Pregnancy and diet help!

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Hey everyone,
This is my first post, so here goes! I recently found out that I am pregnant, and I need some help figuring out my diet.

My first child is now 9 months old, and he is wonderful!! During that pregnancy, I ended up gaining around 75lbs, and I do NOT want to do that again. I've lost about 45lbs so far, 23lbs came off almost right after having my son, and then I've lost another 22lbs using MFP and keeping my calorie intake to 1200. I recently found out that I'm pregnant again (whoops! :) ). I'm only around 7-8 weeks, but I DO NOT want to end up gaining weight like I did the first time. I asked my doctor what I could do to have a healthy pregnancy but not gain that much weight, and he didn't have much advice. He told me we he would like to see me gain 25-30 lbs, and would set up an appointment with a Dietician in the future....which is great, but that doesn't help me out much right now! I bumped my calories up to 1500, which seems to be JUST enough (I find that I'm still hungry most of the day). I am a diet dummy, so I would greatly appreciate any info you guys have to offer about how to eat when you're pregnant. Is 1500 a healthy intake, or should I be eating more? Are there certain things I should be trying to eat more of...like, more fats, more protein, etc? I want this to be a healthy pregnancy for my baby and for me. :) Thanks for your help!

Replies

  • jrditt
    jrditt Posts: 239 Member
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    Proteins are important because they will help you feel more full as well as they are made of amino acids which are the building blocks your baby is using. I would probably recommend eating closer to maintenance, you really don't want to be hungry and eating frequently will help with the nausea. Try to stay away from acidic foods though because that will make the nausea worse. Make sure to get close to 80 oz of water a day because you are increasing your blood volume to support the pregnancy.
  • Alisi1234
    Alisi1234 Posts: 131 Member
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    try www.babyfit.com it gives calculates the calories you need. Good luck!
  • Juliane_
    Juliane_ Posts: 373 Member
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    You don't need extra calories the first trimester. I would just watch my calorie to maintain weight.
  • JessicaJonker
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    Great! Thanks ladies!
  • ksull4
    ksull4 Posts: 1
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    I am in the SAME boat !! I am finally working hard and losing the weight from my son's birth last February.. I am down to below my pre-pregnancy weight.. I JUST found out I am pregnant (home test, unofficial)... 1200 cal was just not cutting it the past few days, but I went to a PIYO training yesterday so understandable my body was trying to tell me it needed more... I have been doing GREAT with eatig and I workout 6 out of 7 days a week.. Zumba , Chalean Extreme and turbo fires are my fitness drugs of choice... I was thinking going to 1500 cals too, but I have had 4 miscarriages in the past... I am headed to babyfit.com (thanks!!) to check that out !! Just wanted to say hi Jessica and seems we have similiar situations :) Good luck !! Thanks everyone!!
  • FaugHorn
    FaugHorn Posts: 1,060 Member
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    Set your goals to "Maintenance," you won't be doing anyone any favors by being on a restricted calorie diet. Maintenance is usually around 2000 calories, after the first trimester you'd want to up that by another 200 a day to gain a pound a week (that's what my doctor said anyway). There are a couple of groups for people who are expecting and trying to live healthy, check out "Fit, Fabulous, & Pregnant!" and "Oh Baby, Baby!!"
  • BeachyBecky
    BeachyBecky Posts: 74 Member
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    Maintenance seems like a good idea to me too. Congrats and wishing you a happy pregnancy!
  • Hayter2013
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    Congrats first of all!

    You know whats healthy and whats not now so I would just stick to that and if you're still hungry, well eat, but eat good!

    Take it easy on the exercise though. Docs say you can exercise but not vigourously obviously but for the first trimester, I would put your feet up! Its so tiring in the first 3 months, more so than the end, I thought!

    Your doc will tell you if you aren't gaining enough weight, if they check often enough. Didn't check where you were based, but in the UK, we have "Green Notes" when preggers and in it is a chart based on fundal height, which is meant to calculate how big on estimate the baby is at certain weeks based on the mothers height and weight. I'm sure you could find this chart online!

    Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!
  • jesscsock
    jesscsock Posts: 25 Member
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    Hiya,
    Just wanted to say I am in the same boat :) I was only a few pounds from my goal when I found I was pregnant.
    Unfortunately I got a bit carried away in my first trimester, I couldn't find the energy to work out and didn't follow my healthy eating that I had been before and have put on the weight a bit faster than planned! I'm no suffering from SPD so can't work out.
    BUT I have started tracking my calories again and I'm feeling much healthier and better now and hopefully the weight gain will slow down so I'll still only put the average on by the end of the pregnancy.
    I would definately swithc to maintenance for the time being, then to gain a lb a week come the third trimester :)