Pregnancy Weight Gain and Meal Plan

I was 148 pounds when we found out I was pregnant (and 5’6″ for those who want to know). I’ve always been on the thicker/muscular side with the appetite of a sumo wrestler, so I was definitely nervous about the inevitable weight gain that comes with literally using my body to create a human from scratch.

I accepted the fact that I would grow in places I was not use to but I just wanted to have a healthy pregnancy. My doctor recommended I gain 25-35 pounds based on my BMI. I’ve eaten a pretty regular diet for quite a few years now so I started my pregnancy out with healthy habits. I weigh and portion out my food during the week (with the occasional leeway) and I eat pretty much whatever I want Friday night through Sunday night. This habit made eating healthy while I was pregnant much easier.

I knew I needed to eat more, but I was not sure how much more so I hired a licensed dietician to create a meal plan for me when I was about 9-10 weeks pregnant. If you live in Nevada and need a recommendation for a dietician, email me. I absolutely love mine. She requested all sorts of information from me, including my height, weight, food likes and dislikes, timing restrictions for my meals, etc. I waited impatiently for my new meal plan because I couldn’t wait to add some more food to my diet. I was ecstatic when I received my meal plan, which I’m happy to share with you for free. Just subscribe below and I’ll send it to you personally.

Not only did my new meal plan include more food, it included popcorn!! My all-time, #1 favorite food. I started the meal plan right about the time that pregnancy weight gain starts to pick up. The scale number started to rise. I became a little nervous that I was gaining weight too quickly, so I adjusted my diet to push my carbs toward the later part of the day. This helped keep my blood sugar more level, as I did not have carbs from about 8pm until 10 or 11am the next day. This worked for me because I’m accustomed to intermittent fasting and carb cycling. After I made this change, my weight gain slowed to where I was comfortable.

The last full day of my pregnancy, I weighed 183 pounds. I gained exactly 35 pounds during my pregnancy. Looking back, I find it pretty funny that I absolutely love food and I gained exactly the upper limit of what my doctor advised. Not a pound more or a pound less. I believe this was mostly due to my eating habits, but also the fact that I exercised until the day I checked into the hospital. You can read more about my pregnancy exercise here: https://thelawyermom.com/pregnancy-workout/