Weight Gain and Body Image
pregnantfitnesswithfaith
Posts: 1
I am 39 years old and am 8 weeks pregnant. I am also a personal fitness trainer and group fitness instructor. I am very much aware of the pressure to look a certain way in my industry. My approach to my work with my clients is from a health and wellness perspective. I embrace this perspective for myself too, but have always struggled with a negative body image. I was 20 pounds overweight for most of my life and lost those 20 pounds and more and have been at a very healthy weight for 4 years. I am currently in excellent shape. I'm a runner and run about 25 miles a week. In addition I bike, do yoga, and engage is strength and CORE training 2 times a week. I also have a disorientation toward food. I am currently in a support group for this and have been in recovery for almost 3 years. I know this is a lot of information about myself, but I think it all matters when I consider my struggles. The bottom line is I am afraid to gain weight and I am afraid that I will start to compulsively overeat again now that I am pregnant. I also feel the pressure to not gain too much weight with my pregnancy because of my profession. I know it shouldn't.... but it really matters to me what other people think about my physical body. I spent the majority of my life overweight and even through I have been at a healthy weight for 4 years, I still see that overweight girl in the mirror. I have been able to maintain my exercise routine since I've been pregnant and I don't plan to stop. That's not my issue - I actually love to exercise and feel better when I do! My issues are food and body image! For the last 2 weeks my interactions with food has been hard because I have morning sickness most of the time and my old food routine is totally not working. Certain foods make me feel better so at times food seems to be the answer to my feeling sick. I want to maintain my current fitness level throughout my pregnancy and I only want to gain the weight that is good for me and the baby. I understand that this is about 25 - 35 pounds. I am new to this site and decided to reach out because I know I need support and encouragement. Thanks for listening.
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Oh, honey, I so understand what you are going through. I really embraced fitness after having my son and lost 82 lbs. I was literally afraid of getting pregnant again because I didn't want to mess with my body and my fitness levels after having worked so hard on it. I also admit to still having an unhealthy relationship with food; while I wouldn't go so far as to say I had/have an ED, it's still not good. I finally bit the bullet and just had to tell myself that I would get back on it after baby #2, especially since we don't plan on any more babies. Even though I ate junk food like crazy during my first pregnancy and have eaten relatively well this time, I am still on track to gain the same amount of weight as I did the first time (maybe even more), except I started at a lower weight. So I don't know what to think except that I've tried to put it out of my mind, just take things as they come, and try not to let it mess with my head too much because it is only temporary. I know that's not much of an answer for you, but I just want you to know that I totally understand your fears, and they are completely legitimate, normal feelings to have. The first trimester is very difficult because "good" foods don't make you feel good, plus you sometimes need to eat continuously so as not to feel nauseated all day. After that, you can eat really well and still gain a lot, plus sometimes your body doesn't let you exercise like you'd like to.
There are a couple of other threads you might want to go through from this board - hopefully you'll find them helpful!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/891581-self-esteem-and-gaining-weight
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/932613-anyone-lose-a-large-amount-of-weight-pre-prego?page=1#posts-141784730 -
I can absolutely relate to what you're saying. I lost 82 lbs once, even did a commercial for eDiets for it, and had the body I always wanted. Unfortunately, like people who win a lot of money and never learn, I gained back much (but no where near all) of it and much of that occurred during my first pregnancy. I gained 44 lbs with my daughter, some of it because I was on bed rest.
Well anyway, I had wanted to get back into shape before #2, but time marched on, the weight didn't come off because quite frankly I couldn't starve myself anymore, I needed the energy to keep up with life's bigger demands, and I started this second pregnancy with about 15 lbs more than I did last time. This was still 25 lbs more than I should have been.
Anyway, how I'm dealing:
I am willing to buck what all the women I know are saying, which is "you're pregnant, just eat what you want". I know I'm not eating for two. I need 2000 calories, this baby needs maybe 300. I have taught myself that I can eat like "crazy" when it's healthy fruits and vegetables. I'm allowing myself to work out, strength train with a trainer 2x a week, pilates 3 days and walking 3 days. While you may want to keep your fitness level, it won't manifest itself in the same way, late 2nd and then 3rd trimester your body will be working hard to just be pregnant, so the things you could have done before become harder, but it doesn't mean you're losing edge, it means you are just dividing your strength and energy among you AND a baby.
I'm 25 weeks, 2 weeks shy of my 3rd trimester, and I've gained less than 10 lbs. I'm on target to gain 15-20, which of course is lower than you because you're in much better shape so you need to gain fat, but it's not the kind of "hanging from your arms and butt and thighs kind of fat. It's a couple lbs at best, most of the lbs wont come on until end of 1st trimester, probably 2nd, and when you start showing you'll begin to realize that much of it is baby.
Trust. Just TRY to trust your body. Eat healthy and trust that your body will put things where they need to go. Unless you're sitting on the couch noshing on junk, with your exercise level you'll end up one of those adorable pregnant women who don't look pregnant from behind.
Feel free to friend me.
-Kristine0 -
I've lost 40 lbs since I started MFP over a year ago and I'm now 10 weeks pregnant. I've gained 5 of those back. My Midwife asked me at my last appt if I was worried about gaining weight. I said that I don't think I am, but as I stepped on the scale this morning, I was. I gained 2 lbs since yesterday. WTF!! I've been trying to do as many exercises as I can, but the baby weight is starting to show its ugly head. I gained 50 lbs with each of my other 3 kids and I didn't just sit around and eat all day. I was active and watched what I ate, for the most part. My body just reacts to pregnancy differently. This will be a struggle for me as well.
I would def talk to your Dr about these feelings that you are having because they should know what is going on with your emotional well-being. GL!!0
