Food logging and calorie settings

BrainOnAStick

Hey there. Among those of you who are still logging your foods, I was wondering how you've decided to set your calorie target. For awhile, I had my diary set so that I would gain 30 pounds by the end of the pregnancy at a rate of gaining 0.5 pounds a week. I kind of freaked out yesterday when I realized I am hungry ALL the time and changed my calorie settings to maintenance.

A little about me: I started this pregnancy in the normal BMI range, which seems to mean that I should gain between 25-35 pounds.

Part of me wants to just stop logging and start eating EVERYTHING. I know that's not the wise thing to do. Help! I welcome your words of wisdom.

amyjpage

In the beginning, my doctor told me that I was fine to gain 30-40 lbs during pregnancy (which surprised me, as my starting weight was 184 at 5'3" ...so already easily +40lbs). I went into this journey thinking 30 lbs would be okay.

I originally set my calories to maintenance, and then at the suggestion of my doctor, increased by 200-300 calories per day when I got into my second trimester. At 20 weeks, I had gained about 10lbs and was happy with that.

My care was transferred to the maternity clinic last week (24 weeks) (my doctor doesn't do maternity care) and learned that the recommended weight gain for me is 9-15lbs. Yikes. The scale read 200.6 lbs. Double yikes. +16.2lbs. How did I go from +10 to +16 in 4 weeks?!

So after a lengthy discussion with my new care provider, she suggested I go back down to "maintenance" which for me is about 1950 calories per day, and aim for daily exercise.

(I hadn't been getting much in for exercise as I was just so exhausted all the time. My previous doctor's only suggestion for me to combat the exhaustion was to drink chamomile tea and consider taking early maternity leave!)

The new doctor agreed with my increased magnesium supplements (300mg daily) - research I did on my own and also asked me to add back 2000 iu of vitamin D (something my previous doctor told me to stop taking). I have also started paying much more attention to my foods - and am focusing on quality foods to nourish my body and my baby.

(Previously, if it fit my calories for the day, and I wanted to eat it, I would ... even if it put me a few calories over). Thinking I was okay to gain 30ish pounds and at half way I had only gained 10, I could relax a bit and not think so much about what I was eating. Bad idea for me.

Since my visit with the new doctor, I have maintained at 200lbs during this past week and feel SO much better!! I am getting more restful sleep which allows me energy to get out and walk every day (restricted to walking due to low placenta) and I don't feel like a zombie anymore. In this past week I have almost never maxed out on daily calories and feel that I actually have control over this entire process now! I am not feeling as hungry all the time, now that I am filling up on quality and balanced calories and just all around everything seems to make sense now.

(so, so, so incredibly irritated with my previous doctor!)

Sorry that ended up being so long ... basically what I'm saying I guess is it might take some time to find a balance between the appropriate amount of calories/nutrients/quality foods + exercise + discussion with your doctor to determine what's right for you. I found that I relaxed too much with paying attention to what I was eating and it didn’t work so well for me.

rhye

I started very overweight. First tri I ate maintenance. Now in second tri I do maintenance plus 200 cals. I have gained 1.5 pounds total at 22 weeks so if anything it is too little but I can't really eat more since maintenance plus 200 cals puts me at like 2600 calories and I also exercise regularly, so I definitely am not starving myself!

One big thing I noticed though was that pre-pregnancy my daily calorie intake was near my goal every day. Now I have a few days a week where I'll eat everything not nailed down, and a few other days where I hate food, and in the end it always seems to average out perfectly.

RatherBeInTheShire

I have mine set at Maintenance I believe. It gives me about 2,000 calories a day. I use it as a guideline, but If i'm hungry after 2,000 calories, I will still eat. I don't plan on starving myself. I'm at 23 weeks and just hit 10lbs gained this week, so I think i'm doing alright. I really do want to start exercising more. I can't wait until it starts getting a bit warmer and the days start getting longer. I'm much more likely to exercise outside than I am to go to a gym.

jessietaryn93

I have mine set on maintenance. Which gives me a little over 2,000 calories a day. I started out overweight though. I gained 2lbs the first 15 weeks. Now at 23 weeks I've gained 10 total (kinda scares me!). If I'm hungry I eat I still log all my food regardless and I try to exercise at least a few days a week. I just try to make healthier food choices in general, though that doesn't always happen.