Pregnancy and weight gain can be a sensitive topic for many, including myself. This is the second pregnancy where I was able to have the discipline to control my total weight gain. Sometimes it can sound like vanity, but the reality is that there are health concerns to pay close attention to when it comes to gaining too much (or even not enough) weight while pregnant. I am going to share the specific method that helped me manage my weight for the pregnancy with my fourth child. I gained only 14 LBS for the entire pregnancy.
First, I would like to point out that everyone is different, and every pregnancy is different too. I am a petite person standing at 4 feet 9 inches tall. My daily caloric needs are lower than the woman of average height or taller. When I began this pregnancy my BMI (body mass index) was 30.0, which placed me in the obese category. I didn’t feel obese, but it was important for me to take a close look at the recommended weight gain for a woman with a BMI of 30.0 or higher. I found out that it was recommended I gain 11-20 LBS total.
At first it seemed as if it would be extremely difficult to stay under 20 LBS in total weight gain. However, I am happy to report that I gained a total of 14 LBS. I strongly believe this also helped me avoid gestational diabetes, which I had with two of my previous pregnancies. It is important to note that excessive weight gain during pregnancy can lead to complications such as preeclampsia, diabetes and preterm labor. With a little discipline, I was able to increase the health and safety of my pregnancy with my fourth child.
So here is what I did and what I ate…
It is important to track activities when you wish to make major changes that require discipline. Without the data, you are just guessing what is wrong instead of getting to the root of the problem. My food choices led me to gaining a lot of weight prior to becoming pregnant. In order to see where I needed to make major changes I downloaded an app on my phone called Lose It. This helped me to track the calories and macronutrients of my food choices on a daily and weekly scale. After a few weeks, it felt odd if I forgot to place my meal in the app.
Next, I calculated my daily caloric needs at my particular weight, height and age which ended up being close to 1300 calories to maintain the same weight. For the later stage of the pregnancy I added 300 calories. The daily budget on the app for my calories was set to 1675 net calories to give me some wiggle room. I also tried to exercise on a daily basis, but I was unable to exercise during my last month of pregnancy.
However, you cannot out exercise a bad diet, especially while pregnant. Even though my diet was far from perfect, it helped me to reach my goals. I focused on eating more healthy fats and protein. The result was 14 LBS gained and a 7 LB baby born at 38 weeks 6 days. For me, this was trending as my biggest baby.
After weeks of tracking my food I started to develop a pattern of eating. I had a few standard meals I would choose for breakfast, lunch and dinner because it was easier. My go-to snacks were peanut butter, chocolate chips, and popsicles. I usually ate these as a dessert. My diet wasn’t completely free of yummy items that I enjoyed eating. As far as pregnancy cravings, I really loved my popsicles and avocados.
Check out my Youtube video where I take you on a standard day of eating while I was 9 months pregnant. It wasn’t fancy, but it worked. It saved me from gaining excessive weight and helped me carry a healthy baby. I am so happy.
