Pregnant and gaining too fast, help?

jennk5309

I started pregnancy at 158.3, and now I'm 164 at only 8 weeks. I'm only supposed to gain 15-25 pounds total, so this doesn't look good. I started out tracking food at maintenance calories, but most days I feel so awful that I don't really care about anything other than getting through the day and getting to bed. Tracking is far from my mind.

It's weird though, because this week I gained over 3 pounds, and I've eaten BETTER than in past weeks where I've gained nothing. Maybe it's water retention, IDK.

I also am just barely exercising, a light walk or an indoor walking video 5x a week. I barely make it through that. I'm hoping that after the 1st trimester I'll get back into a better workout routine and won't gain as much.

Any helpful hints for not gaining too much?

cathylopez1975

Just my opinion - you are probably adding water weight.

Are you having a tough time with morning sickness? Eat small meals and snacks often - but make the nutrition count. Hopefully the second trimester will be better.

rocky503

Speak with you OB provider for a nutrition plan. Maybe focus on food groups and daily portions and relax! Your blood volume increases alot during pregnancy besides all the other gains. On average you only need about 300 extra caloires a day during pregnancy and good sources of iron, folic acid, etc. Pregnancy in not the time to restrict but not a liscense to eat everything either. Prepare most meals at home, eat well, avoid process foods and restaurant meals due to sodium and caloire density. Don't worry over every pound gained. Some women gain a good bit of water weight during pregnancy which subsides quickly postpartum. Again speak with provder about tracking your gains during the pregnancy. All the good food you eat now is building a baby so avoid materials like fast and processed foods.

laurelthistle

I would agree that in the first trimester a lot of the "weight" gained is probably water weight from bloating. When I was pregnant with my daughter I gained 33 lbs - exactly what my doctor recommended. 7 lbs of that came on in the first 7-8 weeks and was all water weight. Within two weeks of delivering I had dropped 20 of the 33 lbs and a good portion of that was all water as well.

easjer

Water weight, bloat and constipation - common in first tri and will add to your weight.

That said, please don't worry so much about the scale. A good care provider will not be focused your weight gain unless it looks rapid and very excessive. So long as your diet is good (which is TOUGH early on), your body will gain what it needs to gain. It's hard, if you've been dieting to let go of a number and see gain, but restricting calories while pregnant is a truly terrible idea (again, this presumes your diet is reasonable).

rahlpn

I agree with the above. Psh I'm not pregnant and I can easily gain 4-5 lbs of water weight from just one "cheat" meal!

g0at1982

Any helpful hints for not gaining too much?

quit worrying.
listen to your body.

last thing that you should be worrying about is gaining too much while prego.