Afraid of Weight Gain During Pregnancy?
Let’s face it, body image issues are not uncommon for women, but further compounded for pregnant women. Your body is changing at a fast pace and you might be asking yourself - just how much weight during my pregnancy should I expect?
Afraid of Weight Gain During Pregnancy?
Let’s face it, body image issues are not uncommon for women, but further compounded for pregnant women. Your body is changing at a fast pace and you might be asking yourself - just how much weight during my pregnancy should I expect?
You’re not alone. It’s a conversation that comes up with many of our patients at Garden OB/GYN. To help assuage any fears you may have surrounding weight gain, we spoke to life therapist and author, Jasmin Terrany, LMHC.
Jasmin is a mother of two, Liv and Zen, who are 5 and 7 respectively. Jasmin remembers feeling worried about how her body would respond to carrying her first child. As a first-time mother, she could only predict how she would look and feel after childbirth.
After having two successful deliveries of two happy and healthy babies, she had some advice to share that might help you in your own journey to motherhood.
Watch a tip from Jasmin Terrany to help prepare for weight gain during pregnancy:
“Trust in the process and be consistent in your patterns and habits from the beginning,” Jasmin suggests. Here are some tips you can incorporate during your pregnancy.
Focus on your routines
Routines are important anyway, but establishing them during your pregnancy helps develop accountability within yourself. You are able to make commitments that contribute to your own personal wellness.
Maintain an active lifestyle
There are a plethora of benefits to being active during pregnancy. For instance, by exercising you reduce the chance of complications, release endorphins that elevate your mood, and actually set your body up for a speedier recovery postpartum, just to name a few.
Indulge in cravings, but prioritize a good diet.
Often excessive weight gain during pregnancy, comes from overindulging during pregnancy.
We hear the common saying that “you’re eating for two now”, when truth be told your baby just doesn’t need as much food as a full-grown adult. In fact, your diet may require little adjustments during the first trimester, with only an addition of around 340 - 460 additional calories during the rest of your pregnancy. The moral of the story is that you deserve to enjoy foods that you love, but it’s important to be conscious of your overall diet.
Be kind to yourself.
Remember the enormity of what you are creating - a new human life! By focusing on all the good, you’ll have less space to focus on anything else. Give yourself plenty of grace and compassion. After all, the way you treat yourself will be your child’s first experience of love so teach well!
Love and trust your physical journey.
Always return to the understanding that pregnancy is not a journey that you are the first to embark on. Since the beginning of time, women’s bodies have stretched to create life and moved back in place after birth. You must believe that your body knows exactly what to do.
“This is a beautiful, incredible thing that your body is doing. It is the most magical thing that happens on the planet,” says Jasmin.
Hear more from Jasmin and prepare for motherhood with her book, Extraordinary Mommy You can also check out more tips on weight gain during pregnancy here.
