baby care products
feel pressure to lose weight
health insurance for your child
maternity insurance
my life
Did you diet while you were pregnant?
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
United States
June 11, 2008 12:07pm CST
When you were pregnant, did you feel pressure to lose weight? Did your OB/GYN or doctor pressure you into losing weight for the baby's sake or your own health? Were you ever tempted to go on a low fat or low calorie diet while pregnant?
When I was pregnant, I gained lots of weight. So, four months into the pregnancy, I cut out all sweets, icecream and cakes and had nothing sweet at all. And, still I gained tons of weight. I got such grief from my OB about the weight gain. She was sure that I was cheating and eating.
Sometimes, it was so bad that it just made me want to cry. I talked to my nutritionist at WIC and he said that it was OK to gain a little extra weight, as long as the baby was healthy. I guess his point of view was different than hers. She was thinking about me going through difficult labor with a big baby and that being bad for both of us. And, the nutritionist was thinking about producing a big healthy baby that could survive.
The one time that I tried to restrict what I was eating and barely ate at all, I didn't gain any weight. And, everyone was so proud of me. I felt miserable and my stomach hurt all the time. So, I just went back to eating as healthy as I could and forgot about what they were saying. I did what was best for me and my baby and she turned out fine.
I never went on a low calorie diet, but I did try to eat healthy fruits and vegetables. I found that eating cheese and drinking milk and juice was causing my weight to go up too fast, so I had to cut that out.
What caused your biggest weight gain when you were pregnant? Did you feel pressure to lose weight or go on a diet while pregnant?
5 people like this
23 responses
@chrysz (1602)
• Philippines
12 Jun 08
Every pregnant woman gains weight because they have a growing baby inside them. Diet? Where's the famous line now that "you must eat for two"? Anyway, eating healthy is what is very important whether you are pregnant or not.
With my first baby, I was only asked to cut down on carbo and sweets because I was on the verge of having gestational diabetes and the baby is big inside. I'm only 4 feet, 9 inches tall and my baby was already 6 pounds when I was in my last trimester. With my youngest, I was asked to lessen my sodium intake because I was already retaining water as early as 5 months, not knowing I was already having pre-eclampsia. I gave birth at 35/26 weeks through CS and I am glad my baby is OK.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
13 Jun 08
I should have remembered that advice after my baby was born. I tried to lose weight too fast and my milk supply suffered. I had to change to baby formula and that affected her. She needed me and my body couldn't give her the nutrition that she needed, because I was not eating enough. I wish that I'd sought post natal nutrition counseling. I needed some good advice then. Thanks for the help. I will keep your advice in mind for future babies! I am happy to hear that your baby is doing well.
@Sillychick (3275)
• United States
11 Jun 08
No, you should never diet or try to lose weight during pregnancy. It's fine to avoid sweets and eat healthy foods, but not to limit calorie intake. If my doctor had done that, I would have found a new one. Obviously she had different priorities, and I think it's important to have an OB who shares your beliefs and supports you. I gained about 22 pounds total, but about 8 of that was in the last 2 weeks. I tried to eat healthy foods for the most part, but I also listened to my body and ate what I craved. Your body craves things for a reason.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
13 Jun 08
It's so true about the cravings! I craved pizza early on in the pregnancy because I did not take my folic acid. I ate lots of pizza and turns out that there is folic acid in either the crust or the tomato sauce. I was so lucky! I started taking the folic acid shortly thereafter.
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
11 Jun 08
I never felt pressured to lose weight during my pregnancies, and I have had 4 of them. In fact I was more pressured to put it on!
My first pregnancy I lost two stone during it. Second I never put a single pound on the whole way through! The third I refuse to talk about, no, the third I put over a stone on in pregnancy and then put a further two stone after it!
Worst time of my life that, the only time I have EVER gained weight and it was just awful, I went from a size 12 to a size 18, from 9 stone to 12 stone. Then I got pregnant for the fourth time and lost three stone during the pregnancy and a further stone after the pregnancy and ended up weighing 8 stone and a size 8.
I was underweight at that point, now 2 years on I weigh in at 8 and a half stone and a size 8 still.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
13 Jun 08
I blame my blood sugar for the weight gain! Honestly, I do. Even though I cut out the sweets, I did not realize until later that the Juicy juice was making me gain weight. If I had to do it all over again, I would have cut that out too!
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
11 Jun 08
First pregnancy - doctor told me it was OK to gain 30 lbs., I told him I was going to try and keep it to 20. I managed to stick pretty close to that by walking and eating sensibly.
Second pregnancy - twins and I tried to keep it to 30 lbs. I have no idea what I actually ended up gaining, probably more like 35 lbs, but I missed the final weigh in due to going into labor, so I don't really know.
Weight was a problem after the 2nd pregnancy, not during!
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
13 Jun 08
I gained tons during the pregnancy or at least it felt like a ton. My belly was so heavy!
I could have turned sideways and cleared the dinner table. I had a big baby!
1 person likes this
@jesslg127 (49)
• United States
13 Jun 08
No one should feel pressure to lose weight while pregnant. Just another thing to worry about. I was pressured to gain weight, but eventually it all evened out and I gained just the right amount, though I felt huge.
Now if you're overweight by a lot and your doctor is concerned then yeah maybe you should watch what you eat like eat one donut you crave instead of 7. But to lose weight could hurt the baby.
Weight loss should weight until after you have your baby and are done nursing your baby. Because even if you lose weight while nursing you could hurt the nutrition of your baby.
@mflower2053 (3223)
• United States
13 Jun 08
I probably should of. I gained 60lbs for my first pregnancy and 70lbs for the second. The weight has come off even though I don't look the way I would like its ok for now. My SIL didn't gain much and she is already in a bikini. I'm jealous but its my fault since I ate what I wanted to during my pregnancy and since they were so close.
@youless (112493)
• Guangzhou, China
12 Jun 08
I didn't have a special diet when I was pregnant. Actually I felt so hungry all the time and I had a very good appetite when I was pregnant. I could eat some meals in a day but when I would still feel hungry when I was asleep. At that time my dreams were about eating, haha. My weight gained heavier, but it wasn't a big trouble because I was skinny before. Later I found maybe I would have a trouble to labor my child naturally so I paid a little attention to my diet and tried not to eat so much at the end.
I love China
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
13 Jun 08
I got SO sick when I became pregnant, nausea and morning sickness hit me nearly right away. As a result, I lost 8 lbs and I was underweight. I was about 12 weeks pregnant by the time I got in to see a doctor, so they really figured I would be over the morning sickness soon or that it wouldn't continue to be so severe, but it continued until I was 20 weeks! I didn't begin to gain anything until I hit my third trimester. My biggest weight gain was right after Thanksgiving and up thru Christmas, probably due to the fact that I could eat (yay) without getting sick AND there were lots of yummy leftovers so I made hot turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy and bread and stuffing often, and I baked cookies and desserts and there were so many goodies around everywhere I went! I started to feel like doing something at the end of my pregnancy, because by the time I was due, I had gained 30 lbs and it was very hard on my body. My hips and back hurt all the time, my other joints were sore, etc etc.
I did try to eat healthy, such as lots of fruits and vegetables, but I also craved things like cheese, yogurt, juice ~ and my little vice ~ french fries. I craved salt and salty things, so I also ate popcorn, nuts, etc. Rather than make a huge effort to diet, I just made sure I did things like walk and swim. That would be my advice to pregnant women rather than dieting because dieting while pregnant isn't such a good idea.
@eihdra (3115)
• Philippines
12 Jun 08
When my husband and I decided to try another pregnancy, a year before the actual pregnancy I had to go on a diet to make my blood sugar level normal at a certain level so that when i do get pregnant everything's fine. So, when pregnancy came, i was kinda used to being on a diet but as all pregnant women, i crave for things like sweets and sometimes ate rice way overboard. But that doesn't happen often because I knew that it could in some ways hurt my baby when my sugar is not stable. I felt pressured alright but I wanted this baby therefor i have to do everything I can to make him healthy inside me..I didn't gain so much weight because it might make my delivery difficult..
@xyueming0dreaming (82)
• China
12 Jun 08
well,all i like to do is to the best of my baby,to feed him the best nutrition .
@shepora (22)
• Philippines
12 Jun 08
I'm a skinny person -- something which I am not really so proud of as I have always loved the ideas of putting on a few pounds. So when I got pregnant, my OB told me that I am expected to gain weight as the baby grows inside. Wow, I was sooo excited! And yes, I did gain weight but I never got the pressure from my OB to go on a diet or had she ever put restrictions on the food which I had to take. She says my weight increase was going well and most importantly, the baby was healthy. That was my first pregnancy. I wouldn't know if I'll have the same experience the next time.
@rogue13xmen13 (14403)
• United States
12 Jun 08
How can you diet when you are pregnant? The baby has to eat.
@makingpots (11915)
• United States
12 Jun 08
No, I had the opposite problem, although it wasn't actually a problem. I ate normally but lost weight at every appointment. It worried me a lot in the beginning but my doctor did all the appropriate measurements of the baby each time and said that he was growing just fine. Turns out he was just using up everything I was taking in. Now, 3 years later he still has a very high metabolism.
You refer to your nutritionist at WIC. What is WIC?
@lisan23 (442)
• United States
11 Jun 08
I had a net gain of 8 pounds when I had my daughter. I lost over 30 pounds when I got pregnant due to severe morning sickness. Since I didn't have health insurance, I didn't go to the doctor. I ended up getting admitted into the hospital a handful of times because of dehydration. They would always give me different pills to take to stop the morning sickness. Problem was - I couldn't EAT or DRINK anything to keep the pills down. Luckily, halfway through my second trimester I could eat again. But my doctor was trying to make me eat... and I just couldn't do it.
@dhangski (3194)
• Philippines
12 Jun 08
I remember that when I was pregnant, my OB/GYN, advised me to lessen sweets and carbo intake because my blood sugar is high and I have hypertension. So I followed his advise for the baby's sake and for me also. I had experienced 3 pregnancies, and I really gained weight. It is due that when we are pregnant we tend to crave for foods. And I can't help it. But when I was diagnosed with hypertension due to high level of blood sugar, I tend to diet my self to what's causing my blood sugar to go high.
@kenzie45230 (3560)
• United States
12 Jun 08
My son was born 24 years ago, so it's been a long time. But, yes, I gained lots of weight - 52 pounds to be exact. But my son was big (and I was not) so I ended up with a C-section - about 2 weeks prior to when my son was due since he was growing so fast. We didn't have insurance and couldn't afford the extra it cost for the C-section, so rather than staying in the hospital after my son was born, I was out of there within 16 hours after the C-section. I lost 35 pounds when my son was born, and the rest within 6 weeks, even though I nursed for 6 months.
@rantingqueen (495)
• United States
11 Jun 08
I gained anywhere between 20-30 pounds for each of my 5 pregnancies. I had different doctors each time, due to moving around a lot, but not one ever insisted I was gaining too much weight. It sounds to me like you need a different doctor, because most women gain an average of 35lbs during pregnancy.
If you are concerned about your weight, try some of these options. They are healthy for you, for your baby and won't cause the weight gain that chips and cookies will while pregnant. Remember that it is okay to indulge your cravings from time to time though!
Small Meals - Eat small meals often. I would buy a ton of Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine Meals and keep them in the freezer for those middle of the night, oh my god I'm starving fits. I ate approximately every 2 hours while I was awake, but stuck to these types of frozen meals and things like yogurt, carrot sticks, fresh fruit or lean meats.
Drink Plenty of Water - At times your body isn't really hungry, but is craving water. Water is important to your body, even when pregnant to keep you hydrated and happy.
Above all else, if you aren't comfortable with your Doctor, get a new one. From your story, it sounds like the weight gain was your doctor's issue, not yours.
