Firstly can I just say well done wannababy, you look fab! And if you think another stone will benefit you go for it.
Bmi is in sone circumstances inappropriayr but for most people it is an adequate way of calculating which 'weight group' someone belongs in. If someone is happy with their weight/bmi and it is more/less than ideal that is their choice, just like smokers etc. Everyone is aware of the implications of smoking, drinking other lifestyle choices when pregnant so why is it wrong to make people aware of the health issues of a raised AND low bmi in pregnancy. Some women with a high bmi will have a textbook pregnancy, some smokers will have a textbook pregnancy.
Before I fell pregnancy with lo my bmi was 27, not that high, but the heaviest I've ever been and I looked and felt it, I lost 3stone in 8months and dropped my bmi to 21, I felt so much better (was living in a third floor flat and I felt the stairs get easier week by week!). I did 'eat for 2' when I was pregnant and I'm now struggling to lose the weight again my bmi is currently 24, but I need to get back to where I was otherwise after #2 I can see my bmi being 28 easily. There is evidence to show that a bmi of 30 or below has a positive impact on the chances of conception. Sorry my point is bmi isn't rubbish but that doesn't mean it's the be all and end all x
I just wanted to say when did our culture decide to banish being "mummy shaped'. I mean seriously it used to be a right of passage, something only gained when you were either in the process or had just created a whole new person. I am short 5ft tall, and weighing 8 stone puts me at the higher end of my body weight 'acceptable range, which is ridiculous. My hips and ribs stick out. Anyways, I wish we could have a more appreciative view of the way a womans body changes through life and not make people feel bad for not looking like 13 year old girls.
Hedgie BMI isn't about your physical appearance. Your physical appearance just happens to change depending on the weight you carry.
Doctors don't warn us about high BMI because you "look bad" or have a bad body image - they warn us because of what is going on INSIDE of our bodies.
A person may have a nice full bottom, curvy hips and a nice big bussom - she might look and feel absolutely brilliant. That doesn't mean though, that he/she isn't carrying too much weight on a frame which can't necceserily support it healthily.
People need to stop taking personal offence about their exterior and start wising up to how our organs work within us and what a difference it can make to the performance of these organs if we are even slightly over weight.
BMI about fitness and health - not how one fits into their clothing.
Whilst the method has grey areas, as a whole, I still don't see how so many people can argue that it's a load of rubbish.
As with the NHS in general, where is the help being offered to women who need to loose weight, especially if they want a baby?
I am very overweight and desperately wanted a baby. I knew and know it is not the best for me or baby to be so big and pregnant, and knew that it could lead to complications.
I have struggled with my weight since my teens. I have PCOS and at about 14 started to pile on weight. The bigger I got the more I hid in my room, avoided the world and binge ate in secret and piled on more and more weight.
I have abused food for 15 years. I finally got up the courage to go to my GP and ask for help when my husband and I decided that we wanted to have children. It was very difficult for me to explain my relationship with food and how out of control I felt and my fears for the future and what I might be doing to my self. My GP could not have been less interested.
I asked if there was any councilling I could go to, could I be referred to a nutritionalist, did he think any weight loss tablets or anti deppressants would be appropriate. He said no to all and advised that I join weight watchers and come back for chlomide if I have trouble concieving. I went to 3 other doctors, including changing practices and the response was the same.
I did join ww and lost a little weight but the emotional aspect of overeating has never been addressed and I will always struggling with it. I know its hard for people who have never had this kind of relationship with food to understand but I believe that I have a form of eating disorder but there is no help available on the NHS for compulsive over eaters.
We went ahead and got pregnant anyway and I am being induced on Monday. I have had high bp and gestational diabetes but have only put on 10lbs in total. Having gestational diabetes is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me because I have been sugar free for 12 weeks and have been unable to binge because I just can't eat very much in one go because I don't want to be expose my baby to all that sugar and make him obese before he is even born. I was never able to do it for myself but I have done it for my innocent baby.
I guess what I am trying to say is, yes of course it is better to be your ideal weight before you get pregnant but is far more complicated than more calories out than in. The NHS's approach to weight loss is not working and often the psychcological aspect needs to be addressed along sside the physiological - much like the help available for people wanting to quit smoking. It would cost the NHS less in the long run.
I know this thread has just about run its course but I just wanted to say that faithie, you sound like a really brave and insightful person who has been somewhat let down by the system. Congrats on dealing with the GD and putting your baby first - you are going to be a fab mummy. I hope one day soon you do find the help that you think you need to deal with the underlying issue
My BMI is usually around 18.8. While i was pregnant my midwife weighed me at every visit with my BMI been borderline... not sure if they do that in all areas or not? Im usually 10 stone but im 6ft tall. I dont think i look borderline underweight but BMI seems to suggest so.
I just had a baby 4 weeks ago and put on 3 stone in total, im 11 stone now and would like to loose that extra stone as you can see it (i think) xx
It doesn't really matter what the government advice is, we all know that when you're pregnant you're STARVING and when you're breastfeeding you're also STARVING so of course we will listen to our bodies before gov guidelines.
Agree with dollywotsit on that point. I was a size 10, healthy bmi before falling pregnant. I've continued to eat mostly healthily but I've put on nearly 4 and a half stone, and i can see i'm getting fat as well as the baby belly. But I'm just so hungry all the time, that, coupled with the fact that i can't do any exercise has screwed me for limiting the weight gain! Plus I'm so tired a lot of the time that i'm finding it hard to cook every night and have resorted to a few takeaways now and again. That's going to stop when i have more energy again! Still once baby's here i'll be out walking every day and running around the park again with my toddler so i'll not worry too much about it. On the weight debate, i can't speak for everyone, but bmi works for me. I can see and feel the difference when my bmi is over 25 - and I don't care what anyone says, size 16 is too big. It may be the norm these days but that doesn't mean it's healthy. Speaking from my own experience, when I was a size 16 my portions were too big, I wasn't doing nearly enough exercise and although I wasn't super unhealthy (and managed to conceive my first child at that size), I was much healthier when I was at a lower weight and bmi. Our perceptions of weight these days are totally skewed - my mum told me when i was at a bmi of 24 that I was too skinny. Ridiculous, she was just used to seeing me with a lot of meat on my bones. I was 10 and a half stone, 5ft6 and still had a bum and belly. I agree with linziMc completely, it's not about clothes sizes though, and how you look, it's about what's going on inside and how fit you are. The most important thing for me now is that my kids don't grow up with a fat mummy, not for vanity or anything like that, but I want to set them the best example i can - from what we eat, the portion sizes we eat and the amount of activity we do. And i know that if my bmi is over 25 then i'm getting at least one of those things wrong. It's not the be all and end all but it is a good indication of whether you need to make changes to your lifestyle to be at optimum health.
Replies
Bmi is in sone circumstances inappropriayr but for most people it is an adequate way of calculating which 'weight group' someone belongs in. If someone is happy with their weight/bmi and it is more/less than ideal that is their choice, just like smokers etc. Everyone is aware of the implications of smoking, drinking other lifestyle choices when pregnant so why is it wrong to make people aware of the health issues of a raised AND low bmi in pregnancy. Some women with a high bmi will have a textbook pregnancy, some smokers will have a textbook pregnancy.
Before I fell pregnancy with lo my bmi was 27, not that high, but the heaviest I've ever been and I looked and felt it, I lost 3stone in 8months and dropped my bmi to 21, I felt so much better (was living in a third floor flat and I felt the stairs get easier week by week!). I did 'eat for 2' when I was pregnant and I'm now struggling to lose the weight again my bmi is currently 24, but I need to get back to where I was otherwise after #2 I can see my bmi being 28 easily. There is evidence to show that a bmi of 30 or below has a positive impact on the chances of conception.
Sorry my point is bmi isn't rubbish but that doesn't mean it's the be all and end all x
Doctors don't warn us about high BMI because you "look bad" or have a bad body image - they warn us because of what is going on INSIDE of our bodies.
A person may have a nice full bottom, curvy hips and a nice big bussom - she might look and feel absolutely brilliant. That doesn't mean though, that he/she isn't carrying too much weight on a frame which can't necceserily support it healthily.
People need to stop taking personal offence about their exterior and start wising up to how our organs work within us and what a difference it can make to the performance of these organs if we are even slightly over weight.
BMI about fitness and health - not how one fits into their clothing.
Whilst the method has grey areas, as a whole, I still don't see how so many people can argue that it's a load of rubbish.
I am very overweight and desperately wanted a baby. I knew and know it is not the best for me or baby to be so big and pregnant, and knew that it could lead to complications.
I have struggled with my weight since my teens. I have PCOS and at about 14 started to pile on weight. The bigger I got the more I hid in my room, avoided the world and binge ate in secret and piled on more and more weight.
I have abused food for 15 years. I finally got up the courage to go to my GP and ask for help when my husband and I decided that we wanted to have children. It was very difficult for me to explain my relationship with food and how out of control I felt and my fears for the future and what I might be doing to my self. My GP could not have been less interested.
I asked if there was any councilling I could go to, could I be referred to a nutritionalist, did he think any weight loss tablets or anti deppressants would be appropriate. He said no to all and advised that I join weight watchers and come back for chlomide if I have trouble concieving. I went to 3 other doctors, including changing practices and the response was the same.
I did join ww and lost a little weight but the emotional aspect of overeating has never been addressed and I will always struggling with it. I know its hard for people who have never had this kind of relationship with food to understand but I believe that I have a form of eating disorder but there is no help available on the NHS for compulsive over eaters.
We went ahead and got pregnant anyway and I am being induced on Monday. I have had high bp and gestational diabetes but have only put on 10lbs in total. Having gestational diabetes is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me because I have been sugar free for 12 weeks and have been unable to binge because I just can't eat very much in one go because I don't want to be expose my baby to all that sugar and make him obese before he is even born. I was never able to do it for myself but I have done it for my innocent baby.
I guess what I am trying to say is, yes of course it is better to be your ideal weight before you get pregnant but is far more complicated than more calories out than in. The NHS's approach to weight loss is not working and often the psychcological aspect needs to be addressed along sside the physiological - much like the help available for people wanting to quit smoking. It would cost the NHS less in the long run.
My BMI is usually around 18.8. While i was pregnant my midwife weighed me at every visit with my BMI been borderline... not sure if they do that in all areas or not? Im usually 10 stone but im 6ft tall. I dont think i look borderline underweight but BMI seems to suggest so.
I just had a baby 4 weeks ago and put on 3 stone in total, im 11 stone now and would like to loose that extra stone as you can see it (i think) xx
I was a size 10, healthy bmi before falling pregnant. I've continued to eat mostly healthily but I've put on nearly 4 and a half stone, and i can see i'm getting fat as well as the baby belly. But I'm just so hungry all the time, that, coupled with the fact that i can't do any exercise has screwed me for limiting the weight gain! Plus I'm so tired a lot of the time that i'm finding it hard to cook every night and have resorted to a few takeaways now and again. That's going to stop when i have more energy again!
Still once baby's here i'll be out walking every day and running around the park again with my toddler so i'll not worry too much about it.
On the weight debate, i can't speak for everyone, but bmi works for me. I can see and feel the difference when my bmi is over 25 - and I don't care what anyone says, size 16 is too big. It may be the norm these days but that doesn't mean it's healthy. Speaking from my own experience, when I was a size 16 my portions were too big, I wasn't doing nearly enough exercise and although I wasn't super unhealthy (and managed to conceive my first child at that size), I was much healthier when I was at a lower weight and bmi. Our perceptions of weight these days are totally skewed - my mum told me when i was at a bmi of 24 that I was too skinny. Ridiculous, she was just used to seeing me with a lot of meat on my bones. I was 10 and a half stone, 5ft6 and still had a bum and belly. I agree with linziMc completely, it's not about clothes sizes though, and how you look, it's about what's going on inside and how fit you are.
The most important thing for me now is that my kids don't grow up with a fat mummy, not for vanity or anything like that, but I want to set them the best example i can - from what we eat, the portion sizes we eat and the amount of activity we do. And i know that if my bmi is over 25 then i'm getting at least one of those things wrong. It's not the be all and end all but it is a good indication of whether you need to make changes to your lifestyle to be at optimum health.