Weight Loss During Pregnancy

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I had a hard cold reality check during this pregnancy: Being pregnant is not a license to eat all you want because you are now "eating for two".


In reality, a pregnant woman only needs about 100-300 extra calories a day to give the growing baby all the nutrients it needs.

We don't need to double up on portions or eat ice cream all day in the name of our child's growth!

In fact, if pregnant women were to double up on anything it would be healthy whole foods- good protein sources, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lots of water.

How much weight gain is too much?


It all depends on the woman's pre-pregnancy weight.

If a woman is underweight pre-pregnancy, she may be given a range of 28-40 pounds to gain.

Normal weight? 25-35 pounds

Overweight? 15-20 pounds

Obese? 11-20 pounds

If you're carrying twins, these ranges are a bit higher.

Where does all this weight go?


From the article linked above from Web MD:

Baby	8 pounds
Placenta	2-3 pounds
Amniotic fluid	2-3 pounds
Breast tissue	2-3 pounds
Blood supply	4 pounds
Fat stores for delivery and breastfeeding	5-9 pounds
Uterus increase	2-5 pounds
Total	25 to 35 pounds

Is it ever safe to lose weight while pregnant?


During my pregnancy I've read a lot of articles and books about nutrition during pregnancy.

Seems like everyone agrees that pregnancy is no time to go on a diet to lose weight or restrict calories.

However (make that a huge HOWEVER), what about women like me who have been put on special diets?

Restrictive? Not entirely- just my carb intake.

But still- cutting back on my carbohydrates has me increasing my fat and protein just to keep my calorie intake up so that baby can grow!

How having Gestational Diabetes affected my pregnancy weight gain-


According to my doctor's scale, I was 212 at the beginning of my pregnancy.

At 28 weeks, I weighed 231.

That is a gain of 19 pounds.

Because I was considered overweight pre-pregnancy, my weight gain was pushing the limits!

After starting the gestational diet, I've lost weight. 

At 37 weeks I weighed in at 220 lbs.

I lost over 10lbs in almost 10 weeks! Now that's great, if I wasn't pregnant.

So of course the big concern was- Is baby growing properly?


The week before my weigh in (so 36 weeks) I had an U/S with a GD specialist to make sure baby wasn't growing too large.

(Remember? One of the risks with GD is that the baby will grow too big too fast because of the extra glucose.  The biggest sign they look for is a large tummy, which is out of proportion with the rest of baby's body).

Well at 36 weeks baby weighed in at 5 lbs 15oz (round that up to 6lbs)! That translates to the 60th percentile.  Out of all the babies that are 36 weeks, my baby weighs more than 60%.

Now, that doesn't cause any real concern because 50% is just an average.  So of course some babies will weigh more or less than 50%.

And baby's tummy size? Right on the average mark!

Baby is growing right on track.

My OB/GYN (different from the doc that did the U/S at 36 weeks) hasn't expressed any concern over my weight loss.

He knows I'm following the GD diet and has even told me that losing weight was a good thing since I gained so much in the beginning.

But my GD doctor has expressed concern.

Every week I scan in my glucose results and my food log of everything I ate (how much, when, and how it was prepared).

One week they asked how my weight was progressing.  When they found out I went from 212-231-220, they were concerned I wasn't eating enough.

Their solution?

I was told to eat more fruit with my snacks.  Add more fatty nuts to my snacks.  Bulk up on protein.


Basically eat more but do not go over my carbohydrate limit for my meals.

Now this was really frustrating for me!

WHY? I've been following their meal plan and have on my own increased my protein intake.  I eat peanut butter EVERY.DAY.   It's hard to change your eating habits so quickly and then have to change everything up again.

I have one doc that isn't concerned about weight loss and one that is worried I don't eat enough. I expressed my frustrations to one of the nurses at the specialty clinic and she basically apologized for the mis-communication and gave me some well deserved praise and encouragement (I'm like a puppy- all about positive reinforcement!).

She said I was doing great with keeping my numbers in check and that she understands how difficult it is to change eating habits so rapidly.

That made me feel a lot better.

Plus, she probably deals with crazy hormonal women all the time and knows just the right things to say =)

The good news about all of this?


My eating habits are lot better now and I'll probably be able to keep this up after baby arrives.

Also, since I haven't gained that much weight during pregnancy, it will be easier for me to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

I only have about 2-3 weeks left of testing my blood sugar 4 times a day, keeping a food journal, and keeping in touch with multiple doctors.

I'm ready for Baby's arrival!

Surviving the Holiday Season- My tips and tricks.

I always feel like Halloween kicks off the "Holiday Season".

Once the Halloween candy is brought into the office, it becomes a non-stop parade of goodies for about 9-10 weeks (we celebrate after New Year's here!).

I've been on diets for as long as I can remember and only in college did I learn the difference between dieting and living a healthy lifestyle.

Dieting to me is synonymous with restriction, deprivation, struggle, difficult, and NO!


Living a healthy lifestyle to me rings more with balance, choices, forgiveness, and YES!


I've learned a few tricks along the way to make sure my new eating habits and workout routines were balanced properly in my life.  In fact, I like to use the word "harmonious" over "balance" because let's face it, sometimes not working out or indulging once in awhile will take the lead over healthy eating 100% of the time and consistent exercise.

My healthy living tricks:


1. If you're going to indulge, make it GOOD.  Make it WORTH IT.

Example: Because of my GD (gestational diabetes), I have to really watch not just how many carbs I ingest, but also keep a strong handle on my sugar intake.  My treats are already limited.  But after talking to my doctor and sharing my frustration of the timing of having GD during the holidays, she mentioned that a treat once in awhile isn't going to do damage.  It is constant elevated levels of high glucose that causes complications.

I know that a treat once in awhile is OK.  But with GD, my choices carry much more weight because the don't just affect me, they affect my baby as well.

So for this Holiday Season, I've made the choice to go ahead and have a treat on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day (if baby is still inside my belly by then!).  How do I decide what treat I'm going to have?  Well, my favorite of all time is Pumpkin Pie.  I love anything pumpkin.  I'll stay away from the cupcakes and cookies and candies but give me a slice of that pumpkin pie! I may even pass over the pumpkin pie for a more unique dessert- like a pumpkin creme brulee (I've only had that once in my life and will gladly forfeit pumpkin pie this year if anyone has a recipe and wants to make me some!).

Another example? One of our fave restaurants has a chocolate souffle cake.  NOT a  chocolate souffle, but a flourless, dense chocolate cake that tasted like the outside of a souffle. Well, after trying it a few times we decided to not order it again. Why? Because there many really really good restaurants that offer chocolate souffles here in Hawaii that are about 10x better than the cake.  So why waste calories on something we just kinda like?  We'd rather skip the cake and have frozen yogurt instead.

2. It's all about portion sizes.


So now that you got your fave dessert in mind, it's also important to watch your portion sizes.

I know, I know, we hear that all the time! So what does that mean? Simple- have one cupcake not two, have a slice of pumpkin pie not the whole thing, maybe 2-3 cookies not a full dozen.  Simple math, right?

But how do you stop from just having one slice, one cupcake, 2 cookies? I bargain with myself.

That one slice of pumpkin pie is a freebie... anything else whether it's a cupcake or cookie or another slice of pie is an additional 30 minutes of exercise.  Sure 30 minutes may not be enough to burn off the extra calories but it's more than what I usually do.

3. Remember that a holiday is just that- one day.

I think it's so easy to get wrapped up in the "Holiday Season" that we tend to indulge all season long.  There are so many parties to go to and people to visit, be sure that when you indulge you 1) make it worth it and 2) stick to portion sizes.  And don't do it at every party and event you attend!

Love your grandma's cookies? Then have some.  Going to an office party the next day? Try to fill up on more veggies and lean protein and stay away from the sweet stuff. Don't keep using parties as an excuse to have your fill of sweets.  Pick a party that you know will have the good stuff and plan accordingly.

And guess what? If you indulge in two parties in a row, throw in some extra time in your workouts!

And if you really can't let go of the extra sweets, remember that these parties will come around again next year.  Give yourself permission to have it, just not now.


It's all about balance and harmony.  Find your middle ground without compromising your goals.

You are worth living a healthy lifestyle.  Don't throw it all away- have a battle plan!

Do you have any tips or tricks for sticking to a healthy lifestyle during the holidays?


What's your favorite dessert this season?

Having a Plan Can Change Fear Into Confidence

I have always been afraid of becoming diabetic.  My grandmother has diabetes as well as my grandfather’s sisters.  I have childhood memories of asking my grandma why she couldn't eat this or that, my uncles having talks with her about her health, my grand-aunts poking themselves in the stomach with insulin.

It has always been in the back of my mind.

My mom hasn’t been diagnosed. Yet.  

But there’s still a chance it could develop due to eating and exercise habits.

I always thought of my mom as my “shield”, thinking to myself, “Well, she isn’t diabetic so until she is I don’t have a REAL reason to worry.”

I know better. Deep down inside I knew this wasn’t true.  But I never had to really deal with it.

Until I found out I was pregnant.

For the record, I’m the type of pregnant woman who researches A LOT of information.  I don’t stop at one source. I’m always looking for conflicting reports to see which one makes the most sense.  If I can’t understand the science behind something, I keep looking for a source that can explain it in small words. 

So once I found out I was pregnant, I’ve been reading books, joining internet forums, and signed up for a 12-week birthing class (shortened to 10, 2 more classes to go!).  I like to be well-informed and never feel comfortable taking someone’s word for something. 

That being said, I researched the tests doctors use to diagnose Gestational Diabetes and almost immediately was filled with fear that I wouldn’t pass.  I know my family history. I know my risks (being a Pacific Islander and overweight pre-pregnancy, and being over 25 during my first pregnancy). During my research I came across articles written by midwives and OB/GYNs that explained why the Gestational Diabetes test(s) was/were faulty to begin with (I plan to explain this in another post).

I also know that being diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes (GD) would be a hindrance to my plan of having an unmedicated birth.  Now some of you might wonder what is the big deal of giving up and unmedicated birth for the safety of your baby and yourself??

Well, according to my research uncontrolled GD causes macrosomia (large newborns, think 9+ pounds), pre-term labor, low-blood sugar for baby after birth, and a bunch of other things I can’t remember off the top of my head.  With those risks, a lot of my choices are now taken away. 

It is devastating.

Also, being diagnosed with GD automatically labels me as a high risk pregnancy, meaning the original plans I had for my baby’s birth have a higher chance of flying out the window.

For example:

-Intermittent fetal monitoring: I do not want to be strapped to a monitor the entire time in labor. I want freedom to move around (very important for pain management).  If my blood sugar is out of control, I will have to be monitored constantly and strapped to a bed.

-IV-hookup: It is not required in normal, healthy pregnancies to be hooked up to IV fluids. I prefer to be hydrated with my own choice of liquids.  But if my blood sugar drops or is out of control, my doc wants me hooked up to an IV to receive glucose water.

-Induction: No matter what, controlled or not, my pregnancy cannot go past 40 weeks for fear of a large baby.  I have no choice now that I’m high risk.  Research shows that some babies don’t arrive till 41+ weeks and are perfectly healthy! This is due to an off-estimate of the due date. But for me? NO choice, no matter what.  The only say I have in the matter is to try natural induction methods before my 40 week deadline.  

That's a lot of pressure to deal with!

So when the time came for me to do the 1-hour Glucose Screening Test, I was nervous to say the least.  I was told to fast for 10 hours before the test.  I was given a Glucola drink that contains 50g of glucose.  An hour later they drew blood to test my blood sugar. My blood sugar needed to be below 140 to pass.  It was 183!

As soon as I got the news, I was a crazy wreck.  I now had to take the 3-hour test and I knew for sure I would fail.  I cried after I got home from work (um, let's be honest. I cried at my work desk).  Felt like a failure.  Like I already let my baby down and put it at all sorts of risks. 

I tried to ask my doctor if I could at least postpone it.  After an emotional call where I asked him about GD and what would change to my birth plan, I was still shaken up.  I burst into tears right after hanging up with him (again at the office.  I think I'm building the reputation of THE crazy hormonal pregnant woman). 

I was so scared of the results and what the label would mean to the medical staff.

Needless to say I failed the 3-hour test and was diagnosed with GD.

The good news? My fasting test was great (72, needed to be below 95)! My doc is pretty positive I can control  my sugar levels through diet and exercise alone.

If I can’t, I’m put on an anti-hyperglycemia medication (pill). If that doesn’t work, then I need to take insulin.

He explained that I’d have to attend a diabetes class and take blood-glucose tests (finger pricks) 4 times a day. 

And that if I didn’t control it, my baby could get really big, have breathing problems after birth, and even die (yeah, I burst into tears after that one!). He shared that one of his current patients didn’t care at all about managing her GD and now her baby’s ultrasound is showing signs of a heart defect.

Cue more bawling.

(To my doctor's credit, he's not the type to use scare tactics.  This info is taken out of context to show the severity of the situation.  During our conversation I told him I wanted to know all of my risks and options.  I asked, he delivered.)

The next few days were tough. I had no diet plan and was scared.  I limited my carbs and sweets but wasn’t sure if what I was doing was enough.

I finally got signed up for a Diabetes class where I learned how to plan my meals and take my blood tests.  It wasn’t as bad as I thought.  I also have a meeting with a endocrinologist to discuss my results next week.

The positive outcome of all this:

I’m learning to eat better.  I get the gist of healthy eating (did you read above where I like to conduct extensive research? This applies here as well LOL) but now that I have a meal plan I have a better understanding of how my body reacts to carbohydrates. I've learned that my body is better able to handle carbohydrates if I have some sort of veggie and A LOT of protein.  Which is what I should be eating anyway.

My husband is eating better.  Because he eats what I eat (at home anyway, he’s on his own when I’m out of town or if he’s at work).

I'm moving more.  Early in my pregnancy I literally just stopped working out.  After my first 5K, I just stopped.  I wanted to rest and I was sooooo tired all the time.  I would fit in light walks here and there.  But now? Walking for 10 minutes after meals helps keep my blood sugar down.  I can usually only walk after lunch and dinner (the time after breakfast is usually spent in traffic. Boo!) but I've already noticed a difference in my test results.

It’s temporary.  The strict diet of carb counting is only until I give birth.  Obviously I will still be watching what I eat after baby is here but the strict monitoring of my blood sugar levels and my meals by my eagle eye docs will be a thing of the past.

The past few days have been OK.  I’ve had a few spikes in the beginning that had the endocrinologist worried but today has been good.

After a week of feeling like I was trapped in a tornado of chaos and feeling so out of control, I am now confident in myself and my ability to do what is healthy for me and my baby.

I got this.

Day #7- A Problem I Have Had

Things are about to get pretty personal.

When this topic came up, I wasn't sure what type of problem I'd share because who doesn't have problems?

Then I felt my heart tug at an issue I've had for about 17 years: my weight.

I know that majority of my readers are women, and most of us exercise to be healthy and keep our weight down, try to eat healthy, and may have struggled with our weight and body image at one time or another in our lives.  And there are men out there who struggle too.  It seems to be a universal issue, at least here in America, so maybe more of a national/cultural issue.

The first time I noticed I weighed more than other kids was in the 3rd grade.  As part of an annual check up at school, we got weighed and measured by the school nurse.  I don't remember what other kids weighed, but I do remember that at 8 years old, I weighed 95 pounds.  I remember this number so well because this one kid asked me in front of everyone how much I weighed and I replied with the truth, not thinking anything was wrong with me.  But as the group around me started laughing and expressing their amazement that I weighed that much, I knew I was different.

I knew I weighed more than other kids, but I didn't see myself as bigger.  I thought I was normal and even though I weighed more, I didn't think I was different.

Do you remember the first diet you've ever been one?

I do.

Every summer, up until the age of 10, was sent to visit with my grandparents in California.  When I was 8 years old, my grandma restricted the amount of fried foods I ate, bought non/low fat items (non fat milk, non fat brownies, not fat candies, low fat waffles are what I remember most).  That's the first time I ever remember being told I can't eat something because it would make me gain weight.

The focus wasn't on fresh fruits and veggies, but more on fat-free versions of the foods I loved.  I still ate Lucky Charms but switched my 2% milk for non-fat.  Or low-fat waffles with fat-free margarine and low-fat maple syrup. 

That summer I lost 10 pounds.  My grandma was so proud of me.  I thought I was too.  Until I was old enough to realize how ridiculous it was to have an 8 year old child feel proud of their self based on a number on the scale.

When I returned home for school that fall, my diet didn't change at all.  My dad was the cook in the family and he worked nights.  My mom cooked, occasionally, but didn't have much of a healthy diet either. The dinners I remembered consisted of Pizza Hut delivery, Taco Bell, and soda.  Once in awhile my mom would pull out the cook book but I honestly can only remember 2 dishes she made for me. 

On the weekends I was involved in a lot of activities: hula lessons, gymnastics, voice lessons, piano lessons, ukulele lessons.  My early mornings started with a McDonald's breakfast and than a stop at the convenience store for snacks "for the ride". The ride, mind you, was only 30 minutes but my mom would get a snack (chips and soda) and of course so would I.

The next summer I was 9 years old.  My grandma's friend had found this wonderful liquid supplement that burned fat while you sleep.  It was called Calorad and it tasted horrible. I had to take a spoonful of my "medicine" every night before I went to bed.  And a few times a week my grandma would take my measurements.  I don't remember if it worked or not, but we never went back to it.

After that summer, I returned home to find a new diet to welcome me: Berry Trim pills.  I had to take 2 or 3 pills before breakfast and dinner.  The potent berry ingredients would magically melt the fat away. At 10 years old, I was already taking diet pills. I don't have to hold the suspense for you.  It didn't work.

I didn't return to California that summer because I started playing sports.  I got involved in canoe paddling and basketball.  The sports activity was good, but my diet never changed.

In the mornings before school, I got up by myself and made my own breakfast which usually was a bowl of cereal.  Made my own lunch which was a turkey sandwich (turkey, bread, mayo, no veggies), maybe a small piece of candy, and a soda or a juice.  I didn't have any guidelines in what to make for myself so I packed what I wanted. 

After school snacks are the same story- my mom would nap after work and if I woke her up to ask permission to eat something, she'd get upset and tell me as long as I was only having "one" it was OK.  So one soda, one ice cream cone, one bag of popcorn, or whatever else I could find would have to hold me over till dinner.

Between the ages of 10 and 13, I hit puberty and my growth spurt, and gained close 40 pounds in the process.  6th and 7th grade was extremely hard for me, I was in my awkward stage, became forgetful, and got made fun of on a daily basis.  My best friends and I were no longer speaking and I felt like the school outcast.  8th grade was a little better as I started to feel more comfortable in my skin. 

Once I entered high school, things started to work out for me.  I maintained my weight and grew about 3 inches so people would comment that I "lost tons of weight" or I got "so skinny!".  And because I was still playing sports, I developed a lot of muscle and toned up. I still was overweight and chubby, but I felt more comfortable in my skin. And the number one the scale stayed the same, well until senior year.

The diets however, did not stop.  My junior year of high school my mom put me on these weight-loss patches.  I wore them on the inside of my bicep and had to drink at least 2 L of water a day.  My paddling coaches and some classmates noticed the weight loss.  A few people thought I was on the birth control patch.  But as soon as I got off the patch the weight I lost, plus a few more pounds, came back. 

After high school I moved for college and began attending the University of San Diego.  All of a sudden I was surrounded by tall, lean, tan blondes.  I never felt more insecure in my life. 

The great thing though about being a student is that a lot of things are offered cheap or even free. And our campus fitness center was no exception.  The end of my sophomore year I got really interested in exercising and eating healthy to lose weight.  I learned about the dangers of diet pills through many health magazines, websites, and books.  My junior year I started to take it a bit more seriously and lost 20 pounds. 

I was happy, healthy, and comfortable being me.  I was able to drop a few more pounds my senior year by watching what I ate and consistently working out.

And now? Well, after graduation I moved back to Hawaii.  I wasn't working out as much and started to chow down on all the local foods I missed.  Over the next 2 years after graduation, I gained 20 pounds.  I held that weight steady for about a year, until the wedding planning started.  I gained another 10 pounds.

That's where I am now.  I started this running journey because I was sick of having goals to lose weight.  I now focus on improving my running and making healthier choices when it comes to my food.  I haven't lost as much weight as I wanted, but I did lose 10 pounds from the wedding stress!

And I'm going to continue to work on me.  No diet pills, no fad diets, no crazy elixirs.  Just good old fashion exercise and healthy eating.  I don't regret anything I went through, except for the fact that those pills/elixirs/patches may have messed up my metabolism, but I learned some pretty hard lessons, and those lessons help motivate me and remind me that being healthy may not be easy, but it sure is worth it.