Losing weight because of eating better

[MellieOham]

Hiya Ladies,

I wanted to see if any of you had any experience with this.

Before I was pregnant I would have several glasses of wine over the course of an evening. That is between 800-1000 calories per day! I didn't eat much during the day- no breakfast, leftovers for lunch and a hearty dinner. Not healthy. Fortunately I'm not too overweight (5'1" 135lbs).

Now that I am pregnant I obviously stopped all the wine, but also vastly improved my eating habits. Now I am eating mini bagels with PB, boiled eggs, and fruit for breakfast. The rest of the day I graze all day (as in putting a piece of something in my mouth every 15-20 minutes) on cauliflower, cucumbers, triscuts, fruit, carrots and string cheese. For dinner a make a casserole and spike it with extra filler veggies, but never eat a lot because I am not starving at dinner time. It also gives me gas pains if I eat too heavily. I finish off the evening with a mug of warm milk and honey.

Well it appears according to the scale that I am losing weight. It makes sense because although I am eating more often, it is a lot of low calorie foods. Plus with the loss of 800-1000 calories of my wine that I had been drinking, of course I would lose weight.

The thing that I am worried about, is that once morning sickness kicks in, will I lose more? I don't want to put the Little Pickle at risk! I have been taking my prenatal vitamins for about 3 months (started a couple of months before we conceived), so at least we have that going.

Did any of you drastically change your diets when you found out you were pregnant and lose a good bit of weight before you started putting on baby weight?

[froggie83]

with both my pregnancies i have lost 10-15 lbs in the first trimester.... i am 5'2" 140 lbs and that was not from morning sickness either... (i only vomited once while pregnant and not in labor.)
so for me it is normal to drop weight first then get the baby fat.

[GA1977]

I have not experienced this but I didn't want to read and not respond. (I have a degree in dietetics/nutrition so the title caught my eye).

first of all--congrats on your pregnancy and also for eating healthier! It completely makes sense that you are losing a little bit of weight even though you are eating more.....its because now your body is being much more efficient. You're eating all the right things and your body knows how to process these foods efficiently. when you were not eating breakfast and then drinking alcohol calories in the evening, your body was not working properly.

You may not even get morning sickness--I was nauseous with my first child from 7-13 weeks and only for a few weeks with my 2nd (no throwing up, just nauseous). So, you may or may not lose weight if and when morning sickness kicks in.
Your Little Pickle won't be at risk.....all the nutrients that you are eating will go to the baby first so he/she will be getting everything that he/she needs. It sounds like you're doing great so far!! ; )

Have a healthy and happy 9 months.

[BabyLove1]

I did the same thing with DD1... started eating REALLY well when I first found out and lost a few lbs. Then morning sickness hit and it ALL went out the window. During my m/s with her, I kept my weight about the same and gained maybe 1-2 lbs.... this was mostly because I wasn't eating as well. I was literally just eating ANYTHING that sounded remotely good because it was the only thing I could keep down. I remember my doc telling me to be a realist during the m/s phase and eat what I had to in order ot get the calories in for the baby... she told me to just start watching it again as soon as m/s ended.

So I wouldn't really worry - if you keep loosing weight, put a call into your doc and I'm sure they'll put your mind at ease. But it sounds like you were a good weight to begin with so at least you weren't underweight to start.

Enjoy the next few months! :)

[BabyLove1]

Side note too... I'm 25 weeks pregnant with my second and have only gained 8.5 lbs TOTAL this time so far (and I wasn't overweight to begin with...5'6 and 145lbs) - my doc isn't even concerned with that (all the books say I should be at like 20 lbs by now).

[Suzanne10502]

As long as you are eating healthy I would not be concerned. I have done the same thing this pregnancy and I exercise frequently. I have only gained 4lbs total so far but the baby is absolutely healthy and measuring perfectly. My dr is not one bit concerned either. I also as at a normal weight. Like a PP said, it definitely makes sense given your habits prior to changing them. And, agreed you may not get morning sickness. I had NONE with my son and I only had a bit of queasiness this time around. I also eat smaller meals more frequently. That's the way I have always eaten.
Wishing you a very happy, healthy 9 months!

[MellieOham]

Thanks Ladies! Good to hear. That would be amazing if I didn't get morning sickness, but I doubt I would be that lucky!

[hopeful1]

I'm almost 12 weeks into my second pregnancy and have had absolutely no morning sickness ever with either. You may get lucky! So far I have lost about 3-4 lbs overall as well, even though I don't really feel I've decreased my eating at all either. I'm average at about 5'4" and 134 lbs. I also had a lot of wine that got cut out though. Good luck!

[goofy23]

Cutting out beer/wine alone has made me lose 5 pounds off-the-bat with each of my pregnancies. I have decent eating habits, so I never changed my diet "drastically"...but just cutting out alcohol was significant for my body.

ITA with GA1977's advice as well as the suggestion that you might not ever have morning sickness. I didn't with either pregnancy!

Congratulations on your bean!

[MellieOham]

Glad to know we enjoy our wine! I won't keep my fingers crossed about the m/s... she has been subtly flirting with me the last couple of days.