to pre-pregnancy maintenance calories. I feel like the 10 to 15 might just come without extra calories. Gaining fluids and the baby and extra tissue might just kind of take care of itself.

Also being kind to yourself and realizing weight gain doesnt always go to plan and also isnt linear (eg i tend to gain 4 lbs in 1 week and then hold steady for 2 weeks) is key. Even though the doc gave you a goal to stay in, does not mean weight gain is the most important factor in yours and baby's health and sometimes, some women are outliers on the ranges given no matter how they eat. Hormones play a huge role in how well one can control these things. You might find keeping up with moderate exercise helpful too.

There is a link on the group main page that you might find useful.