The Athletic Mom-To-Be

Embracing the Weight Gain Weight gain is another inevitable, yet crucial, component of pregnancy. Nevertheless, it can be one of the more difficult changes to accept. On one hand, you may be excited about not having to be as disciplined with your weight (and possibly your eating habits) for 9 months. On the other hand, you may experience some reservation, fear or anxiety toward gaining weight, especially if you were “lean and trim” prior to getting pregnant. Rest assured, weight gain is not only a normal and healthy aspect of pregnancy, but it is also a necessity. It serves a very specific purpose: to supply the required energy for your baby to grow! Your growing baby needs energy 24/7 from the time of conception to the time of delivery. This energy comes directly from your weight gain. Failure to gain an appropriate amount of weight can be problematic in more ways than one. In fact, the American Pregnancy Association cautions that an inadequate weight gain could lead to serious consequences for your baby, including malnourishment, low birth weight or premature delivery. So, as hard as it may be, embrace the fact that this is one of the few times in life when extra weight is considered a necessity! As a general rule of thumb, Health Canada recommends the amount gained should be based on your pre-pregnancy weight or more specifically, your Body Mass Index (BMI) (Table 3.1). Table 3.1: Recommended Weight Gain in Pregnancy Pre-Pregnancy BMI Category Recommended Range of Total Weight Gain <18.5 28-40="" lbs.="" 18.5-24.9="" 25-35="" lbs.="" 25.0-29.9="" 15-25="" lbs.="">30 11-20 lbs. Source: ©All Rights Reserved. Canadian Guidelines for Body Weight Classification in Adults. Health Canada, 2003. Adapted and reproduced with permission from the Minister of Health, 2003. Source: ©All rights reserved. Prenatal Nutrition Guidelines for Health Professionals: Gestational Weight Gain. Health Canada, 2010. Reproduced with permission from the Minister of Health, 2014. Strategies that Can Help There are a few suggestions that can help you deal with any anxiety you may have toward gaining weight. As a starting point, it is important to be honest with yourself and to acknowledge your concerns about your changing body and the weight gain to come. Acknowledging such feelings will help you be more open to the suggestions listed below. Look at the Bigger Picture Try to put things into perspective. This added weight gain is for a relatively short time and serves a very important purpose: to grow a healthy baby. View this time as a little “vacation” where you let yourself relax and appreciate your changing body. Learn to love your expanding belly, knowing that it is providing a cushioning and spacious environment for your baby. Appreciate the way that your breasts are changing in preparation for motherhood and breastfeeding. Most importantly, accept all the other changes that your body is going through, knowing that your body is simply doing what it needs to do in order to create a beautiful and healthy baby. Trust and Listen to Your Body Your body does a great job telling you what it needs and this applies to nutrition. Your increasing appetite and/or feeling of hunger may be your body’s way of telling you that you need to consume additional calories and fluids. Keep in mind that the exact amount of additional calories required varies from woman to woman and depends on your level of exercise. It is, therefore, important that you listen to these cues and respond to them accordingly, as discussed in the chapter “Fuelling Your Pregnant Body”. It’s Just a Number Keep in mind that the numbers provided in Table 3.1 are guidelines and may not apply to everyone. Trish Del Sorbo, former owner and director of Baby & Me Fitness, suggests trusting that your body knows what it needs to do during pregnancy. In other words, if your weight gain does not match the recommended amount (either more or less) but you are eating a balanced diet and you are active - relax! Your body might simply be responding to what it needs to create the proper environment for your baby. “I found it hard mentally to accept the weight gain, especially as my weight approached that of my husband’s,” explains Seana Zelazo, Olympic trial marathoner and mother of 1. “I just told myself that since I was being so healthy, that this must be exactly what my son needs.” The following table describes the amount of weight gained by various recreational and high performance athletes (Table 3.2). Table 3.2: Variations in Amount Gained During Pregnancy Athlete Pre-Pregnancy Weight (lbs.) Weight Gained (lbs.) Tara Professional Ironman Triathlete 130 35 Jessica Olympic Heptathlete 140 40 Jennifer Elite runner (pregnant with twins) 115 70 Christine Elite runner 115 60 Morgan Competitive swimmer 160 22 Seana Olympic Trial Marathoner 136 28 If you find yourself pre-occupied with your weight gain, we suggest throwing away the scale and concentrating on how you are feeling throughout your pregnancy. Rest assured that your primary health care provider will be monitoring your weight gain (or lack of) on a regular basis. Believe in Yourself Remember that the changes you are experiencing are temporary. Trust that you will have the discipline once the baby is born to get yourself back into a routine with exercise and proper nutrition. Once this happens, you will soon see positive results and your pre-pregnancy body will be back in no time. Jessica Zelinka, a Canadian Olympic heptathlete, 100m hurdler and mother of 1, became pregnant after competing in the 2008 summer Olympics and was not bothered by the 40 lbs. she gained during her pregnancy. Jessica feels that her positive response to her weight gain had much to do with the simple fact that she (and her coach) had full confidence in her ability to return to training and lose the weight after the baby was born.