staying healthy during Pregnancy

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koreyleann1985
koreyleann1985 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all! I am 18 weeks pregnant with my second child and want to stay healthy. With my last pregnancy I gained between 60-70 lbs. I have already gained around 20 with this one, and just want to be healthy, and get serious after i have the baby. Does anyone have any general advice or specific on how many calories I should eat? every website says around 200 extra calories a day, but if i ate 2,200, i know I'd be gaining like crazy because right now I am eating between 1700-2000 and am already gaining rapidly. I am considered overweight, and so the doctor says technically I don't have to gain anything else if I don't want to. Adivce? encouragement? been there? THANK YOU! :)

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  • jehembee
    jehembee Posts: 114
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    When I got pregnant, I stopped counting calories. I just ate better. And I only gained about 20 pounds with each pregnancy. (keep in mind, I started my first pregnancy at 158 pounds, and my second at 170). I actually lost a little weight with my first, because I was so turned off by a lot of the unhealthier foods. Good luck with your pregnancy!
  • mpederson
    mpederson Posts: 123 Member
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    you should join our group on here, fit, faboulous & pregnant. You'll find lots of advice, great ideas and like minded women looking to keep fit, healthy and active during their pregnancy.

    I set my calorie intake to maintenance until mid 2nd tri, now i have it set at gain 1/2 lb per week.
  • koreyleann1985
    koreyleann1985 Posts: 5
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    thank you! :smile:
  • koreyleann1985
    koreyleann1985 Posts: 5
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    i am excited about the fit fabulous and pregnant group. Thank you so very much! :happy:
  • FitMama2013
    FitMama2013 Posts: 919 Member
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    ditto what mpederson said! I'm currently pregnant and am eating at mantenance in the first trimester, around 2400 for me. I plan to bump it up to 2700 in the second trimester. are you currently doing any exercise? I find that helps keep my body a bit happier during all of this transitioning!

    congrats on your pregnancy :)
  • k8krampe
    k8krampe Posts: 5 Member
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    with my first pregnancy, I gained about the same as you (60-70). with my second, i gained between 25-30. i ate ice cream or frozen yogurt every night with my second. the biggest difference for me was that i worked out moderately through 25 weeks the second time around, and then walked almost daily throughout the last 15 weeks. what a difference.

    i didn't count calories with either pregnancy, just ate what i wanted when i was hungry. i am sure i ate more with my first, but he was a boy and i just craved food all the time. with my second, a girl, i wasn't as hungry. go figure though, my first baby was 9 lbs 9 oz, and my second (gaining less weight, walking,eating less and she was a girl) was 10 lbs 2 oz. yes, i have huge babies courtesy of my husbands side. anyway, both were healthy and that's all that matters.

    one other thing...i never really got serious about losing the first babies weight until after i had the second. and my baby girl is 10 months and i've lost both babies weight. so don't sweat it, congrats and good luck!
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    The '200 extra' recommnedation does not mean 2000+200, it should really mean *your individual maintenance* + 200. Everyone's maintenance amount is different and based off of your height, weight, gender, age, and how active you are. If I were in your situation, knowing my dr said 'you really don't need to gain a lot more weight', I would consider setting my MFP profile to 'maintain my current weight' and try sticking close to that calorie guideline for a couple of weeks. Monitor your weight and see what happens. If you lose a bit of weight, you might actually be more active than the level you set in your MFP profile and you might need to bump up the activity level to actually achieve real weight maintenance. If you gain a bit of weight, you could possibly be less active than how you set your MFP profile and might need to bump the level down. As you get further along in the pregnancy if your dr says it's okay to gain a little weight, you could reset your profile goal to 'gain 1/2 lb per week'. Keep in mind you're going to lose at least 10 lbs just from delivering baby and placenta and fluid loss during the birth.

    Also keep in mind that pregnant women are especially subject to water retention which will manifest as weightgain on the scale even though it's just water. Especially when warm weather hits. Make sure you're drinking plenty of fluids, that'll help combat the retention.

    And remember to keep active as long as your dr says it's okay. It'll help keep the weightgain reasonable and will make for an easier pregnancy, labor, and recovery! :-)
  • karen8873
    karen8873 Posts: 100 Member
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    Hi There,

    Im 32 weeks pregnant and have been counting since Jan. (couldnt stomach more than carbs the 1st tri) I basically added 300 cals to my maintenance calories. Lately I dont eat them all, but in the second trimester I did or at least came close.
    I was at a healthy weight pre preg so my weight gain guideline is 25-35... so far Im with in that range. so I do feel this has helped
  • koreyleann1985
    koreyleann1985 Posts: 5
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    thank you everyone! this has been so very encouraging to me!!!!
  • Babymomma2two
    Babymomma2two Posts: 6 Member
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    I'm glad you asked this question! I asked about it last night and the question was buried within a half hour without even one response.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    I'm glad you asked this question! I asked about it last night and the question was buried within a half hour without even one response.

    That does happen sometimes, especially if you're just unlucky that there is no one checking out the forums right there that's really interested in the topic.
  • Babymomma2two
    Babymomma2two Posts: 6 Member
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    I totally understand that the boards move fast :) It's nice to not have to re-ask the question though since this thread answers mine for the most part!

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