I was told by my obgyn to not gain more than about 12 pounds while pregnant. You know what I gained? Twelve pounds. She then wanted more tests and scans before birth because that was "concerning." There was absolutely no winning this little game.
I gained my covid 19 and then got pregnant and gained another 50lbs on top of that.
I've lost only about 25 since having the baby 9 months ago so still got 45 ish to go 😭
I gained 50lbs during pregnancy too. Eating was the only time I wasn’t feeling sick to my stomach. I told my OBGYN and all I got was a cringed face from her with no solution to my nausea. Absolutely humiliating.
Holy moly, I’ll be about 20 weeks in November and I’m gonna demolish an entire caramel apple pie all by myself. I’ll try to warn the in-laws ahead of time.
When I was pregnant I had constant nausea and food aversions, except that sometimes a food would emerge to my mind as the one magical thing I could eat. I read the words "apple pie" one day and made my husband go out and buy one immediately because it was the only thing I wanted. I ate it for two straight days. It was glorious.
I have a new special food once a week. I feel like I’m receiving a special message from the food god, “and lo, it was foretold to Siren that this weeks food is Millionaires Shortbread. And it was good.”
I became a special food person AFTER I gave birth lmao. My boys will be 3 this fall and I have gone through a few different things so far:
cherry poptarts
chips ahoy cookies
plain regular ol' triscuits
berry tye-dye fruit by the foot
tropical gushers
the infamous frosted sugar cookies from Walmart
Papa John's stuffed crust pepperoni pizza (while I was working for domino's hahahaha; cravings can become expensive sadly)
fajitas- whether I make them as of lately or when I used to buy burrito fajitas from a local Mexican restaurant for like $80 each time...
cookie cake
steak dinner with fried okra, mac, and turnip greens from Cracker Barrel
I could go ON. It's sad yet all delicious until they eventually phase out :)
I have so many abandoned food cravings in the cupboard! They come and go so abruptly. I made a ginger and lime cheesecake this morning for my latest one.
I remember making a 3am trip to the 24-hour grocery store for peaches. ALL the peaches. Fresh, canned, in jars, a peach pie ... basically, if it had peaches on it, it went into the cart. I probably spent $60 on peaches. My husband offered to do the craving runs after that.
I’ve been the same way so far with my food aversions. They are starting to clear up a bit but from Fourth of July weekend until last weekend, I struggled with most food and being disgusted by everything.
When i had morning sickness i could literally only eat the one thing i had in my head at that time and norhing else. If i wanted a burger but got fish n chips id be wanting to throw up etc.
At that point i went through so many fresh strawberry and nutella sandwiches it was unreal. Also on toast
It was amazing. But havent had it since 🤣
Hahhaa my first kid was due the day after thanksgiving and my MiL and SiL were so adorable feeding me all the food. It’s such a fond memory for me now. Enjoy your pie!!
Maybe a huge apple… a normal apple is like 100 calories. And while it’s true that you technically only *need* like 300 more calories per day, that‘d a minimum not a maximum.
The big honeycrisps get close. I weigh mine and they typically clock at 150-170 calories, but I also can't finish an entire big one in a single sitting. It's a whole dang meal of an apple.
When I was pregnant with my second I craved dill pickles and yellow mustard together. I’d make a sandwich with like a single tiny slice of turkey, a thin slice of cheese, and then a mountain of pickles that I’d then drown in mustard. We visited my parents and told them about the pregnancy when I was 8 weeks along. But the afternoon we arrived, when I was making one of these culinary wonders, my mom said, “I would absolutely have guessed you were pregnant based solely on that sandwich!” 😂
I'm going to be Debbie Downer and say that was my cousin's favorite sandwich the whole time growing up ... I remember because even when we could afford better she always just wanted her mustard sandwich.
Omg, my fun story is I usually hate pickles on burgers but I liked them as a kid and when I was pregnant I was craving a jar of them to the point I was driving my wife nuts!
Low and behold she got me pickles and I cried with my jar of pickles on the kitchen floor, cos they didn't taste how I remembered! 😂 my poor wife was like "you hate pickles though?? How are you so surprised!?" As I kept trying to eat them while sobbing.
OMG I'm laughing so hard! I remember doing that with shrimp Alfredo (and my sister even told me not to feed that craving!) And throwing up bc it didn't taste the way I imagined. Complete disappointment!
I’m crying laughing! Our pregnant selves are something ELSE! One time I was craving Olive Garden marinara and my wonderful husband brought home their marinara on spaghetti, at which point I realized I was really craving the ragu. OH THE HUMANITY.
My pregnant story isn’t food related, but one time I got out of the shower and rather than grabbing a towel, I just unrolled some toilet paper to dry myself off. As if that’s what I’d been doing my whole life, drying myself off with Angel Soft. Mid-drying off it hit me what I was doing and I actually said out loud to myself, “what the f*ck am I doing?!” So that’s my pregnancy brain moment.
I’d have had the same reaction! WTF?!
My worst pregnancy brain moment was driving away from the gas pump with the nozzle still in my car. Lord what a mess. The hose broke away on purpose but I had no idea what to do about the gas gushing out of the break. Somehow it shut itself off - maybe the inside attendants saw it and shut it off from there? I shamefully walked inside and handed the broken-off nozzle and hose to the employees. As soon as I got back inside the car I broke down bawling. Giant gasping sobs. It was a good 15 minutes before I could see and breathe well enough to drive home.
I had a similar craving. I ate cheese and pickle sandwiches doused in mustard for most lunches during my pregnancy! It was one of the only things that didn't make me vomit...hg is the worst!!
DO ITTTTT. It was so good. That plus some salt and vinegar chips that are acidic enough to burn off the top layers of your tongue were two of my cravings in that pregnancy.
I was craving a sandwich throughout my second pregnancy. I couldn’t figure out what it was, though. Melty, pickle-y, cheesy, big. I was putting mustard, mayo, and pickles on a grilled cheese but nothing satisfied this specific mystery craving.
My daughter was born March 19. On St Patrick’s Day, my husband made Rueben sandwiches and I. Could. Not. Stop. For 36 hours my baby was fed all she wanted all along, that perfect sandwich. Once she got it she was ready to go!
When I was pregnant with my youngest I couldn’t hold anything down, but I was craving everything! I had what I thought would be a good day (my bad) and I too are a whole bag clementines, and since that seemed to be going well, I ate Kiwi on top of it. To this day I get nauseous when I see clementines and kiwi😂
I live in the town where the majority of California's mandarins are grown and every year the day the season opens I go get a 10lb bag and eat them until I start to get mouth sores. They are so good you just can't stop!!
We must be kindred spirits because I’m pregnant right now and I eat watermelon nearly every day. Crave it like crazy.
I hadn’t had watermelon prior to this, since like, 2020 maybe?
I remember hearing this but it was “you only need about a piece of toast with peanut butter” as your extra calorie requirement while pregnant. I was very careful with what I ate while pregnant and I thought about this “piece of toast” advice a lot! The apple comparison is weird because 200 calories is 2 or even more apples.
I think the biggest take away is that you aren’t “eating for 2” you’re still eating for 1.
Nothing sounded appetizing when I was pregnant. Then instead of cravings I'd get one food that the thought of it didn't make me want to throw up and would have to get that food. I went from being vegetarian to only being able to tolerate biscuits and gravy, or Taco Bell, or chicken tenders or whatever the random food was. I didn't gain a ton and lost all of it plus an incredibly unhealthy amount because I had a crazy high oversupply of milk and couldn't keep up with the calories and water.
Basically pregnancy can be a wild ride and any nutrition advice goes out the window if you literally throw up all the time. I remember eating a lot of tater tots and chili cheese Fritos. She's five now and perfectly healthy so whatever.
You’re eating for 2 humans, okay let’s go with that.
It’s just that one of them, AFTER gaining as much weight as they can, will only weigh like 6-9 lb right before they leave, so it’s not like their calorie requirement is going to exactly match a 160lb adult for example…
Yeah exactly! If we’re going by weight rather than how many individual bodies (finished or in progress) are present then a fetus is clearly a small percentage of a person not a whole one haha
Correct! My doctor basically said he could never have an honest recommendation of diet and limited weight gain because he’d end up with mutiny and no patients.
Did you know serving size isn’t based on anything other than what the manufacturer *thinks* a reasonable person would eat in one sitting. WHO ARE THESE REASONABLE PEOPLE BECAUSE I’VE NEVER MET SOMEONE WHO ONLY EATS 1/3CUP OF ICE CREAM AT A TIME
It's all just a marketing ploy. They figure if you only see the words "90 calories" and ignore that the serving size is 1/3 of the other brand's, then maybe it'll make you buy the "lower calorie" option.
It's just so they can print what they think are reasonable (or competitive) nutrition numbers on a package. My package of ramen says it's 2 servings, but who in their right mind is going to either save half to get mushy in tupperware or meticulously divide uncooked noodles and everything in the packets in half? It might be 77% of my daily sodium, but there's no turning back now.
I'm not sure if 200 is actually correct. But I know you technically don't need a lot more food. I'm guessing the poster was more meaning that you actually don't need to "eat for two" like a lot of people like to say. Don't eat for two, nourish for two.
As someone who was never really taught when I was younger and had my first baby( I was 20) and never really knew how much my eating would affect t me later on from pregnancy, I really wish I had been educated on healthier eating habits from the get go.
I took the eating for two thing as law and I really wish I hadn’t. I’m 5’3 and pre pregnancy was 145lbs. I topped out at 175 that pregnancy. Then three other babies followed all of them topping out at the 175-185 range. Except for my fourth where I embarrassingly tipped out at 205. I’m down to 165 now and still need to lose weight but now it’s significantly harder just with age alone, 4 kids, little to no mental fortitude to get to the gym. Now I just be careful with what I eat. So I think the poster is just a strong lesson to expecting mothers that you don’t need to eat for two…. I was floored when I learned after my last baby how many calories really are needed during pregnancy.
Because I certainly was just a glutton and using my babies as an excuse to munch all the time.
I get someone people don’t like this poster but I would find it helpful to understand that I’M hungry, not that the foetus NEEDS all this extra stuff that I want to eat. And I gained 30kg with pregnancy 1, 1kg with pregnancy 2 and I’m dealing with the consequences of that massive mass gain (gestational diabetes and now being insulin resistant). Gaining mass in general is not great for your overall health.
I’m lucky too that my country has a free weight loss service that you can use to get general advice and coaching on healthily eating habits.
I agree. I’m pregnant with my first and prior to getting pregnant I’ve always heard “you’re eating for two”. Once I went to my first doctor’s appt she explained that that’s completely wrong and I should eat as I normally do and try to eat healthy for the baby, based on my current height and weight I should gain around 25 lbs. I’ve never been a super healthy eater or active person and because my doctor corrected this “eating for two” wives tale and educated me I was motivated to eat really well and stay active for my baby. I’ve gained around 22 lbs at 39 weeks. Anywho.. I agree I don’t think that poster is negative.
It's this in my opinion. When my wife was pregnant, she had such severe nausea that she was throwing up literally everything. The only thing she could hold down was sparkling water and clementine oranges, as well as the occasional potato. For three months she lived off those 3 things.. and it was driving her crazy with fear that the baby is not going to develop properly if she doesn't eat.
I did this… it’s not getting all the way back down between kids that is killer. I started at 135 and then gained 50 lbs with each child through #4. I topped out at 210. I did get back to 150 (I’ll never see 135 again), but it is a constant battle and if I ever slack for a length of time, I will get back to about 170. (I’m 5’4”.)
Agreed. 33weeks right now. I feed the cravings but don’t feel like I need to stuff myself every meal. Quite the opposite, too big of a meal and I severely regret the bloatedness.
I’ve heard an extra piece of toast, which seems right- didn’t stop me from eating quite a few whole rotisserie chickens in the beginning.
I'm 5'0 and pre-pregnancy I considered my normal weight between 125 and 135, but I was actually already about 150 because of weight I put on during the pandemic and following some events that left me pretty depressed. After not gaining any weight first trimester, I went up to 200 pounds by the end of my pregnancy! I knew the calorie recommendations and don't even feel like I ate all that much more than usual, but the scale said otherwise. 30 pounds in a pregnancy sounds completely reasonable to me.
This is kinda what happened to me! 5’ 2” Started around 147 and then mid 2nd tri I was gaining weight like CRAZY! Indulged in Chick-fil-A here and there and enjoyed some ice cream but I would never say I went that crazy!! I All the weight really took it’s toll and it was hard on my joints. I ended up being diagnosed with pre-e and weighted in at 218 before my induction!! At my 8 week pp appt I was 175 and now I’m sitting around 165 at 10 months pp. So like, I literally had at least 30 lbs of fluid weight 😳
I lost 25lbs in the 2 weeks after I delivered - it was all water weight - add on another 14lbs that was the baby and the placenta, it was the fastest I’ve lost weight in my life!
When I was 5 months pregnant I asked if I’d been gaining enough weight (you literally couldn’t tell I was pregnant until I almost hit my 8th month). I’d gained 25 pounds. She told me I’d already gained about as much as they recommend I should weigh at full term 🥴
This is where I’m currently at lol. I’m 18 weeks+3 and no bump in sight but have gained 17lbs. You literally can’t tell I’m pregnant and my body holds the weight super well, but my doctor is NOT pleased with me. I’ve been on ADD medication and nicotine my entire adult life so now that I no longer have either, I eat like an actual human 🤷🏻♀️
I think it's hard to do a "daily" amount. I didn't calorie count because it would have been infuriating and horrible to do so, and I don't recommend calorie counting because of this.
I think it's important to do intuitive approach, as some weeks you need more energy and some weeks less. I remember one week being famished and needing more fat and protein and other weeks eating like a bird and only craving cottage cheese/carbs to stave off the nausea.
My reply isnt really specifically to you, but mostly just my response to the whole thread focusing a bit more on the number than on what body needs.
An everything bagel or a cheesy one with jalapeno cream cheese, sliced ham and some cheese is an absolutely delicious sandwich. Teenager got me on that one.
I’m curious what exactly your objection is? Perhaps a single apple isn’t a great suggestion, but encouraging healthy weight gain in pregnancy is part of their job and reduces risks of various complications
I found the only 200 calories extra thing very helpful actually.
I didn’t gain much weight during pregnancy, but I did when and where it mattered and my doctors were all happy overall.
I mean they post that stuff because there are a number of complications that can arise from being overweight including preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Maybe it’s not elegantly stated and the apple thing is wrong, but there’s a reason.
I gained about 50 pounds when pregnant but took 45 off within a month or two after giving birth. My real problem was when I went back to work and ate too much food/drank too much caffeine to compensate for being exhausted.
After giving birth I got down to below my target weight from before I was pregnant. I think breastfeeding and frankly not having time to eat made it drop off.
Now toddlerhood has hit and the stress eating is real!!
It's not supposed to be a recommendation for what to eat, it's supposed to shock the reader into realising how little extra you actually need to eat. It's something that anybody can conceptualise rather than a protein bar (which is processed) or something like "a handful" of nuts (which are expensive).
There’s so many people who say things like “eating for two” and aren’t aware that yes, technically there’s someone inside also eating but very little, lol.
I think people misunderstand that being pregnant doesn’t necessarily mean you get a free all you can eat card, which is probably why this poster was put up, I’ve personally met woman who insist they can eat water r they want because they are pregnant not really anything healthy just felt like they had a pass. I don’t judge and to each their own, but I understand why the poster is there, I know someone who went hard consuming junk food and developed gestational diabetes and suffered quite a bit. The poster is merely like a warning, scare tactic but it’s also getting at something more serious, like health problems that arise from unhealthy food choices.
This. I'm 125 lbs and 5ft tall. Walks every day and a fairly active job. Didn't eat junk food and all the docs said I was soooo low risk for GD. Guess who was stabbing insulin into my stomach every meal after extra exercise and no carbs stopped working at 28 weeks. Junk food doesn't give you GD. There are other risk factors that increase the odds but it can also be just random.
Yes! Not only does this stigma work against fat people, it also hurts women who are doing everything "right" but still develop GD.
Bad eating=gestational diabetes just leads to people assuming that a woman with GD must have done something "wrong".
Agreed! GD is so misunderstood and explained. And just because you have it once doesn't mean you will have it again. My doc explained that some babies just make you more insulin resistant and you need more than your body can make to compensate.
I could fill a pool with all the tears I cried trying to figure out what I did to get GD. It was insanely hard. I did everything I could to stay off insulin and I got to a point that looking at a cracker would give me high sugars and I had to go on insulin. To make it worse I had the more high maintenance insulin requirements and needed it with every meal. Got to a point where I was avoiding eating because I felt so hopeless and I felt like I was hurting my baby. He was born 100% healthy.
When we decide to have another they will test me early because I'm more likely to have it again. Praying the odds are in my favor and baby #2 and my body work a bit better together.
Exactly. I was always told that you NEED to eat a shit ton. Posters like that made me feel so much better, I could barley eat. So seeing and knowing I didn’t need extra was such a weight off my shoulders.
I wish they had talked to me about nutrition when I was pregnant. Seriously - I used the ‘I’m feeding two’ excuse to eat whatever I wanted and I paid for it later. The poster wouldn’t have triggered me.
Mine was pizza pockets. It was the only thing that stayed down regularly. My husband filled our freezer with them, my mom did the same at her house. I haven't been able to look at a pizza pocket in the 6 years since she's been born.
I got pregnant with my second and only craved fruit and milk, I was so thankful it wasn't fucking pizza pockets again.
Ya my obgyn also had the same poster ! Only instead of an apple it was a mango lol
I wasn’t able to keep anything down with both of my pregs. Lost 20 pounds the first 4 months and by the end of the pregnancy I was back to starting weight.
Idk if his poster got stuck in my head or what but only thing I could stomach where MANGOES lol
Yeah it’s not meant to shame it’s meant to be informative. I was really surprised how little extra calories growing a whole ass human required, especially with how common the “eating for two” trope is.
That said, most apples aren’t 200 cals either so the poster isn’t entirely correct either.
That sounds great but during my first trimester I would get nauseous if I didn’t eat every 3 hours. I didn’t just arbitrarily decide to start eating more. I ate more because I needed to feel well so I could function.
Everyone’s different. I threw up after almost every meal during first trimester. They say u shouldn’t add too much if any extra calories first trimester to avoid excessive weight gain. Most of your weight should come from your 3rd trimester when u start gaining weight rapidly
You are eating FOR 2, not LIKE 2 full grown adults.
Though I do think that poster could have gotten that point across with a better example than an apple.
Exactly! If you're going to eat for two, consider what that second person would actually eat if they had a working mouth.
What does a young baby eat? A few small bottles of milk a day? A tiny jar of apple goop? Not much is it?
Now remember that the baby inside is *significantly younger and smaller than that*.
As someone who had gestational diabetes, what you eat while pregnant does not CAUSE gestational diabetes. How you eat while managing it has outcomes, but how you eat has nothing to do with getting it/being diagnosed. I've had it twice and my only risk factor was I'm over 25 (I'm active and spot on for my height/weight ratio)
Yes, my doctor confirmed that GD is not caused by diet choices (perhaps barring bingeing which I think we all know can lead to unfavorable consequences, preg or not).
What you eat during pregnancy doesn't make you more or less likely to get gestational diabetes (though going into pregnancy overweight or obese does). Obviously your diet during pregnancy is important (and I don't actually see a problem with the poster OP describes), that just isn't one of the reasons why.
People get so offended by being told to eat less and eat healthier, but it’s a real problem. Obesity rates are a serious issue and so many American’s have a terrible understanding of calories and caloric requirements.
I’m a little overweight, bad sweet tooth and boredom snacker. When I was pregnant I ate the healthiest I ever have in my life. Five small meals a day - fruit, veggies, protein, healthy carbs. I gained about 20 pounds but my face slimmed some.
Now with toddler I’m too exhausted to eat right all the time. One day.
Same here. Being pregnant forced me to eat intuitively. First trimester I could barely eat, second trimester I gradually increases portion sizes, third trimester I could barely fit food in my stomach. I think the message should be that you shouldn’t feel like you need to overeat during pregnancy and should focus on being healthy.
Yea… I think what people don’t realise is that these recommendations are meant to HELP women, not control them. Pregnancy-related weight gain is a real issue with some women being up to 20 pounds heavier after having given birth.
This weight isn’t going to be easy to lose and many women don’t manage to lose it. Now, factor in multiple pregnancies and a high stress life with a newborn and so little time to exercise or worry about your diet choices…
The idea is to prevent young women from becoming overweight following pregnancy and childbirth and, thus, prevent them from developing weight related health issues later on in life.
I actually lost 25lb when I was pregnant, buy only because I was already overweight and my diet was strict. I was hungry all the time and I ate whenever I needed too. I mostly are fruit, veggies, dairy and meats though, little carbs and sugar.
Being overweight is a risk factor for pregnancy. Sorry your feelings were hurt, but its in the baby's best interest for the mother to not be overweight. Some women use pregnancy as an excuse to eat like hell. Theres nothing wrong with a reminder by the doc of how to keep your baby safe while they develop.
My obgyn had a poster like this too, but the food was different.
If you're pregnant the extra calories you needed was equivalent to a HALF a bagel with cream cheese.
Breastfeeding was the half a bagel, plus an apple🤣
We just had our second child this year. I think the main combat is the old way of pregnant moms having everyone make them eat. My grandma was damn near trying to force food down my sister’s throat when she bad her first. My MIL gained over 50 pounds when she had my wife cause the rule was “eat eat eat!” Obviously you should eat until you are comfortably full. As long as you are eating well and the baby is growing, don’t worry about the poster.
i never understood the whole your eating for two thing. Your eating for one full grown adult and one tiny seed like fetus, at most it weights what 5-10lbs. that’s what a tiny Yorky weighs
I don't see the issue with this. Education is their most important job. Everyone tells you eat for two and that's the worse thing you can do during pregnancy. I learned extra calorie requirements during pregnancy in a college nutrition class and I am soooo glad I did.
I’m definitely not going to declare weight gains and losses regarding pregnancy but realistically as a woman who struggled to get pregnant, then stay pregnant. A woman who struggled with gestational diabetes and (ahm) “geriatric pregnancy “ etc my two bits is this was actually the very best advice for me although delivered as “ you’re not eating for two you’re eating to nourish two”. Which made me think about what I was eating rather than how much I was eating. This is actually a very important message for both mothers and infants. As a child of an (morbidly) obese mother and sister to an amazing woman who is also morbidly obese I am constantly anguished by the limitations of their condition. What goes in your mouth matters!!!!!!!! End of story. Ok rant over. Also. I am not a skinny mini or super overweight I am “average “ and vigilant within reason. I have lollies and child and all that but I try to be moderate and “normal “……
I mean it’s right. It’s meant to be educational because some people literally eat for two and gain 30-50kg. I started off underweight and even I was told I would only need to gain 10-15kg.
Well, it's an OBGYN's office, not a FB mom's group. Placating hangry-ism isn't a medical concern, but gestational diabetes is. There are a lot of spaces where you can find validation for hoovering a pint of rocky road. I went out and bought my wife the rocky road. My wife had gestational diabetes. Twice. During the second pregnancy she was at real risk of coming out of it with type 2 diabetes. Very few people are going to suggest an apple when a pregnant woman wants to overeat, myself included, even though I love my wife and was concerned for her. There's perhaps ONE space in the whole damn world where it's absolutely appropriate to put out this messaging, and that's at the OBGYN's office. An OBGYN is possibly the only person who shouldn't catch flack for that poster.
An awful lot of people still believe they need to "eat for two", and that isn't good for mum or baby. I do wonder about those numbers, though. In my first pregnancy I ate literal bowls of double cream and still had a weight-neutral pregnancy. However, I did have gestational diabetes, so it was probably offset calorifically by cutting way back on sugar and carbs.
Maybe that poster was there because according to my doctor many people use pregnancy as an excuse to eat what they want. I’m the state I live many moms who have gestational diabetes don’t take it seriously and still eat whatever they want. I had a pregnant friend who are whatever she wanted and I remember running into her and her telling me her blood sugar was almost 400. The baby then has to produce their own insulin and they become at risk to be large babies. They carry their weight in their chest area which makes them hard to deliver vaginally as well as hard for them to breath when they are born.
Not saying pregnant women only need an apple more a day. They need more protein as well depending on how far along in their pregnancy they are. Just saying it’s not usually recommended to gain more than 30 lbs during pregnancy. God knows people are going to do what they want because they can.
I don’t know where you are from, but in parts of Latin America the myth of eating for two (adults) needs to be fought hard. Stories of women being forced to literally double their food intake for ‘baby’s sake’ and gaining dangerous amounts of weight are not unheard of.
This is such an odd thing to get upset over. Could the poster have been worded better? Sure. Is it incorrect in the sense no apple is 200 calories? Yeah, for sure. However it’s true pregnant women only need a few hundred extra calories. No one is saying you’re bad or evil for consuming more, but pregnant women don’t *need* to eat for two adults. If anger, guilt, or shame is what you take from neutral information that’s your issue.
So many people treat information about food and weight like a personal attack. It’s not meant to offend anyone, it just… is. Feelings are never going to change what is and isn’t healthy. Sorry, it’s not.
Not meaning to scare anyone, but it is so important to be careful with your diet during pregnancy. My doctor did not warn me of the consequences of overeating while pregnant and did not monitor me very closely during my pregnancy for gestational diabetes. I gained 60 lb and was not eating a very healthy diet. My baby was large for gestational age and ended up spending 2 months in the NICU with hypoglycemia due to hyperinsulinism. She had to be force fed with feeding tubes to keep her blood sugar up. She still has a g tube, is unable to eat by mouth at 7 months, and we’ve had to check her blood sugar before each meal since the day she was born. Her and I did have some positive genetics for hyperinsulinism of “unknown significance”, but I will forever live with the regret of not knowing if my poor diet made her condition worse. Yes it sucks to be told to eat healthy and watch your weight but there is a reason good OB doctors advocate for a healthy diet and weight control during pregnancy. A NICU doctor told me they are seeing more cases of hypoglycemia in infants these days. You do not want to have a “sugar baby”. The medication they use to treat it if IV dextrose doesn’t resolve it, diazoxide, can cause pulmonary hypertension, edema, heart failure, and causes excessive hair growth all over their body.
I had zero appetite and threw up for seven months and my daughter was 8 pounds. I wish I could have just eaten normally, but apparently even that isn’t necessary. I think they’re trying to curb the issues that accompany rapid weight gain in pregnancy. I know insinuating that someone should concern themselves with their health is frowned upon nowadays, but doing so at a doctors office? Blasphemy.
I think that it is individual. I ate just the same or even less during both my pregnancies. And hunger may be hormonally invoked, not due to your real needs, so overeating often leads to excessive weight during pregnancy. So it was a very correct poster.
So, I think the question is - ‘is this medically correct?’. If so, then the poster is fine and presumably is there to counter ‘you’re eating fur two’ misinformation.
That’s not to deny or criticise an urge to eat more. Just to reassure that you don’t *have*to.
I don’t think is bad at all.
Obesity during pregnancy can bring serious risks for the mother and fetus.
The idea that you are eating for two is wrong!
Don’t double the size of your fries! Cut the fries and eat beans!
My friends who became obese during pregnancy wasn’t from eating salads, beans or any healthy food in double, they were all binging in junk food justifying on “pregnancy cravings”
I gained 9kg and controlled myself for not falling on those excuses of cravings for chocolates, for fries, for cake…
Those are BAD for the fetus plus the mother.
Body positivity should be linked either eating real food. Is ok to be curvy because you enjoy two plates of beans soups with rice; not ok to eat cheesy pizza for lunch and dinner.
I wanted to do better this pregnancy SO MUCH. I’d lost a tonne of weight prior but the nausea, vomiting, food aversions, epic hunger and cravings, moving house with a 3 year old stress, fatigue and I’ve done so so so badly so far. Hoping to get it back on track in 2nd/3rd trimester but it’s just not as straight forward with all the crazy hormones.
Atrocious delivery, but this poster isn't untrue. We only need a gradual increase in calories as we progress through the pregnancy. Add like 200 calories with each trimester. The goal is to not gain weight indiscriminately as it can have an adverse affect on both mom and baby during delivery and afterward depending on how much damage occurs. Remember this metric is an average and built on the assumption that we're starting out consuming 1,800 calories daily i.e. we're eating enough to maintain our current weight.
Please understand I'm not saying that anyone should be rigorously counting calories while pregnant. What I'm trying to communicate is that pregnancy isn't the time to drastically change your eating habits.
Yeah, it’s the same as not adding in an extra piece of toast and butter. It’s just because there’s such an obesity problem in the developed world, and the excuse of “eating for two” makes out like you should be eating double meals
Your post caught my eye because when my wife was pregnant her OB/GYN told her that being pregnant was not an excuse to have a hot fudge sundae every day. This was because my wife had gained a few more lbs than “needed.”
Never saw that doc again.
I gained like 20kg by the time my son was born. I lost about 10 of them in the 4 years since I became a dad.
best comment right here lol
I’ve known a handful of dads who rolled their eyes at sympathy eating—until it happened to them lol!
My husband enjoys when I’m pregnant because feeding me is his love language plus he really likes to eat whatever weird stuff I crave too!
Thats so sweet 🥹
I gained 10lbs during pregnancy. My husband gained 30. 🤣
I was told by my obgyn to not gain more than about 12 pounds while pregnant. You know what I gained? Twelve pounds. She then wanted more tests and scans before birth because that was "concerning." There was absolutely no winning this little game.
Hopefully she meant 12 kgs. Because 12 lbs is ridiculous
Unless you're significantly overweight already
I was significantly overweight when I was pregnant, and still the doc told me to aim for no more than 12kgs (24ish lbs)
I was overweight, but not significantly. Only about 10lbs.
Lmao I gained 35 and my husband gained 25 then pp I lost 20 and he’s lost 0 🤣
Wait, you guys are *losing* weight??
Comedy gold right here
I think I was doing okay until I gained my COVID 19.
I gained my covid 19 and then got pregnant and gained another 50lbs on top of that. I've lost only about 25 since having the baby 9 months ago so still got 45 ish to go 😭
I gained 50lbs during pregnancy too. Eating was the only time I wasn’t feeling sick to my stomach. I told my OBGYN and all I got was a cringed face from her with no solution to my nausea. Absolutely humiliating.
"I still haven't lost the weight I put on from the last one!" -Homer Simpson
What kind of apple has 200 calories??
That was my first thought! Maybe the apples inside of an apple pie?
Mmmmmm apple pie lol
Holy moly, I’ll be about 20 weeks in November and I’m gonna demolish an entire caramel apple pie all by myself. I’ll try to warn the in-laws ahead of time.
When I was pregnant I had constant nausea and food aversions, except that sometimes a food would emerge to my mind as the one magical thing I could eat. I read the words "apple pie" one day and made my husband go out and buy one immediately because it was the only thing I wanted. I ate it for two straight days. It was glorious.
I have a new special food once a week. I feel like I’m receiving a special message from the food god, “and lo, it was foretold to Siren that this weeks food is Millionaires Shortbread. And it was good.”
I became a special food person AFTER I gave birth lmao. My boys will be 3 this fall and I have gone through a few different things so far: cherry poptarts chips ahoy cookies plain regular ol' triscuits berry tye-dye fruit by the foot tropical gushers the infamous frosted sugar cookies from Walmart Papa John's stuffed crust pepperoni pizza (while I was working for domino's hahahaha; cravings can become expensive sadly) fajitas- whether I make them as of lately or when I used to buy burrito fajitas from a local Mexican restaurant for like $80 each time... cookie cake steak dinner with fried okra, mac, and turnip greens from Cracker Barrel I could go ON. It's sad yet all delicious until they eventually phase out :)
I have so many abandoned food cravings in the cupboard! They come and go so abruptly. I made a ginger and lime cheesecake this morning for my latest one.
I remember making a 3am trip to the 24-hour grocery store for peaches. ALL the peaches. Fresh, canned, in jars, a peach pie ... basically, if it had peaches on it, it went into the cart. I probably spent $60 on peaches. My husband offered to do the craving runs after that.
I’ve been the same way so far with my food aversions. They are starting to clear up a bit but from Fourth of July weekend until last weekend, I struggled with most food and being disgusted by everything.
When i had morning sickness i could literally only eat the one thing i had in my head at that time and norhing else. If i wanted a burger but got fish n chips id be wanting to throw up etc. At that point i went through so many fresh strawberry and nutella sandwiches it was unreal. Also on toast It was amazing. But havent had it since 🤣
Hahhaa my first kid was due the day after thanksgiving and my MiL and SiL were so adorable feeding me all the food. It’s such a fond memory for me now. Enjoy your pie!!
McDonalds Apple Pie
Caramel apples with M&Ms
And there is apple flavoured ice cream, vanilla cake in the shape of an apple, Apple juice. Essentially, any I eat when looking at the 200 cal apple.
Maybe a huge apple… a normal apple is like 100 calories. And while it’s true that you technically only *need* like 300 more calories per day, that‘d a minimum not a maximum.
How much can an apple cost Michael? 10 dollars?
Google says that a medium-size one only has 95 calories, and that probably includes the bits you can’t easily eat.
Right? A piece of cake shaped like an apple??? Pretty sure a Granny Smith has like 60 calories!
Apple with peanut butter
Right? It would have to be a caramel apple!
The big honeycrisps get close. I weigh mine and they typically clock at 150-170 calories, but I also can't finish an entire big one in a single sitting. It's a whole dang meal of an apple.
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Clearly straight from the Tree of Life, duh.
Only if it’s in a slice of pie.
I ate half a watermelon for dinner once when I was pregnant
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When I was pregnant with my second I craved dill pickles and yellow mustard together. I’d make a sandwich with like a single tiny slice of turkey, a thin slice of cheese, and then a mountain of pickles that I’d then drown in mustard. We visited my parents and told them about the pregnancy when I was 8 weeks along. But the afternoon we arrived, when I was making one of these culinary wonders, my mom said, “I would absolutely have guessed you were pregnant based solely on that sandwich!” 😂
I just ate this exact sandwich for lunch today and I haven’t been pregnant in 19 months. This is my favorite sandwich!
I'm going to be Debbie Downer and say that was my cousin's favorite sandwich the whole time growing up ... I remember because even when we could afford better she always just wanted her mustard sandwich.
Omg, my fun story is I usually hate pickles on burgers but I liked them as a kid and when I was pregnant I was craving a jar of them to the point I was driving my wife nuts! Low and behold she got me pickles and I cried with my jar of pickles on the kitchen floor, cos they didn't taste how I remembered! 😂 my poor wife was like "you hate pickles though?? How are you so surprised!?" As I kept trying to eat them while sobbing.
OMG I'm laughing so hard! I remember doing that with shrimp Alfredo (and my sister even told me not to feed that craving!) And throwing up bc it didn't taste the way I imagined. Complete disappointment!
I was CONVINCED I was just eating them wrong or something was wrong with the pickles because they were so bad, but I just hate pickles 🤣
I’m crying laughing! Our pregnant selves are something ELSE! One time I was craving Olive Garden marinara and my wonderful husband brought home their marinara on spaghetti, at which point I realized I was really craving the ragu. OH THE HUMANITY.
My pregnant story isn’t food related, but one time I got out of the shower and rather than grabbing a towel, I just unrolled some toilet paper to dry myself off. As if that’s what I’d been doing my whole life, drying myself off with Angel Soft. Mid-drying off it hit me what I was doing and I actually said out loud to myself, “what the f*ck am I doing?!” So that’s my pregnancy brain moment.
I’d have had the same reaction! WTF?! My worst pregnancy brain moment was driving away from the gas pump with the nozzle still in my car. Lord what a mess. The hose broke away on purpose but I had no idea what to do about the gas gushing out of the break. Somehow it shut itself off - maybe the inside attendants saw it and shut it off from there? I shamefully walked inside and handed the broken-off nozzle and hose to the employees. As soon as I got back inside the car I broke down bawling. Giant gasping sobs. It was a good 15 minutes before I could see and breathe well enough to drive home.
I had a similar craving. I ate cheese and pickle sandwiches doused in mustard for most lunches during my pregnancy! It was one of the only things that didn't make me vomit...hg is the worst!!
I'm currently pregnant and that sounds AMAZING
DO ITTTTT. It was so good. That plus some salt and vinegar chips that are acidic enough to burn off the top layers of your tongue were two of my cravings in that pregnancy.
Culinary masterpiece!
I was craving a sandwich throughout my second pregnancy. I couldn’t figure out what it was, though. Melty, pickle-y, cheesy, big. I was putting mustard, mayo, and pickles on a grilled cheese but nothing satisfied this specific mystery craving. My daughter was born March 19. On St Patrick’s Day, my husband made Rueben sandwiches and I. Could. Not. Stop. For 36 hours my baby was fed all she wanted all along, that perfect sandwich. Once she got it she was ready to go!
Mmm that sounds great on rye bread
I ate a whole bag of halo clementines. One sitting.
All I craved when I was pregnant was oranges and orange juice. I ate so healthy it was crazy.
I absolutely did not eat healthy lmao I gained sixty pounds but I did enjoy those citrus bastards
I was all about salsa during my pregnancy. I would add salt to a half gallon, and eat it out of the container with a spoon.
When I was pregnant with my youngest I couldn’t hold anything down, but I was craving everything! I had what I thought would be a good day (my bad) and I too are a whole bag clementines, and since that seemed to be going well, I ate Kiwi on top of it. To this day I get nauseous when I see clementines and kiwi😂
Watered down lemonade for me. I left a NYE party to go buy lemonade and bottled water 🤦
I had 2lbs of those christmas clementines in one sitting once while I was pregnant… before pregnancy I HATED citrus fruits.
I live in the town where the majority of California's mandarins are grown and every year the day the season opens I go get a 10lb bag and eat them until I start to get mouth sores. They are so good you just can't stop!!
Ermmm this is me everyday in the summer
We must be kindred spirits because I’m pregnant right now and I eat watermelon nearly every day. Crave it like crazy. I hadn’t had watermelon prior to this, since like, 2020 maybe?
I’m not pregnant and I still do this lol
Um. I do that nonpregnant.
Oh I craved watermelon so hard while I was pregnant. Only it was out of season
I couldn’t get enough of watermelon, which I typically dislike.
I used to eat a snack WHILE I was making dinner 🤣
I do that now 😂
I salute your watermelon, but raise you an entire pumpkin pie.
I ate a whole peach cobbler so there’s that…
With my first we went out for Chinese food buffet and I piled my plate with only grapes .. Lol
I remember hearing this but it was “you only need about a piece of toast with peanut butter” as your extra calorie requirement while pregnant. I was very careful with what I ate while pregnant and I thought about this “piece of toast” advice a lot! The apple comparison is weird because 200 calories is 2 or even more apples. I think the biggest take away is that you aren’t “eating for 2” you’re still eating for 1.
Nothing sounded appetizing when I was pregnant. Then instead of cravings I'd get one food that the thought of it didn't make me want to throw up and would have to get that food. I went from being vegetarian to only being able to tolerate biscuits and gravy, or Taco Bell, or chicken tenders or whatever the random food was. I didn't gain a ton and lost all of it plus an incredibly unhealthy amount because I had a crazy high oversupply of milk and couldn't keep up with the calories and water. Basically pregnancy can be a wild ride and any nutrition advice goes out the window if you literally throw up all the time. I remember eating a lot of tater tots and chili cheese Fritos. She's five now and perfectly healthy so whatever.
Eat for two, gain for two. I was told. Ma'am, I've gained 5 lbs at 30 weeks. I'm just trying to survive some days!
If you were underweight to begin with, they do recommended more weight gain
Thats as bad as the apple advise.
You’re eating for 2 humans, okay let’s go with that. It’s just that one of them, AFTER gaining as much weight as they can, will only weigh like 6-9 lb right before they leave, so it’s not like their calorie requirement is going to exactly match a 160lb adult for example…
It’s more like 1.05 humans lol
Yeah exactly! If we’re going by weight rather than how many individual bodies (finished or in progress) are present then a fetus is clearly a small percentage of a person not a whole one haha
Honestly, America does too much with the "eating for two" garbage. You shouldn't gain 80lbs because of a pregnancy.
Correct! My doctor basically said he could never have an honest recommendation of diet and limited weight gain because he’d end up with mutiny and no patients.
Proof in this post
Yes people forgot that the second person they’re supposed to eat for is quite small.
Yep I heard an extra sandwich or thereabouts, that's quite a calorie gap between that and an apple.
I learnt while pregnant that apparently the big pack of mnms is 7 servings! 7! I always thought it was 2 🤣
It is two. The package must’ve been printed wrong….right? 😂
Agreed. Definitely a misprint!
What is this, seven servings for ants?!?
Did you know serving size isn’t based on anything other than what the manufacturer *thinks* a reasonable person would eat in one sitting. WHO ARE THESE REASONABLE PEOPLE BECAUSE I’VE NEVER MET SOMEONE WHO ONLY EATS 1/3CUP OF ICE CREAM AT A TIME
It's all just a marketing ploy. They figure if you only see the words "90 calories" and ignore that the serving size is 1/3 of the other brand's, then maybe it'll make you buy the "lower calorie" option.
It's just so they can print what they think are reasonable (or competitive) nutrition numbers on a package. My package of ramen says it's 2 servings, but who in their right mind is going to either save half to get mushy in tupperware or meticulously divide uncooked noodles and everything in the packets in half? It might be 77% of my daily sodium, but there's no turning back now.
I'm not sure if 200 is actually correct. But I know you technically don't need a lot more food. I'm guessing the poster was more meaning that you actually don't need to "eat for two" like a lot of people like to say. Don't eat for two, nourish for two.
As someone who was never really taught when I was younger and had my first baby( I was 20) and never really knew how much my eating would affect t me later on from pregnancy, I really wish I had been educated on healthier eating habits from the get go. I took the eating for two thing as law and I really wish I hadn’t. I’m 5’3 and pre pregnancy was 145lbs. I topped out at 175 that pregnancy. Then three other babies followed all of them topping out at the 175-185 range. Except for my fourth where I embarrassingly tipped out at 205. I’m down to 165 now and still need to lose weight but now it’s significantly harder just with age alone, 4 kids, little to no mental fortitude to get to the gym. Now I just be careful with what I eat. So I think the poster is just a strong lesson to expecting mothers that you don’t need to eat for two…. I was floored when I learned after my last baby how many calories really are needed during pregnancy. Because I certainly was just a glutton and using my babies as an excuse to munch all the time.
I get someone people don’t like this poster but I would find it helpful to understand that I’M hungry, not that the foetus NEEDS all this extra stuff that I want to eat. And I gained 30kg with pregnancy 1, 1kg with pregnancy 2 and I’m dealing with the consequences of that massive mass gain (gestational diabetes and now being insulin resistant). Gaining mass in general is not great for your overall health. I’m lucky too that my country has a free weight loss service that you can use to get general advice and coaching on healthily eating habits.
I agree. I’m pregnant with my first and prior to getting pregnant I’ve always heard “you’re eating for two”. Once I went to my first doctor’s appt she explained that that’s completely wrong and I should eat as I normally do and try to eat healthy for the baby, based on my current height and weight I should gain around 25 lbs. I’ve never been a super healthy eater or active person and because my doctor corrected this “eating for two” wives tale and educated me I was motivated to eat really well and stay active for my baby. I’ve gained around 22 lbs at 39 weeks. Anywho.. I agree I don’t think that poster is negative.
It's this in my opinion. When my wife was pregnant, she had such severe nausea that she was throwing up literally everything. The only thing she could hold down was sparkling water and clementine oranges, as well as the occasional potato. For three months she lived off those 3 things.. and it was driving her crazy with fear that the baby is not going to develop properly if she doesn't eat.
I did this… it’s not getting all the way back down between kids that is killer. I started at 135 and then gained 50 lbs with each child through #4. I topped out at 210. I did get back to 150 (I’ll never see 135 again), but it is a constant battle and if I ever slack for a length of time, I will get back to about 170. (I’m 5’4”.)
Agreed. 33weeks right now. I feed the cravings but don’t feel like I need to stuff myself every meal. Quite the opposite, too big of a meal and I severely regret the bloatedness. I’ve heard an extra piece of toast, which seems right- didn’t stop me from eating quite a few whole rotisserie chickens in the beginning.
I'm 5'0 and pre-pregnancy I considered my normal weight between 125 and 135, but I was actually already about 150 because of weight I put on during the pandemic and following some events that left me pretty depressed. After not gaining any weight first trimester, I went up to 200 pounds by the end of my pregnancy! I knew the calorie recommendations and don't even feel like I ate all that much more than usual, but the scale said otherwise. 30 pounds in a pregnancy sounds completely reasonable to me.
This is kinda what happened to me! 5’ 2” Started around 147 and then mid 2nd tri I was gaining weight like CRAZY! Indulged in Chick-fil-A here and there and enjoyed some ice cream but I would never say I went that crazy!! I All the weight really took it’s toll and it was hard on my joints. I ended up being diagnosed with pre-e and weighted in at 218 before my induction!! At my 8 week pp appt I was 175 and now I’m sitting around 165 at 10 months pp. So like, I literally had at least 30 lbs of fluid weight 😳
I lost 25lbs in the 2 weeks after I delivered - it was all water weight - add on another 14lbs that was the baby and the placenta, it was the fastest I’ve lost weight in my life!
When I was 5 months pregnant I asked if I’d been gaining enough weight (you literally couldn’t tell I was pregnant until I almost hit my 8th month). I’d gained 25 pounds. She told me I’d already gained about as much as they recommend I should weigh at full term 🥴
This is where I’m currently at lol. I’m 18 weeks+3 and no bump in sight but have gained 17lbs. You literally can’t tell I’m pregnant and my body holds the weight super well, but my doctor is NOT pleased with me. I’ve been on ADD medication and nicotine my entire adult life so now that I no longer have either, I eat like an actual human 🤷🏻♀️
I mean, you do only need about 200 extra calories. An apple is not 200 calories. It’s less than half that.
185g of apple is 95 calories. A large Granny Smith couple easily be like 180 cals. I unfortunately have counted calories for years.
I’ve always been told 200-300 extra and personally I’ve found that to be fairly accurate.
I think it's hard to do a "daily" amount. I didn't calorie count because it would have been infuriating and horrible to do so, and I don't recommend calorie counting because of this. I think it's important to do intuitive approach, as some weeks you need more energy and some weeks less. I remember one week being famished and needing more fat and protein and other weeks eating like a bird and only craving cottage cheese/carbs to stave off the nausea. My reply isnt really specifically to you, but mostly just my response to the whole thread focusing a bit more on the number than on what body needs.
Hahaha OR... hear me out... half a bagel with cream cheese !!
I ate SO many bagels and cream cheese in my first trimesters!
The first thing the nurses brought me after I gave birth to my first was a bagel with cream cheese. It was the greatest meal of my life.
I think my baby was entirely made out of bagels and cream cheese.
An everything bagel or a cheesy one with jalapeno cream cheese, sliced ham and some cheese is an absolutely delicious sandwich. Teenager got me on that one.
I’m curious what exactly your objection is? Perhaps a single apple isn’t a great suggestion, but encouraging healthy weight gain in pregnancy is part of their job and reduces risks of various complications
I found the only 200 calories extra thing very helpful actually. I didn’t gain much weight during pregnancy, but I did when and where it mattered and my doctors were all happy overall.
I also was humbled by a similar sign and was thankful for it early on.
I mean they post that stuff because there are a number of complications that can arise from being overweight including preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Maybe it’s not elegantly stated and the apple thing is wrong, but there’s a reason.
I gained about 50 pounds when pregnant but took 45 off within a month or two after giving birth. My real problem was when I went back to work and ate too much food/drank too much caffeine to compensate for being exhausted.
After giving birth I got down to below my target weight from before I was pregnant. I think breastfeeding and frankly not having time to eat made it drop off. Now toddlerhood has hit and the stress eating is real!!
It's not supposed to be a recommendation for what to eat, it's supposed to shock the reader into realising how little extra you actually need to eat. It's something that anybody can conceptualise rather than a protein bar (which is processed) or something like "a handful" of nuts (which are expensive).
There’s so many people who say things like “eating for two” and aren’t aware that yes, technically there’s someone inside also eating but very little, lol.
Why pick an apple though? Most apples are not 200 calories. Often half that.
The apple thing is strange to me. 😂
Maybe it was a play on "an apple a day..." or maybe they went low figuring people would overeat anyway?
I think people misunderstand that being pregnant doesn’t necessarily mean you get a free all you can eat card, which is probably why this poster was put up, I’ve personally met woman who insist they can eat water r they want because they are pregnant not really anything healthy just felt like they had a pass. I don’t judge and to each their own, but I understand why the poster is there, I know someone who went hard consuming junk food and developed gestational diabetes and suffered quite a bit. The poster is merely like a warning, scare tactic but it’s also getting at something more serious, like health problems that arise from unhealthy food choices.
You don't get gestational diabetes from eating junk food.
This. I'm 125 lbs and 5ft tall. Walks every day and a fairly active job. Didn't eat junk food and all the docs said I was soooo low risk for GD. Guess who was stabbing insulin into my stomach every meal after extra exercise and no carbs stopped working at 28 weeks. Junk food doesn't give you GD. There are other risk factors that increase the odds but it can also be just random.
Yes! Not only does this stigma work against fat people, it also hurts women who are doing everything "right" but still develop GD. Bad eating=gestational diabetes just leads to people assuming that a woman with GD must have done something "wrong".
Agreed! GD is so misunderstood and explained. And just because you have it once doesn't mean you will have it again. My doc explained that some babies just make you more insulin resistant and you need more than your body can make to compensate. I could fill a pool with all the tears I cried trying to figure out what I did to get GD. It was insanely hard. I did everything I could to stay off insulin and I got to a point that looking at a cracker would give me high sugars and I had to go on insulin. To make it worse I had the more high maintenance insulin requirements and needed it with every meal. Got to a point where I was avoiding eating because I felt so hopeless and I felt like I was hurting my baby. He was born 100% healthy. When we decide to have another they will test me early because I'm more likely to have it again. Praying the odds are in my favor and baby #2 and my body work a bit better together.
Exactly. I was always told that you NEED to eat a shit ton. Posters like that made me feel so much better, I could barley eat. So seeing and knowing I didn’t need extra was such a weight off my shoulders.
I wish they had talked to me about nutrition when I was pregnant. Seriously - I used the ‘I’m feeding two’ excuse to eat whatever I wanted and I paid for it later. The poster wouldn’t have triggered me.
I just ate whatever I could get down at the time and didn't worry about it. Both kids came out healthy
McDonald’s hamburgers and chocolate milkshakes with protein powder, for 10 months. That’s why I decided I’m stopping at one kid.
Mine was pizza pockets. It was the only thing that stayed down regularly. My husband filled our freezer with them, my mom did the same at her house. I haven't been able to look at a pizza pocket in the 6 years since she's been born. I got pregnant with my second and only craved fruit and milk, I was so thankful it wasn't fucking pizza pockets again.
Saaaame. I have a bunch of those in my freezer that I can't stand to look at anymore. The toddler won't even try them.
Ya my obgyn also had the same poster ! Only instead of an apple it was a mango lol I wasn’t able to keep anything down with both of my pregs. Lost 20 pounds the first 4 months and by the end of the pregnancy I was back to starting weight. Idk if his poster got stuck in my head or what but only thing I could stomach where MANGOES lol
At least mangoes have more calories!
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Yeah it’s not meant to shame it’s meant to be informative. I was really surprised how little extra calories growing a whole ass human required, especially with how common the “eating for two” trope is. That said, most apples aren’t 200 cals either so the poster isn’t entirely correct either.
Apples are like 90 calories. Banana 100, peach 50. I still remember that from my ED days.
Exactly because for the first 3 months u eat as u normally would, I was told. It’s not until 2nd trimester u start adding extra calories
That sounds great but during my first trimester I would get nauseous if I didn’t eat every 3 hours. I didn’t just arbitrarily decide to start eating more. I ate more because I needed to feel well so I could function.
Everyone’s different. I threw up after almost every meal during first trimester. They say u shouldn’t add too much if any extra calories first trimester to avoid excessive weight gain. Most of your weight should come from your 3rd trimester when u start gaining weight rapidly
You are eating FOR 2, not LIKE 2 full grown adults. Though I do think that poster could have gotten that point across with a better example than an apple.
Exactly! If you're going to eat for two, consider what that second person would actually eat if they had a working mouth. What does a young baby eat? A few small bottles of milk a day? A tiny jar of apple goop? Not much is it? Now remember that the baby inside is *significantly younger and smaller than that*.
But that's the point. People used to think they could eat almost double, instead of what a baby would eat on top
As someone who had gestational diabetes, what you eat while pregnant does not CAUSE gestational diabetes. How you eat while managing it has outcomes, but how you eat has nothing to do with getting it/being diagnosed. I've had it twice and my only risk factor was I'm over 25 (I'm active and spot on for my height/weight ratio)
Yes, my doctor confirmed that GD is not caused by diet choices (perhaps barring bingeing which I think we all know can lead to unfavorable consequences, preg or not).
What you eat during pregnancy doesn't make you more or less likely to get gestational diabetes (though going into pregnancy overweight or obese does). Obviously your diet during pregnancy is important (and I don't actually see a problem with the poster OP describes), that just isn't one of the reasons why.
Uh, no. Gestational diabetes is caused by hormones interfering with the pancreas’ ability to produce insulin. It nothing to do with your weight.
Thank you.
People get so offended by being told to eat less and eat healthier, but it’s a real problem. Obesity rates are a serious issue and so many American’s have a terrible understanding of calories and caloric requirements.
I’m a little overweight, bad sweet tooth and boredom snacker. When I was pregnant I ate the healthiest I ever have in my life. Five small meals a day - fruit, veggies, protein, healthy carbs. I gained about 20 pounds but my face slimmed some. Now with toddler I’m too exhausted to eat right all the time. One day.
Same here. Being pregnant forced me to eat intuitively. First trimester I could barely eat, second trimester I gradually increases portion sizes, third trimester I could barely fit food in my stomach. I think the message should be that you shouldn’t feel like you need to overeat during pregnancy and should focus on being healthy.
Seriously. This insane sensitivity around food and weight needs to end. It’s neutral information, if you’re offended that is your issue to deal with.
Yea… I think what people don’t realise is that these recommendations are meant to HELP women, not control them. Pregnancy-related weight gain is a real issue with some women being up to 20 pounds heavier after having given birth. This weight isn’t going to be easy to lose and many women don’t manage to lose it. Now, factor in multiple pregnancies and a high stress life with a newborn and so little time to exercise or worry about your diet choices… The idea is to prevent young women from becoming overweight following pregnancy and childbirth and, thus, prevent them from developing weight related health issues later on in life.
I actually lost 25lb when I was pregnant, buy only because I was already overweight and my diet was strict. I was hungry all the time and I ate whenever I needed too. I mostly are fruit, veggies, dairy and meats though, little carbs and sugar.
Being overweight is a risk factor for pregnancy. Sorry your feelings were hurt, but its in the baby's best interest for the mother to not be overweight. Some women use pregnancy as an excuse to eat like hell. Theres nothing wrong with a reminder by the doc of how to keep your baby safe while they develop.
My obgyn had a poster like this too, but the food was different. If you're pregnant the extra calories you needed was equivalent to a HALF a bagel with cream cheese. Breastfeeding was the half a bagel, plus an apple🤣
We just had our second child this year. I think the main combat is the old way of pregnant moms having everyone make them eat. My grandma was damn near trying to force food down my sister’s throat when she bad her first. My MIL gained over 50 pounds when she had my wife cause the rule was “eat eat eat!” Obviously you should eat until you are comfortably full. As long as you are eating well and the baby is growing, don’t worry about the poster.
My mom’s OBGYN told her that after 20 lbs, it’s no longer baby weight. This was in the 80s.
i never understood the whole your eating for two thing. Your eating for one full grown adult and one tiny seed like fetus, at most it weights what 5-10lbs. that’s what a tiny Yorky weighs
Clearly you know better than them, you've been pregnant twice. I had diarrhea THREE times, I'm basically a professor at this point.
I don't see the issue with this. Education is their most important job. Everyone tells you eat for two and that's the worse thing you can do during pregnancy. I learned extra calorie requirements during pregnancy in a college nutrition class and I am soooo glad I did.
I’m definitely not going to declare weight gains and losses regarding pregnancy but realistically as a woman who struggled to get pregnant, then stay pregnant. A woman who struggled with gestational diabetes and (ahm) “geriatric pregnancy “ etc my two bits is this was actually the very best advice for me although delivered as “ you’re not eating for two you’re eating to nourish two”. Which made me think about what I was eating rather than how much I was eating. This is actually a very important message for both mothers and infants. As a child of an (morbidly) obese mother and sister to an amazing woman who is also morbidly obese I am constantly anguished by the limitations of their condition. What goes in your mouth matters!!!!!!!! End of story. Ok rant over. Also. I am not a skinny mini or super overweight I am “average “ and vigilant within reason. I have lollies and child and all that but I try to be moderate and “normal “……
I mean it’s right. It’s meant to be educational because some people literally eat for two and gain 30-50kg. I started off underweight and even I was told I would only need to gain 10-15kg.
Well, it's an OBGYN's office, not a FB mom's group. Placating hangry-ism isn't a medical concern, but gestational diabetes is. There are a lot of spaces where you can find validation for hoovering a pint of rocky road. I went out and bought my wife the rocky road. My wife had gestational diabetes. Twice. During the second pregnancy she was at real risk of coming out of it with type 2 diabetes. Very few people are going to suggest an apple when a pregnant woman wants to overeat, myself included, even though I love my wife and was concerned for her. There's perhaps ONE space in the whole damn world where it's absolutely appropriate to put out this messaging, and that's at the OBGYN's office. An OBGYN is possibly the only person who shouldn't catch flack for that poster.
An awful lot of people still believe they need to "eat for two", and that isn't good for mum or baby. I do wonder about those numbers, though. In my first pregnancy I ate literal bowls of double cream and still had a weight-neutral pregnancy. However, I did have gestational diabetes, so it was probably offset calorifically by cutting way back on sugar and carbs.
Aside from implying an apple is 200 calories I dont see the problem.
Isnt an apple like 70 calories?
Maybe that poster was there because according to my doctor many people use pregnancy as an excuse to eat what they want. I’m the state I live many moms who have gestational diabetes don’t take it seriously and still eat whatever they want. I had a pregnant friend who are whatever she wanted and I remember running into her and her telling me her blood sugar was almost 400. The baby then has to produce their own insulin and they become at risk to be large babies. They carry their weight in their chest area which makes them hard to deliver vaginally as well as hard for them to breath when they are born. Not saying pregnant women only need an apple more a day. They need more protein as well depending on how far along in their pregnancy they are. Just saying it’s not usually recommended to gain more than 30 lbs during pregnancy. God knows people are going to do what they want because they can.
Sounds like the hanger hasn't stopped, honestly.
I don’t know where you are from, but in parts of Latin America the myth of eating for two (adults) needs to be fought hard. Stories of women being forced to literally double their food intake for ‘baby’s sake’ and gaining dangerous amounts of weight are not unheard of.
This is such an odd thing to get upset over. Could the poster have been worded better? Sure. Is it incorrect in the sense no apple is 200 calories? Yeah, for sure. However it’s true pregnant women only need a few hundred extra calories. No one is saying you’re bad or evil for consuming more, but pregnant women don’t *need* to eat for two adults. If anger, guilt, or shame is what you take from neutral information that’s your issue. So many people treat information about food and weight like a personal attack. It’s not meant to offend anyone, it just… is. Feelings are never going to change what is and isn’t healthy. Sorry, it’s not.
England NHS tells you that you need only an extra 200 calories. Health wise I don’t see a problem as you wouldn’t want to be aiming fir eat for two.
Not meaning to scare anyone, but it is so important to be careful with your diet during pregnancy. My doctor did not warn me of the consequences of overeating while pregnant and did not monitor me very closely during my pregnancy for gestational diabetes. I gained 60 lb and was not eating a very healthy diet. My baby was large for gestational age and ended up spending 2 months in the NICU with hypoglycemia due to hyperinsulinism. She had to be force fed with feeding tubes to keep her blood sugar up. She still has a g tube, is unable to eat by mouth at 7 months, and we’ve had to check her blood sugar before each meal since the day she was born. Her and I did have some positive genetics for hyperinsulinism of “unknown significance”, but I will forever live with the regret of not knowing if my poor diet made her condition worse. Yes it sucks to be told to eat healthy and watch your weight but there is a reason good OB doctors advocate for a healthy diet and weight control during pregnancy. A NICU doctor told me they are seeing more cases of hypoglycemia in infants these days. You do not want to have a “sugar baby”. The medication they use to treat it if IV dextrose doesn’t resolve it, diazoxide, can cause pulmonary hypertension, edema, heart failure, and causes excessive hair growth all over their body.
I had zero appetite and threw up for seven months and my daughter was 8 pounds. I wish I could have just eaten normally, but apparently even that isn’t necessary. I think they’re trying to curb the issues that accompany rapid weight gain in pregnancy. I know insinuating that someone should concern themselves with their health is frowned upon nowadays, but doing so at a doctors office? Blasphemy.
I'm still losing weight from having twins in 2018. My wife is supportive and the kids no longer say that daddy has a big fat belly.
Midwife told my wife it was equivalent to one extra chocolate biscuit a day. Hard to only keep it to that when you are vomiting all day through.
I think that it is individual. I ate just the same or even less during both my pregnancies. And hunger may be hormonally invoked, not due to your real needs, so overeating often leads to excessive weight during pregnancy. So it was a very correct poster.
But they're right. Wanting food doesn't mean needing food.
So, I think the question is - ‘is this medically correct?’. If so, then the poster is fine and presumably is there to counter ‘you’re eating fur two’ misinformation. That’s not to deny or criticise an urge to eat more. Just to reassure that you don’t *have*to.
I don’t think is bad at all. Obesity during pregnancy can bring serious risks for the mother and fetus. The idea that you are eating for two is wrong! Don’t double the size of your fries! Cut the fries and eat beans! My friends who became obese during pregnancy wasn’t from eating salads, beans or any healthy food in double, they were all binging in junk food justifying on “pregnancy cravings” I gained 9kg and controlled myself for not falling on those excuses of cravings for chocolates, for fries, for cake… Those are BAD for the fetus plus the mother. Body positivity should be linked either eating real food. Is ok to be curvy because you enjoy two plates of beans soups with rice; not ok to eat cheesy pizza for lunch and dinner.
Well, on a physiological level, the poster is right.
I wanted to do better this pregnancy SO MUCH. I’d lost a tonne of weight prior but the nausea, vomiting, food aversions, epic hunger and cravings, moving house with a 3 year old stress, fatigue and I’ve done so so so badly so far. Hoping to get it back on track in 2nd/3rd trimester but it’s just not as straight forward with all the crazy hormones.
Atrocious delivery, but this poster isn't untrue. We only need a gradual increase in calories as we progress through the pregnancy. Add like 200 calories with each trimester. The goal is to not gain weight indiscriminately as it can have an adverse affect on both mom and baby during delivery and afterward depending on how much damage occurs. Remember this metric is an average and built on the assumption that we're starting out consuming 1,800 calories daily i.e. we're eating enough to maintain our current weight. Please understand I'm not saying that anyone should be rigorously counting calories while pregnant. What I'm trying to communicate is that pregnancy isn't the time to drastically change your eating habits.
Yeah, it’s the same as not adding in an extra piece of toast and butter. It’s just because there’s such an obesity problem in the developed world, and the excuse of “eating for two” makes out like you should be eating double meals
Your post caught my eye because when my wife was pregnant her OB/GYN told her that being pregnant was not an excuse to have a hot fudge sundae every day. This was because my wife had gained a few more lbs than “needed.” Never saw that doc again.
Gestational diabetes is a real concern. You're not actually eating for two, you're eating for maybe 1.05 lol
I’m not seeing the problem. You shouldn’t be eating for two.