You announce your pregnancy and almost immediately you will start hearing, “Well, looks like your going to be eating for two now”. So is that really the case? I have worked with hundreds of pregnant women who have been either too strict with intake or others that felt becoming pregnancy meant all food and amounts were fair game. Sometimes when we hear something enough times, we believe it to be true. However, with this statement, it could cause more harm. Excessive weight gain during pregnancy could lead to health complications not only for mama, but to baby as well, especially depending upon what foods are eaten. Typically we don’t go wild with excessive calories from fruits and vegetables. What is important is not necessarily the extra calorie need right away, but the increased need for certain nutrients like folate, iodine, choline, vitamin A, vitamin B12, and more. 

 

Weight gain can be a sensitive topic for some women, a sense of anxiety; a fear of your body changing is a valid one. I like to remind mama that she is growing a human, creating a new organ (placenta), breast tissue is changing, fluid increases, and some maternal fat accumulation is normal. Weight gain during pregnancy does not always follow a linear path, and looks different for every woman.

 

There are a set of guidelines when it comes to weight during pregnancy, but again, every women is different, so therefore, no one size fits all. However, having some set numbers is helpful as a reference. Keep in mind, weight is only one of many factors that contribute to a healthy pregnancy.

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The goal within our coaching sessions is to nourish the body adequately and individually, while reducing anxiety, body image concerns or internalized weight stigma, obsessive thoughts and food guilt, and promote a healthy and sustainable relationship with food, nutrition, and body.