Scared of Gaining Weight - Anyone else

Diabetes and Pregnancy Trying to Get Pregnant
1

Hi all,

I am approx. 7 weeks pregnant today.

I am so scared of gaining weight. Is anyone else in this boat?

I have always had an issue with weight (I am hypothyroid and now diabetes). Have always had to work extremely hard to lose weight. Only just got back to my pre-pregnancy weight from my now 2 YO, thanks to a low carb diet. At 77 kg, I am still well above my “ideal” weight of 60 - 63 kg. My heaviest weight was about 110 kg - before I was diagnosed with hypothyroid, which took me 5+ years to lose.

I started on insulin a week ago. 6 units of 70/30 in the morning and 8 units of Humulin-N at night (higher at night because I need that to prevent the morning fasting highs). My doctor only lets me use the NPH insulin during pregnancy. Am eating approx. 50 - 70 g of carbs on most days (with occassional slip ups / indulgences).

Anyway, the last two mornings my weight is going up. Before these last 2 days it had been pretty stable / very slowly going down.

So the scale showed 0.2 kg up on Tuesday morning and 0.3 kg up this morning. That’s 0.5 kg in 2 days only. Part of it has got to be fluid retention, but such rapid gain petrifies me and I now realise that I am very upset with this weight gain. Way more upset than I should be. Obviously weight is a huge psychological issue for me.

It is too early to be gaining weight. And as I am already overweight so don’t need to gain any weight during the first 2 trimesters. I am also quite reluctant to take more insulin than is absolutely necessary.

So I skipped breakfast and the morning insulin dose this morning. Fasting insulin was 87. Just had a cup of coffee. Before lunch was also 87! So it had been stable all morning, even without eating. That’s good! I am thinking if I can skip breakfast (morning is when I am most sensitive to carbs / food), then maybe I can stop the weight gain, and also keep my blood sugars lower even while using less insulin.

2 hours after eating lunch (egg plant, with some savory mince), it is 107. This is ok, considering no insulin. So maybe with renewed effort to control my diet, I can avoid daytime insulin for a while yet.

I know this is not ‘ideal’. But I really can’t get my head around this paranoia about weight gain at this stage. I am also taking vitamin and mineral supplements to be sure I get enough - and my diet is mainly nuts, non-starchy veges, meats, and dairy, with my key indulgence being cheesecake (and I don’t indulge often, and only small portion).

2

Hi Sally I understand your worries about weight gain I had them too with my pregnacy. I gained about four stone. I lost it all tho from breastfeeding. Don’t not have insulin. These weeks are crucial for babys development and controlled blood sugars are essential. Avoid caffine for 2 reasons. 1 it raises your blood sugars and 2 they say more than 2 cups of coffee a day can increase risk of miscarriage. You need all the nutrients for your fast developing baby so skipping breakfast is not a good idea, gentle regular exercise is such as walking and definitly not having so much cheesecake is. I wish you the best of luck. I have had type one since I was 12. Kathy

3

Let me start by saying I absolutely understand where you’re coming from! Pregnancy changes a lot of things about your body and although my youngest is nearly two I still struggle with body image issues from my pregnancies, my diabetes and my thyroid disease.

That being said, you need to consume a healthy amount of good carbs to help the baby develop.Weight gain is a part of pregnancy and for us diabetics, taking our insulin to enable us to eat the amount of carbs we need is also a part of pregnancy. I’m not sure why your doctor has put you on NPH only. I was on NPH for basal and Toronto or “Regular” insulin for boluses. That way I could better control my bgs and insulin. Regular insulin is first generation, so we know it’s safe in pregnancy.

I think weighing yourself as often as you have been is contributing to your anxiety. Perhaps you could reach out to our doctor or a counsellor and to talk about your concerns and healthy ways to handle your fears.

4

Sorry, I’m at work and I had to sign off earlier.

What I wanted to add is that yes, weight gain is a normal part of pregnancy, but it is my belief, and the experience of those around me that women who approach pregnancy with the attitude that “oh I’m pregnant I’m just going to get fat anyway so I might as well eat what I want” are the women who have weight problems after pregnancy. Women who listen to their bodies and eat when they’re hungry, indulge on occasion and take care of themselves have little problem losing the weight afterward. I have friends who went from 110 lbs to 150 lbs, then back down within months of giving birth. I know that it’s more complicated with thyroid and D, but the principle’s the same.

5

I am considered “underweight” but I too can completely understand your fear! I am about to TTC again just started on insulin 4 weeks ago and the thought of lots of units of insulin combined with being forced to eat a certain number of carbs a day is scary to me! I weighed 98 lbs before becoming pregnant with my 1st child (had gestational diabetes)and weighed 185 the day I had him I got it off in about 3 months with very strict diet and exercise but whose to say I can do it again?

6

I’m totally scared. I’m Type I on insulin, PLUS I take Glumetza (i.e. metformin) for insulin resistance. I’m terrified that taking loads and loads of insulin during pregnancy will pack on the pounds, and I too have to literally starve myself, and exercise non-stop to get the scale to even budge. I wish there was someone out there who could tell us how NOT to gain tons of weight? I mean is it even possible? I know it is for some people whom don’t already struggle, but for those of us with aforementioned challenges…hmmm. I don’t think there’s any way around it?

7

Whenever i have started taking insulin I have gained weight. I am overweight to begin with, but how I look at,I was unable to maintain good control of my diabets the way I was doing it…so I went on insulin when I was 4 weeks pregnant I am now 17 weeks along. even before becoming pregnant I hade huge insulin resistance issues. I am on almost 200 units of insulin daily to cover about 175 carbs daily. I think its all worth it when you have a healthy baby even if you do gain weight.

8

One things that I think can help us a lot during pregnancy is skipping the junk food and extra calories that other pregnant women include in their diet. Given that for many of us, we have a maximum number of carbs that we can eat during the day, it changes how we look at “empty carbs” (cookies, chips, cakes, sweets).

In my 22 weeks of pregnancy so far, I have eaten very little of these carbs because every time I go to eat it, I know that I am eating this INSTEAD of fruit, yogurt, milk, which could benefit the baby.

I think that many other pregnant women eat the junk food that they crave in ADDITION to their healthy diet. This adds a lot more calories. I find the junk food much less tempting when I view it as a trade off with healthy options. Also, I try to find ways to satisfy cravings by adjusting my healthy food (for example, I add some cocoa and splenda to my natural yogurt or milk instead of eating chocolate).

My endo is STRONGLY against skipping meals. I’m eating 6 times a day, but smaller meals. I think this helps my blood sugars A LOT and helps me to avoid feeling hungry and craving things that are better avoided. I don’t know if it is different for other types of diabetes, but type 1 diabetics can produce ketones quickly by skipping a meal. Some say that these don’t damage your baby, but my endo really wants to avoid them. Skipping breakfast means that you are fasting for over 12 hours. I don’t think that is recommended for any pregnant woman. Perhaps find breakfast options that your blood sugar can handle (I eat eggs and fresh veggies with one slice of REAL whole grain toast) and just eat small meals throughout the day.

My understanding of weight loss over all is that skipping meals and fasting for long periods makes your body have a greater fear of starvation and means that when you do eat later, your body will store more of the calories as fat. I’m not sure if there is any truth is that, but in any case, I do not think that skipping meals is a good solution to avoid weight gain.