Net Calories During Pregnancy

I asked my doctor at about four months(i'm almost 8 now) about calories because I didn't want to gain too much weight. She told me that if I stayed in between 1800-2200 I would be good and shouldn't gain too much weight. That's pretty much what the diabetics follow and she said that was a good place to be. So far it's been working pretty well. I've gained 15 pounds so far. Would be less but I had a six pound month last month! Now i'm gaining about 1/2 a pound a week.

That's a really good question! I've always heard that when you're pregnant you should try to consume 300 more calories per baby. (So if you were having twins you'd need to eat 600 calories.) I saw that you mentioned that you were going to your midwife later this month, I'd check with her to be safe. There are also a lot of websites out there that can give healthy recommendations :-) Congratulations on your pregnancy! I'm waiting for the day when MFP comes out with a "Pregnant" setting for calories! LOL That would be really great!

Very well put, I don't think I would have been so polite with my reply to someone who hasn't had children and wants to not be "offensive". Good luck with your little treasure!!

It's a sad day when a woman carrying a new life inside of her is more worried about how many calories she's taking in than whether or not she's getting enough nutrition - from real, whole, natural foods and not processed food products - for her and her baby.


I'm not trying to offend anyone. I don't have kids and it's doubtful at this point that I will (I'm 41). But it's kind of selfish, I think. I just can't understand it.

Dude, really??? Caloric intake is a MAJOR part of a healthy vs. unhealthy pregnancy. Overeating (due to the "eating for two" myth) and undereating (due to morning sickness and general food turn-offs during pregnancy) are very real concerns during pregnancy. Not to mention that many mothers want to be in good shape to get through childbirth and recovery (not easy) and to take care of the baby's needs (imagine having twice as much responsiblity with half as much sleep for the next several months). I don't often jump in to argue with people on these threads, but COME ON.

My general rule of thumb: During the first 3 months of your pregnancy, you do not need to change the number of calories you are eating. Normal-weight women need an extra 300 calories each day during the last 6 months of pregnancy. This totals about 1,900 to 2,500 calories a day. If you were underweight, overweight, or obese before you became pregnant, or if you are pregnant with more than one baby, you may need a different number of calories. Talk to your health care provider about how much weight you should gain and how many calories you need.


Also, an MFP group you may enjoy: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/1903-fit-fabulous-pregnant

I'm toying with this today too. I just found out I am pregnant and don't have a doctor's appointment for 5 weeks . . a lot can happen in 5 weeks! I don't want to go too low but I don't want to go too high either . . . hmmm, what's that perfect number??

congratulations :-)

Thanks!

Honestly, just follow your body's cues. I gained 15lbs in the first 16 weeks, which freaked my doctor out and made the nurse encourage me to watch my eating (obnoxious comment, if I do say so), but I wasn't eating anything extra, or doing anything special. I was actually pretty active, with snowboarding, running, and other things, so my body just packed on those pounds intitially without my say-so, haha.

But the last trimester, where you're supposed to gain more weight, I only gained 5lbs (which again freaked my doctor out, and prompted him to ask me if I had stopped eating), for a total of 34, which was recommended for me, since I started at an average weight, and had a normal pregnancy. I didn't change anything at all, save for the fact that I switched to walking daily instead of running, and obviously didn't do things like snowboarding or horseback riding, because the jostling was really uncomfortable. I just ate when I was hungry, which included in the middle of the night when my carpal tunnel kept me up (ah, the joys of summertime pregnancy swelling), and avoided really sugary things like ice cream (more because I just wan't into anything that sweet), and my body didn't steer me wrong. My girl was 8lbs 1oz, two weeks late, and healthy as a little horse, no matter that I didn't pack on the pounds in the last trimester like they recommended.

So long as you stay active, and just eat smart, I guarantee you your body won't let you down. They're designed to know what they need.

Those are really good questions! Let us all know what your midwife says!

Part of the reason I'm trying to lose now is to get ready for TTC in the fall. I only gained ~ 20 during my 1st pregnancy and lost most of it after giving birth, however my daughter was 7 weeks early due to preeclampsia. So I ate terrible the month she was in the NICU and the first couple months she was home because it was just so stressful and so I gained a lot of what I had lost before getting pregnant. BOOO!

I really don't want to gain too much extra next time either because once that baby is home, there is so little time and energy for yourself to work on weight loss. And for me, since I couldn't breastfeed successfully, losing the weight was even harder. Next time I will need to be even more cautious with my nutrition, especially in regard to sodium. I think I will keep using MFP to keep me on track with good nutrition and proper calorie intake.

It's hard to strike a good balance of gaining just the right amount through nutritious food, without going overboard on those craving foods (loved my ice cream too!). I also found that I had a lot of food aversions and was also really tired, which made eating healthy and exercising a bit more challenging than it is when not pregnant.

I think it would be hard to understand for those ladies who have never been through it just how out of control and strange your body can feel when you're pregnant. And there are some situations that you just can't control, like being stuck on bedrest, that mess with you even more. I was only on bedrest for about 2 weeks, but I could tell my muscles were a bit atrophied and my cardio endurance down.

As far as I understand it, during the 1st trimester you need to net your maintainance calories daily and won't need to gain much during this time. So yes, eat back your exercise calories? Then for the 2nd and 3rd trimester you should net your maintainance + 300 calories to gain just the right amount. I'm guessing this must vary, depending on where you start (obese, overweight, healthy, under). For me, I wasn't supposed to gain more than 20-25 total. So about 0.5 - 1 lb a week after the 1st trimester.

Also, I have heard/read that your body tends to give the baby 1st priority where nutrition is concerned, so it's usually the mother that suffers first when calories and nutrition are lacking - as in the case of mothers with severe morning sickness that lasts the whole pregnancy. For instance, I've heard that women can actually lose calcium from their own teeth/bones during pregnancy if they are nutritionally deficient because it will be taken for use by the growing baby. I wonder if this is true? Crazy things these babies do . . .

Best of luck with your pregnancy!