Fit, Fabulous, & Pregnant!

Join

Hormones and Weight Gain

Queenmunchy
Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
edited November 13 in Social Groups
I've always kind of been of the camp that you can't gain weight without a calorie surplus, but I'm thinking it may not be so in every circumstance.
If you don't increase calories, and actually lower them, how is it possible for your body to gain weight while pregnant?

Replies

  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    Got me. I don't track my calories while pregnant, except like once every couple of weeks to see if I'm lying to myself.

    I will say that I'm pretty sure I've gained more in the last 29 weeks than can be accounted for with a calorie surplus. Like, yesterday was a day I logged and I ate kinda bad...Jr. bacon cheeseburger, frosty, fries, for dinner. But I was still under my calorie goal and I'm set to "maintain." Most people give themselves a couple hundred extra calories plus maintenance in the 3rd tri.

    Maybe it's not gain from baby, maybe it's the increase in bodily fluids (like blood) and the placenta. I don't know. I also know I'm retaining a crap ton of water because I've got cankles. Water weight is no joke when pregnant.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    Yeah, it's totally bizarre. I actually gained a ton with my daughter and wondered. Water weight is such a b!tch, lol, and ginormouos breasts.
  • wearmi1
    wearmi1 Posts: 291 Member
    I have no control right now. I'm almost 9 weeks and am eating a lot. This hunger is like something I've never felt before :-(.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    I don't feel hunger, just cravings for sweet items - things that I don't normally eat at all. I'm always the one to pass up candy or baked goods for something salty or spicy.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    This is actually my first pregnancy where my breasts got bigger. I always assumed that was no biggie...boy was I wrong.

    I'm 30 weeks. 10 more weeks to go. I have a craving for a wawa gobbler...that's a hoagie with turkey, gravy, cranberry, and stuffing. But I'll eat like 3 bites and be ridiculously full because that's how I'm living these days. Huge appetite until I actually start eating.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    @enterdanger both sides of my family are from New Jersey, so I'm versed in the goodness that is Wawa. Once that baby is big, there is no room for food, despite the hunger, lol.

    In 4 weeks I went from a 32DDD to a 36DD. Porn star t!ts, and they're not done.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited November 2016
    Queenmunchy wrote: »
    Yeah, it's totally bizarre. I actually gained a ton with my daughter and wondered. Water weight is such a b!tch, lol, and ginormouos breasts.

    Yup I'm having that too lol! My boobs keep getting in the way when I'm trying to sleep now. Kind of spilling out of my bras but I'm too cheap to buy a new one right now. I want to wait until at least second trimester.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    I bought new bras about a month ago...and now I'm thinking I might have to go back to kohls again because the new ones are snug. I never had to do this with the first two. Hubs would be super excited except now I'm 31 weeks that's not an area I want people messing with all that much.
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    Pregnancy doesn't erase CICO. You're gonna gain weight if your CI exceeds your CO.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    trjjoy wrote: »
    Pregnancy doesn't erase CICO. You're gonna gain weight if your CI exceeds your CO.

    That's what I understand to be true, but I gained about 2lbs - not fluctuations - mainly in my middle and breasts (which is where I can see it). I haven't increased my intake yet and I'm exercising more consistently. It's bizarre.
  • steph2strong
    steph2strong Posts: 426 Member
    Definitely some of those early pounds that just appear are due to the hormones and fluids in your body. When I conceived I gained 5 lbs overnight, no joke, that's why I tested for pregnancy, because my fluctuations are usually only 0.2-0.4 lbs day to day, no matter what. I'm back to my normal weight now but in a few weeks I'll be up a pound or 2 and it will be fluid. With pregnancy half the weight you gain is circulating fluids, placenta, amniotic fluid and some fat. Unless you gain too much than it will just be more fat. Weight gain does not just mean fat gain, especially in pregnancy.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited November 2016
    trjjoy wrote: »
    Pregnancy doesn't erase CICO. You're gonna gain weight if your CI exceeds your CO.

    Pregnancy definitely changes your CO though. And probably not always in a predictable manner.
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    Queenmunchy wrote: »

    That's what I understand to be true, but I gained about 2lbs - not fluctuations - mainly in my middle and breasts (which is where I can see it). I haven't increased my intake yet and I'm exercising more consistently. It's bizarre.

    You're probably not tracking your CI correctly. We don't just gain weight magically. It has to come from somewhere.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    trjjoy wrote: »
    Pregnancy doesn't erase CICO. You're gonna gain weight if your CI exceeds your CO.

    Pregnancy definitely changes your CO though. And probably not always in a predictable manner.

    Ah, that makes sense.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories