calorie deficit while pregnant?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.. =(

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!

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?

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!

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