calorie deficit while pregnant?

Hi all,
I have just found out that I am pregnant, yay us!
I have been an active member on mfp for quite awhile now, but i have some friends on here that I dont want to know Im expecting just yet, as I have had a few miscarriages, learned the hard way that it is better to keep it quiet until I know we are in the clear!

Anyhow, I tried asking my doctor about this, but he is kind of a jerk, lol, and just said "yes, you need to lose weight, and you will have to have a c-section because of your weight", then the appointment was over.
Sadly nobody else in town is taking patients, ugh! So I thought I would ask here if anyone had any advice to give!

I do NOT in any way want to put our baby in any kind of danger or deprive it of anything it may need. However, I am still a good 100 pounds overweight, and am wondering if a calorie deficit is OK or a really stupid idea?

Replies

  • lmbame905
    lmbame905 Posts: 83 Member
    I'm pregnant too!! Congrats!!

    From everything I've read, you should find out what your maintanence calories are and eat those. Keep up with your workouts, and your water. Maybe even upping your water. Try to get your calories in healthy ways, rather than do what I've done and jsut eat whatever isn't nailed down. :) In the 3rd trimester, you can add about 300 calories.

    So, no, you don't want to be focused on losing weight, but you don't want to gain much, either. try to make the healthiest possible choices for the baby that's growing. :)
  • zellagrrl
    zellagrrl Posts: 439
    If you have health insurance, call the nurse line and ask them for assistance (and a reference). If not, contact Planned Parenthood or another women's health organization and they can put you in contact with a doctor's office to assist you. You might have to drive, but to get an opinion it's worth it.
  • I was planning to just eat at maint til I can talk to the doctor again, but the next appointment is in 3 weeks.

    Thank you for the tip about calling the health insurance! (I am new to the USA, and used to Canadian healthcare, I'm embarrassed to say I did not even know my insurance had a nurse help line!).
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
    Maybe instead of focusing on calories which can easily be miscalculated and lead to baby being deprived you should focus on eating as healthy and clean as possible. If you work on eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're full you won't gain weight and you might lose, but most importantly you won't be depriving baby of anything!
  • sweetpea129
    sweetpea129 Posts: 755 Member
    I'm not sure about calories but i wanted to chime in. I was 100 lbs over weight and have had 2 babies in the past 3 years. Both of them were natural vaginal deliveries with ZERO complications. No pregnancy complications, no labor or delivery complications. Your dr is an idiot and i hate that hes telling you that you will need a section.

    Also, i didnt gain 1 lb with my first pregnancy and gained only 8 with my 2nd. I didnt count calories but instead, i stopped drinking all soda, stopped eating an chips and processed foods. I traded all that for fruits, veggies and water. I ate so much healthier when pregnant and i know thats why i gained no weight. I'm sure you're already eating healthy, though, if you're on this site.

    Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. GOod luck! If you want to message me definitley do so! And.... CONGRATS!!!!!! This is an amazing time in your life :)
  • I'm not sure about calories but i wanted to chime in. I was 100 lbs over weight and have had 2 babies in the past 3 years. Both of them were natural vaginal deliveries with ZERO complications. No pregnancy complications, no labor or delivery complications. Your dr is an idiot and i hate that hes telling you that you will need a section.

    Thank you!!!! This was the main reason I was worried about weight, I just needed to hear from someone that it was possible I guess. OK, definitely need to find a new doctor, an hour drive or not!
  • zenchild
    zenchild Posts: 680 Member
    Maybe a nutritionist? Someone who knows what you need and what the baby needs and how you can both be healthy at the end of the pregnancy.
  • glittersoul
    glittersoul Posts: 666 Member
    I doubt you will have to have a c-section because of your weight... I was pretty heavy when I had my 2 kids and they were born just fine naturally... My doctor did freak about any weight gain whatsoever, but they apparently do that to everyone because the doctors gave the same spiel to my friends that were a healthy weight too.
  • tfis4life
    tfis4life Posts: 11
    First of all, congratulations!!! Like previous posters, I think you should just eat what you need to in order to maintain. Switch out anything you may be eating that is unhealthy for the good stuff. I am slightly overweight and with all of my 4 pregnancies have just eaten more healthy choices but pretty much however much my body would tell me I needed. Gained 20 with the 1st 20 with the 2nd 12 with the 3rd and only 6 with this baby I just had. So just eat healthy and workout lightly. Talk to you Dr. when you find a new one. Also I would always loose right at first (up to 15 lbs) and the Dr. was never concerned about any of my babies. Good luck and I am hoping for a "sticky" baby for you this time around.
  • vball4all
    vball4all Posts: 2 Member
    I agree with the last couple of posters. Just eat as much or as little as you are truly hungry for. I had twins, and sometimes, I just couldn't eat any more although felt like I needed to. Everyone should gain weight differently based on their starting BMI. Although, it is very easy to be pregnant and think "the baby is growing, I should be gaining weight". Don't worry about pounds (gaining or losing a little) - eat healthy as you can, eat as much as you feel you need. I would not restrict your intake on purpose though. Make sure you are taking your pre-natal vitamins! Find a doctor you are comfortable with! Congrats and good luck!
  • emnk5308
    emnk5308 Posts: 736
    If you have health insurance, call the nurse line and ask them for assistance (and a reference). If not, contact Planned Parenthood or another women's health organization and they can put you in contact with a doctor's office to assist you. You might have to drive, but to get an opinion it's worth it.

    I agree with this.. I've never been pregnant.. never trying to lose weight and pregnant.. but a deficit doesn't sound like a great idea.. I would try to maintain as best as possible until you have the baby =) But of course, only a dr can really help here.. I don't know much about weight loss and pregnancy.. =(
  • jan_andrea
    jan_andrea Posts: 44 Member
    PP have covered the nutrition topic well, but for some reassurance, I was 280something when my first was conceived (299 just before he was born!), and we had an uneventful home birth. My BP was always a little highish towards the end, but it would go down if I lay down, and I didn't have awful swelling, which was what my midwife would have been concerned with. I was in the 270s with my second and 250s with my third -- both of them born at home with no complications, too. So being overweight != c-section. Personally, I think doctors look for "complications" when mom's not 100% ideal, and make decisions accordingly :/ Good luck, and do lots of reading -- the more informed you are, the better this will go :)
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    Weight watchers have a program specific to pregnant women - safe and won't do any harm to you or baby, but will help you keep the weight under control...\Congrats!
  • You've gotten some excellent advice, the best of which (in my humble opinion) is to call the nurse line for your insurance company and to switch doctors. You may be eligible to see a nutritionist. You deserve a doctor who is willing to listen to you and to properly advise you and to be respectful. I took progesterone during the 1st trimester of my pregnancy following miscarriage (8 years ago......well, 9 actually since DD is 8!) At that time, it was not proven to help but there was belief that it could help "stickiness". Might be worth asking about.

    If you still have 100 lbs to get down to not overweight, you may well be able to continue to lose small amounts of weight while pregnant. Until you can get proper advise, I would just increase your current intake by 300 calories. That is all that baby needs. Now, if you were in an aggressive weight loss, then lower it to 1 lb a week and then add 300 calories.

    Best wishes to you and your "sticky" baby!!!! Congrats!
  • minkakross
    minkakross Posts: 687 Member
    I'm 5-4 and had my first baby at 222 pounds the natural way and the second at 245, also natural. I happen to have PCOS which means that being pregnant is one of the few times the hormones in my body ever worked the way they were supposed to and my body naturally tried to lose weight during that time. In both cases I was ordered by the doctor to not lose but to try and maintain because weight loss can affect the developing baby. I know you said all the other OBs are booked up but unless you live in a town with one office I find that hard to accept. Again this is where your insurance can help you shop around and don't forget that you just need an OB that can practice at the hospital you want to deliver at so could even use an out of town doctor if you found someone you liked. Bottom line is no one should be treated as he treated you and with his attitude do you really want him between your legs at the most exciting moment of your growing families life or trust him to cut on you if you do have complications and need a C-section?
  • beckybernardo
    beckybernardo Posts: 93 Member
    I think that I would concentrate on eating healthy and getting some exercise, not hard exercise, but walking. Unless it is a high risk, then I would just do very simple exercises. Maybe you can try and find a doctor a little farther away and ask them advice. Hope everything goes good and I will keep you in my prayers...
  • thuy5
    thuy5 Posts: 22
    Just a different angle for you, when I had my second child I was about 10kgs overweight, and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I had to really watch my diet to maintain my blood sugar levels so they didn't get out of control. At the time I was consuming around 3000 calories of junk to maintain my weight (think pies, donuts, chips etc). I switched to low carb and smaller frequent meals and ended up losing 3kgs in my last trimester.

    My doctors said it was a good thing to lose the weight to put myself in a better position for labour. The baby would take what it needed first.
    I'm not particularly big (5" tall and 72kg at full term). I would have been eating around 1600 cals a day in my last trimester and I had a reasonably large baby.

    I wouldn't worry about trying to maintain your weight, but getting good quality nutrition and as much low impact exercise in as you can and this should help you feel better throughout.

    Good luck and congratulations!
  • Just wanted to say a big fat thank you to everyone for your advice! I did contact my insurance and they got me in touch with a different doctor, only about 30 minutes away! And also a nutritionist.
    I was so worried about needing a c-section, I want an all natural birth so badly, and everyone made me feel so much better about that.
  • meghanner
    meghanner Posts: 180 Member
    Pregnancy can be such a tough time for women who struggle with body size, weight and image (basically all of us!). It's a strange time when our bodies become open to public opinion. Calorically, you only need about 300 extra calories a day when pregnant. Not much at all!
    The guidelines from WHO and both the Canadian Midwives and OB's is that if you are overweight with a pre-pregnancy BMI of 25-29.9 you should only gain about 15-25lbs, if obese with BMI > 30 you should only gain about 10-15lbs. Just eat normally and keep an eye on your sugar intake (including juice, fruit, and added sugars from yogurts ect).
    I hope this helps.
    I am a registered midwife in Canada
  • raitch
    raitch Posts: 62 Member
    Do NOT see an OB who says you'll need to have a c-section. That's code for "I don't want to have to deal with you when you're in labor." Both of my daughters were born when I was around 240 or 250. Heck, maybe more. No complications, no c-section.

    Ugh.
  • Shannonsto
    Shannonsto Posts: 450 Member
    So glad they got you a different doctor. As a former labor nurse (and current NICU nurse), I've never heard of needing a c-section because of maternal weight. Sounds like a cut-happy doc to me.

    Congratulations on your pregnancy!
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
    Think about this, to lose weight you are not providing enough energy for your body, so it has to get smaller.

    If you don't provide enough energy for yourself, you think you'll be providing enough for your baby?

    This this this.

    You should think about overall health and nutrition, not how to lose weight while pregnant!
  • I would seek out a new OB. You have to be able to trust and talk to your OB. I was overweight with both of my pregnancies. My second I was almost 100 lbs when she was born. I delivered naturally. I would not be comfortable with an OB who is telling you that you need a c-section and you aren't even out of the safe zone. I would definitely contact a professional about a calorie deficit while pregnant.
  • cspence2270
    cspence2270 Posts: 229 Member
    First and fore most if you think your doctor is a jerk than you really need to find a new doctor. You are trusting this person with your and your babies life you need to believe in them. That aside- I was "heavy" with all 3 of my boys and had no complications or problems delivering any of them vaginally. I don't know if you have other risks that would cause you to need a C-section but being overweight isn't enough reason for it. I gained about 100 lbs with my first, I ate whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted, my doctor did not say a thing to me about my weight gain and I was too young to know about proper weight gain. But with my 2nd I only gained 15 lbs and was fine and had a very healthy boy. My 3rd pregnancy I was very careful as I had been loosing weight and exercising and was really afraid of gaining a lot of weight. I was 240 lbs when I got pregnant and at my 6 week post baby check up I was 220 lbs. I only gained about 12 lbs through the entire pregnancy. I didn't drink any soda and ate very healthy and continued to exercise by walking as much as possible. I had some check ups where I lost wight and the doctor said that was ok as long as it didn't happen at every visit. So if I were you I would just listen to my body and eat when hungry and eat healthy. Exercise if you are now and just enjoy being pregnant. Do worry just let nature take it's course, women have been doing this forever. You'll be fine.
  • Thanks for your great input. A fantastic thing about this blogs is that the info is there forever! I am about 40 pounds over a healthy weight and hoping for a pregnancy sign any day now...and I was starting to feel really anxious about all the numbers of pre eclampsia etc etc...Thank you for solid advice. I will make sure to gain no weight in the first trimester and then just about 10 or so for the last 2. Excellent advise on what to eat/not....thanks again! Mari