5 months pregnant starting @260lbs and starting the MFP

mirraivana
mirraivana Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all, I am looking for some advice as far as being and staying on the right track. I am pregnant with my 3rd child and started @260lbs (5.6 height ). According to MFP my daily cal intake (goal) is 1390 which i am aiming every day. I am trying to eat healthier and logging everything i eat, even coffee :) I am not exercising at all and at work I am sitting for 8hrs. My "plan" is to keep up with the cal intake goal until i deliver the baby and recover from it and then hit the gym to get some movement. My question is; do you think it would be possible to loose some weight in the next 5 months solely on cal intake of 1390 per day?
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Replies

  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
    Have you spoken to your doctor about your plan? That should be your first stop.
  • KaysKidz
    KaysKidz Posts: 208 Member
    edited April 2016
    I understand not wanting to gain too much during pregnancy, when starting out heavy. But it has been my understanding that you should never ever try to lose weight once pregnant. Keeping your gain to a minimum, sure. And I agree....this needs to be addressed with your OB.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    You've set MFP to lose weight. Talk to your doctor before aiming to lose weight while pregnant.
  • mirraivana
    mirraivana Posts: 9 Member
    edited April 2016
    I did talk to my OB, she recommended light walk on a daily basis, and keeping my food intake as healthy as possible ( ex. white bread, chocolate, bad carbs- not good, lots of veggies and fruits - yes) I am trying to incorporate all of it, so I am deff. not starving myself, i am eating sugars-mostly from fruit, meat, fish, cheese, veggies, even bread just not white. Of course I am not trying to loose 100 while pregnant, just trying to get a healthier jump start so I can actually incorporate the gym after giving birth.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    mirraivana wrote: »
    I did talk to my OB, she recommended light walk on a daily basis, and keeping my food intake as healthy as possible ( ex. white bread, chocolate, bad carbs- not good, lots of veggies and fruits - yes) I am trying to incorporate all of it, so I am deff. not starving myself, i am eating sugars-mostly from fruit, meat, fish, cheese, veggies, even bread just not white. Of course I am not trying to loose 100 while pregnant, just trying to get a healthier jump start so I can actually incorporate the gym after giving birth.

    What did your OB say about losing weight while pregnant? You've set your profile to lose two pounds per week. I'm 39 and the same height and I just went in and put my weight at 260 and at a sedentary activity level my calorie goal shows as 2340. Take that, reduce it by 1000, and lop 9 years off my age and you get a 1390 goal. Is your OB okay with you trying to lose two pounds per week while pregnant?
  • qpmomma1
    qpmomma1 Posts: 220 Member
    KaysKidz wrote: »
    I understand not wanting to gain too much during pregnancy, when starting out heavy. But it has been my understanding that you should never ever try to lose weight once pregnant. Keeping your gain to a minimum, sure. And I agree....this needs to be addressed with your OB.

    My OB told me the exact opposite. I lost 15 lbs my first trimester and as long as the baby was growing and I was keeping down food it didn't seem to bother her.

  • mirraivana
    mirraivana Posts: 9 Member
    well I didn't quite ask her about loosing the weight, just explained my daily food intake as far as what i eat and she just said that as long as i am getting all the nutrients that the baby needs I should be fine. I am not sure if she was realizing that changing the diet will result in weight loss. I might need to be more direct in explaining
  • qpmomma1
    qpmomma1 Posts: 220 Member
    mirraivana wrote: »
    well I didn't quite ask her about loosing the weight, just explained my daily food intake as far as what i eat and she just said that as long as i am getting all the nutrients that the baby needs I should be fine. I am not sure if she was realizing that changing the diet will result in weight loss. I might need to be more direct in explaining

    Good plan talking with your OB :smile:
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    mirraivana wrote: »
    well I didn't quite ask her about loosing the weight, just explained my daily food intake as far as what i eat and she just said that as long as i am getting all the nutrients that the baby needs I should be fine. I am not sure if she was realizing that changing the diet will result in weight loss. I might need to be more direct in explaining

    I'd suggest being a lot more direct. While I don't think she'd be opposed to you limiting weight gain, I can't imagine she'd think it was wise to cut your intake by over 40% while pregnant.
  • kandeye
    kandeye Posts: 216 Member
    I would definitely talk to your doctor. 2 lbs a week is already a steep deficit for people not pregnant.
  • mirraivana
    mirraivana Posts: 9 Member
    edited April 2016
    Oky doky, I will do that on my next appt and see what she says :wink: I deff do not want to do anything that might put the little muffin in danger. If needed i can wait for another 5 months to start loosing, after all it took me 30 years to gain it ;) Thank you all for your replies
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    IMO, you should not be actively trying to lose weight while pregnant unless your doctor has specifically given you the go ahead to do so. Honestly, 1390 calories is nowhere near what you should be eating. That's not enough to sustain you and a growing baby. Pregnancy is hard on the body and you're essentially starving it of what it needs to support a baby. Your OB saying it's ok to do light exercise and eat healthy is not the same as "Go ahead and lose weight while pregnant."

    And as far as working out after baby comes, you may be okay to do very light exercises (like walking) in the first few weeks, but definitely wait until your 8 week pp check up before doing anything more strenuous. Remember that your body will be recovering from trauma so you need to be kind to it. You still need to fuel yourself properly, and if you're breastfeeding, don't cut calories until (8 weeks+) your milk supply is well established, and make sure you're eating enough calories to sustain that supply. If you dip too low (below 1800, which is the recommended minimum from LLL), you're going to notice your supply tanking.

    Honestly, pregnancy is not the time to be dieting. There's just too much at risk and too much that can go wrong, not just for you, but with baby too. I've had 2 high risk pregnancies and that's just not a can of worms you want to go through. Eat the right amount of calories for you and baby, stay active and then work on losing weight after your post partum check. And remember to be kind to your body.
  • qpmomma1
    qpmomma1 Posts: 220 Member
    mirraivana wrote: »
    Oky doky, I will do that on my next appt and see what she says :wink: I deff do not want to do anything that might put the little muffin in danger. If needed i can wait for another 5 months to start loosing, after all it took me 30 years to gain it ;) Thank you all for your replies

    BTW, CONGRATS! :smiley:

  • niamibunni
    niamibunni Posts: 110 Member
    Eat healthier and try to get in some walking after each meal...that helped me keep my blood sugars and energy stable during pregnancy. I also did some pregnancy yoga from a dvd, that will help you later on when you are more uncomfortable. I guess the goal is to not lose muscle while pregnant. You will be really uncomfortable at the end of the pregnancy and being moderately active will help if you give birth naturally.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I agree that losing 2lbs/week is a lot for someone who isn't pregnant and probably unwise for a woman who is. You should have a very direct and clear conversation with your doctor about nutrition AND weight. I am 31, 5'6" and losing 0.5lb/week at 1650, so your calorie goal sounds really low for someone is growing another person.
  • Cave_Goose
    Cave_Goose Posts: 156 Member
    Talk to your doctor again. Ask her for a diet-nutrition plan. She should have handouts on nutrition guidelines. I would only use MFP in the context of staying in bounds with your doctor's suggestion.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    niamibunni wrote: »
    Eat healthier and try to get in some walking after each meal...that helped me keep my blood sugars and energy stable during pregnancy. I also did some pregnancy yoga from a dvd, that will help you later on when you are more uncomfortable. I guess the goal is to not lose muscle while pregnant. You will be really uncomfortable at the end of the pregnancy and being moderately active will help if you give birth naturally.

    This is great advice. Unless there is a reason for you to stay completely inactive (i.e., you're on bedrest) try to get in some activity now.
  • thewildair
    thewildair Posts: 31 Member
    You also need to consider that the way MyFitnessPal calculates calories is based on a non-pregnant person's caloric needs -- that is going to be less than a pregnant person's caloric needs. You could be doing harm to your baby by trying to lose weight at that rate. Definitely talk to your doctor. Tell her/him exactly how many calories you are consuming, and ask for a recommendation on how much you should be eating while pregnant. Do not put your child at risk by over-restricting food.
  • gember85
    gember85 Posts: 114 Member
    Please don't eat that low amount of calories while pregnant. I was a big girl with my 2nd and was never advised to lose weight just healthy eat and no sugar as it puts you a greater risk of diabetes. You need to eat sensible but make sure your eating enough as the most important thing is growing your little one. Congratulations on the pregnancy and lose the weight once it's over. You defo shouldn't be trying to lose 2 pounds a week while pregnant x
  • Original_Sinner
    Original_Sinner Posts: 180 Member
    You definitely do not need to be "eating for two" but you should not be concerned with losing while pregnant. ANY time you create a deficit in your nutritional intake so that you could "lose weight" you are taking away nutrients from the baby. It is a PART of you and gets all of its food from everything you eat, and if you limit yourself drastically, (and a 2 pound/week weight loss goal is a huge deficit) there will come a time when your body will have to make a decision as to whether it goes without nutrients or the baby does.

    You need to talk to your OBGYN, be CLEAR in your plan and make sure they understand that at 1300 calories a day you are set up for a 2lb a week loss. I'm pregnant myself, and I'm eating 1700 calories a day and I still lost weight this month, and I didn't mean to, a loss wasn't my intent. I meant to maintain what I have and worry about losing once the baby was delivered.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    I recall a follow-up episode of My 600 lb Life where the pregnant patient was expected to weigh less just before delivering than she did at the beginning of her pregnancy, but that was under physician guidance and monitoring. So, it's not necessarily unsafe, but the bottom line is it's not a good idea to try it on your own. It may not be a good strategy in your situation
  • lsecula
    lsecula Posts: 19 Member
    The general rule is pregnant women need 300 extra calories per day. So, I think it *is* a good idea to track your calories on here to start a more healthy lifestyle. You should see how many calories it gives you if you set it to maintain your current weight, and then add 300 to that (maybe you don't have to add a full 300 since you're starting overweight)? I don't know for sure -- definitely talk to your doctor... I kind of wish I had counted calories during my 1st and 3rd pregnancies. I wouldn't have had as much to lose afterwards!
  • Megz2006
    Megz2006 Posts: 122 Member
    You definitely need to discuss further with your doctor. I don't think he.she will be opposed to eating healthier, but my doctor told me that calorie counting during pregnancy wasn't the right time to be doing that. She urged me to get 30 minutes of light exercise a day and eat as healthy as possible. This isn't about losing weight while pregnant so you don't have to work as hard later. This is about making sure that little life you're carrying is healthy, and you need to eat and not restrict yourself in order to do that.
  • mirraivana
    mirraivana Posts: 9 Member
    thank you qpmomma1 :)
    Just to make it clear, I started using MFP more active recently, my beginning weight of 262 was in January 24th at the doc's office and the 259lbs was also measured at doc's on the 4th of this month, so maybe the entries that I have are not quite dated. The 256.8 is at my home scale.I look at it as in eating healthier vs. Mc'donalds, Taco bell, pasta etc. but I will surely talk to my OB at my next visit and see what is her opinion on weight loss.
  • mirraivana
    mirraivana Posts: 9 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    niamibunni wrote: »
    Eat healthier and try to get in some walking after each meal...that helped me keep my blood sugars and energy stable during pregnancy. I also did some pregnancy yoga from a dvd, that will help you later on when you are more uncomfortable. I guess the goal is to not lose muscle while pregnant. You will be really uncomfortable at the end of the pregnancy and being moderately active will help if you give birth naturally.

    This is great advice. Unless there is a reason for you to stay completely inactive (i.e., you're on bedrest) try to get in some activity now.

    I have 2 toddlers at home so deff not inactive on bed rest ( I wish :blush: )
  • mirraivana
    mirraivana Posts: 9 Member
    Original_Sinner wrote: »
    You definitely do not need to be "eating for two" but you should not be concerned with losing while pregnant. ANY time you create a deficit in your nutritional intake so that you could "lose weight" you are taking away nutrients from the baby. It is a PART of you and gets all of its food from everything you eat, and if you limit yourself drastically, (and a 2 pound/week weight loss goal is a huge deficit) there will come a time when your body will have to make a decision as to whether it goes without nutrients or the baby does.

    You need to talk to your OBGYN, be CLEAR in your plan and make sure they understand that at 1300 calories a day you are set up for a 2lb a week loss. I'm pregnant myself, and I'm eating 1700 calories a day and I still lost weight this month, and I didn't mean to, a loss wasn't my intent. I meant to maintain what I have and worry about losing once the baby was delivered.

    As far as loosing weight I think that it will happen just from the diet change due to the fact that i dont want to drik coke anymore as i was drinking 10 cans per day and eating MCD's and fast things, so loosing a few lbs is i think inevitable. My goal of loosing 2lbs per week is my goal -AFTER I deliver since i do want to be around my children while they are growing up . I will in no way put my child in danger over few lbs ;)
  • Dana_E
    Dana_E Posts: 158 Member
    Just a heads up for after the baby comes, I'm nursing and eating about 1800 calories per day and losing a little more than 2 pounds per week.
  • keekster512
    keekster512 Posts: 7 Member
    That's definitely not enough calories for a pregnant person. When I was pregnant I remember reading something along the lines of pregnant woman needing an extra 300-500 calories a day. So realistically you shouldn't be consuming less than 1800 calories a day.

    I know it's hard to be overweight and pregnant and not want to gain a lot. I was 210 lbs when I found out I was pregnant with twins. All I kept thinking about was how much fatter I was gonna get when I found out. But I stuck to a healthy diet eating lots of good foods, and not giving into the greasy burger cravings I had in my first pregnancy. I never "dieted" during the time, just didn't let myself overeat or eat crap. By the end of the pregnancy I was only 215lbs. so I only gained 5 lbs which since I was already overweight was good.
    The most important thing to me was my babies.

    A great way to jump start post partum weight loss is breastfeeding. And like previous posters have said you don't want to have a calorie deficit when doing that either. I easily lost 30 lbs in the first 2 months of breastfeeding after having my twins and I wasn't eating less than 1500-2000 calories a day then.

    Good luck with everything and congrats on your baby
  • mirraivana
    mirraivana Posts: 9 Member
    keekster512 wrote: »
    That's definitely not enough calories for a pregnant person. When I was pregnant I remember reading something along the lines of pregnant woman needing an extra 300-500 calories a day. So realistically you shouldn't be consuming less than 1800 calories a day.

    I know it's hard to be overweight and pregnant and not want to gain a lot. I was 210 lbs when I found out I was pregnant with twins. All I kept thinking about was how much fatter I was gonna get when I found out. But I stuck to a healthy diet eating lots of good foods, and not giving into the greasy burger cravings I had in my first pregnancy. I never "dieted" during the time, just didn't let myself overeat or eat crap. By the end of the pregnancy I was only 215lbs. so I only gained 5 lbs which since I was already overweight was good.
    The most important thing to me was my babies.

    A great way to jump start post partum weight loss is breastfeeding. And like previous posters have said you don't want to have a calorie deficit when doing that either. I easily lost 30 lbs in the first 2 months of breastfeeding after having my twins and I wasn't eating less than 1500-2000 calories a day then.

    Good luck with everything and congrats on your baby

    Oh wow, I didn't realize that breastfeeding is that draining :) I deff do not want to put my baby at risk
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Problem with losing weight while pregnant is that it significant;y increases the chance of not getting the proper nutrition that is needed to promote healthy fetal development. Is it possible? Of course. But why risk it when it is only a few months.

    Focus on eating enough and eating healthy foods. From there, when you have the baby, you can then reduce the amount you eat while sticking to the healthy foods you are now used to. This will make losing weight so much easier!

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