How many women have you heard say that they are eating for 2 (or 3 or 4 thanks to Clomid)? I think for some women pregnancy is almost a relief because they feel like “whoa, I can relax, I don’t have to exercise and I can eat all the M&Ms I want – after all, my baby/babies need the food!” The problem with this mindset is that they end up calling me when their little one is about 5 months old, harried, sleepless and wondering why the 70 lbs they gained isn’t coming off more rapidly.
Though I love meeting some of these women and helping them plan to take the pounds off, expectant moms can prevent much of this frustration by simply curtailing their weight gain during pregnancy. The Institute of Medicine recently updated their 20 year old guidelines on pregnancy and weight gain (http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3788/48191/68004.aspx).
Here’s the lowdown:
2) Women of normal weight should only gain 25 – 35 lbs (normal weight by BMI is 18.5 – 24.9)
3) Overweight women should only gain 15 – 25 lbs (overweight by BMI is 25 – 29.9).
4) Obese women only need to gain 11 – 20 lbs (obese by BMI is 30 or higher).
To calculate your BMI: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
And here are my additions:
1) If you don’t exercise now, start. Exercise will actually make your pregnancy and delivery easier and it may help take away some of the postpartum blues
2) Talk to a dietitian before getting pregnant if you want to lose weight or get a hold on what you are eating. Or, talk to one when you are pregnant. Sure, your doctor will put you on a multivitamin with folic acid but what about your omega 3 fat intake? How much caffeine can you safely drink? How does what you eat affect your growing fetus? A dietitian can help you develop a diet that fits your lifestyle but also provides all the nutrients your little one and you need for maximum health and energy.
[…]Pregnancy Eating Plan – Pregnancy is one happiest moment in our life. At that time, we have our baby grow in our womb. Not only physical closeness, pregnancy is also giving us emotional closeness with our baby[…]