How to Avoid Gaining 60lbs During Pregnancy
Yup. Guilty. I gained 60lbs during my pregnancy. For a better idea of what this means, this was another 50% of my body weight that I added on. I imagined that I’d eat to my heart out and still look like most of the slender pregnant women on Instagram. Unfortunately both reality and the weight hit me hard, as well as the other not-so- great things Instagram doesn’t show about Pregnancy.
As a first time mom with intense morning sickness, food was my frenemy. Most of the time I had to stuff down whatever I could stomach. My cravings were gnarly as well– like double cheeseburgers and heavy breakfast sandwiches. Did I plan for this? No way, I signed up to still look cute in my yoga pants sipping on celery juice and be told, “It’s all in your belly!” But 60 not-so-cute lbs later, my yoga pants were stretched beyond repair and it was definitely NOT all in my belly.
It feels important to say that my doctors were not concerned with my weight. As the pounds crept up week by week, I nervously asked each time if my weight was a concern. My doctors (all three different ones I saw) just told me the baby is growing well and I looked great. So, the unregulated Shake Shack cheeseburgers and unlimited Hot pot continued. I don’t blame my doctors one bit for my weight gain, since truth be told, I was pretty reckless. This is to say, something isn’t necessarily wrong if you gain this much weight (especially if your doctors are monitoring you) but keep in mind, whatever you gain, you have to lose!
Here are five things to help you avoid the larger than life pregnancy weight gain:
1. Stay active but avoid Zumba
I get it, I live on the third floor of a walkup… I used every excuse in the book to stay in bed. But when people who love you tell you to go on walks, go on walks (you were right mom). It’s a great way to stay active and help prepare for labor at the same time. Almost every veteran mom told me to walk and/or do light workouts. I even enrolled in a fancy shmacy gym, sponsored by my concerned dad, only to go to Zumba once and then miss work the next day. To be fair, I was a tad bit ambitious and didn’t account for the weight of my burgeoning belly while booty shaking. I couldn’t walk the next day because of the splitting pain in my pelvic bone. Needless to say, I wouldn’t recommend Zumba when your six months pregnant but yoga or even briskly walking on the treadmill should do the trick!
2. Avoid eating out & bring out your inner Julia Child
I am a true millennial in the sense that my comfort is takeout or dining out. During pregnancy, the last thing you want to do is cook a home cooked meal everyday especially if you’re working. But when I had a surge of energy in my 2nd trimester, I went through a crazy cooking phase. My lowest monthly weight gain was during this period. Then… I went back to the eating out and well, you know what happened (60lbs later). If you can, try to build a routine with your partner or family member to eat more home cooked meals. They’re healthier and probably, definitely better for your baby too.
These two recipes were ones I put on repeat (much to my husband’s dismay) but I’m all about minimal effort and yummy flavor:
3. Snack on!
Snacking is essential and for some, the only way to survive through morning sickness. At the time, I was teaching and needed at least four snacks throughout the school day to stay energized. On top of breakfast and lunch. Rarely were those snacks non-processed or “real food” (darn you chocolatey chip teddy grahams!) I promise you won’t regret grabbing for an apple or carrot sticks (without a tub of ranch), your poor already-swollen feet will probably thank you.
Some of my favorite healthier snacks were:
- Organic string cheese and Pinky Lady Apples
- Green apples and Cookie Butter
- Sliced Roma tomatoes with fresh mozzarella cheese (aka Caprese Salad) topped with a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar + Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Boom Chika Pop with dark chocolate morsels
4. Take your monthly selfie + bumpie
Another thing that made my weight gain harder to track was I didn’t take monthly photos. I took one maybe every couple months so I couldn’t tell about how much I was really gaining. I wouldn’t recommend a scale because I don’t think it’s healthy to also be too pound conscious. But photos are a good way to also see the physical changes without making it a numbers game. Plus, it’s joy to look back at each week/month and see the growth of your belly postpartum.
- The Baby Story Free App is perfect for hallmarking each picture with the ability to decorate and add text easily!
5. Prepare your body
For all my ladies who plan to have a baby in the future, this one is big. Since I got pregnant about three months after our wedding, my body was not at a good starting point. I was still recovering from a strict regimen to lose weight for the wedding while also balancing the extra love weight from being a newlywed. This is something you can’t help if you find yourself expecting unexpectedly. But for my next baby, I hope to prepare my body. By preparing I mean, being at a healthy steady weight and already have a normal exercise schedule in place! Of course, not all of this can be so planned but hey, we can aim to right?!
If you take anything away from this post…
Don’t fret over completely ending your midnight McDonald’s runs but balance it out with greens and real nutrients too. Gaining 60 lbs was hard (even if it wasn’t by choice necessarily), and by the end my legs and back were in constant pain. Not to mention, the exorbitant amount of stretch-marks I had on my inner thighs and hips… ps. they’re still here. (Read more on those here)
So, do I fear gaining 60lbs in my next pregnancy? Not really. Would I try to swap my chocolate milkshakes for a cold-pressed juice more often? Absolutely. I’m about 15lbs away from my original weight and I’m thankful for this body. Even when it was 60lbs heavier and my face ballooned like Violet Beauregard from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (I was just a tad bit less purple). All in all to say, don’t stress about the weight even if it wasn’t what you planned. Be mindful and try the things above. And above all, please be kind to your baby-making gorgeous self. Your postpartum self will thank you, especially for being kind.