Good luck
Pregnancy is a time to eat healthy and adequately for your own and your growing baby's needs. Worry about weight loss after the baby is born, or after he/she is weaned, should you decide to breastfeed.
I personally know a girl who lost a pregnancy because she didn't eat enough to sustain her own body, let alone to nurture and grow a baby. It was a harsh lesson, and an experience I would never wish on anyone.
That isn't to say you shouldn't toss the twinkies and potato chips, since they really aren't food. lol You just shouldn't be counting calories and worrying about having a deficit. If you make healthy choices, you will gain less weight when pregnant, and have an easier time losing it afterwards.
A healthy weight gain during pregnancy is between 20 and 30 pounds. If you are severly overwieght your doctor might let you get away with a weight gain of 15 pounds but you sould never lose weight while you are pregnant.
You can continue to exercise as long as your body lets you know it is okay and if you make sure you are eating healthy foods and shoot for the 20 pound gain after you count the weight of the baby, increased blood volume etc. you should be left with 7 to 10 pounds to lose after the pregnancy.
Pregnancy is one of those time you make a sacrifice for your child and if you are unwilling to do that you might want to lose whatever weight you want to before you concieve.
Nutrition is highly important NOW - before you get pregnant - and not just once you are pregnant. Google around about folic acid deficiencies. You need ample folic acid, iron stores, and calcium before you conceive, if you want a healthy baby.
Once you give birth, try breastfeeding. It is the greatest weight loss plan out there!! If you breastfeed for a *full year* while eating normally, you will lose all your pregnancy weight... and then some... without having to deliberately diet it off.
That was the case with me. I'd gained about 40 lbs during my first pregnancy, which was way too much. After a year of breastfeeding - without dieting but while also walking one hour each day - I'd lost all 40 plus another 10 and weighed less than when I had gotten married.
But the trick is you have to stick with the bf'ing longer than 3 months. It's when the baby reaches a certain weight and calorie requirement that he/she sucks it right out of your own fat stores. :-)
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/51/40816 .htm
Also, there have been studies done in lab rats on the effect of dieting during pregnancy, and how it effects children and grandchildren.
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abs tract/158/12/1127
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=effects+o f+dieting+during+pregnancy&hl=en&rlz= 1T4GFRC_en__207__207&oi=scholart
agree with above.
no dieting. but, if you watch what you eat, dont' gain more than you have to (20 lbs if you are severely overweight), 2 weeks post-partum you can look better than before you got pregnant (i did. then i started getting flack from everybody that i should eat more 'cause i was nursing, so that screwed me up for the next 3 years....)
Talk to your doctor about it but my immediate reaction would be to not diet as such, but to eat healthily for your baby.
my husband and i are also trying. i am currently on a 1200 calorie a day diet. not really dieting just eating less of what i normally eat and am moving a little bit more..burning about 544 calories a day with light exercise. i'm currently 40lbs overweight.
my question is if i up my calories and eat healthy wouldn't that be okay. if i increase to 1500 a day and move a little more would that not be safe? since i am 40lbs overweight, could i not lose 20lbs and still be okay?
I agree w/ K8, you should definitely ask your Dr. As a rule, you should not be dieting while pregnant.
However, I was ok'd by my Dr. to stick with my 1800 cal day limit because he felt that I had enough "stores" of fat to maintain my pregnancy calorie intake. Does that make sense? I weighed 296 when I got pregnant and now I am 290, 6 wks pregnant. Obviously he thought that the baby definitely wasn't going to starve.
I have been eating healthy while in my cal limit and exercising at least 4 days a week. He said it can be quite common for a overweight woman to lose weight and be less than her pre-pregnancy weight after giving birth. He also said it would be easier on me throughout the pregnany if I continued to lose weight. Much luck to you on the conceiving!!!
if you are dieting now, make sure you are getting plenty of Folic Acid. You need a good store of it 3 months before you conceive, PLUS the baby especially needs it the first trimester to prevent against spinal defects.
