Pregnancy weight gain.......some are gaining too much

ninerbuff

So I was at Kaiser today for my DD's standard checkup at 8 years old. While I was waiting in the lobby (DW was in with DD and doctor), I saw several mothers with new babies who were very overweight. I'm not talking 40lbs, but in the realm of 80lbs and higher.
A lot of my clientele are females who are losing baby weight, but all of them are only trying to lose 25llbs-35lbs. This should be the normal amount a female should be gaining when pregnant.

To moms to be: you aren't eating for two. Your nutrition should be much better, but realistically, calories shouldn't really exceed more than 300-350 calories per day on average. It's not a free for all to eat everything. Trust that more you gain, the harder it will be to take off and if that weight doesn't come off, then chances are HIGH that you will end up that weight the majority of your life.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

pullem

Agreed....been there, done that and bought the t-shirt. Gained 60lbs both times with my children but thankfully have managed to lose it both times. I do feel it's important to make the point to new mums not to rush to lose the weight and to lose it at a sensible rate, it took 9 months to put it on and it should take about that period of time to lose it. You see all to many times new mums feel the pressure of trying to regain their pre-pregnancy size, trying to breastfeed, eating way too few calories and over exercising and then losing milk supply and not achieve any sustainable weight loss either.

jenilla1

:drinker:

ninerbuff

Agreed....been there, done that and bought the t-shirt. Gained 60lbs both times with my children but thankfully have managed to lose it both times. I do feel it's important to make the point to new mums not to rush to lose the weight and to lose it at a sensible rate, it took 9 months to put it on and it should take about that period of time to lose it. You see all to many times new mums feel the pressure of trying to regain their pre-pregnancy size, trying to breastfeed, eating way too few calories and over exercising and then losing milk supply and not achieve any sustainable weight loss either.

Yes, this needed to be addressed too. Thanks for the input.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ldrosophila

I would think the pregnant ladies on this site are trying to have a healthy weight gain during pregnancy hence the reason for being on this site, and want to nourish their child in the most healhful of ways. 300kcals additional especially during second and third trimester is the current recommendation.

Might also be that some of these heavy ladies had actually been heavy prepregnancy and only gained the 11-25lb recommendation for overweight or obese preprego BMI. I suspect you wouldnt really know what their actual weight gain was compared to their starting pre-pregnancy weight. I guess if you had seen me in that OB room you would have judge me "as eating for two" even though I was very conscious during my pregnancy about the weight that would be safe for me to gain and the nutrients I needed to create a healthy baby.

zefreak

My hubby and I were actually discussing this the other day after he read something in the paper.

Eating for 2 also increases health risks for mum and baby. There is a higher risk of diabetes, pre elclampisa, high blood pressure, pre term labour etc. I'm NOT saying that if you eat well and only consume what you need that these health risks won't happen, it just increases them.

You should be doing what you do outside of being pregnancy... Only eating when you are hungry and eating until you are statisfied. (I couldn't eat much during both pregnancies as I was very sick, especially with my first, and ended up losing weight (After they were born I had lost Almost 20kgs with my daughter, and about 5 kgs with my son) But they both just got what they needed from what I could eat and both were over due and a very very healthy weight (8lb 5oz and 7lb 15oz) Unfortunately I put it back on both times because I hadn't learnt the way of healthy eating yet, but thats not the point lol)

ninerbuff

I would think the pregnant ladies on this site are trying to have a healthy weight gain during pregnancy hence the reason for being on this site, and want to nourish their child in the most healhful of ways. 300kcals additional especially during second and third trimester is the current recommendation.

Might also be that some of these heavy ladies had actually been heavy prepregnancy and only gained the 11-25lb recommendation for overweight or obese preprego BMI. I suspect you wouldnt really know what their actual weight gain was compared to their starting pre-pregnancy weight. I guess if you had seen me in that OB room you would have judge me "as eating for two" even though I was very conscious during my pregnancy about the weight that would be safe for me to gain and the nutrients I needed to create a healthy baby.

You're right. I'm speculating that the weight gain happened due to pregnancy probably because most doctors don't recommend that females BMI's be too high before getting pregnant. And take solace that I'm not "judging" any of them, it's just what I observed and made an assumption on. Being in the fitness industry, being judgy of overweight/obese people would spell failure as a career since they are the ones who usually need our help.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

CuteWittleWifey

I love when men nag about **** that has nothing to do with them.

kristinhills90

Agreed! I gained 50 lbs with my first pregnancy. The first trimester I was not gaining (didn't even have morning sickness to blame it on) and my nutritionist told me to start adding butter to everything and eating more junk...SERIOUSLY. I also had several people tell me I was eating for two so I should eat twice as much. It should have been a red flag that she was about 70 lbs overweight. It being my first pregnancy I was totally clueless and listened to her. I STILL haven't lost that weight and that was 6 years ago. My next two pregnancies I ended up losing 20-30 lbs during each and only gaining about 15-20 of it back throughout the rest of the pregnancy. I was eating plenty, just making better choices.

lina011

I love when men nag about **** that has nothing to do with them.

i agree,

Pookylou

I love when men nag about **** that has nothing to do with them.

'cause their partners health and well being has nothing to do with them :drinker:

ldrosophila

I would think the pregnant ladies on this site are trying to have a healthy weight gain during pregnancy hence the reason for being on this site, and want to nourish their child in the most healhful of ways. 300kcals additional especially during second and third trimester is the current recommendation.

Might also be that some of these heavy ladies had actually been heavy prepregnancy and only gained the 11-25lb recommendation for overweight or obese preprego BMI. I suspect you wouldnt really know what their actual weight gain was compared to their starting pre-pregnancy weight. I guess if you had seen me in that OB room you would have judge me "as eating for two" even though I was very conscious during my pregnancy about the weight that would be safe for me to gain and the nutrients I needed to create a healthy baby.

You're right. I'm speculating that the weight gain happened due to pregnancy probably because most doctors don't recommend that females BMI's be too high before getting pregnant. And take solace that I'm not "judging" any of them, it's just what I observed and made an assumption on. Being in the fitness industry, being judgy of overweight/obese people would spell failure as a career since they are the ones who usually need our help.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

You're right an increased BMI raises the risks associated with pregnancy including GDM, preeclampsia and miscarriage. There is still an expected weight gain even for the morbidly obese, but a much lower acceptable gain. I'm glad you werent judging I'm glad you looked at those lovely women there taking care of their new children and thought oh I would love to help each and every one of them and didnt think damn how come you think you need to eat for two. I have more respect for that.

ecw3780

for the record, my doc told me 150-200 calories on top of my maintenance calories.

kbeech06

Oh yes! Granted my "babies" are now 19 and 14, but I gained so much weight with my son (the 19 year old) I'm still carrying most of it. I gained 63 pounds with him...and he was a 10.5 pound baby. He was quite healthy though and by the time he was in his teens...he was quite lean. My daughter was 8.5 as I didn't gain as much with her as I was still quite heavy from my son and had horrible nausea the entire pregnancy. It's so hard to take it off, and after baby is born you're so sleep deprived you eat whenever you can...even if its junk. With my son, I ate a lot...not always bad things (I craved oranges), but when I ate, I ate a ton!

ldrosophila

http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=10933

This comes from the American Academy of Dietetics

Weight Gain Guidelines

The latest weight gain guidelines by the Institute of Medicine are based on a women's BMI before pregnancy. (See Understanding Body Mass Index (BMI).) The amount of weight you should gain depends on what category your pre-pregnancy BMI lands in:
•Underweight: BMI below 18.5
•Normal weight: 18.5 to 24.9
•Overweight: 25.0 to 29.9
•Obese: 30.0 and above.

The weight ranges below are for a full-term pregnancy:
•Underweight: 28 to 40 pounds
•Normal: 25 to 35 pounds
•Overweight: 15 to 25 pounds
•Obese: 11 to 20 pounds.

For twins, the recommendations naturally go up:
•Normal: 37 to 54 pounds
•Overweight: 31 to 50 pounds
•Obese: 25 to 42 pounds.

There are no set guidelines for underweight BMI weight gain with twins.

Calorie Intake

In general, pregnant women need between 2,200 calories and 2,900 calories a day. A gradual increase of calories as the baby grows is the best bet. Here is an overview of how calorie needs change during each trimester:
•The first trimester does not require any extra calories.
•During the second trimester an additional 340 calories a day are recommended.
•For the third trimester the recommendation is 450 calories more a day than when you are not pregnant

Avoid extra calories by cutting down on foods high in fat and added sugars. Replace regular soda, sweets and fried foods with healthy options like low-fat milk and yogurt, whole fruit and whole grains.

Physical Activity

Physical activity can help manage weight gain. The activity guidelines for pregnant women are 30 minutes of moderate exercise on most, if not all, days of the week. Make sure to talk with your doctor before starting or continuing any exercise routine.

Reviewed January 2013

ldrosophila

for the record, my doc told me 150-200 calories on top of my maintenance calories.

not sure why your physician recommended such a low amount of calories unless you have some sort of underlying medical condition.

Not making any assumptions about your physician or his/her competency. I am positive that he/she was and excellent educated physician.

I just have come to the point in my life and career that I am highly suspect the nutritional knowledge of most physicians. In my experience it can be highly lacking.

In fact, I have a physician who tells patients eating an apple is the same or worse than a snickers, diabetics can eat all the rice and pasta they want but milk is dangerous, and told one diabetic patient he just needed to stop eating.

They just say some silly things some times. I roll my eyes a lot.

Doctorpurple

Not many people in general are educated about nutrition and the common "eating for two" advice is still so common that for the most part many women still believe it. I do want to believe thought that MFP women who are pregnant are a lot more educated about diet & physical fitness than the average population. A woman of normal weight should only gain 25-35lbs during pregnancy but a lot of women do gain way more than that. Not only is this bad for them in a long run (harder to lose baby weight) post-pregnancy. It also increases their chance of gestational diabetes & preeclempsia.

sheofthesea

I'm sorry, but regardless of your claim that you aren't judging, it sure does sound like you are judging.

A lot.

I'm glad you aren't my trainer.

For the record, I have four children. My starting weight was about the same for each of them, and I gained a vastly different amount for each pregnancy, on substantially the same diet. I'm not entirely convinced that pregnancy weight gain/loss/maintenance is as simple as non-pregnancy weight gain/loss/maintenance, i.e., it is not just about calories consumed and burned. Your body is so different during pregnancy. I would much rather a woman eat a sensible diet and produce a healthy baby than have her be worried about what the scale says.

AntWrig

So I was at Kaiser today for my DD's standard checkup at 8 years old. While I was waiting in the lobby (DW was in with DD and doctor), I saw several mothers with new babies who were very overweight. I'm not talking 40lbs, but in the realm of 80lbs and higher.
A lot of my clientele are females who are losing baby weight, but all of them are only trying to lose 25llbs-35lbs. This should be the normal amount a female should be gaining when pregnant.

To moms to be: you aren't eating for two. Your nutrition should be much better, but realistically, calories shouldn't really exceed more than 300-350 calories per day on average. It's not a free for all to eat everything. Trust that more you gain, the harder it will be to take off and if that weight doesn't come off, then chances are HIGH that you will end up that weight the majority of your life.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

This isn't going to go well.

terilou87

i gained around 44lb with the first 3 pregnancies and 17 lbs with the last, i tried really hard not to gain much the last time as i am very overweight already .I agree eating for two is wrong.

flynnfinn

i come from a family that believes that when you are pregnant, GO TO TOWN! eat for two, indulge, splurge...it's all going to come off when you breastfeed!

i do not believe that this is the way to go while preggers. my mom gained 40-60lbs with each of her 3 pregnancies. my sister gained 60+ with each of her 4 pregnancies. both my mom and my sister are petite women.

with my first & only pregnancy, i refused to go down the same path. both my mom & my sister said, "you are your mother's daughter. you're going to gain a lot of weight. it just runs in the family. so enjoy it! eat up!"

well, i did not "eat up". i gained a healthy 20lbs and still gave birth to a healthy 6lb6oz baby boy. i exercised from the beginning of my pregnancy until i gave birth 5 days before. i kept up my running routine (yes, you can run while you are pregnant granted you've been running long before) up until about 5months then switched to brisk walking.

i truly believed that maintaining a low weight gain and keeping up with exercise helped me 1) avoid stretch marks...not one single stretch mark on my body and 2) lose the baby weight within 1 week of giving birth...i was back in pre-pregnancy jeans 7 days after i gave birth. i also breastfed my son up until he was 18months old. i was literally a milk maid. tons of milk!!

so i do completely agree that there is no reason to blow up like a balloon. and yes, i do agree that a lot of women just use it as an excuse to eat for two. what you do while you are pregnant, you must undo after you give birth.