Weight gain during pregnancy is everyone’s favorite topic, right? Pregnancy weight gain is a seriously touchy subject for a lot of women, myself included. We spend so much of our lives trying to make the numbers on the scale go down, or keeping them the same. During pregnancy, we suddenly find ourselves watching those numbers climb. For someone who struggles with their weight (like me!), that can be really disheartening. It can make you feel horrible about yourself and the way you look. Never fear, my friends, I am here to help!
Before I get into my own opinion about this topic, here is a little disclaimer. You should definitely talk to your doctor about how much weight to gain during pregnancy. Your doctor can help you determine how much weight gain is right for you, and how best to meet your goal, which is usually somewhere between 25 and 35 pounds. Your doc will probably want you to gain less if you are overweight to begin with, and more if you are underweight.
It is important not to go overboard on weight gain while you are pregnant, but personally, I think we put too much emphasis on it. A lot of pregnant women obsess over how much weight they are gaining, and whether they are gaining enough or too much. I was totally guilty of that during my first pregnancy. I had already gained a lot of weight before getting pregnant, so I was self-conscious about my weight to begin with. I spent a ridiculous amount of time googling how to control weight gain during pregnancy, and it really got me nowhere. I ended up gaining about 45 pounds when I should have gained less than 25. My doctor was totally cool with it, though. She told me that as long as I was eating healthy and the baby was doing well, I didn’t need to worry about gaining too much. Some women just gain more weight during pregnancy than others.
After I had Daphne and I got the OK from my doctor, I started working out to lose the baby weight. I followed a sensible diet plan and did P90X every morning. And you know what? I lost the weight. Sure, it took a little while. But it came off. Some women lose weight after pregnancy extremely easily. I have a friend who was back to her pre-pregnancy weight just a few days after giving birth. For me, though, it took a lot of work.
When I got pregnant with Vienna, I really started obsessing over weight gain. I didn’t want to turn into a whale and gain a million pounds. Well, I got my wish. As you probably know, I had hyperemesis gravidarum, which means I was vomiting throughout my entire pregnancy. Sound like fun? Its not. I actually weighed ten pounds less at the end of my pregnancy than I did at the beginning. Sure, it was nice to not have to lose the baby weight. But honestly, I would rather have gained 90 pounds and worked for a year or two to lose it than suffer from hyperemesis.
I feel like our society puts way too much emphasis on weight. It seems to me that society is missing the bigger picture. Beauty can be found in so many forms. I would rather be overweight, feeling wonderful about myself and my health than be thin and miserable and unhealthy. I am healthy. I exercise regularly, I eat well, and I feel like I look wonderful. So who cares if society deems me fat because of my pant size?
Everyone gains weight differently during pregnancy. Some people gain 80 pounds but are able to lose it very easily after pregnancy, and some people find it difficult to gain enough. The weight gain, in my humble opinion, isn’t really that important. Taking care of your body is.
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