Plus Size and pregnant meal plans

DarkCat · November 2015

Does anyone have any cook books of meal plans on how to eat healthy? I'm overweight and I know I can't gain much during the pregnancy. I would like to purchase a meal planner. I heard women who go on the GD diet maintained their weight? I don't see my midwife until December 8th.

LinzerBinzer · November 2015

What's the GD diet?

DarkCat · November 2015

Gestational Diabetes. I haven't been tested for it but I have a high chance of getting it due to my weight. It's just something I'm considering putting myself on to eat right and not go crazy with gaining weight.

LinzerBinzer · November 2015

Ah. I'm plus too and recently started eating healthy on my own (cut out added sugar, reduced bread, cut way down on fried food, way upped veggies and water, etc.), so no meal planning advice. Have you checked Pinterest? I super puffy pink heart Pinterest.

My doc also said exercise will help with GD, even if it's just walking, so I walk to or from work everyday now (9 blocks), in addition to taking the dogs out.

ETA: 9 blocks doesn't sound like a lot, but it's frickin cold here, so it's about all the time I want to spend outside! She said 15-30 mins a day - don't go from zero to hero.

DarkCat · November 2015

Thanks for the suggestion! I have a treadmill that I will start walking on.

Puddles03 · November 2015

Just so you are aware GD doesn't have to do with your weight, can be a small factor but it doesn't mean you are doomed. Exercise is a great help with weight and up your healthy proteins it will help balance blood sugars if your really worried about it.

thebigoaktree · November 2015

LinzerBinzer said:

Ah. I'm plus too and recently started eating healthy on my own (cut out added sugar, reduced bread, cut way down on fried food, way upped veggies and water, etc.), so no meal planning advice. Have you checked Pinterest? I super puffy pink heart Pinterest. My doc also said exercise will help with GD, even if it's just walking, so I walk to or from work everyday now (9 blocks), in addition to taking the dogs out. ETA: 9 blocks doesn't sound like a lot, but it's frickin cold here, so it's about all the time I want to spend outside! She said 15-30 mins a day - don't go from zero to hero.

This is really good advice, try to cut out as much processed foods as you can because they're blah for you you anyway. Up the fruit and Veg intake, I know I've made giant bowls of fruit salad since I found out I was preggo sauce. Exercise is great and just 30 mins of walking a day helps a ton, or if you have a gym membership the stationary bike is low impact and the ones at PF I set to keep my heart rate at 140. I could give another 20 reasons why the BMI index is just a blanket way to say who weighs the correct amount but it's to early to have to much loathing.

sboston06 · November 2015

I love tracking on My Fitness Pal. Sometimes it just helps to track your food because it makes you more aware. Of course set it so that you are maintaining weight, not losing weight. The app is free to use and works with many smartphones.

FiancB · November 2015

sboston06 said:

I love tracking on My Fitness Pal. Sometimes it just helps to track your food because it makes you more aware. Of course set it so that you are maintaining weight, not losing weight. The app is free to use and works with many smartphones.

This. I wasn't very motivated to use it either until getting a Fit Bit and now that I have a clear picture of what's going in vs out I'm much more motivated. I am overweight and want to keep weight gain to a minimum but of course have it set to maintenance now. I've gained 1.5 lbs so far and am pretty content with that.

I think the biggest thing is to keep lots of healthy snacks around. Hummus, yogurt, veggies, etc. Really, a diet for diabetes is just A Really Healthy Diet. I know What to Expect has a cookbook but I haven't looked at it. DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) is something more for dealing with hypertension but should be very applicable to pregnancy as well- especially since hypertension can be a concern.

I had to read Disease-Proof by David Katz MD for my nutrition class and I think that had some really good, sane, motivating advice as well as some recipes, and it's an easy read. Again, not specific to pregnancy, but very applicable.

Dubs1978 · November 2015

Hi! Plus mama here too! I had GD with my first pregnancy and would up losing weight the last half of my pregnancy. I have started to slowly migrate to that diet as we will be treating this whole pregnancy as if I have GD. Sigh. The diet if you need to follow it is a little harsh. Lots of eggs and peanut butter. Ugh. And fruits are limited due to their crazy sugar content - but if you are going for healthy then fruit is good. They key for me was I was almost always eating. Sounds counter intuitive but if you are snacking on the right things you are too full for the wrong things! I think I smacked every two hours. By the end of my pregnancy I was tired of chewing!

megstervt · November 2015

Glad to see this thread. I'm overweight and have been worried about GD and other complications due to that. I eat OK and actually really like a lot of the typical healthy food, but my downfall is sweets like brownies and cookies. I know I need to get that under control!

LinzerBinzer · November 2015

@megstervt That was the toughest thing for me too! I love healthy food, I just also love unhealthy food. Really, I just love ALL THE FOODS!!! I would have a dessert with lunch (cookie or brownie) and a sweet snack after dinner (usually dark chocolate bark or something like that), plus I was drinking Diet Coke everyday.

First I gave up the added sugar for one week to see if I could do it, so goodbye sweets, except Diet Coke because I needed the caffeine to get me through. (Note I said added sugar - I still eat fruit and some carbs, but no honey or sweeteners.) Immediately I noticed my energy even out - no more afternoon crashes, and it was easier to get out of bed in the morning. I kept going, allowing myself a sweet meal (think barbecue sauce or Chinese food) and dessert once a week so I could still go out with friends easily, and then gave up Diet Coke. As soon as I gave up Diet Coke my headaches disappeared.

My suggestion - give it a go for one week. Heck, we can do anything for a week!!! Plan what you'll treat yourself with at the end of the week so you have something to look forward to. Then decide if you want to keep going. Take it one week at a time and it may just become a new way of eating for you.

Best decision I've made.

blackgirlmagic · November 2015

I am also over weight and I am struggling, mentally, with not knowing how much weight I am going to gain. I do not have a problem with sweets but I have a problem with carbs and I try to eat as little of those as possible. My husband tells me not to worry about it because we/I can just lose the weight after the baby is here but I still do not want to have to love so much weight. And I am not looking forward to hearing a speech from my doctor about my weight either. #ihavebodyimageissues

mrslesp · November 2015

I am also struggling with this. I gained 50lbs with my last pregnancy (delivered 11/23/14) and have every pound still intact. I'm trying not to stress but I don't think I can physically or mentally handle much more weight. I was following the 21 day fix diet before I got pregnant and had some success with weight loss. Now that I am pregnant I am still following it pretty closely- mainly because it ensures I'm eating a balanced, processed food free, healthy diet. I do allow for more a little more portion wise (mainly meats and veggies) but I've found it helpful in keeping track of what I'm eating everyday. Pinterest has a lot of hacks and free info on it and like I said, I'm definitely not following it spot on because I think that's too little calories, but I'm adding more of the good stuff. Good luck!

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