Trying to stay healthy and fit during pregnancy? Today I’m sharing some secrets to prevent gaining excess weight during pregnancy so that you can stay in good shape and have a healthy pregnancy for those 9 months and beyond!
When I first got pregnant, I received a lot of dietary recommendations and advice on what to expect during pregnancy. And I mean A LOT.
Some of the things I most commonly heard were, “Eat as much as you want…you’re eating for two!” or “pregnancy ruins your body…your body will never be the same again.”
It also seemed like EVERY woman I talked to felt the need to share with me exactly how much weight they gained during their pregnancy, and it usually ranged anywhere from 5-100lbs.
That’s a pretty wide range.
And let’s just be honest. The thought of gaining 100lbs doesn’t exactly make you want to jump for joy.
On a day to day basis, I’ve always worked really hard to eat right and exercise in order to stay fit and healthy, so these comments and stories honestly TERRIFIED me.
As much as I wanted a baby and knew that there would be sacrifice involved in having a child, I also didn’t want to give up all the years of hard work that I had dedicated to staying in shape.
I also didn’t want to view my body in a negative light for the rest of my life post baby.
We all want to feel good about ourselves, right?
This was probably one of my biggest fears when I first found out I was pregnant.
At the start of my pregnancy, I really didn’t know what to expect or even how much I should change my eating habits. I had never done this pregnancy thing before!
One thing I did know, however, was that I didn’t want to pack on a whole bunch of additional pounds that I would have to work super hard to lose post pregnancy.
In my mind, having a baby is overwhelming enough without having to work on losing a ton of weight too.
I made a commitment to myself to eat as healthy as possible throughout my pregnancy, not only for my own benefit, but also for the health of my baby. After all, there was a little person growing inside of me, so I wanted to ensure that I was providing all of the necessary nutrients.
By the end of my pregnancy, I had gained approximately 20lbs, which was primarily baby and fluids, and I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn’t gained very much additional body fat.
Now I’m certainly not saying this to brag, but more so as an encouragement to you, because I had always just assumed that gaining a bunch of body fat was a given when you’re pregnant because that’s what I had always read or been told.
And I think a lot of women have this perception. But that totally doesn’t have to be the case!
If you take care of yourself, pay attention to what you’re eating and exercise on a regular basis, you definitely don’t have to give up your body when you have a baby.
There are some key strategies that you can implement to minimize gaining excess body fat during pregnancy and save yourself a TON time and effort trying to lose the baby weight.
Now before I share some of my strategies, please recognize that pregnancy is a very individual journey and of course everyone will experience a different rate of weight gain.
Along with following these strategies below, I recommend working closely with your doctor to ensure that you’re gaining the right amount of weight for you and your baby.
Now, here are some of the strategies that I found worked for me and many of the clients that I’ve worked with!
Table of Contents
How to gain minimal weight while pregnant
1.Don’t Eat for Two
This is the most common misconception and one of the most frustrating things that I heard throughout my pregnancy.
You DON’T need to down tubs of ice cream and burgers and fries every day to feed the baby.
Seriously.
The baby doesn’t need it in order to grow, and chances are, neither do you. In reality, unless you’re severely underweight in the first trimester, you don’t need any extra calories to support the growth of the baby.
In the second trimester, you only need approximately 300 extra calories and in the third, an extra 450 calories.
That’s equivalent to an apple, handful of nuts, and a yogurt. It’s really not that much extra food.
Personally, I’m not a calorie counter, so I wasn’t calculating my calories every day. I just listened to my body and ate when I felt hungry and made the healthiest possible choices when the hunger struck.
So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ignore everyone who tells you to eat for two.
2.Pay Attention to Portions
One thing I’ve always been very conscious of are my portion sizes, and this didn’t change when I became pregnant. Although I was often told that you become ravenous during pregnancy and down everything in sight, I didn’t really find that to be the case.
That being said, I do know that some women experience a significant increase in appetite, so it’s a very individual experience.
During the first trimester, I was quite nauseous so the thought of eating didn’t really appeal to me all that much because I had a hard time coming up with foods that I actually felt like eating.
By the third trimester, the baby was taking up so much room, that I would get full really quickly.
If you do find that you’re super hungry, try throwing some extra vegetables on your plate. It will add some extra bulk and fibre and help you better control your portions to prevent overeating throughout the day.
Or another strategy is to use a smaller dessert-sized plate. The plate will appear a lot more full which will trick you into thinking that you’re eating more than you actually are!
3.Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals
I found that because I didn’t have a whole lot of room for food as the baby was growing, the best strategy was to eat smaller more frequent meals throughout the day.
This didn’t change much from my pre-pregnancy days because I’ve always been the type to eat a small meal or snack every 2-3 hours. Smaller more frequent meals can help to keep those hunger levels in check, keep energy levels up, help stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent overeating at the next meal.
It’s also a good strategy for managing heart burn which is something that a lot of pregnant women struggle with.
I was very fortunate because I didn’t have to deal too much with heart burn and I think it was largely due to making healthier food choices, and eating smaller portions more frequently throughout the day. You might find that it works for you too!
4.Have some Fibre and Protein at Every Meal
This one is HUGE!
The combination of fibre and protein helps to regulate your blood sugar and can also control hunger levels since fibre and protein both make you feel full for longer. As an added bonus, fibre helps keep you regular and has a ton of other benefits!
Examples of fibre-rich foods include:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Whole-grains
- Legumes
- Nuts and seeds
Examples of protein rich foods include:
- Eggs
- Poultry and lean meats
- Legumes
- Greek yogurt
- Cottage cheese
- Nuts and seeds
- Nut butter
Everyone knows that constipation is no fun. Especially when you’re pregnant. Believe me, there’s enough going on down there. So be sure to load up on that fibre, striving for 25-35 grams per day!
5.Make Sure you’re Getting Enough Calcium
When increasing calories in the second and third trimester, one thing I paid attention to was making sure that I was getting some extra servings of calcium-rich foods since calcium requirements increase to 1300mg per day during pregnancy.
I don’t tolerate dairy very well since it tends to upset my stomach and make me breakout more, so I generally don’t include it much in my diet.
Instead, during pregnancy, I added a couple of servings of unsweetened almond milk at breakfast and snacks and also included other calcium-rich foods like almonds, broccoli, and salmon with bones to my diet.
It’s also very important to take a prenatal supplement throughout pregnancy to ensure that you’re getting those extra nutrients you might be skimping on in your diet like calcium, iron and folate.
6.Drink LOTS of Water
Another strategy I recommend to stay fit and healthy during pregnancy is to drink LOTS of water. You gotta chug that H2O!
Throughout my pregnancy, I usually drank anywhere from 12-14 cups of water per day and even more on days that I exercised. I carried around a 750 mL bottle with me throughout the day and kept refilling it, making a mental note of how much I was drinking.
Having a large bottle constantly full can make it really easy to calculate if you’re getting enough fluids.
Also, one strategy I use to make drinking water a little more refreshing is to mix the plain water with Perrier water or to infuse fruit, cucumbers or fresh herbs into the water, like this recipe for Sassy Water. It just makes the water taste SO much more refreshing.
You can also drink herbal tea (just make sure it’s pregnancy-safe) like my all time favourite decaf Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Green Tea. This stuff is seriously the best! Even though it’s technically a Christmas tea, I actually order a stash of it in bulk from Amazon so that I can drink it all year long.
Who says you can’t drink candy cane tea in the summer?!
7.Keep a food journal
I know, I know. We hear this one all the time, but it works!
By writing down what you eat during the day, it helps keep you more accountable. If you find that you’re packing on the pounds a little faster than you’d like, you can always go back and review your food journal to see where you might be overdoing it and figure out what tweaks can be made.
At the end of the day, who wants to write down that they had a double whopper cheese burger, a handful of candy and a whole sleeve of cookies?? NO ONE.
Writing down what you eat can help keep you on track.
Summing it up
Overall, if practiced consistently, these strategies can help keep pregnancy weight gain in check, along with regular exercise. If you’re interested, you can check out some tips for staying fit during pregnancy here.
You’re going to hear a lot of stories during pregnancy and get a lot of unsolicited advice, but don’t think that just because your friends or family members may have packed on the pounds and suffered with major heart burn or constipation that it has to be your destiny too.
If you follow these strategies, it can certainly help keep your weight in check so that you can spend more time enjoying your baby and less time worrying about how you’ll lose the extra baby weight.
And if you do happen to gain more weight than you initially hoped, please give yourself grace and remember that you just grew a baby!
Pregnancy is such an individual experience and every woman’s body responds differently to pregnancy.
Ultimately, the most important thing is that you’re focusing on consuming nutrient-dense foods wherever possible, staying active and listening to your body to keep both you and the baby healthy.
If you are looking for recommendations to get back in shape after pregnancy, you can check out some tips here and try out some of these recipes for healthier meal ideas!
What strategies worked for you when preventing excess weight gain during pregnancy?
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I LOVE this article. I gained 80 pounds my first pregnancy and really hope not to gain nearly as much this time around. I like like how the author made it a point to clarify you really don’t have to eat more calories and that 300-450 calories is the equivalent to an apple, handful of nuts, or yogurt. I was constantly being told by my family how much more I should be eating, now I will politely say no. I also like her professionalism in responding to some of the negative comments. Speaks volumes at to her character! I look forward to reading more of her articles.
Aw, thank you so much for your kind words! I’m happy that the article resonated with you. People are always going to have an opinion. It’s your pregnancy and your body, so you do you :) All the best with your pregnancy!
I love your article! So well written and polite in regards to weight gain/individual pregnancies! Thank you!!
My pleasure, so glad you enjoyed the article! :)
Wow this is great advice. Thank you for the positive motivation and I hope to be successful with not gaining too much weight.
Glad you found it helpful Laura! All the best with your pregnancy!
My mom said that when she breast fed she was under 120 pounds.
Thanks so much for the article , am going in my second trimester but people have started telling me how much weight have gained, the thing I don’t want to hear.
Because I want to maintain my body shape.
Hope the stated advice above will help me. Thanks again
I’m glad you enjoyed the article and congrats on your pregnancy! I know how hard it can be when others comment about your weight during pregnancy. I hope you found the tips to be helpful. Best of luck with the remainder of your pregnancy!
I think this post is extremely important! I wish we had a stronger dialogue and more sharing on weight gain during pregnancy that would allow to better understand the diversity of experiences amongst women. I’m at the start of my 3rd trimester and I’ve gained a healthy 8 lbs. I keep my swimming and eat the same as I did before. However, others especially my women colleagues love to watch every food I eat and make comments on how my belly is small. Instead of feeling support, it makes one feel extremely self conscious. We need to open up more about healthy lifestyles, body acceptability and embracing!
I completely agree Adriana! Every woman will respond differently to pregnancy and it’s so important to recognize that not everyone will share the same experience! The most important thing is that you take care of your body and baby to the best of your ability and stay as active as possible if you’ve received the green light from your health care provider. Try not to worry about what others think, as hard as it can be sometimes. Congratulations on your pregnancy and I wish you all the best with your new baby!!
Maybe the other women were jealous? I’m also don’t want to gain much “fat” among the weight. The idea of eating around others, who are scrutinizing me because I’m pregnant is terrifying. How would I deal with that?
Try not to worry about what other people think! Unfortunately, people are always going to have their opinions and jealousy can often be a factor as well. If people tried to convince me to “eat for two” or made snarky comments about eating in relation to pregnancy, I would just respond politely and say “no thank you” and usually they would back off. At the end of the day, it’s your body and you have to do what’s best for you and your baby! Just listen to your body and don’t let others bring you down. I wish you all the best!!
I hate when people comment on one another’s bodies. My sister’s bump was small because her baby wasn’t growing fast enough, and she was really sad and worried about it. Just shut up, people! Even if you think it’s a compliment!
Oh I couldn’t agree more! That was one of my biggest pet peeves when I was pregnant. Pregnancy is hard enough as it is, and then people feel like they have to comment on your size. It can really take a toll on you emotionally. I hope everything worked okay with your sister and that her baby is healthy!
I’m very sorry, but if you’re not classified as obese, gaining 8 lbs in your 3rd trimester is definitely not healthy, if we’re gonna speak about the “healthy weight gain charts”.
And as far as it goes for this article, 100 lbs might not be desirable, so 5 lbs is not as well.
I understand your concern, but every woman’s rate of weight gain during pregnancy is going to be very much individualized. I had two very healthy babies after gaining 20-25 lbs with each pregnancy and there were absolutely no complications during either of my pregnancies and deliveries. My midwife was very happy with my rate of weight gain and expressed no concerns whatsoever. I am by no means recommending that women only gain 5 lbs during their pregnancy. The article is simply providing some general recommendations to help avoid gaining an excessive amount of weight, which is a common concern for many women during pregnancy. The most important thing is that you’re working closely with your health care practitioner and adhering to their advice and recommendations.
I really feel like you should modify this post to let women know that every woman’s body responds to pregnancy differently. Some women, no matter if they stay in the recommended healthy foods and amounts or not, they gain a lot more weight than 20 pounds. If you are eating healthy, exercising, and listening to your body, the number on the scale shouldn’t matter… its the health of the baby and the mother that matters. You cannot predict weight management during pregnancy.
Thanks for your feedback — I’ve actually been meaning to update this post to reflect what you said in your comment but haven’t got around to it since I just recently had another baby. Thanks for the reminder!
I agree with you! I love the article and am going to try to be even more mindful this time around and track every morsel that goes into my mouth. BUT….for some unknowable reason, I do seem to gain weight excessively even when eating normally. I just came out of my first trimester during which I threw up everything and could not keep anything down, like nothing. I was panicked because I wasn’t even able to keep down prenatal gummies. I wasn’t eating at all…guess what? I did not lose even 1 lb! Not one!! I thought for sure I would step on the scale and see some weight loss after almost 16 weeks of eating nothing. But nope! How that is possible I do not know. Then when it passed, I began to slowly eat regular food. Two eggs in the morning with fruit, a salmon burger with half an avacado for lunch (no bun)…I know how to eat healthy! Started excersing 4 times a week again….stepped on the scale 2weeks later and BAM! I gained almost 10 lbs. I was in tears, I have no idea what I am doing wrong. My doctor has said that this is simply how my body responds to pregnancy. I always have a ton of weight to lose after I have each baby. I see other pregnant woman scarfing down burgers and milkshakes and complaining they gained three pounds. THREE pounds??!!! If I ate like that I would gain 60 lbs in one week! So if you have read this rant, thank you lol….but realize that some women DO really struggle, even when they do everything right. Why? Sadly, nobody has ever been able to tell me.
Aw I’m sorry that you went through such a rough first trimester. I know how hard that can be and it’s even more frustrating when your body doesn’t responding the way that you’d like it to. I totally get that every woman has a different experience with pregnancy and sometimes you can be doing all of the right things and still gain more weight than you initially hoped. Keep in mind that weight gain can fluctuate throughout pregnancy too, so there may be some weeks where you gain more than others. I know this was definitely the case for me. As hard as it is, try not to obsess over the number on the scale and just listen to your body, keep an eye on portions and focus on filling your body with nutrient-rich food. Keeping active can help as well if your doctor has given you the green light. At the end of the day, that’s the best thing that you can do for both yourself and the baby. I wish you all the best with the rest of your pregnancy!
Totally agree. Everyone’s hormones are different as well. This article actually just made me sad, and I am always thin when not pregnant.
Aw I’m sorry…the intention of the article was definitely not to make you sad! It was simply to provide some strategies to help keep pregnancy weight gain in check, which can be a common worry for many women going into pregnancy. I totally understand that every woman has a different experience during pregnancy and hormones can certainly play a role. At the end of the day, the priority is a healthy baby and a healthy mom.
What would you recommend for someone who is sick their entire pregnancy? I lost 15 lbs my first trimester due to throwing up, but by mid second trimester I have gained it all back. In previous pregnancies I end up gaining another 50 lbs. I’m still nauseous until birth. but can only control it with eating foods that are easy on my stomach every two hours. Would love to not be 50+ lbs this time around.
That’s a great question and I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling with nausea! I know what an awful feeling that can be, especially when you’re totally turned off healthier foods that you feel like you should be eating.
I would say, wherever possible, try to practice good portion control. Even if you can’t stomach healthier options, by monitoring portions, it can help keep your caloric intake and overall pregnancy weight gain in check. If eating more frequently helps, try incorporating small portion-controlled snacks throughout the day rather than large meals. I always remind myself that in second trimester, as women, we only need about an extra 300 calories and in third trimester, an extra 400-450 calories, which really isn’t a whole lot of extra food.
Also, try getting creative with incorporating healthier options. I found that I wasn’t able to stomach a lot of vegetables or protein prepared in certain ways, but there were some ways that I could tolerate them better. For example, you could throw a handful of spinach into a smoothie with milk/Greek yogurt, some fruit and chia seeds or hemp hearts to pack in lots of nutrients. You can get really creative with smoothies and add in different fruits/vegetables and protein sources to maximize nutrient intake.
I also found that I tolerated foods better when incorporated into soups. You could try making a chicken noodle soup with the chicken and vegetables chopped up really small or a pureed vegetable soup to make it easier to get those veggies down, while still getting those nutrients.
If carbs are your thing, try to choose healthier options like whole-grain crackers, breads, pastas, etc. as the fibre will help you stay full for longer.
Also, try to stay as active as possible! Even if you feel like you can’t eat as healthy as you’d like, incorporating physical activity can help foster that balance and prevent things from getting out of control, especially if also monitoring portion sizes.
Finally, give yourself some grace! Unfortunately, pregnancy sickness is not something you can control, so just do your best and it will be over before you know it! Good luck!!
I think it’s important to point out that in some cases, women will gain a lot of weight regardless of whether they are eating healthy and exercising. I was thin before getting pregnant and have eaten healthy throughout (not more than I had eaten pre-pregnancy) and exercised and I still have gained a lot of weight — more than the recommended guidelines and way more than 20 pounds. I’m super jealous of your experience and wish that I could have remained slim during my pregnancy, but that is just not in the cards for some people no matter how hard we try.
Thanks for your feedback Jess. I totally understand that not every woman will share the same experience and that pregnancy is very much individualized. My primary intention through this post was to share some general strategies that have worked well for both myself and clients that I have worked with, but I understand that there are many factors that come into play when it comes to weight gain during pregnancy. I appreciate you sharing your experience.
These are great tips! It’s so important to NOT eat for 2 during pregnancy to avoid excess weight gain!!
So true you’re not eating for 2. I was active during 2 pregnancies and I attribute very easy pregnancies and deliveries in part to staying active.
That’s great Jill that you were active during both pregnancies! I definitely think it makes the whole pregnancy and delivery process much easier!
#GOALS
I kind of used both of my pregnancies as an excuse to eat what ever I wanted. Times have changed a lot since I had my kids 20 years ago
Yes Deborah, from what I’ve heard, I think that’s a common struggle for many. It’s great that you were able to turn that around and help others live a healthy and fit lifestyle!
Focusing on health is a priority for both during pregnancy!
Totally agree with you Emily! Thanks for stopping by :)
What great info. Yes, I always hear eat for two, so it’s nice you can set the record straight!
Thanks Kelly! Just trying to help out where I can :)
Great tips for a healthy pregnancy and maintaining a healthy weight!
Thanks so much Abbey!