Caloric intake while pregnant

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JuliBiGoolee
JuliBiGoolee Posts: 204 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am wondering what my caloric intake should be while pregnant. I asked my doctor today and the response was: don't diet, just eat healthy and watch your portions. MFP helps keep me accountable so what I eat (quality and quantity)doesn't get out of hand. I'm 200lbs and 5'7". Being overweight while pregnant isn't exactly healthy either. I'm not trying to lose weight but stick to the recommended weight gain of 10-20lbs for the entire pregnancy. Looking online I found plenty of websites that said how many extra calories you need for each trimester if you are overweight but what's my caloric baseline before the added calories? Any experienced MFP mamas input welcomed! TIA

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  • ottawagirl613
    ottawagirl613 Posts: 112 Member
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    Maybe see if your doctor can recommend a dietician who specializes in pre-natal care, and try to get a baseline from them. I would input whatever number they give you into MFP and then listen to your body. Pregnancy #1 I wasn’t much hungrier than normal, and ate accordingly. Some days I would exceed my calories if I was particularly hungry, but most would be pretty close to the recommended or under. Gained 25lbs from 135 and felt great. Pregnancy #2 I thought I was an old pro, and that I could manage the same weight gain by eating healthy without logging. I ate what I thought was a healthy, balanced diet and gained 50lbs and felt terrible in the final months. MFP definitey helped me to be conscious of my eating in my first pregnancy, so I would go with your gut and push to get a number from either a doctor or a dietician. The internet has some great tools, but your circumstances may require some adjustment. Best of luck!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,020 Member
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    If you've been logging on MFP for a while, you should be able to figure out your baseline (maintenance) from your own data and experience, which is better than the estimate a calculator will give you.
  • 100_PROOF_
    100_PROOF_ Posts: 1,168 Member
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    I would find your maintenance calories and then eat a bit above that until you can get better info from a medical professional.
    You'll have plenty of time after the baby is born to worry about losing weight and all. For now I would concentrate on having a healthy baby. Congrats.
  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
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    Maintenance should be fine during the first trimester. Use the MFP maintenance settings for a few weeks and adjust as needed. Ensure you have adequate folic acid - if a prenatal makes morning sickness worse try a folate-only supplement.
  • Andrea8304
    Andrea8304 Posts: 3 Member
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    I'm wondering the same thing. I gained 65lbs on pregnancy #1 and felt like crap. Lost 50lbs of that and now I'm 24 weeks pregnant with #2. I've already gained 30lbs and I'm so upset I'm letting that happen again. I was thinking I'd put maintain my current weight in the settings but then if I find I'm still hungry at the end of the day to eat only heathy snacks.
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
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    When I got pregnant with my youngest, I was 190. I tried to eat around 1900 calories a day, which was maintenance for sedentary me. If I was hungry, I ate more. If I was not hungry, I did not force myself to eat just to eat. I walked, did yoga, and swam. I kept my weight gain at around 15lbs.
  • snowcloudmx
    snowcloudmx Posts: 3 Member
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    I have the same question. Im 16 weeks pregnant. I think I am going to try and eat my maintainance calories and if i am still truly hungry go above that. I trust my body will let me know what it needs. I just dont want to gain 50 lbs like I did with the last baby. Yikes! :s

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