Excess weight and pregnancy: how not to gain extra pounds?

Ideal mass

Before planning a pregnancy, you need to determine your ideal weight for conceiving a child. And this is not a model weight at all. Exhaustion has the same negative (if not worse!) effect on conception as excess weight.

One of the most popular diagnostic methods is calculating BMI (body mass index). In order to calculate the index, you need to know your weight and height.

BMI = weight in kg/height in meters squared.

For example, let’s calculate BMI for a height of 170 and a weight of 60 kg.

BMI=60/1.7X1.7

BMI=20.76

The ideal weight for conception should be as close as possible to normal BMI indicators - 18-25. Being underweight or overweight can interfere with pregnancy.

Instead of counting, you can use this table

Significant deviations from the norm are underweight and obesity.

Main conclusions

Excess weight during pregnancy is a factor that poses a danger to both the mother and the fetus. Therefore, doctors recommend strictly monitoring the increase and adjusting your diet accordingly:

1. Sharp weight gain during pregnancy is associated with hormonal imbalances, overeating and a sedentary lifestyle.
2. Too much weight gain can provoke the development of gestosis, heart disease (in the mother), and neurological disorders (in the child), leading to premature birth.
3. The rate of increase is calculated based on the woman’s BMI.
4. A pregnant woman's diet should be balanced.
5. The contents of the menu depend on the stage of pregnancy and the season.
6. Physical activity and gymnastics are one of the effective ways to control weight during pregnancy.

Clear menu planning and selection of a suitable set of exercises guarantee not only the health of mother and baby, but also easy labor, as well as a quick return to prenatal shape.

Do you always need to lose weight?

First you need to determine the cause of your high BMI. It should be understood that excess weight does not always mean obesity. Sometimes “excess” weight is edema (in some diseases) or an individual characteristic.

They talk about an individual feature when the BMI is higher than normal, but the body proportions are respected. This phenomenon can be observed in athletes with well-developed muscles and dense bone tissue.

Spanish volleyball player LILI

World number one Serena Williams

In any case, with borderline values, you must take into account the proportionality of your body. Muscle tissue is much denser than fat tissue, and accordingly, its contribution to the total body weight is more significant.

There are methods for calculating the percentage of fatty tissue in the body. This percentage cannot be determined at home. Such diagnostics are performed in private clinics, public health centers, and also in fitness centers. The norm for conception is 17-25%. If your BMI is above normal, but your fat content does not exceed 25%, then losing weight is not necessary to conceive.

Let's weigh ourselves correctly!

Are you happily expecting a baby, and weight gain is a sore point? Then calculate the individual rate of increase; there is a special formula for this. But first, remember - you need to weigh yourself correctly! It would seem that it would be difficult to simply step on the scale, but even such an easy task has its own little tricks:

• You shouldn’t weigh yourself every day, much less several times a day; you’re not an athlete who gains weight before a competition and values ​​every gram. The optimal interval between weighings is one week, no less.
• It is better to step on the scale immediately after waking up, before your first meal or drink.
• Weigh yourself in the same clothes, then the results will be as accurate as possible.
• Get a notebook and write down your results.
• A pregnant girl will also be weighed in the antenatal clinic, at every scheduled appointment with a gynecologist. The final weighing is carried out before childbirth, it is at this moment that the final weight gain is recorded.

In addition to the general rate of weight gain, there are optimal indicators for each individual trimester:

• First trimester (1-12 weeks): up to 2 kg per period.
• Second trimester (13-24 weeks): up to 1 kg per month.
• Third trimester (25-40 weeks): up to 400 grams per week.

Watch the recording of the webinar “Pregnancy under control: EVERYTHING an expectant mother needs to know” (free in ViLine.Club)

How obesity affects conception

A person’s weight or body mass plays an important role in the regulation of a woman’s hormonal levels. In this case, it is not the mass itself that is important, but the fat content in the body. For example, a big-boned girl weighing 67 kg most likely does not have excess fat. And if a short, asthenic girl with thin wrists weighs the same, then it doesn’t bother her to lose weight.

In recent years, doctors have discovered that subcutaneous fat is essentially a large endocrine (that is, hormone-producing) organ. Obesity is a hormonal disease. With obesity, changes in the endocrine system occur in the body. Hormonal imbalance leads to metabolic disorders such as lipogenesis. In this case, fat in the body begins to form from carbohydrates and is deposited in the subcutaneous fat.

The exact mechanism of how body weight affects conception is not described in the medical literature. Excess body weight does not have a direct effect on a woman’s reproductive function. But many observations from doctors support the fact that excess weight prevents you from getting pregnant.

Weekly increase table depending on initial BMI

The norm of weight by week of pregnancy depends on the weight before pregnancy, on the basis of which it is necessary to calculate BMI:

I would like to pay special attention to the issue of nutrition for women who are initially overweight. Pregnancy will certainly not be the easiest period, since your weight will have to be kept under control, but it means that it’s time to fast! Refusal to eat is fraught with disturbances in fetal development and the release of toxins into the bloodstream due to the breakdown of fats. The recommended diet will be determined by the gynecologist!

Sex hormones and obesity

Any hormonal disorders in the body are not isolated. Ovulation in a woman’s body occurs under the influence of sex hormones. Sex hormones include estrogen and progestogens. Estrogens are synthesized in the ovaries and affect the ovulation process. Progestogens or pregnancy hormones are synthesized by the corpus luteum, placenta and a small part of the adrenal cortex.

Normal body weight depends on body type.

The formation of an egg, its ability to fertilize and successful implantation of an embryo also occurs under the influence of sex hormones. The uncoordinated work of estrogens and progestogens leads to an unsuccessful attempt at conception.

You can determine whether weight affects conception by the presence of hormonal disorders of sexual function. Sex hormones regulate all processes preceding conception: ovulation and movement of the egg through the fallopian tube, the function of the corpus luteum and endometrium.

When the egg is fertilized, regulation by sex hormones continues. Successful implantation of the embryo into the endometrium and successful formation of chorionic villi also depends on the production of estrogen and progesterone.

Hormonal imbalance in the body can affect the ability to conceive. And the synthesis of sex hormones, in turn, is affected by adipose tissue. If there is too much of it or, conversely, too little, then the hormonal balance is disturbed, and ovulation and conception may not occur.

Where do extra pounds come from during pregnancy?

Excess weight during pregnancy can occur for various reasons.

Among them the main ones stand out:

• Binge eating. Many women, having learned about their situation, make the mistake and start eating for two. Doctors warn against this step. The health of mother and child will be preserved when a woman’s diet during the 9 months of bearing a baby is varied, healthy and balanced. In this case, “a lot” does not mean “useful.”
• The sedentary lifestyle of the expectant mother, as a result of which the body cannot use up all the kilocalories received per day. The excess remains as fat.
• Endocrine disorders. Existing chronic ailments, which a woman may not have known about before conception, can become aggravated and intensify during pregnancy.
• Hereditary predisposition.

Obesity and infertility

Does excess weight affect conception? It has been found that overweight people have difficulty conceiving a child. Many experts link excess weight and infertility.

At the same time, we can talk about infertility only if unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant occurred for more than one year. Unsuccessful conception on the first attempts may be a physiological norm.

You can’t get pregnant for a long time and your doctor says that you have hormonal problems (for example, no ovulation, impaired corpus luteum function, etc.)? Perhaps the reason lies in your obesity. When you lose weight, your hormone balance can be restored. Although it is possible that in addition to obesity, you have other causes of infertility. Therefore, you should not perceive “weight loss” measures as a panacea. You need to be examined and treated.

How to do the opposite - gain the missing weight

If the weight stubbornly stays the same, there are some recommendations to gain it:

• Eat 5-6 times a day, but without overloading;
• In case of painful toxicosis, you still need to eat, one small piece at a time, waiting out attacks of nausea. You can eat in the fresh air, in bed at night - i.e. in an environment in which manifestations of toxicosis are minimal.
• Carry a healthy snack with you: nuts, biscuits, banana, cheese, dried fruits, yoghurts;
• Eat peanut butter, which is rich in energy and protein (if you are not allergic to it);
• Season dishes with sour cream, olive oil, butter, cream (but not mayonnaise);
• Drink enough fluids, do not neglect dairy and fermented milk products.

What is the risk

It has been established that in women, obesity of 2 and 3 degrees contributes to disruption of the menstrual cycle and ovulation. Although there is no clear answer to the question of why excess weight affects conception in modern medicine.

It is possible to determine whether it is possible to become pregnant with stage 1 obesity after studying the woman’s hormonal background for the functioning of sex hormones. Often a slight deviation from the norm does not affect the reproductive system.

However, even mild obesity will make carrying a baby physically exhausting for you. Not to mention serious deviations from the norm. Pregnancy with obesity often becomes a high-risk pregnancy. High blood pressure, swelling, varicose veins, heart problems - this is not a complete list of complications. Therefore, fat women should lose weight before conceiving, even if their hormonal levels are normal.

Diabetes and pregnancy

If the expectant mother has type 1 diabetes, she should consult a doctor when planning her diet. The specialist determines the required dose of insulin, depending on the stage of pregnancy.

Gestational diabetes mellitus is a complication of pregnancy; after childbirth, the amount of glucose in the blood normalizes. If this pathology is detected, the expectant mother should carefully plan her daily diet.

The choice of products for diabetes should be based on the number of “bread units”. The expectant mother should exclude foods rich in fast carbohydrates - candy, flour, chocolate, potatoes, rice, sweet vegetables and fruits.

How to lose weight to conceive

When planning a pregnancy, you need to determine your ideal weight for conception. If you are overweight, you need to lose weight to get pregnant. There are many ways to lose weight and improve your fitness. To achieve a positive result, you need to reconsider your diet.

Proper nutrition and physical activity help reduce fat tissue and develop muscle tissue. Sufficient intake of carbohydrates, proteins and fats normalizes metabolism in the body. And physical training will help a woman cope with pregnancy and prepare for childbirth.

You cannot lose weight “extremely”. Low-calorie and especially low-fat diets hurt a woman’s endocrine system. Menstruation may stop and ovulation will disappear. Be sure to include fats in your diet (even in modest quantities). And the total caloric content of the diet when losing weight should not fall below 1500 kcal per day.

Exhausting physical activity, especially for non-athletic women, will also bring nothing but harm. You need to do little by little, gradually increasing the intensity of the exercises.

You need to lose weight slowly (about 0.5 kilos per week), otherwise rapid weight loss will worsen hormonal problems.

Diet

Each trimester of pregnancy, a pregnant woman who is overweight should approach food intake differently.

By trimester

Maintaining a healthy diet in different months will allow a woman not only to lose weight, but also to remain healthy and give birth to a child without problems.

First

In the first trimester, pay special attention not to the quantity, but to the quality of products, since all the baby’s organs are being formed. The average number of calories consumed should be within 2000. If it is significantly higher, then significant weight gain occurs in the first 3 months.

A diet for pregnant women in the 1st trimester requires the addition of foods such as green peas, chicken eggs, cabbage, lean meat and dairy products, liver, juices, and brown bread. It is better to avoid soda, processed foods, canned food, crackers and chips, store-bought sauces and coffee during pregnancy.

A sample menu for 3 days is presented below.

Day 1:

1. 07.30 – oatmeal with milk (first breakfast).
2. 11.30 – sandwich with butter (second breakfast).
3. 13.30 – fish soup in low-fat broth.
4. 16.30 – salad with vegetables with vegetable oil.
5. 19.30 – boiled rice and stewed cabbage.
6. 20.40 – a glass of low-fat yogurt.

Day 2:

1. 07.30 – 150 g of cottage cheese, herbal tea.
2. 11.30 – tea with Lenten cookies.
3. 13.30 - vegetable soup with bread.
4. 16.30 – carrot and apple salad with nuts.
5. 19.30 – baked potatoes with fish and sour cream, tea or juice.
6. 20.40 – glass of cranberry juice.

Day 3:

1. 07.30 – cheesecakes with tea.
2. 11.30 – orange or apple, maybe nuts.
3. 13.30 – chicken soup and vegetable salad, fresh.
4. 16.30 – fruit salad.
5. 19.30 – steamed vegetables and cutlet (or just boiled meat).
6. 20.40 – low-fat yogurt.

Second

This is a time of active growth and development of the fetus. It is better to increase the number of calories to 2500 per day. It is important to consume less sugar and confectionery products. Pay special attention to the consumption of vitamins D and E.

In addition to the products of the first trimester, it is important to add egg yolk, spinach, fish liver, raisins, and butter. Fried and fatty foods, sausages, smoked and spicy foods are not recommended for consumption.

Diet for pregnant women: 2nd trimester - a sample menu for three days is presented below.

Day 1:

1. 07.40 – sandwich with cheese, tomato and egg.
2. 11.30 – fruit salad with apple and bananas, nuts.
3. 13.30 – chicken soup with cauliflower.
4. 16.30 – cottage cheese with raisins.
5. 19.30 – vegetable salad.
6. 20.40 – a glass of low-fat yogurt.

Day 2:

1. 07.40 – omelette with vegetables.
2. 11.30 – apple.
3. 13.30 – fish soup.
4. 16.30 – low-fat yogurt.
5. 19.30 – stew with lean meat.
6. 20.40 – low-fat milk (200 ml).

Day 3:

1. 07.40 – 120 g of cottage cheese with berries.
2. 11.30 – bread with hard cheese.
3. 13.30 – cabbage soup, vegetable salad.
4. 16.30 – freshly squeezed juice.
5. 19.30 – zucchini pancakes with sour cream.
6. 20.40 – a glass of low-fat yogurt.

Third

Although the required amount of calories has increased by 300 compared to the second trimester, it is not recommended to consume foods that are too high in calories. The basis of the diet should be dishes made from vegetables, lean meat, fish, fruits, and various types of nuts. It is not advisable to indulge in fats and lard, fried foods, pickles, eggs, butter (especially butter). But the amount of liquid should be limited; you should not drink more than a liter per day to avoid swelling; you should not overuse liquid foods (soups, for example).

A sample menu for 3 days is as follows.

Day 1:

1. 07.40 – milk porridge.
2. 11.30 – fruits.
3. 13.30 – buckwheat porridge with steamed chicken cutlet.
4. 16.30 – a glass of kefir.
5. 19.30 – puree with lean meat (boiled or steamed).
6. 20.40 – herbal tea.

Day 2:

1. 07.40 – bread with butter and boiled egg.
2. 11.30 – vegetable salad.
3. 13.30 – pumpkin soup with steamed chicken breast.
4. 16.30 – dried fruits.
5. 19.30 – rice with baked fish.
6. 20.40 – glass of milk.

Day 3:

1. 07.40 – cheesecakes with sour cream.
2. 11.30 – apples and nuts.
3. 13.30 – steamed pasta with chicken cutlet.
4. 16.30 – fruit salad.
5. 19.30 – cabbage rolls with lean meat and sour cream.
6. 20.40 – a glass of fermented baked milk.

For medical reasons

When switching to any diet during pregnancy, especially with food restrictions, it is better to consult a doctor. Proper nutrition for pregnant women, in order not to gain weight, must be well thought out.

Low carb

Carbohydrates are an important element in the body of a pregnant woman, allowing food to be quickly absorbed and does not contribute to the accumulation of toxins or fat deposition. A low-carb diet requires consuming moderate amounts of pectin and fiber. Such products do not contain many calories, but quickly saturate the body.

According to the diet, to avoid excess weight, you need to exclude simple carbohydrates in the form of sweets, cereals (not whole grains), confectionery, white bread, bananas and grapes (one of the highest calorie fruits). Pay attention in your diet to whole grain cereals, fruits and vegetables, cottage cheese, legumes,

Dukan during pregnancy

P. Dukan developed a special nutrition system that would allow weight loss without harm to health. His advice will be especially relevant to those women who not only had problems with weight gain during pregnancy, but also before that. In such cases, he recommends the “consolidation stage” he developed. One of the conditions for such a diet will be minimal consumption of starchy foods, daily consumption of dairy products, portions of fruits and vegetables. If ordinary women are supposed to have a protein meal for pregnant women on Thursdays, then for pregnant women it can be replaced with a protein meal.

For constipation

The cause of constipation in an expectant mother may be decreased physical activity, food, small amounts of fluid taken, intestinal disorders, and hormonal changes.

To prevent constipation, a pregnant woman should include dates, bananas, bran bread, and porridge (corn, buckwheat, oatmeal) into her diet. There is no need to give up dairy and seafood. For fiber, include bran, fruits and vegetables in your diet. Sea fish will also be useful.

Store-bought sausages, smoked products, sweets and sauces, and products containing preservatives can cause constipation and excess weight gain.

For gastritis

One of the common causes of gastritis is poor diet.

You will have to forget about fried, fatty foods, store-bought dishes with preservatives. You can eat baked goods, but it will be white bread or dry cookies, homemade crackers. When taking fermented milk products, it is important that they are low-fat. The diet must include soups based on chicken, fish, and broth (any lean meat will do). Vegetables should be stewed or boiled, porridges should be made from wheat, buckwheat, semolina, corn, oatmeal.

Salt-free

A healthy person needs no more than 5 g of table salt per day. Most significantly exceed this limit, which is fraught with water retention in the body, weight gain, problems with the kidneys, heart and blood vessels. In pregnant women, excess salt in the body can cause high blood pressure and swelling, so a salt-free diet is sometimes recommended.

Such nutrition will be relevant for women who managed to gain a lot of weight during pregnancy (most often in the second or third trimester). The basis of nutrition is the following products: fruits, eggs, bread, lean fish and meat, butter and vegetable oils, tea, jam, dairy products. But it is better to avoid smoked, spicy, fried, sour and fatty, sweet and GMO-containing products. To prevent dishes from seeming too bland, you can season them with sea salt.

Iron-containing

Such nutrition will allow a woman to maintain the proper level of hemoglobin in her body. According to it, you need to give up red berries, chocolate, citrus fruits, mushrooms and seafood for a while. Be sure to include liver, chicken, turkey, veal, eggs, brown bread, spinach, almonds, and apricots in your diet. It should be taken into account that with low hemoglobin there is no normal appetite.

Important! There is an opinion that in case of anemia, a good result can be obtained by consuming lightly thermally processed meat products or offal. Pregnancy is not the best time for such experiments.

Got pregnant and lost weight

Sometimes pregnancy itself introduces adjustments to a woman’s body.
In the first trimester, intoxication or early gestosis in pregnant women often develop. Clinically, gestosis is expressed in dyspeptic disorders. With dyspepsia, pregnant women suffer from nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. In such cases they say “she became pregnant and lost weight.” Preeclampsia during pregnancy is an undesirable phenomenon, since the child must receive the required amount of nutrients and minerals from the first days of its development.

Everyone needs to determine whether their excess weight affects conception. If you have any fluctuations towards excess weight, be sure to lose weight. Optimal body weight and good health of a woman shape the future health of the child.

How to safely stop weight gain

Naturally, no strict or mono-diets are suitable for pregnant women.

A complete rejection of flour products made from wheat flour and confectionery, fast food, as well as salty, spicy and smoked foods that cause thirst, forcing you to drink excess liquid will help you lose weight or keep it at certain numbers.

• The menu should contain complex carbohydrates (300-350 g daily): whole grain cereals, vegetables and seasonal fruits.
• You cannot limit fish and meat (100-120 g per day), but the menu should include dietary and lean varieties of these products: rabbit, turkey, beef, pike perch, cod, navaga.
• Butter is allowed in a volume of 10 g per day; it is better to replace refined sunflower oil with unrefined olive oil, as it is more natural and healthy.
• Method of cooking: steaming, boiling, stewing.
• Food should be moderate, for 1 meal - no more than 1-2 dishes.
• You cannot refuse lunch and breakfast, but dinner can be replaced with a dairy product.
• The optimal calorie ratio for meals: breakfast 30%, second breakfast 10%, lunch 40%, afternoon snack and dinner - 10% each.
• It is permissible to drink a glass of water 10-15 minutes before meals.
• Salt is reduced to 5 g per day.
• Habitual desserts should be replaced with low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese.
• The last meal should be at 19.00.
• After dinner, a quiet walk is recommended.

As for liquids, preference should be given to clean drinking water. The recommended 1.5 liters should be divided into 3 parts, two of which should be drunk before 16.00, and the rest before 20.00. This system will avoid swelling and give the kidneys relief at night.

Excess weight prevents you from getting pregnant - is it really true?

— Antonina Nikolaevna, is excess weight really a serious obstacle to pregnancy? - Unfortunately yes. The incidence of infertility in obesity is twice as high as in women with normal body weight. If pregnancy occurs with obesity, the risk of miscarriage increases significantly, the frequency of which reaches 40%. A woman who is planning to have a child should normalize her metabolic parameters as much as possible at the stage of preparation for pregnancy.

— Probably, in order to understand whether you have this problem, you don’t need special knowledge? - Certainly! You can find out whether you are overweight yourself. There is an objective indicator - body mass index (calculated using the formula: weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters). An index of 25–30 already indicates overweight, and reproductive dysfunction begins already with a BMI of 25–26, and as the numbers increase, the risk of infertility increases.

In some cases, even outwardly slender women actually have impaired metabolism. Even with a good body mass index, excess fat deposits around the waist are possible. This is the so-called abdominal obesity - isolated deposition of fat in the abdominal area. If, with a normal weight, a woman’s waist circumference exceeds 80 centimeters (for Caucasian women), then when planning a pregnancy, you should consult a doctor and examine your metabolic indicators.

Antonina Leontyeva

— The higher the degree of obesity, the higher the risk? — As a rule, obese women have elevated levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and uric acid. In addition, they have a tendency to disrupt carbohydrate metabolism: increasing glucose and insulin levels. Against this disturbed metabolic background, disruptions occur in the process of egg maturation, and the quality of oocytes is significantly reduced. Accordingly, in IVF programs, embryos obtained from such eggs will obviously be of poorer quality. Attempts at such fertilization in curvy women are successful in a smaller percentage of cases; in addition, they require more serious hormonal preparation. Therefore, overweight women need to normalize their weight before the IVF program.

— Tell us more about the hormonal factor. — A woman’s adipose tissue is hormonally active: the production of female sex hormones estrogen occurs here. This means that the more fat, the higher the level of sex hormones. Estrogens in our body must be balanced by progesterone, and it is produced in adipose tissue to a lesser extent - this causes hormonal imbalance. And this is a risk factor for infertility, as well as gynecological diseases. Hormonal imbalances can manifest themselves in the form of cycle disorders, or they can be invisible. Gynecologists conducted special examinations of obese women whose menstrual periods came on time, and found that their progesterone concentration was still much lower than that of women of normal weight.

— Besides estrogens, what other hormones are important? — Excess testosterone, a male hormone that is also produced in a certain amount in the female body, can seriously hinder pregnancy. This hormone exists in two forms: in a “free” form and bound to protein, and only the free fraction of testosterone is biologically active. The process of its binding involves proteins (globulins) produced in the liver. Under the influence of excess weight, this organ begins to produce less proteins. As a result, the gonads and adrenal glands synthesize a normal amount of the hormone, but due to a lack of globulin, free testosterone turns out to be more than needed. Here we go again with hormonal imbalance and problems with conception.

— Antonina Nikolaevna, what about the male factor? Can we talk about it in the light of the given topic? - And in this topic we are nowhere without him! The “culprit” of infertility can be extra pounds not only of the wife, but also of the husband. If overweight women have an excess of testosterone, then overweight men have a lack of it. It leads to disturbances in spermatogenesis with completely normal potency. Therefore, an overweight man is quite capable of being a husband, but becoming a father is much more difficult for him.

- This means that if you decide to get pregnant, you will have to lose weight urgently. Isn't this harmful to the body? — As for the speed of weight loss, losing weight very quickly is not recommended. Physiological is considered to be a loss of body weight with a dynamics of 4-7 kilograms per month. And this is not so much in the case of severe obesity. Of course, on strict diets, for example, hypocaloric (less than 1200 kcal/day) and the recently popular protein diet, you can lose more and faster, but such a weight loss regimen will be unphysiological. And in this case, it is especially important to lose weight not at any cost, but physiologically, with the help of proper nutrition and reasonable physical activity. To plan upcoming reproductive procedures, an individual weight loss program must be selected for each patient. After all, studies prove: in 80% of women who have lost at least 10-15% of weight, reproductive function improves without additional treatment!

- And if pregnancy does occur, even with excess weight. Can you breathe out and not worry about anything? Will nature do everything itself? — Getting rid of excess body weight is important not only for getting pregnant, but also for the successful formation of the fetus and carrying a baby. It is known that for pregnant women with excess body weight, the risk of developing intrauterine anomalies in the child is 2–3 times higher. At the same time, identifying malformations is difficult purely physically, because it is very difficult to carry out ultrasound diagnostics with a large layer of fat. This means that you may miss some serious problems and not be prepared to provide adequate assistance to the baby at birth.

- Now advise us how to get fit? Nowadays there is no shortage of information, your eyes are wide open, and sometimes you don’t know where to start when there is such a goal ahead... - Losing weight before pregnancy is a more responsible task than simply fighting excess body weight. Therefore, before planning a pregnancy, such a patient must undergo a detailed examination: measuring waist circumference, body weight, height, assessing body mass index; blood pressure control; determine the level of glucose and insulin, cholesterol, creatinine, uric acid, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total and direct bilirubin; undergo an ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity to exclude fatty infiltration of the liver, which often accompanies obesity; determine the hormonal profile, allowing you to identify possible endocrine causes of excess weight (dysfunction of the thyroid gland, adrenal glands, polycystic ovary syndrome, increased prolactin levels).

This examination allows you to more correctly and accurately adjust your diet and select a safe physical activity regimen. There is no need to be afraid of physical activity - this is not necessarily exhausting fitness. After all, just walking is recommended and available to almost all overweight patients - either in the air or at home on a treadmill. The duration of the workout should be at least 45 minutes per day, 11,000-12,000 steps per workout. But in cases of severe obesity, which is usually accompanied by joint damage, patients should choose swimming as physical activity. But even if the patient’s life schedule does not allow him to regularly visit the gym, there is still a way out. For example, make it a rule to walk your dog, get off the bus one stop earlier, or walk short distances during your lunch break. All this is physical activity, which is necessary when losing weight.

Metabolic chaos, which is often observed in the body of overweight people, certainly reduces the chances of pregnancy. When planning to have a child, it is important to normalize your weight and metabolic background. But the process of losing weight should be physiological. So it’s worth making an appointment with a doctor even before planning a pregnancy. And the skills of proper eating behavior will be very useful even after conceiving a long-awaited baby - those who are prone to excess weight have a much higher risk of gaining a lot of weight during pregnancy.

— Antonina Nikolaevna, thank you for the important information. Tell me how to get to your appointment? — I receive appointments at the Mother and Child clinic; you can make an appointment by calling the clinic at 799-991 or on the website irkutsk.mamadeti.ru. Taking into account the characteristics of your health and eating habits, I will help you develop your personal nutrition system. The reception lasts an hour, we have time to discuss everything!

There are contraindications. Specialist consultation is required.