How to not gain too much weight during pregnancy (and stop being afraid of it)
We all know that weight gain is inevitable during pregnancy but no mama out there wants to gain too much weight during pregnancy. I’d always been touchy around the scale when I got pregnant with my first and I was downright afraid of seeing those numbers going up even though I knew it was for a good reason. I learned a lot during those 9 months and even more since then and I’m hoping to share some of that here.
Are you worried about gaining too much weight? Or are you gaining too much weight? If you answered yes, it’s okay. Let me share a few tips for your toolbox that can help you manage your weight gain during pregnancy and also build your confidence around food during your pregnancy.
Here’s me! 37 weeks pregnant with my first baby, Sarah!
Gaining more weight than is recommended (recommendations are based on your starting weight) can lead to difficulties in pregnancy, delivery and post-partum. Just like outside of pregnancy, weight gain can happen because we overeat and under-move. Are there other reasons? Yes- but this post is going to focus on the lifestyle causes, and not any other medical condition related to weight gain. Remember, general recommendations are general recommendations. Rather than focusing specifically on a number, I like to focus on the lifestyle components that create overall health. Even if you do have a medical issue causing you to gain more weight, you can still benefit from these lifestyle tips.
Tip #1: Know your calorie needs! It is so easy to fall into our culture’s “eating for two” idea, that somehow we need to, and sometimes even feel ENTITLED to eating way more than necessary simply because we have a baby growing inside us. So let’s skip the social norms and look at the facts. For most pregnant women, the calories needed for growing one baby don’t go up until the second trimester and even then only go up by about 300-350 calories per day, and up to 450 per day in the third trimester. Additional babies do equal additional calories, but just about 300 each. Obviously, if you’re hungry, feed your body! We aren’t robots, so somedays we are truly hungrier than others and it’s okay to eat more when you are hungry. Your activity level could increase your calorie needs as well. But keep it in perspective. While 350 calories is enough to cover a small bowl of ice cream, it’s not a whole pack of Oreos. I don’t like to consider them freebies either!
Tip #2 : Make them count! Instead of necessarily counting every calorie (because who likes that?) aim to make your calories and your extra allowances count for something more than just a total. I like to think of eating like depositing money into a bank- imagine you have a bag of money you take to a bank to deposit. The bag is full but only some of the money is real money, and rest is actually Monopoly money. Obviously, only the real money can go into your account. In terms of food- some calories (from fruits, vegetables etc) help our bodies support a growing baby with vitamins and minerals, and others really don’t offer much other than their presence in the energy deposit. (aka the chips and candy I wanted all the time). Go for the real money!
Tip #3: Stay active! Regular physical activity helps manage weight and can prevent excessive weight gain by burning extra calories and keep us busy from eating extra calories (few people can eat on the elliptical). Exercise also helps manage stress which can contribute to weight gain even outside of pregnancy! There are many other benefits to exercise during pregnancy but I won’t go into them all here- check out my other blog posts or contact me if you have questions related to exercise specifically during pregnancy.
Tip #4: Mindset Matters! How you think and act around food is important, too. Do you feel like food has a magical power over you or are you in control of your choices? Remember that YOU are the human with a brain. Food doesn’t have any way of talking to you or traveling into your mouth on its own. Do you see your pregnancy as a free pass to eat whatever you want? Or do you see it as a responsibility to your unborn child to give them a good start by eating well during pregnancy? The free pass mindset makes it hard to make good food choices. There’s a pretty interesting documentary mini-series out there called “9 Months That Made You” that you might find really inspiring! I watched it on Amazon but it may be available on other platforms.
I know this can be hard. It was for me too. If we have issues with food and our weight going into pregnancy, they don’t just go away. However, I’ve found that pregnancy is one of those windows in life where we can feel more powerful and focused on making changes because what we do affects more than just us-there’s another human life in our care! Use that drive in your favor to be courageous and make changes. Don’t let yourself shrink back in fear for lack of knowledge. You can learn to be in control of you! Reach out if you feel you could use someone alongside you in this time too. You don’t need to navigate this alone when there are coaches out there who love to help (I’m one of them :).
Also, keep an eye out for the next post which will have a list of more questions you might find helpful for when you feel tempted to play the culture card of “I’m pregnant, so I can eat what I want”. I hope you like it!