Pregnant! How many calories should I eat?

Hi all! So after 2 years of trying I am FINALLY pregnant! I'm so happy.

Now I've had a couple of days of "aaaand relaaaax" with my diet , as I was so strict when trying. But now I want to make sure I'm eating the correct sensible amount of calories during my pregnancy.

I am getting married 6 months after baby is born so I don't want to gain more than necessary, but I am of course not goin to even think about losing weight whilst pregnant.

I just want a healthy pregnancy, without ballooning and overdoing it.

I'm currently 10st 8 and 5ft 4. I've lost 3 stone over the past 4 months to reach that weight. I currently eat around 1500 cals and I lose slowly on that - maybe a pound every 2 weeks.

Anyone got any tips? Ideas of amount of calories I should be eating? How much weight I can expect to gain?

Thanks to all! Xx

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I think all women are different but when my wife was pregnant she was advised to eat as she would normally, a friend of ours decided she was eating for 2 and just absolutely ballooned and struggled to lose the weight post baby. Hope all goes well

CHill there big guy

I think its about 300 calories extra a day you need. But on something like this I would talk too a midwife, they will know best

There are plenty of websites out on google with good nutrition information for pregnant women.
But you should not be trying to lose weight, so eat at least your maintenance level.
Your weight gain depends on your body, exercise and general diet. You can also try talking to your doctor once you go in for the first check up.

Good luck with your pregnancy!

Babykeys32 wrote: »

Hi all! So after 2 years of trying I am FINALLY pregnant! I'm so happy.

Now I've had a couple of days of "aaaand relaaaax" with my diet , as I was so strict when trying. But now I want to make sure I'm eating the correct sensible amount of calories during my pregnancy.

I am getting married 6 months after baby is born so I don't want to gain more than necessary, but I am of course not goin to even think about losing weight whilst pregnant.

I just want a healthy pregnancy, without ballooning and overdoing it.

I'm currently 10st 8 and 5ft 4. I've lost 3 stone over the past 4 months to reach that weight. I currently eat around 1500 cals and I lose slowly on that - maybe a pound every 2 weeks.

Anyone got any tips? Ideas of amount of calories I should be eating? How much weight I can expect to gain?

Thanks to all! Xx

Congratulaltions!

Eat at maintenance unless the dr advises you to do something different. If you feel this is not enough, try upping the calories by about 200-300 or so. In general, this should not be needed until the second or third trimester. It is very common to lose at first, so if this happens, do not panic, but talk to your dr. The main concern these first months is being able to drink enough.
Ideally, you should gain something like 12 kilos (average recommended weight gain, for an average height and weight woman, with a normal pregnancy) and there is of course a bit of room below and above this that is still within the ideal range. How much you will actually gain, depends on how you eat, like always. Remember that the average baby will be somewhere between 2-5 kilos, usually around 3, then you gain about 7 kilos (again average) from the placenta, amntiotic fluid, increased blood volume, breast and uterus changes and so on.
The rest will be body fat.

yup 300 additional to your normal maintenance is what I was taught back in nursing school, and increased protein.

And remember to make all you calories "count", healthy foods, lean proteins, fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts and nut butters. If your baby was in front of you, would you feed it to him/her? No? Then don't eat it, because you will be feeding it to him/her, lol. You're actually "building a baby", use the healthiest foods to do so. Congratulations!

First of all, Congratulations.
Second of all, i could not stress hard enough that you shouod be speaking to your Doctor about dietry concerns. The vast majority of people on here are not medical profs.

From what I've heard (as a lot of my friends are pregos these days) it's +300 calories.

maybe ask your DR instead of a bunch of random internet people….

If it took you 2 years to get pregnant, and you were concerned with your diet during that time, why haven't you received proper medical advice from a doctor? Just curious.

Ask your doctor or midwife. The general advice is 300 extra during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters; however, with my last one I was overweight enough that my doc told me to do less than that and let my own body burn some of its fat. I listened to her and maintained throughout the pregnancy. Do what your medical team says. They are the experts. (I am not a doctor, I do work for an OB though.)

Doctor. Doctor. Doctor.

People on the forums are internet experts on weight loss. Some of them are real experts on weight loss. None of them are eligible to give actual medical advise.

Blanket statements like, "You need 300 calories over maintenance" are dangerous because they do not take into account your specific dietary needs. What if you're not getting enough ... protein with an extra 300 calories? What if your BMR is higher? What if you are at risk for gestational diabetes?

Doctor.

Ask your doctor. No one on this forum is qualified to answer that question for you...unless your doctor happens to be on this forum

First of all: Congratulations!
Second: i think it is time to take a break from the internet and go see a doctor. He/she is the best person to give advice concernig both you and the baby; while i do not agree that a pregnant woman is eating for two, that does not mean that eating less than necessary is ok. Remember that it's not just you any more, and that whatever you do also impacts the baby.
Good luck!

I agree ask your doctor - but here's what my doctor said. I'm currently pregnant and was in the overweight but not obese category when I got pregnant. My doctor was perfectly fine with my sticking with 1500 calories the first trimester as long as I was eating healthy. She wanted me to bump that up to at least 2000 the second trimester and then was fine with my going back to 1500 at about 32-34 weeks. BUT that may not be the correct advice for you. I am currently 36 weeks and did not do as good on my diet and exercise as I was hoping - it's going to be tough! Good luck with your pregnancy!

Speak to your doctor or get a referral to a registered dietician/nutritionist maintenance as soon as practical. Until then eating at maintenance should be fine, many struggle to do this due to morning sickness in the first trimester

I agree ask your Dr. It varies so much depending on your weight/ current diet and even what research your Dr has read. The 300 cals extra per day thing is completely outdated, please dont follow that without checking with a real expert. I am pregnant and at the lower end of a normal BMI but my Dr said I don't need extra calories until the third trimester. Congrats on your pregnancy!

sweetd6 wrote: »

And remember to make all you calories "count", healthy foods, lean proteins, fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts and nut butters. If your baby was in front of you, would you feed it to him/her? No? Then don't eat it, because you will be feeding it to him/her, lol. You're actually "building a baby", use the healthiest foods to do so. Congratulations!

And ignore all of this, for the love of sanity! Unless your doctor says otherwise, treats and extras are typically just fine in pregnancy. Hit the nutritional requirements outlined by your healthcare practitioner, by all means, but don't be afraid to enjoy some extras too! We parents already have way too much stuff to feel guilty about!

determined_14 wrote: »

sweetd6 wrote: »

And remember to make all you calories "count", healthy foods, lean proteins, fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts and nut butters. If your baby was in front of you, would you feed it to him/her? No? Then don't eat it, because you will be feeding it to him/her, lol. You're actually "building a baby", use the healthiest foods to do so. Congratulations!

And ignore all of this, for the love of sanity! Unless your doctor says otherwise, treats and extras are typically just fine in pregnancy. Hit the nutritional requirements outlined by your healthcare practitioner, by all means, but don't be afraid to enjoy some extras too! We parents already have way too much stuff to feel guilty about!

Also completely agree with this. Eat what you like as long as you hit your macros. Ice cream for example is a great pregnancy food - fat, protein and lots of calcium are all essential baby building materials!!

From what I can recall of my work for an OBGYN many moons ago, I believe you only need an additional 200 - 400 calories per day over your maintenance. The whole "eating for two" adage was so severly blown out of proportion for so long, that our practice wound up implementing an in-house weight maintenance program for our pregnant patients that were either at risk for or already gaining too much weight during their pregnancies.

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