Inadequate or access weight gain is a common concern during pregnancy. In this articleIm not putting on any weight. Is it a cause for concern?Ive put on over 10 pounds in the 1st trimester. What should I do?How much weight should I have gained by the end of this month? Im not putting on any weight. Is it a cause for concern? Majority of women have no trouble putting on weight during pregnancy. However, there may be few who may struggle to gain weight during this period. Many a time pregnancy symptoms like nausea, morning sickness, heartburn, indigestion and gas may prevent women from gaining weight during the early stages of pregnancy. Also in certain cases body metabolism may be such that it is not easy for the woman to accumulate additional pounds even during pregnancy. Not gaining adequate weight or gaining too little weight during pregnancy can have serious repercussions. Inadequate weight gain during pregnancy greatly enhances the risk of preterm delivery, chances of your delivering a low birth weight baby, and a pool of other related pregnancy complications. Normally, at the time of your first antenatal visit your doctor will advise you of the expected target weight gain for each month of pregnancy. This will be arrived at after taking into consideration a number of factors like your body metabolism and your pre pregnancy weight. Ive put on over 10 pounds in the 1st trimester. What should I do? First thing you must do is to relax. There is no point in getting upset about it. Needless to say there are certain potential risks associated with excess weight gain during pregnancy. The excess weight can cause backaches, leg pain, increased fatigue and varicose veins. Your baby may become very large in size and unsafe for vaginal delivery. Post operative complications may also arise. Lastly the excess weight that you gain during pregnancy will be really difficult to get rid of. This does not mean that you start making efforts to shed your excess weight. Pregnancy is not a time to start dieting of any sort. Dieting will harm you and your unborn baby. Hence, it may be worthwhile to take a re-look at what you are eating and your fitness regimen. For example, you may be overindulging in sweets, chocolates and fried foods all of which are high calorie foods. You must try to manage your weight in such a manner that by the end of your pregnancy you gain only the amount recommended by your doctor. It is also important to bear in mind the fact that you still need to eat a balanced healthy diet to meet all the nutritional requirements of your growing baby. The weight that you may have already gained will not contribute to your baby’s growth. How much weight should I have gained by the end of this month? Ideally you should have gained around 2-3 pounds this month. This is because normally during the first couple of months there will only be a moderate increase or hardly any weight gain in pregnant women. In case if you have already gained more weight than you should, you must try to manage your weight going forward. You must consider changing your eating habits and adopting a healthy lifestyle to manage your body weight. Try substituting high fat, high calorie food with healthier options. If possible limit your in between meal snacking. Switch over to healthy snacks which are both nutritious and tasty. Consider eating fresh, raw salads, seasonal vegetables and fruits. Exercising is good during pregnancy also. You can start with moderate forms of low impact exercises like walking and swimming. However, ensure that you discuss about your exercise regime with your doctor before you begin any kind of exercise.
Inadequate or access weight gain is a common concern during pregnancy. I'm not putting on any weight. Is it a cause for concern?
Majority of women have no trouble putting on weight during pregnancy. However, there may be few who may struggle to gain weight during this period. Many a time pregnancy symptoms like nausea, morning sickness, heartburn, indigestion and gas may prevent women from gaining weight during the early stages of pregnancy. Also in certain cases body metabolism may be such that it is not easy for the woman to accumulate additional pounds even during pregnancy.
Not gaining adequate weight or gaining too little weight during pregnancy can have serious repercussions. Inadequate weight gain during pregnancy greatly enhances the risk of preterm delivery, chances of your delivering a low birth weight baby, and a pool of other related pregnancy complications.
Normally, at the time of your first antenatal visit your doctor will advise you of the expected target weight gain for each month of pregnancy. This will be arrived at after taking into consideration a number of factors like your body metabolism and your pre pregnancy weight.
I've put on over 10 pounds in the 1st trimester. What should I do?
First thing you must do is to relax. There is no point in getting upset about it. Needless to say there are certain potential risks associated with excess weight gain during pregnancy. The excess weight can cause backaches, leg pain, increased fatigue and varicose veins. Your baby may become very large in size and unsafe for vaginal delivery. Post operative complications may also arise. Lastly the excess weight that you gain during pregnancy will be really difficult to get rid of.
This does not mean that you start making efforts to shed your excess weight. Pregnancy is not a time to start dieting of any sort. Dieting will harm you and your unborn baby. Hence, it may be worthwhile to take a re-look at what you are eating and your fitness regimen. For example, you may be overindulging in sweets, chocolates and fried foods all of which are high calorie foods.
You must try to manage your weight in such a manner that by the end of your pregnancy you gain only the amount recommended by your doctor. It is also important to bear in mind the fact that you still need to eat a balanced healthy diet to meet all the nutritional requirements of your growing baby. The weight that you may have already gained will not contribute to your baby’s growth.
How much weight should I have gained by the end of this month?
Ideally you should have gained around 2-3 pounds this month. This is because normally during the first couple of months there will only be a moderate increase or hardly any weight gain in pregnant women. In case if you have already gained more weight than you should, you must try to manage your weight going forward. You must consider changing your eating habits and adopting a healthy lifestyle to manage your body weight.
Try substituting high fat, high calorie food with healthier options. If possible limit your in between meal snacking. Switch over to healthy snacks which are both nutritious and tasty. Consider eating fresh, raw salads, seasonal vegetables and fruits.
Exercising is good during pregnancy also. You can start with moderate forms of low impact exercises like walking and swimming. However, ensure that you discuss about your exercise regime with your doctor before you begin any kind of exercise.
