Gaining weight while eating clean for baby?

[ivyldc]

Hi Ladies,

I am 15 weeks with my first successful pregnancy, and just started a Paleo Challenge at my gym (slightly longer than a Whole 30, but as strict or more-so than Whole 30). So far, so good in terms of excellent food and feeling great, but I have a question about weight gain. I am now getting to the point where I should be putting on about a pound a week, but I haven't really gained any weight yet. My body composition has shifted and I am getting a hint of pooch, but net weight gain has been zero. So, this may sound like a stupid question, but will I gain enough weight eating so clean? Should I add rice? More fat? More fruit? I've added an extra egg in the mornings, am eating more fat than I would otherwise. I eat until I'm sated, not beyond, and I haven't been hungry between meals. I do appropriately scaled CrossFit workouts at my gym approximately 4-5 days per week, if that makes a difference.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Amy Blades]

Hm. I hate to offer advice that goes against the Whole30 guidelines, but I always get stuck up on some of the rules when it comes to breastfeeding or pregnancy. If it were me I would track your food intake for a few days and see where your calories are.

Here is why: the way the Whole30 diet is structured (more protein and fat, low to moderate carbs depending on your interpretation) lends itself well to fat loss because the protein and fat fill you up on fewer overall calories. I believe even Robb Wolf posted to his blog last week talking about that topic.

Obviously as a pregnant woman you are not doing this for weight loss, so you want to be sure you are getting a fairly high intake of calories, especially considering you are still active as well.

I won't recommend this if you've ever had an eating disorder or if numbers make you crazy, but if that's not an issue track for a period of three days and see if your calories are low. For an active pregnant woman you probably want to be at or above 2000 calories, and that's hard to do on Whole30. I had to eat in the 1900-2100 calorie range to keep my milk supply up during my last Whole30, and I wasn't working out either.

Also, don't weigh yourself daily because if you are looking for a one-pound weight change every week a good poop could make or break your success. Maybe weigh yourself once or twice a week, at the same time of day, and chart it over three weeks.

How often are your doctor visits? Your doctor should be able to help chart your weight gain and tell you if you should be concerned at the weight you are at. And don't worry too much about the baby; your body will build your baby as its top priority. If you aren't eating enough extra calories to build a baby your body will canabalize your systems for the nutrients it needs. Gross but true.

[ivyldc]

Thanks Amy, I took a look at my food journal, and I realized that I may have been having a prego freak out unnecessarily. The longer I have into this Challenge, the more I am realizing my body is telling me what to do. I am eating when hungry and bumping up the calories. I do have a Dr. appointment on Friday, so we'll see how the weight is there. It's always so different than my home scale anyway. Thanks for your advice! It did make me feel better.

[tclass]

Don't pay attention to the scale unless your doctor thinks you need to. I was so sick the first twenty weeks of both my pregnancies from hyper-emesis (not stop throwing up). I lost 11 pounds during the first twenty weeks with my second daughter (I was 5'5 and 129 pounds to start) and didn't gain until the hyper-emesis past. I gained the 11 back and then another 10. My daughter was born a happy and healthy 7 lbs, 5ounces.

And congratulations!!

[SarrizleP]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, everybody is different. I didn't gain a single pound until week 21 and still had a perfect 8.6 pound baby. And I definitely wasn't eating clean for my pregnancy! There was plenty of ice cream and carbs involved, haha.

[Marci0393]

I lost weight at the begining of both of my pregnancies due to severe morning (all day) sickness. My 1st was 7lbs 12oz, 2nd was 6lbs 8oz with gestational diabetes. Both times I would call my mom crying because I couldn't eat and was worried about my baby and (Disclaimer: I don't know if there is any scientific truth to this, but it makes sense to me) my mom always told me that the baby will take what it needs and leave you with the rest. As long as you're eating enough to have sustained energy to get through your day, the baby is probably fine.

No one can give you better advice than your OB or Midwife.

[CaseyD]

The weight recommedations for pregnant women are just that - recommedations. There is no one size-fits all. But, add more sweet potato or fat if you feel you aren't eating enough. There is always a way to eat healthy while pregnant and get enough to support you and baby. I wouldn't let the scale tell you how your pregnancy is going. That is what the doctor visits are for - your doctor should be able to let you know if your pregnancy is healthy or not.

[Robin D]

You sound like you're having a very similar experience to what I had when I was pregnant. By the time I reached where you're at your pregnancy I hadn't gained any weight. I CrossFitted several times a week and even trained for a bike race I never ended up doing (I was too dang tired by the time it rolled around). My midwife originally scolded me for not gaining, but once I convinced her I was, in fact, eating well and plenty, and I just wasn't fulfilling the typical stuff-everything-in-your-piehole mold that she was used to, she left me alone.

I ended up having one ultrasound after another which all proved that Baby V was definitely small (I'm a whopping 5'2 on a good day so it follows my little girl would be small) but kick counts, heart beats, all that stuff was fine. My midwife's supervising OB believed something was wrong because my weight gain was low (I gained 20 lbs total) and V was small, but he ended up being wrong! V was born 5 lbs 14 oz and 17.5 inches long.

If you feel okay and everything else seems to be in order (heart beats, kick counts, etc) I wouldn't worry about it.

And FYI, ultrasounds are more and more inaccurate the farther you get into your pregnancy (Chris Kessler has some fantastic articles about this). I discovered this in my 2nd trimester and it really wished I had known that earlier. Medicine is so crude sometimes.