How many calories should I eat while pregnant?

MadBabysMama

I just went for my first OB appointment today, and the nurse at the practice talked with me a bit about nutrition recommendations and gave me a pamphlet. She said they generally recommend about 1800 calories for the average pregnant mom in the first trimester, with the goal of gaining about 20-25 pounds for the whole pregnancy, but she didn't make a big deal about it. I told her I was on MFP and she was supportive of that and just recommended continuing to eat healthy foods and that it should be fine.

LilMissFoodie

And I am a firm believer that pregnancy is a natural biological process, and not a medical condition. For obese women, I don't feel like pregnancy is an excuse to take a break from their weight loss program, as long as they are eating enough, and eating well. It can only benefit them in the future

I do agree that there are people that use pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever they like. I don't however feel that 1200 calories is a healthy diet (even for someone trying to lose weight!). A 1200 calorie diet certainly shouldn't be done in the long term but hopefully people lose the weight within a year or so then return to a higher caloric (and nutrient) intake. I have no problem with a pregnant woman meticulously sticking to 2000 calories per day (even if their weight means that their energy expenditure is greater than this so they may lose some weight) but that is a completely different thing to sticking to 1200, which is definitely not a safe approach to nutrition in pregnancy. That's all I'm saying.

Pebble321

Until you see your doctor, switch to maintenance. You don't really need extra calories at first.

This sounds like the best advice until you see your doctor.
Congratulations!

ZieBom

I found out two weeks ago today that I'm pregnant. Went in to the doctor the following Friday. I am 7 weeks pregnant right now. I talked to my doctor thoroughly about caloric needs now that I'm pregnant. O told her that I have been eating about 1230 calories per day, which is what My Fitness Pal recommended. My doctor told me that since I am overweight (I'm 5'4" and weigh about 160) to simply add about 300 calories to my normal 1230 for now. She said she may up my caloric intake based on how my weight gain is going throughout my pregnancy, but for now doesn't see any reason to increase it. She said based on my starting weight, she only wants me gaining about 15 - 20 pounds throughout my pregnancy, and that normal weight gain for a healthy first trimester is 3 - 5 pounds. Good luck!!!

savithny

Want to know one of my theories on the "obesity epidemic?"

A whole generation of our mothers were told to gain so little during pregnancy that they had to DIET during pregnancy to comply with their doctors orders. My mother had friends who were put on very low calorie diets while pregnant because it was thought women should only gain 12-15 pounds.

Babies gestated during times of famine have been shown to have permanent changes to their DNA that cause them to metabolize food differently - they are much more prone to diabetes and obesity, as well as heart disease. Long term studies of post-WW2 populations have shown this again and again and again.

Pregnancy is not a time for weight loss. It's a time to get as much high quality nutrition as you can, including healthy fats and Omega-3s. Yes, its' not a time to pig out and gain a bunch extra -- but too much restriction is NOT good for either your or the growing fetus.

Yes, you don't need to gain much, if anything, in the first trimester. Baby will take what it needs "off the top." But you do need to eat enough for both your functioning and to grow a baby in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, when baby is growing very fast. Make sure that this includes healthy fats, because fat and cholesterol are vital for growing new cells, which is what you're doing.

If you know your BMR, I'd strongly recommend staying above it. Ideally you'd know your TDEE, and eat at that plus the "growing a baby" allowance.

If you dont know your BMR, then change your MFP settings to "maintain," and add 200-300 calories to that, starting in the 2nd trimester.

BoomstickChick

I never upped anything, honestly. Not until my appetite started to increase. If I was hungry though, I ate, if not, I kept to my goals. For now, I'm 24 weeks and I'm eating around 1800-2000 a day at most.

BoomstickChick

Want to know one of my theories on the "obesity epidemic?"

A whole generation of our mothers were told to gain so little during pregnancy that they had to DIET during pregnancy to comply with their doctors orders. My mother had friends who were put on very low calorie diets while pregnant because it was thought women should only gain 12-15 pounds.

Babies gestated during times of famine have been shown to have permanent changes to their DNA that cause them to metabolize food differently - they are much more prone to diabetes and obesity, as well as heart disease. Long term studies of post-WW2 populations have shown this again and again and again.

Pregnancy is not a time for weight loss. It's a time to get as much high quality nutrition as you can, including healthy fats and Omega-3s. Yes, its' not a time to pig out and gain a bunch extra -- but too much restriction is NOT good for either your or the growing fetus.

Yes, you don't need to gain much, if anything, in the first trimester. Baby will take what it needs "off the top." But you do need to eat enough for both your functioning and to grow a baby in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, when baby is growing very fast. Make sure that this includes healthy fats, because fat and cholesterol are vital for growing new cells, which is what you're doing.

If you know your BMR, I'd strongly recommend staying above it. Ideally you'd know your TDEE, and eat at that plus the "growing a baby" allowance.

If you dont know your BMR, then change your MFP settings to "maintain," and add 200-300 calories to that, starting in the 2nd trimester.

While it may be true pregnancy isn't a time for weight loss, it can be a time to NOT gain extra weight. For overweight women, gaining 15 lbs is a good thing. "healthy" women are supposed to gain between 20-30 I believe. Then you have those that gain a ton during pregnancy because they were told it's okay. It's not okay. I gained 60 with my first because I was listening to the older women who lived by the "eat for two" rule. That's NOT the case. There's no need for all that excess. Same as normal, if you're hungry, eat. If not, don't eat more than normal.