Transitioning from a "lose weight" mentality

ashliedelgado
ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
edited November 2024 in Social Groups
This has been rough for me. The morning of my positive, I was 185, down from 262. I'm 5'4".
I'm wondering how others have handled this?

When we decided to get pregnant and I had my IUD taken out, my doc and I had a lengthy chat about how much to eat, I even requested to be referred to a nutritionist. She told me that I obviously know how to be healthy, and to just listen to my body and eat thoughtfully. She told me she isn't worried about a loss for the first few months, and even expects it, and she said that we would take the rest of the pregnancy from there.

I've increased my calories on here from 1460 to 1920, which is what MFP says is maintenance, and I'm still working out. I KNOW I should eat back my exercise cals, but seriously I am so full with the extra 500 that I just can't right now. In a perfect world, I would have a healthy pregnancy and not tip back over 200.

I'm only 4 weeks, am I over thinking this? How have you transitioned from losing weight to maintaining? A healthy pregnancy IS important and the goal, I'm just super paranoid about not enough/too much gain.

Replies

  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,267 Member
    It took some time to adjust to more calories as well as mentally dealing with the fact that the scale is steadily rising.
    I had been on loss/maintenance for close to two years. I had reached my ideal weight, got married and two months later I was pregnant. (which was our plan)
    I want nothing but a healthy pregnancy but I think the mental game of eating more and not losing was one that took me a while to adjust to. After you've been working out so hard and watching every morsel that goes into your body, the adjustment is just hard.

    Now that I'm 33 weeks and my doctor says everything is on track I'm feeling fine about what I'm eating and how much I'm exercising and my general health and nutrition. I stay at about 2300 calories (I'm 5'8'', started at 140 lbs and I'm up to 165), I walk for at least 30 minutes every day and I eat nutrient dense foods.
    I hope this helps. it was hard for me to talk to anyone about this at first in my pregnancy b/c I didn't want people thinking I was vain or didn't want a healthy baby. I do, but I also want a healthy me.

    Congratulations on the pregnancy!!
  • LisaTcan
    LisaTcan Posts: 410 Member
    I'm also having a really hard time with this. I had been very slowly losing and building muscle for 2 years and was in great shape, also at my goal weight (5'6 134lbs) when I got pregnant. I'm now 15 weeks pregnant and have raised my calories for 1600 to around 1800-2000 a day and have gained 6lbs.

    I was cycling and lifting heavy several times a week before getting pregnant and now I'm just walking everyday and going to the gym for light weights and cardio 3x a week.

    It is definitely tough seeing the scale go up each week! In hoping to only gain around 25 lbs-30lbs. I'm trying to focus on healthy foods, moderate exercise and a small treat (in place of my usual red wine) each night.
  • EmmaDetermined
    EmmaDetermined Posts: 115 Member
    Just remember that a lot of the weight you gain when pregnant is not fat, but rather baby, amniotic fluid, placenta, extra blood volume etc. All of this will drop on during/soon after delivery. So try not to worry too much about gaining some weight. I am trying to not gain more than 10 pounds (OB advice) but know that this will in effect be a loss after delivery. It is not uncommon to lose 20-30 pounds within a couple of weeks after delivery. Then breastfeeding should be good help too, provided you eat healthily. I gained about 45 pounds with my middle boy and had lost it all by the time he was 3 months old. By all means cut out cakes and chocolates and other unhealthy things to keep weight gain reasonable, but apart from that love your growing bump (and raising numbers on the scale) as a sign all is well with baby. You should also measure yourself (e.g. arm, hip, thighs, calves) and keep track of this during pregnancy - is they stay the same, but your weight goes up, then it is clearly all bump!
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    Oooh I hadn't thought of measurements! Very clever. Thank you for the suggestion, and I'm glad I'm not the only one in this boat.
  • steph2strong
    steph2strong Posts: 426 Member
    I'll give you my story, it isn't for everyone and you should always follow your own doc's advice and your own intuition, this is just my personal experience. Also, the medical community is slowly starting to accumulate some research on exercise, and more so moderate-intense exercise during pregnancy, and it's benefits for mom and baby. Of course you should never do something brand new and beyond what you were doing pre-pregnancy but maintaining what you did pre-pregnancy is quite fine, making modifications based on how you feel and as your body changes as you grow (as long as you have an uncomplicated pregnancy). Also, eating a nutrient dense diet is great for baby but you don't need a bunch of extra calories, especially if you are already a bit overweight, the baby takes what it needs from mom. As my doctor told me, even if the mother ate nothing, the baby will take energy and nutrients from the mom stores, and it is the mother who will mainly suffer. Of course there is a limit to that.

    I started out lower weight 5'6, 115 lbs, i exercised intensely 1-2 hours per day. I maintained this throughout my pregnancy, making modifications as my bump grew (cut out jumping moves, kettle bells, etc.). I ate very healthy as i always had, but added in desserts every day. The first trimester I actually ate less than normal because I was so nauseous all the time. I then went back to eating normal amounts second trimester. I increased how much I ate based on my hunger level and just focussed on eating the healthiest foods possible. I gained only 18 lbs total. I gave birth at 39 weeks 2 days, full term, to a very healthy 7.5 lb 21.5 inch long baby boy. I had an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. He is now 7.5 weeks. I lost all my "baby weight" in 2 weeks, and am back to my pre-baby body now, exercising how I had pre-pregnancy. My baby is super healthy, happy and thriving, so am I.
    Pregnancy isn't this inevitable sentence of poor eating, inactivity and weight gain. There are definitely exceptions to this if there are complications involved.
    Of course, if there is any time in your life to cut yourself a bit of slack it is when you are pregnant :)
    Pregnancy can be a really wonderful time, I actually loved being pregnant and am gearing up to start trying for #2 soon. It is amazing how your body changes and how it is capable of growing a whole little human.
    All the best with your pregnancy.
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    This has been most difficult for me as well. I've been using MFP religiously for coming up on 2 years in May. Began at 287 and got down to my lowest weight of 156 (hit this all-time low number right before discovering I am pregnant), I was less than 2 lbs away from healthy bmi which was my goal!

    However my appetite started getting out of control during what I thought was pms (atypical for me) and has been a real fight to try to reign in ever since. Going from 1600-1900 up to 2400+ with some very bad days hitting 3000!
    I have a Fitbit and have been trying to compensate with more activity but all that being more active has seemed to accomplish is to make me feel even more famished.

    So worried if I don't figure out how deal with this new chapter in my life soon I'm going to be back where I started. I have caught myself being envious of women who can barely eat because of morning sickness (a symptom that hasn't hit me at all yet, and I kind of suspect never will), dumb of me but true. The biggest symptom I have is excessive salivating like I'm a starving person. *sigh*
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    I was around this size when I had my first daughter, and then my second I was 10lbs heavier at conception with her than I was at delivery with the first. Like amgreenwell said, its not so much a vanity thing - I WANT a healthy baby, but I don't want to sacrifice my health at the same time. My friend had a baby in October and she gained 6lbs the whole pregnancy - she was active and fit and thought she was ok... he ended up barely 6lbs full term, had issues regulating his blood sugars until he was 4 months old, and totally depleted her calcium stores. It's not just gain I'm worried about, I'm worried about not doing enough.
  • Ameech846
    Ameech846 Posts: 10 Member
    I always struggle with it. I'm 7 weeks with baby #5. I was happy with my weight before this pregnancy, but a few weeks into being pregnant my belly bloats out and I swell all over with water retention. It's just what I do. Then my appetite is all over the place! It's defintely a mental battle to welcome the changes and try not to stress.
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