Over weight and Pregnant

Sandhya13 · Feb 27, 2014

Dear ladies,
I have always been a regular visitor on this wonderful site even though it has been a while since I posted anything. I am worried about being overweight and pregnant and I hope you will be able to give me some advise on this.
Let me give you some background about me. I am 29 years old and 6 weeks pregnant. I always used to be chubby in my school/college days until 8 months ago but never overweight. We relocated to a new city 8 months ago and I do not know anyone here and suddenly developed huge interest in cooking. Well, initially I just wanted to kill time but then I was really into it. I followed a lot of cooking blogs and tried different cuisines. It turned out very well most times however the down side is I started gaining at the rate of 2 kg per month and finally here I am at 73 kgs. I am 5'2".
When we decided to have a family I asked my DH to give a month so that I will try my best to reduce some weight and he didn't think that was necessary :-(
I thought I will not get pregnant right away and then I can convince him telling that I need to reduce weight. To my surprise I got pregnant despite carrying this extra baggage. I am definitely happy about pregnancy and hope and pray to have a healthy baby. But being overweight really brings a lot of unwanted thoughts.. Like it may result in complications for baby and I will gain a lot more and will never be able to lose weight... I am kind of restless with these thoughts. DH is very cool and is repeatedly telling me not to worry much... Because of this I am not able to eat properly at all.. Please help me ladies.. I know I should not diet at all now.. What else should I do now... Is it safe to be overweight.. Will I be ever able to lose weight post pregnancy ((
looking forward to hear from you.

Vasumathy · Feb 27, 2014

Hi Sandhya,
Congrats on your pregnancy!

You can watch your diet now on at least! Overweight is not a sin! ;-)
Plan your diet with less carbohydrate. Include more vegetables & fruits. Include protein rich foods & fiber rich too! This should control the rapid weight gain.
Now its tough to play with exercise or weight loss on your own. Check with your doc & take up pregnancy safe exercises.
If the sugar levels are manageable, pregnancy can go well! Its better to have a word with your doc!

Hope all will go well!
Take care.

rajinitk4 · Feb 27, 2014

Congrats Sandhya

thegirlygirl · Feb 27, 2014

Dear Sandhya,

My heartiest congratulations to you for your pregnancy.

First of all you need to relax, take a deep breath, and focus on all positive things.

Had you been overweight to get pregnant and nurture a life in you, you would not have got pregnant in the first place, nature does its job very well.
The fact that you got pregnant naturally is a proof that you have the ability to nourish a life in you and give birth to it.

Otherwise you would have suffered from irregular periods and infertility like many overweight and underweight girls do.

Take it easy dear, be happy and proud of yourself that you are becoming a mom, and believe very strongly in yourself that you too have the ability, just like other women to carry a baby in you and give birth to a healthy bouncing baby!!

You're lucky you're husband doesn't think you should lose weight, it means he feels you are not lacking in anyway.

Please don't deprive yourself good food right now, you need to eat good healthy food.

There are so many pregnancy diet books available, just read some good ones and chalk out a good diet plan for yourself.

If you are so worried about weight gain, then you should probably refrain from processed sugary food,like biscuits, ice cream, chocolates etc.

And don't worry about your post pregnancy weight, you should not even think about it right now, once you have the baby, join a gym and follow a good diet and i'm sure you will be able to lose the extra fat.

Enjoy your pregnancy!!

.

nalinidiv · Feb 27, 2014

Hi Sandhya,
Congrats for the gud news!!!!!
Being overweight will not do any harm if u take care of ur diet from now as vasumathy madam said..
Whenever u feel hungry snack on fruits n vegetables rather than pastries n pizzas.. try to reduce oil intake.. walk regularly(only till u feel comfortable.. pls don stress urself)... If u have nausea or acidity during ur pregnancy.. automatically weight loss will happen.. even if it doesnt happen.. u need not worry... gradual weight increase and regular check of sugar and BP will ensure a safe and healthy pregnancy period..
so dont worry ... throw this thought from ur mind n enjoy ur pregnancy...

Btw.. did i tell u am obese and pregnant now!!!

Sandhya13 · Feb 27, 2014

Thank you all for your positive words!! It means a lot to me.

@Vasumathy: I already have completely cut down refined sugars and fried items. I will also reduce high carb foods from my diet. I have an appointment on March 25th and I will discuss this with my doctor. Thank you for your suggestions

@rajinitk4: Thank you

@thegirlygirl: I am very touched by all your kind words and feeling positive.

@nalinidiv: Congrats on your pregnancy!! Wish you a safe and healthy pregnancy

I am feeling slightly nauseous. Despite that I really love to eat. But I am very consious about what I eat and have made healthy choices for my baby. My only problem is that I feel bloated even after I eat very small quantity. So, I am eating some 6-7 times a day in small quantities and I could not eat the same quantity I used to eat at once before.

Another problem is my DH is always buying me organic whole milk. After reading many internet articles, I realised that whole milk was one of the main cultprits that caused weight gain. I strictly told him that I will only drink reduced fat milk hereafter else I wont drink milk at all. I asked him to get me 2% reduced fat organic DHA milk. I am also taking prenatals. Should I take fat free milk instead? Actually I dont like the taste of fat free milk. But I'll drink it if I have to. What milk did you ladies have during pregnancy and how many times?

DKI · Feb 27, 2014

Congrats Sandhya!!!

First thing - stop stressing! I was overweight AND diabetic when I conceived! Believe me until I met with my specialist I stressed out so much and sat with my first ultrasound and kept asking my future baby to forgive me. Reason? I had read all sorts of things on the internet that said that diabetic overweight people gave birth to deformed babies. When I met my doctor he told me that I should stop reading and listening to anything or anybody except him. From that day on I had a beautiful pregnancy.

As for dieting, don't do anything without consulting your gyn. I was put on a crazy diet due to the complications of diabetes. I ended up gaining only 6lbs in 9 months, and that was all baby weight.

So - avoid junk food, but don't refuse yourself foods that you love. Your craving will make you sad even if you end up losing weight.

SO-Enjoy the remainder of your pregnancy. Unless your doctor says anything don't worry about your weight!

Sandhya13 · Feb 27, 2014

@DKI: What you said is very true!! I am not working and having a lot of time at home. I like to read a lot and these internet articles about being overweight and pregnant sometimes are causing more emotional damage than any good to me. The fact that I gained about 11 Kgs in a span of 8 months just before getting pregnant is making me feel guitly. From now on I will stop reading anything about overweight pregnancy. As you said, I will stop worrying about this and enjoy my pregnancy. After all, that is the best I can do for my baby. Thank you for taking time to reply me. I really needed that

Actually I had a miscarriage last year on my 7th week. It was from then on I started gaining weight. May be I gained weight for something good that I dont realise now. I hope and pray to have a healthy pregnancy this time.

Nidhi2014 · Mar 28, 2014

Hi Sandhya!

Congrats

I was 157lbs when I got pregnant, and this is my close to end of 8th month, and I have gained a lot (I touched 200 last week). I was shocked!

Most of my weight gain came from first trimester. Yes. I was having nausea no vomiting, but nausea used to subside when I used to have something starchy. As long as I am having something to eat, I used to be fine, within 15 min of my last meal, I would v nauseous again. So yes, instead of normal people who lose or maintain weight and cannot eat due to morning sickness, I had to eat to keep that away. I would tell you what I should not have done looking back, so that you can avoid this much gain:

Eat lots of fruits (no juices), mostly oranges, apples and pomengranate. [ I had loads of these + mangoes + bananas). I ate 1 mango everyday and no count on bananas. I too had gained weight few months before becoming pregnant, we were trying to conceive using fertility treatments, nothing worked but eventually we did naturally when I left gym (I gained 7 kgs not exercising and eating and left my job to keep myself stressfree to get pregnant).

Once I became pregnant, I took eating thing easy and gained this much. Nonetheless you would easily gain after 4th month (without you trying not to). weight creeps in most during 6 to 9th month (you should not diet at all during pregnancy).

I ate lot of carbs months 1 to 4 and had gained 175lbs. Surprisingly, I passed GD test because 4 weeks before my test, I walked at least 3 times a week, had multigrain rotis and no sweets at all. once I passed, I had sweet cravings and ate goodies.

So Do not eat a lot of carbs during months 1 to 4. Eat fruits, veggies, multi grain rotis, (no white rice, you can mix atta from wheat + bajra+ jowar- we get in indian store) and make thin rotis out of it.

Have lots of coconut water if you have access to. and drink loads of water. No fruit juices. Have a cup of milk around 11 am and late night for protein.

I took it easy after 6th month and so I am 200 now..I would worry about reducing after I deliver

Sandhya13 · Mar 30, 2014

Thank you for taking time to reply, Nidhi.

Actually I too feel the same i.e. when I eat starchy food my nausea really subsides now. I will keep a track on what I eat and make sure not gain too much. I have stopped thinking about my weight and have started to enjoy my pregnancy. As you said, I will start worrying about reducing only a few months after delivery.