Losing weight for future pregnancy...what's the point?

I'm sorry to hear about your loss and that you're having a hard time. Here's my perspective on this entire journey (as a father). It is my view that maintaining a healthy and fit lifestyle sets the correct example for my wife and children. Does that mean you have to be lean and ripped. No, but it does mean that I need to try my best to show them how to be responsible with your body. That means eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Doing these things over time results in a good physique as a bi-product.

Don't set time constraints on yourself. It can be incredibly frustrating when you miss your target. Just work at developing healthy behaviors, and in 5-10 years from now, they'll change your, and your families, lives for the better

I think the point is to decrease the risk of having a dangerous pregnancy as well as increasing the chances of getting pregnant. Ideally you want to have a waist of 35" or less... so that should be your goal I think.

Pick that chin up beautiful!! A baby is precious gift to woman, and millions of women today are spending thousands of dollars just for the hope to carry that precious child you have in your arms. Weight loss can be such a trying journey, and I just ask that you keep the faith my love.. it will all work out in God's will. Just remember that you are truly blessed! Eating healthy and staying active will keep you going at your goal. Go hard until you get pregnant of course, and then when that happens..take it down a few notches, but don't get lazy ~ because then you're guaranteed to gain at least 50 pounds lol.

I wanted to do that too before my last pregnancy. I wanted to lose 15, didn't, got pregnant and gained 45 pounds. Don't stress about it, don't get down. I know in my case my mind was way more focused on babies and getting pregnant than about those stupid 15 pounds. After baby, I can focus more clearly on my weight loss goals. Feel free to add me if you want someone to talk to!

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I'm sorry about your loss. We are also going to be trying this year (getting married march 28, going to try after the wedding) for baby #2. I have been trying to lose the last 5-8lbs that I never lost from baby #1 (had him July 2013), and a lot of people ask why I am trying to lose weight if I'm just going to get pregnant. I agree with your OB...I didn't take great care of myself like I could have. I let fatigue and braxton hicks be what kept me from ever being active (and I'm suspicious that my low water consumption could have helped that) and I let the fact that my appetite was very poor from week 6-38 be an excuse to only eat chocolate and mcdonalds (at least 50% of my diet was mcgriddles, chocolate bars, chocolate muffins, chocolate frosty, hot chocolate....some days that was my only consumption) and I couldn't hold down my prenatal so I just stopped taking it.

I gained 48lbs (went from 147-195) and discovered a month after the baby that a good 25-30lbs of that weight gain was just from splurging and probably unrelated to baby/fluids/etc. I was in such poor physical shape, I had very little endurance, I was sore for a good week after delivery (my muscles, not....umm other places) and it took almost a full 9 months to even be out of my maternity clothing. I also had a lot of nutritional deficiencies by the end.

This time I want to be different. I want to be in the habit of staying active and eating better for a few months ahead of time so I can push through and really fight to have a healthy pregnancy. I don't need to look like a pregnancy model and I'm not trying to only gain 10 pounds or something that would be ridiculous for my current size, but I would like to only gain 30-35lbs, not nearly 50 next time around and I'd like to preserve some muscle mass (I looked so toneless and flabby after he was born).

Don't let your mind hold you back, and it may be easier to get the "20lbs" out of your head right now. Focus on making the best choice for the "new baby" and the mom that needs to be in good shape to be the best caregiver she can be. Just focus on planning some wholesome meals that provide you with the nutrients that you need and aim to get some sort of activity in for 30mins 4-5x a day...even if all that is is walking, its still a better workout than nothing.Don't look at this goal as some sort of mountain you can't climb...just look at the pound ahead of you. One pound at a time. One day at a time. One workout at a time. One meal at a time.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you would like!

My best advice would be to try to find motivation in the things you are doing to lose weight. Find motivation in your workouts - be proud every time you increase your lifts, improve your form, get through cardio going harder, and having more flexibility and endurance. Get your partner on board, and take a class together. Something you enjoy, like dancing. Play Just Dance with your kid in the living room, or dance to a Youtube playlist. Being active has a lot of benefits on top of weight loss. It helped my IBS, it might help yours. Spend some time on the boards, giving support, finding information, or just giggling at how silly some of them get. Look up recipes you've always wanted to try, and see how they fit into your macros. Fine-tune your existing weight loss recipes, and enjoy the self-care aspect of eating a delicious and healthy meal. I've enjoyed my home cooking more than my eating out lately, not due to calorie stress, but because the meals are tailored to my taste.

Pregnancy weight is temporary. I mean, I lost 20 pounds in the first week each time after having my daughters. Taking off any extra pregnancy fat will take far less time than the 9 months it took to put it on, especially if you are nursing.

While you diet you will be learning things about yourself, nutrition, and activity that are going to help keep you and your family healthier for years to come. None of this is wasted.

If you are really feeling stressed and down, look in your community for places where you can talk it out, or get a referral from your Dr. Emotional stress can be harder on you than extra weight. Look at workouts that keep your mind focussed and allow you to mentally take a break from your life (I first found this with yoga, but now find I can focus on form in most of my workouts). These little vacations will help everything else stay in line.

Weight loss is absolutely something you can do. Regular logging will make a big difference. Best of luck

If 20 pounds seem like too much to tackle right now. Start with 5. Once you get started and see results it will only motivate you further!

qpmomma1 wrote: »

Feeling down. My husband and I want to try for a baby this year. I was supposed to lose my 20lbs by now. That didn't happen. So now I am wondering, what's the point? What's the point of losing weight when I will gain while pregnant anyway? This will be my 3rd pregnancy. My first was high risk and we lost the second one 2 years ago. I'm just feeling down right now.

The point is to help your baby! I was overweight, pregnant, and I gestational diabetes. It is dangerous for you and your baby when you're overweight. I was miserable and sick all the time. If you are already in shape when you get pregnant it will be easier to get back in shape when you're not. If you need motivation just look at that lady volleyball Olympiad who was pregnant while she was competing! No one even knew about it until after the Olympics were over. I know you're depressed and there's nothing worse than losing a child. The more healthy you are the better chance your baby's going to have and you really want to be the best mom you can be! No one wants to be that overweight mom that can't even play with her kids. They deserve the best that you can be. My cousin was very depressed and had several miscarriages. She had given up all hope of having a child...then she got pregnant and had two beautiful twin girl babies! It took me 10 years to have my first one. There's always hope. You survived the loss of a child. You CAN do this. You have to believe in yourself.

I'm planning on trying sometime at the end of next year. If I achieve my health goals this year, I could healthily end my next pregnancy close to my current weight. I'm also increasing my activity level. Last pregnancy I was lightly active and used my pregnancy as an excuse to over eat. Well I did have a decently healthy pregnancy as far as my baby was concerned and a good labour and delivery, I ended up gaining about 20 lb of just fat. This time I hope to go in to the pregnancy with a better fitness level and a healthier attitude towards food so that I can be in better shape after pregnancy and have more energy and stamina to care for a toddler and an infant. I think pregnancy and a healthy body should go hand in hand. Maybe you won't lose all of the weight that you would like before getting pregnant but if you get some healthy habits in place you can have an easier pregnancy and bounce back easier afterwards.