How to Follow Weight Watchers During Pregnancy
Weight Watchers does not officially allow pregnant woman to actively participate in their program. A woman should never try to start following Weight Watchers during pregnancy; however, a woman who has been following the Weight Watchers program for a long time can easily modify it to fit her pregnancy needs. The goal of following Weight Watchers during pregnancy is not to lose weight, but rather to keep weight gain reasonable.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Eat all your points. If you were at 24 points pre-pregnancy, you will need to eat all of them, plus your five daily flex points. If you are doing the Core plan, you will need to add 10 points per day to your Core meals. You must eat all your activity points as well.
-
2
Be flexible with your food choices. Pregnancy hormones can make it hard to eat some of your favorite healthy foods. If morning sickness leaves you feeling like all you can take in are saltine crackers and Coca-cola, then that's what you should eat. When the nausea fades, make up for it with something healthier but never force yourself to follow your Weight Watchers plan when morning sickness strikes.
-
-
3
Exercise daily. As the pregnancy progresses, you will need to modify the length of time you exercise as well as the intensity. If you are a jogger, as your belly grows you will need to slow down to a brisk walk. Remember, when you earn activity points, you must eat them. Your baby needs those calories.
-
4
Use a spreadsheet or notebook to track your points. When you are pregnant, you are no longer able to participate in Weight Watchers meetings so you may lose access to the tools they give you. Find your own way to track your points and stick with it.
-
5
Follow your hunger. Some days you may need to eat more than your allotted points and that is fine. Listen to your body. If you are not gaining weight, you may need to up your calories. Your doctor will let you know if you are not gaining enough.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
In general, pregnant women need to eat about 300 additional calories per day.
Not gaining enough weight during pregnancy may have adverse effects. Talk to your doctor about how much weight you should gain during pregnancy.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit watch youre weight image by Ivonne Wierink from Fotolia.com
More Like This
Comments
-
whodababymama
Jun 26, 2010
If you follow the WW plan using their system for nursing mothers - which is probably the same nutritional need for pregnant mothers - you start with 18 points, where normally you would start with 2. Then add points for your age group and the first 2 numbers in your weight. For example: I am 37 (3 pts) and weigh 193 (19 pts) ... I would normally take in 24, but pregnant, I would take in 40 points per day ... PLUS if you continue to exercise 20 mins per day, that's an additional 6 points. Of course, you'll want to discuss with your Obgyn. -
cupcakesrme
Mar 20, 2010
Thank you for this information. Although I do not want to lose weight whilst pregnant, as the majority of pregnant woment dont, I also do not want to end up putting on even more weight, whilst I am already overweight and therefore increasing the chances of getting pre eclampsia again putting my life and that of my unborn child at risk and the possibility of 3 or 4 children being motherless. So thank you for your advice on this.
-
k1dub
Mar 10, 2010
Well then, if that's all you need to be qualified to give out advice, then I'm going to give out medical advice because I'm a caretaker. Seems like 10 extra points is an arbitrary number and I'm curious how this number came to be.
-
nj389
Feb 02, 2010
I wish someone had given me this type of information when I was pregnant. Thank you for writing this article. Though no one needs to do any extreme dieting during pregnancy, many women need to have access to tools to be able to eat healthy and keep their weight under control, which this article suggests. And I believe her qualifications could be that she is a mother herself who has dealt with trying to control her weight gain during pregnancy? But I could be wrong.
-
k1dub
Nov 23, 2009
What are your qualifications for suggesting this type of information? How did you come up with these additional points values to be added for pregnant women?
