Preggobesity

Posted at 12:35 am on October 14, 2009 by Bethi

Bethi, from Wheaton,  is one of our newest contributors here at Dupage Mamas!  She has a beautiful toddler daughter and another baby on the way.  Welcome, Bethi!!  We can’t wait to all get to know you better and better!

Preggobesity is my downfall, but at least it’s delicious.  With my first pregnancy I gained 90 pounds (7 pounds 10 ounces of that was baby). Giving birth in October, I hibernated with my new bundle for the winter and lost about 20 pounds by spring. Come the break in weather, I decided that some real dieting would be wise if there were to be any shorts or tank tops this year. 40 more pounds bit the dust… and then, the inevitable, I got pregnant again. This pregnancy would start 30 pounds heavier than the previous one did, so gaining another 90 pounds would be extremely unwise. Certainly, I am stuck between a baby and a fat place. Here it comes: Preggobesity, take two.

So maybe you have never met anyone like me, and I better tell you a bit about myself.  Perhaps all the pregnant women you know crave carrot sticks and lettuces leaves and love to work out gently at the gym from morning until night.  I congratulate those women… at least I would, but I don’t think they really exist.  I think that they are a figment of Pregnancy Magazines and the like.  More usual I think, are the pregnant women like myself.  We have cravings for things like 10 piece chicken nuggets, Boston crème doughnuts and bags of Andes mints.  We are too busy, or nauseated, or uninterested in spending much time at the gym and prefer to sit on the couch and watch reruns of television series like Murder She Wrote.  We use what little energy we do have chasing other children and collapse at the end of the night with a strawberry toaster strudel fresh from the toaster oven (oh wait, that is what I am doing now).  I like to think that I am normal and we all have a touch of preggobesity, but maybe the lettuce eater is normal… who knows.

Preggobesity-pregnancy lessons learned:

1. Start buying maternity clothes in XXL.  You might think that they look huge now, but there is nothing worse than indigestion from too-tight pants or stretch mark exposure from rolling-up tops.  Plus, you will feel skinny in your big sized clothes for a few months to come before you fill them up.

2. Realize that you are going to be able to lose weight after you give birth.  About 20 pounds came off naturally (aka, without trying) so if you only gain that much you are home free.  Otherwise, you are going to have to work at it.  However, it is possible to lose large amounts of weight and you will not have to be huge forever.  So don’t stress too much about it.

Preggobesity-slimming tips to share:

1. Since you are going to make poor food choices (let’s be honest) look up the calories and don’t turn bad into worse.  For example: you could get an old fashioned glazed doughnut at Starbucks with your drink, but that would set you back about 500 extra calories.  If you get a yummy Boston crème doughnut from Dunkin Doughnuts, that will only run you about 250 calories.  Clearly a better choice.

2. Panera has the best low fat chicken noodle soup for only 150 calories per bowl.  Delish and easy on the tummy and waistline.  I recommend it as a great place to start trying to be healthy.  Which is my favorite Panera location? (Panera Bread @ 25 Rice Lake Square.)  Maybe I’ll see you there!

Okay, I have run out of fantastically wise things to say and impart to you all about the wonderful world of weight gain and pregnancy.  I am half kidding and half serious about the joys and dangers of having Preggobesity, but mostly just content with the process of being me and seeing where this journey takes me.  We all try the best we can at whatever stage of life we are in, and this is me now.  Watch me as I grow (perhaps more than I should) and learn (as much as I can).

Bethi is chronicling her pregnancy journey here, in the Dupage Mamas community, and on her blog Preggobesity!

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