Losing weight safely while pregnant

XSaturnsMoonX
XSaturnsMoonX Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just found out I am Pregnant with my third, and I am also Obese. I have been on and off and lost 35 lbs and gained back 40 and lost 20 gained back 30 so fourth. I Understand that my calorie needs change while pregnant but I have talked to my doctor about losing weight and she said as long as the baby is growing and gaining and I'm eating regularly and balanced (healthy foods) slow steady weight loss while pregnant could be good for the baby. Being an overweight mother already puts us both at risk. I started this forum for support and Friends, maybe other new moms or expectant mothers in the same boat.
5'9
241#

Replies

  • kermax39
    kermax39 Posts: 149 Member
    I did slimming world whilst pregnant, more to keep control of my weight gain but I ended up losing weight and ate loads......although now I prefer mfp because its easier to keep track.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    I started my pregnancy at 250. My Ob, midwife and perinatalogist have said not to try and lose weight. If it happens because of morning sickness not what not, that is fine, but actively trying to lose weight was a no-no. They did tell me to continue to watch my intake and try not to gain more than 11-20. So far, 5 months later, I have only gaine about 5lbs.
  • Arapacana1
    Arapacana1 Posts: 117 Member
    Sounds a bit risky. Get a second opinion from another doctor? I understand that you may want to limit your weight gain during this pregnancy to the lower range for a pregnancy weight gain (like 15 pounds instead of 30 or 40), but losing weight while pregnant does not sound like a good idea.
  • mistress8956
    mistress8956 Posts: 265 Member
    With my 3rd I gained a total of 12 lbs, I think I weighed in at around 220 (ish) at that time. From what my dr and nutritionist told me, at that weight it would be compleatly heathy to lose weight even while pregnant as long as your giving your body the nutrients it needs. But I would recommend speaking with your doctor, and asking him/her for a referral to a nutritionist who could give you better infomation
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    First of all, congrats!

    Now, losing weight and maintaining a healthy pregnancy are very difficult to navigate. When I started this pregnancy (I'm due Sunday), I was 190 at 5'4". My doctor and I agreed that around a 15lb gain would be appropriate. As of today, I've managed to stick between 15 and 17. If you think about all the extra fluid and baby I've gained in the last 9 months, I've maintained and possibly even lost.

    1) I kept it around 2000 calories a day. Some days more, this last month more like 1500-1700 because I have no appetite. I tried to make nourishing, healthy choices for my daughter and I, but did not deny myself treats!

    2) I never quit moving. In the first trimester, if all I could do was walk, I walked. It helped with the fatigue. Now I walk a few times a week as I can. I ate back exercise calories if I was hungry, but I didn't worry about it.

    At one point, I hit a 22lb gain because I let go of my diet. But increased energy/decreased appetite the last 4 weeks have brought that back down.

    I agree with requesting a referral to someone who specializes in dietary needs of pregnant women. Otherwise, just make smart choices. Your body knows what it needs right now and will ask for it. Eat well, move, and go easy on yourself. You have such a short window to give your baby the healthiest possible start on life.

    Also, check out the Fit, Fabulous, and Pregnant group on here. There are a lot of like minded mamas!
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
    Hi there I am about 16 weeks along and I'm trying to not be on the 300 lb train by the time baby is here. I did good last pregnancy gaining only 10 to 15 lbs. at the end I was 250 my largest to date. Well starting out around 220 with this one I'm hoping I can eat around 1800 to 2k for baby needs and exercise within reason and energy levels. And hopefully eat healthy. I'm trying to focus on 1. Logging daily 2. Eat healthy foods 3. Some form of movement daily or exercise if tolerable
  • kksmom1789
    kksmom1789 Posts: 281 Member
    Hello when I was pregnant with my now 2 year old I only gained 16lbs according to my doctor i only needed an extra 300-500 calories a day. I didn't think i could do it after gaining nearly 50lbs with my oldest but it can be done! I tried to shoot for 1500 calories daily and believe me I slipped up MULTIPLE times (hot fudge sundae phase) I also did daily walks for the 1st 5 months of my pregnancy, which i think seriously helped the not gaining a bunch of weight during my crazy craving phases. please message me if you have any questions! and CONGRATULATIONS!
  • kksmom1789
    kksmom1789 Posts: 281 Member
    also my son was born totally healthy at 38 weeks weighing 7lbs 14oz
  • Chadxx
    Chadxx Posts: 1,199 Member
    First of all, congratulations! Secondly, I don't really have much advice to offer here other than, I would definitely focus on eating healthy nutritious foods.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    Congratulations and good luck!!! My sister is pregnant and also started obese, she has worked with her doctor and while she hasn't lost anything on the scale, she's 8 months along and only up 4 lbs, so she has clearly lost a lot of her own fat while feeding and growing a healthy baby!!! Be sure to get good nutrition and keep your doctor in the loop and you will do great!!!
  • daniip_la
    daniip_la Posts: 678 Member
    savithny wrote: »
    I'd be concernd about weight loss while pregnant because if you're not eating the foods that provide the building blocks of baby's bones, brain, nerves etc? Those will be pulled from you. From YOUR bones. From your fat stores.

    Which sounds great - fat stores being used? But fat stores are where any environmental toxins liek PCB, Dioxin, and lead that you'e been exposed to are stored. As those fat stores are mobilized, they release the that dioxin, lead, PCB, PBB etc, and those chemicals circulate in your blood, cross the placenta, and circulate through the developing baby's system.

    Lead doesn't accumulate in fat. Lead stores itself in your bones, where Calcium would normally store itself.

    Also, it's not actually known whether those toxins that bioaccumulate in fat are released when the fat is broken down, or if they bioaccumulate in your other fat stores. Unless some new research has brought that to light, in which case I'd love to read it because I actually do research with some of those compounds.

    I don't have a say in the "lose weight while pregnant" race because I don't have experience in that area. I just wanted to clear up the chemistry misconceptions.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member

    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000293780500205X
    Diets that are lower in calcium are known to increase bone-lead mobilization during pregnancy and lactation in animal models[55]; very low fat diets may increase the draw on body adipose stores during lactation.

    You might find this one interesting, but its highly, highly technical.
    http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jafc.5b05817
    (Underfeeding pregnant sheep with previous organic pollutant exposure and studying blood levels of those compounds). Cites other animal studies as well).
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    First of all, talk to your doctor with this before you change anything.
    I had a boss that was already obese, got pregnant and gained 10 pounds in her first 2 months of pregnancy. Her doctor told her to go low carb because he wanted her to maintain her weight for the rest of her pregnancy.
  • gabbyo23
    gabbyo23 Posts: 100 Member
    Slimming world can support you whilst pregnant. Xx
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited November 2016
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    First of all, talk to your doctor with this before you change anything.
    I had a boss that was already obese, got pregnant and gained 10 pounds in her first 2 months of pregnancy. Her doctor told her to go low carb because he wanted her to maintain her weight for the rest of her pregnancy.

    Did he also talk to her about testing for ketones? Because you want to avoid ketosis during pregnancy; it's bad for baby's development. I would not recommend starting a low carb diet to a pregnant woman without them talking to a good dietician or specialist about appropriate carb intake (which can certainly be kept within the "low carb" range perfectly safely since that's actually a really wide range). Most GPs don't actually know enough about nutrition to be making dietary recommendations to a pregnant woman beyond the usual "make healthy choices; eat lots of veggies; don't try to lose weight" party line. Someone who already knows and understands low carb will likely be fine, but pregnancy isn't the best time to be learning about it unless you have to - especially since baby has an effect on your blood sugar.

    In my city, anyone diagnosed with GD (the usual reason to put a pregnant woman on a low carb diet) was sent to the Diabetes Centre to meet with a dietician for a meal plan then monitored on a weekly basis by the nurses (record of everything you ate plus all your blood sugar tests plus all your ketone tests).
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    My wife became pregnant and stopped drinking Coca-Cola. She stopped cold turkey and did not replace the Coke with sweet tea. She replaced it with water. She never has learned how to cook. While she was pregnant she did lose a lot of weight and the babies were each born healthy. Her post-partum weight was dozens of pounds below her conception weight.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    My wife became pregnant and stopped drinking Coca-Cola. She stopped cold turkey and did not replace the Coke with sweet tea. She replaced it with water. She never has learned how to cook. While she was pregnant she did lose a lot of weight and the babies were each born healthy. Her post-partum weight was dozens of pounds below her conception weight.

    That worked well for her, but that doesn't sound like her trying to lose weight. It sounds like her trying (and succeeding!) to break what she perceived as a bad habit. Weight loss sometimes happens during pregnancy for reasons like that (or because of morning sickness; some of us endure as much as five months of that per pregnancy). What's usually frowned upon is "going on a diet" when pregnant. Not giving up a sugary food or drink.
  • danimills2005
    danimills2005 Posts: 3 Member
    I was 163 lbs 5'3" at my first prenatal appointment with DS and my doctor told me she would be totally fine if I did not gain ANY weight during the pregnancy.

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