I am very overweight, Obese actually. I'm 5ft 210lbs, and trying to conceive. Has anyone here been able to conceive and have a healthy pregnancy and child while being obese? I would love any comments, advice, and help you all could offer me.

What does your doctor have to say?

I'm sure your odds of conception, as well as having a healthy pregnancy will increase exponentially by losing weight first -what steps are you taking to getting your weight down?

Spend some time reading the stickied threads inboth nutrition and exercise.... you'll get lots of good info to get you started

Mal, I had a long sarcastic reply for your lose weight first comment, I mean if it was that simple I would have done that 11 years ago when I first got fat. But I did say I welcomed all comments and advice, so thank you anyway. My dr simply told me to start walking everyday and taking my prenatal vitamins. Which I am doing.


My original question was ...

Has anyone here been able to conceive and have a healthy pregnancy and child while being obese?

Which pretty much means I have given up waiting till I lose weight first because then I will be waiting till I'm to old to bare children.

Extremely helpful doctor...

Read around the forums -especially in nutrition and exercise - If you're ready to lose the weight -and you've got the right motivation... it's possible to do... Don't give up before you even start...

What does your current food plan look like?

Get yourself an account at FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal and keep track of what you are currently eating... it's helpful to know where your calories are coming from and makes it a lot easier to cut back when you have a starting point.

Since you're not wanting to lose weight, I suggest hanging out and asking questions on a TTC/Pregnancy board, rather than on a weight loss board.

I lost most of my excess weight before getting pregnant. Lost ~30 pounds (going from obese to overweight), tried 3 months unsuccessfully (but with good timing), took a break, lost another 15 pounds (down to the very top end of "normal") doing low-carb, got pregnant on the first try when we started up again. But I lost primarily because I was unwilling to start a pregnancy at an all-time-high weight.

I do know plenty of women who got pregnant while obese. Some of them had trouble conceiving, some didn't. Some of them had complicated pregnancies, some didn't.

Believe it or not my food plan isnt bad and I walk daily anywhere from a mile and a half to 3 miles a day. I cut out all dark sodas 7 months ago, I eat lots of fruits, and veggies. I dont eat any deep fried foods (going on a month now). But .. and here is the big BUT, my eatting schedule is REALLY bad. Hubby works in the oilfields so he is home at all odd hours so my schedule is pretty much like his and we could find ourselves having dinner anywhere between 12am to 3am. Breakfast isnt till 2pm, lunch around 6pm then dinner around midnight. And I snack, bad. I love Ben & Jerrys icecream about 10pm while playing games online. Soo my weight hasnt gone up in 3 years but it hasnt gone down either.

Thanks Ally and Mal I will go check out the nutrition and pregnancy boards. I am pretty new here so I didnt know there were some. As for why I posted here was because I do want to lose weight, I just didnt want to wait till it was off to start TTC. I figured I could lose before, during and after and be okay. Just wanted to make sure I could still concieve at this weight.

I cut out all sodas except for the occassional sweet tea at a restraunt or something. I cant stand the taste of the clear ones hehe.

I dont think I could afford one but I do plan to eat much healthier, I wanted to know (now) if its okay to diet while pregnant?

"Diet" meaning to restrict calories below what you'd need to maintain while not pregnant? No, not without the full approval and supervision of your OB / midwife.

Nothing wrong with eating a healthy balanced diet and getting regular exercise, though.

One of my biggest motivators to lose weight is to get pregnant. I just don't want to be very overweight and pregnant, too. I'm nearly 36, so my age already counts against me. I don't want my weight to potentially complicate things further.

That Ben and Jerry's could be why you're not losing weight. I love me some peanut butter cup ice cream. But it is loaded with calories. 1pint of it has over 1000 calories. The ice cream could be what's hindering your weight loss. Have you tracked your calories to see how much you're eating?

I had a friend who was very overweight (still is) who took several years to conceive (age 33), and had gestational diabetes while pregnant. That's quite common in women who are obese while pregnant. Another friend of mine wasn't as heavy, but still pretty big. She also had GD and pre-eclampsia (sp)--which can be very dangerous. It's due to high blood pressure. She didn't have any trouble conceiving, but was in her early 20s at the time.

Yea that is something I am going to have to look into, well my mom did convince me last night to lose at least 20lbs first. For me I know that the low carb diet does work so I figured I would try that for at least a month and see how that goes. I usually lose about 15 the first 3 weeks on it.

I have actually started eatting alot of raw veggies and fruits when I get my sweet tooth at night. Thank You I've also decided to finally kick my midnight Ben and Jerrys habit. I am trying to make me wanting to conceive a big reason for losing some weight, I just felt really turned off by the fact that I have so much to lose to be at a healthy weight and didnt want to have to wait till I did to start trying. So instead I am starting with a lower goal of losing at least 10% of my body weight.

There is a thread somewhere on here from a girl who got pregnant while overweight (I don't remember how much) but she actually lost weight while pregnant under a specific diet plan from her doctor.

If I find it I'll repost with her link and story.

Check out this thread!!! http://weight-loss.fitness.com/befor...now-139-a.html

I took several classes on health during pregnancy and it was stressed that dieting during pregnancy is not a good idea. eating well and exercise are great but no one should try to lose weight during a pregnancy. I would not trust a doctor who suggested that it was an okay thing to do. if you want to know if you can get pregnant while obese, sure, yeah, a lot of women do. I personally know a few who have done it. is it healthy for you and the baby? no, it isn't. this is one of the reasons i'm trying so hard to get fit. i want to be in super excellent shape when i get pregnant. being obese and pregnant is very risky. if you could give yourself just one more year to get in shape...you could be out of that risky zone. I don't want this to sound mean or hateful..but if you have found it so hard to lose weight before the baby, are you sure you'll be able to lose it after? Life is going to be completely different once that baby arrives and losing weight is going to be three times more difficult. I just wanted to throw that out there as something to think about.

Fyi I have lost 8lbs since last posting. I've also spoken to my doctor and she said the way I was doing it was fine and I could continue to do it through the pregnancy. I've cut out all deep fried foods, sodas, sweets, caffeine, salt, and about 50% carbs. I've been eatting lots of fruits, veggies, and salads. My dr was actually very impressed with all my #'s. Blood pressure is down, cholestorol is good, no longer anemic, etc.

great job.