Calories and Weight Gain??

knottie318b5c1fe8378ded · April 2012

Hello! I am 12 weeks 5 days and wondering how many calories you are all aiming for. I am 5.4" pre-pregnancy 123 pounds. I immediately gained 10 pounds when I found out I was pregnant! I have stayed at 133 pounds for the past month and am about to enter my 2nd trimester and don't look pregnant really.

I aim for 1400 calories a day and some days I am over and some I am under. All healthy foods - and while I gained 10 pounds right away I am afraid I am not eating enough. Any advice or insight would be helpful! Thanks!

Buttercup619 · April 2012

I'm 5'1" and my doctor told me a 1500 cal/day diet was safe, but not to go under that.

nomaderica22 · April 2012

1400 calories is almost too little if you are NOT pregnant! You should definitly be eating more, especially if you are doing any sort of exercise.

Megroons · April 2012

Wow...does your Dr know you're only eating 1400 calories a day ? My midwife would not be happy with this and has told me to eat AT LEAST 1800 calories a day...under 1400 is not good for you or your baby I wouldn't think!

mben1119 · April 2012

You are definitely not eating enough. Using an online calculator with your height and weight, and moderate activity, you need to eat about 16-1800 calories a day to maintain your weight. Then, into your 2nd and 3rd trimesters, you should eat an additional 300 calories a day.

Mrs.Syntax · April 2012

This needs to be discussed with your doctor. Personally, I don't think 1400 calories is nearly enough. Continue to eat healthy food and don't worry too much about the scale.

[Deleted User] · April 2012

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*LrCg* · April 2012

I'm going to assume this is your first baby- congratulations!! This is my 3rd and I can remember the first time around being so worried about the weight. My doctor provided great advise and opinions- first she never weighed her patients- your weight has no bearing on the health of your child, she was most concerned on what you were eating. My suggestion would be to not worry about calories and just make sure you eat healthy and work out 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week. If you do this I promise the weight will come off. But even if you hold onto 5-10 extra pounds I'm sure your reward of a child is more than worth it! Motherhood gives you confidence you never realized you had and you really appreciate your body more. In the end, with all my pregnancies at the end I weighed myself and I gained 25 lbs (I'm short and petite as well) and it came off without effort. I also found that with my pregnancies I gained @ 10 lbs the first trimester and another 10 the second but would barely gain 5 # the 3rd (which goes against what everyone says that you gain 1# a week in your last trimester).

dewsal · April 2012

I haven't been tracking my calories, I make sure to eat healthy items throughout the day even if I cheat a little with some meals. I definitely think calorie counting is not healthy.

mccrazy · April 2012

I calculated your pre-pregnancy needs to be between 1800-1900 calories for "light" activity. If you're a heavy exerciser it would be more, and even if you don't exercise at all you'd still need more like 1600-1700 to maintain your pre-pregnancy weight. You likely need only 100 calories more for the first tri, but as others have stated 300 extra calories is recommended for appropriate weight gain in the 2nd and 3rd tris. So, you're talking anywhere from 1900-2200 for the remainder of your pregnancy, depending on your activity. If it helps, we actually recommend 1900-2300 even for our gestational diabetics, so it's certainly not too much.

That said... I like what the PP said about just focusing on eating healthy meals and snacks and not depriving yourself.

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