Pregnancy fact or fiction: Eating for two (or three)
Just how much are you supposed to eat when you're pregnant? According to MayoClinic.com, the average (not overweight, not underweight) woman should gain between 25-35 pounds during pregnancy. But, does it matter what your doctor says, what your friends and family say, or what the little one inside you dictates?
With my first pregnancy, I was advised to consume between 300 and 500 calories extra per day. Not a drop more. Gone were the days when I thought I would be able to eat anything I wanted, the way things used to be
Back when my mother-in-law was pregnant with my husband her doctor prescribed her diet pills to take during her pregnancy so she wouldn't gain too much weight. Scary thought, eh, but it's the truth. How she managed it I'll neverk know. Now that I'm in the second trimester of my second pregnancy, I am starting to remember what it was like the first time around.
You're hungry. Sometimes, you're hungry all the time. Sometimes it is as though you have no control over your body whatsoever and you have to eat right then, right there, that instant, or you feel as though you will perish. I wake up in the middle of the night and simply must eat something. Yet, if I do, then I feel GROSS.
Current wisdom holds that a pregnant woman should be healthier than thou, eating perfect-sized, well-rounded servings of only the most nutritious of foods--vegetables, some fruit, good proteins. She should avoid anything high-fat or full of empty calories. She should consumes essentially no liquids other than water.
Yeah? Well, what about when the mystery baby on the inside makes pregnant woman crave things like crazy? Bad things--fried things! Sugary, salty things! Things she simply must have or she can't go on? Those things must be given in to, and they can't count for th extra daily calories allotted to nourish a growing fetus.
Frankly, doesn't 300 calories seem a bit...paltry considering it's a human life we're growing in there? While 25-35 pounds sounds pretty reasonable, 300 calories somehow doesn't. So, is it pregnancy fact or fiction???
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Amy 5-09-2008 @ 10:04PM
Bleh, I'm old school. With my first child, I craved watermelon and guacamole. With my second I craved sweets. I tried to eat healthfully, but I didn't drive myself insane. I ate a lot of ice cream, a lot of fajitas, a lot of carbs...
If you're hungry, your body is telling you that it needs something. Eat. You can always lose the weight later.
It's so weird that we're so disconnected from our bodies that we have to have people (doctors, nutritionists, magazines, supermodels, blogs, etc.) tell us what to eat, rather than just being able to listen to ourselves and know what we need.
Amy @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com
(Disclaimer - I am not, in any way, what anyone would consider an "ideal" weight, although I did gain the recommended amount, and no more, with both my pregnancies).
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Lori 5-09-2008 @ 11:18PM
With both pregnancies I gained within the recommended weight range. I didn't change my diet, we already eat pretty healthy foods. I went with my cravings...and loved every bite, I just tried not to go overboard. The weight dropped right off after my first. But beware, I'm still trying to lose the last 10 pounds from baby #2 and she's 15 months old. I don't know if I lost my willpower, or am just tired. But, losing weight the second time around has been a struggle.
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missy 5-10-2008 @ 12:50AM
I had to 2 pregnancy back to back my boys are 16 months apart, but right before i got pregnant with my second child, my husband got full custody of his little girl who is only seven months older than our first born, While pregnant with the first one, I craved food all the time, Things I was told I should avoid but I still ate them cause that's what my baby I thought wanted to surpress him, I actually during my first pregnancy not only ate unhealthy at times, but I managed to also consume 4 daily full porsioned meals plus snacks, I went from being 110lbs when I got pregnant to 177 by the time i gave birth to him, When being pregnant, you want to eat sleep and do very little at times b/c the baby pulls so much from your body that your use to having so you eat to refuel. Now when I got pregnant with the second eight months after the first one plus I now have to watch a 14 months old who is already up and running around, not to mention my first one was just starting to walk too. SO during my 2nd one I started at 134 ended up at 155 by the time i had him , Now there was a wieght and health difference between the boys as well 1st one wieghed 7.12 the secound wieghed only 5.11 I was not able to eat the way I did with first one, nor get the rest I needed to make sure the baby would come out as healthy, Both my child now as toddlers have had surgery, the 1st was born with a right clubbed foot, and now the second one is having surgery to have tubes put in his ears, Fact or Fiction, I don't know but if you consume only what the doc says I feel you may put your self and the fetus at risk of health problems when they are born, not to mention maybe as the get older too, So if you feel the urge to eat ,EAT, You know what your body wants and needs do what it take to create a healthy child, And to keep your self healthy.
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c_rousseau05 5-10-2008 @ 4:21AM
Just because we are pregnant it doesn't give us the right to eat everything and anything we want...we have a little one growing inside us, depending on us to make the right choices for their growing bodies, so do his/her body good and feed yourself healthy choices......and occasional fries. lol! Eat when you're hungry no matter what. There's a huge difference between real hunger and cravings. Don't always give into your cravings and when you do only take a little bit, enough to satisfy it. When you crave something ask yourself why you are craving it. If it's watermelon, perhaps you just need some water. If it's ice cream you probably just need more calcium...etc etc etc. Your body will clue you in on what you need and when. A few extra calories isn't going to hurt you...but choosing the wrong food can hurt you and your baby.
Being pregnant with my daughter I developed hypertension and gestational diabetes. I didn't give into my cravings, only on occasion. Mostly I craved buttered toast at first, then in my last trimester it was milk and ice cream. Through my entire pregnancy I gained only 10 pounds even though I technically gained about 25 (I was overweight to begin with and I lost some of my own body weight in the process while I gained hers). Luckily I gave birth to a healthy 7 lb. 11oz. baby girl and I thank my lucky stars for the nutrionist who put me on a diet so I wouldn't have to shoot myself with insulin everyday and so my baby wouldn't pay the price of the chaos my body was going through.
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Christina 5-10-2008 @ 9:12PM
I am of the mind that we should enjoy it. Yes the weight gain is no fun after but enjoy the moment to some degree. I eat well for the most part, try to exercise as much as possible but I also enjoy treats and snacks more so then I would if I were not pregnant. I was not overweight when I started my pregnancy nor I was I overweight when I ended. I think you have to reasonable with yourself, your body and the baby growing inside of you. If you are craving something enjoy it!
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