Pregorexia: Pregnant AND Skinny

Oh god, this slim diet mentality is getting too far.. pregnant mothers wanting to look slim?! There's nothing wrong with being slim, but I can't help think that some mothers will eat less and malnourish their child just to look thinner.

Just looking for clarification: Are those the additional required calories per day? Per week?

During pregnancy is the time when a woman should be most careful that she eats properly. Weight can be managed during pregnancy, but it's better to seek a professional’s help before attempting it. Our clinic deals with just such women, helping them to stay a healthy weight safely. But women aren’t skinny when they’re pregnant, that is a fact that must be accepted first. In that time, the health of the child is the most important thing.

Attempting to look slim and trim while being pregnant? You're barely feeding one and you need to feed two?

I think that's just plain selfish and dangerous to the infant's health.

Trying to stay skinny during pregnancy is like the ultimate "thin goal" for women: it's a subliminal message to other women that they can stay thin during a time that most women get very big. It's not really all that different psychologically from middle-aged women getting super skinny to show the world that they didn't get the "middle age" spread.

That being said, I think it's important to manage your weight well during pregnancy and gain the recommended amount of weight and stay active, but you shouldn't freak out about gaining a little extra...you can lose the extra after you have the baby. It's more important to make sure your baby is getting adequate nutrition even if it means you end up gaining a little extra yourself.

Hopefully this is not a big trend with expecting mothers, because it seems awful to deprive their bodies and their children from the nutrients they need. Being skinny while pregnant is not something that I would consider important at all.

Not to sound all feminist or anything, but when I'm pregnant I WANT to look pregnant--having a baby would be (for me) a GOOD thing.

That said, I would still try to eat healthfully and exercise--I would want to stay fit so I could keep up with the kid during the toddler years...

More proof that you should be required to apply for and be approved for a license to reproduce. Most people have NO BUSINESS passing on their genes.

Some superficial piece of trash more worried about her waist line than the health and well being of her baby should have her uterus removed by force.

I don't know if this is an old wives tale, but my mom told me that the baby will automatically take any nutrition from the mothers body and that the pre-natal vitamins are mostly for the mothers benefit. My mom had 6 healthy babies despite being really sick with every pregnancy, couldn't keep food down and perhaps as a result in her later years she ended up with bad teeth (even though she took really good care of them) osteoporosis and other health problems.
What a shame that women are doing this to themselves to keep up with celebs.

This reminds me of my second year in high school. One teacher became pregnant and was very, very slim before hand. When she started getting the normal weight gain and baby belly, all the girls kept asking her if she was having twins or the boys would ask if she was eating too much. It got to the point where she would cry in class if someone brought it up, and even sometimes she would curse herself at her desk when she had to pull her chair out a little more every couple of weeks. She was very emotionally troubled.

After the baby, she dropped all the weight very fast and maintained her skinny frame. It seems none of them knew how large the belly is supposed to become, hence asking if she was having more than one. A year later, one of the gym teachers got pregnant and she didn't show until well into the third trimester. She stayed very thin the entire time and would do the same exercises as us faster than most of the sports teams would. She was back a few weeks after the baby and was exactly the same as before.

Then there's the issue of the doctors trying to control every calorie you eat and pound you gain while you're pregnant. I know I was not alone in having a doctor who reprimanded me for gaining too much, not eating enough of this, eating too much of that. Just because I had a baby inside me didn't mean I needed to be treated like one myself.

I did gain a lot of weight while I was pregnant and have struggled with weight ever since (despite long-term exclusive breastfeeding), but I never once heard them say "it can be easy to gain too much weight while pregnant, and if you do, you may have to deal with this for years to come -- I can help you if you like." Instead, the implication was always that my weight gain was somehow endangering my baby, which I knew wasn't true, so I didn't take my doctor very seriously.

My mother and my mother-in-law were both unhealthily-skinny while pregnant (back in the 60s), mostly because they were afraid of their doctors.

>>When she started getting the normal weight gain and baby belly, all the girls kept asking her if she was having twins or the boys would ask if she was eating too much. It got to the point where she would cry in class if someone brought it up. . . A year later, one of the gym teachers got pregnant and she didn't show until well into the third trimester. She stayed very thin the entire time and would do the same exercises as us faster than most of the sports teams would.

This country is in big trouble . . .

Before you know it, we'll be back to encouraging pregnant women to smoke so that they won't gain so much. This is what my mother-in-law was advised to do in the 60s.

I was one of those lucky ones who gained very little and lost it within a month after the baby was born -- because I was breastfeeding. I had a 2-year-old and a toddler, and I weighed about 105 lbs. because I ran myself ragged. I also got every cold and illness my children got, except I got even sicker, because I was so thin. Yeah, being thin was great .. I could have used those 10 extra lbs.

I must say, that I only see things like this in hollywood, not where "real" people live. lol.

I can understand the compulsion, being pregnant myself. I could see the "need" to stay slim during pregnancy being especially prevalent among those who lost a lot of weight before becoming pregnant -- those people might not want to undo all the hard work they did. But the above commenters are right. Babies in utero will sap the nutrients from the mother, making it more likely that she will end up malnourished.

Kidman, whose tall thin sister had 4 children also did not show much. Kidman is naturally thin and always has been. She has publicly stated her father encouraged family fitness and accompanied her and sister running and doing sit-ups daily since they were small children. The lady is over 5”11 and probably has the abdominal muscles of an Olympic athlete. The fact that she practiced yoga for years right up until the birth is not a symptom of anorexia, it is very healthy lifestyle and eases childbirth. As she did have natural childbirth and was home in 24 hours, it would seem that by eating well and being fit, this particular 41 year old woman had a very easy delivery.

Kidman’s lifelong physical conditioning is why her tummy bounced right back, not anorexia.

I understand that groups need to use any public figure they can to showcase their particular cause, but this is horribly unethical. Kidman is not anorexic and her child (born with a normal birth weight) is healthy and was born to an exceedingly healthy woman.

Nowadays everyone feels the need to keep tabs on other women's weight gain during pregnancy. I gained about 20 lbs. with each of my 2 children and was one of those that did not look pregnant from the back. I was just trying to eat as healthy as possible so it all worked out. Yet, I had a store clerk comment on my size. When I was about 6 1/2 months along right before Christmas, she said "You're going to have a Christmas baby!" and I was like "Uh, no, I'm not due until the end of February". So perfect strangers are judging us on how big we get. Also, my in-laws also made a judgement. They said "You look good, just like a pregnant woman should", implying that my weight gain was "acceptable". So, yes, there is a lot of pressure to not get "too big" (whatever that means) during pregnancy.

I just have to point out the fact that you CAN lose weight during pregnancy and still be perfectly healthy....I'm pregnant and have done just that. Granted I was on the heavy side when I started and I'm just getting done with the 1st trimester (which means I really couldn't eat a whole lot with the whole being sick thing) but my baby so far is perfectly healthy so far and growing very well.

I also have a co-worker who has only put on 5 pounds (partially due to being very sick most of her pregnancy) and is due in a few weeks. Her baby is measuring great and our dr's haven't been worried at all.

It varies from woman to woman, and for me it's been hard becasue people have noticed I've lost weight, know I'm pregnant and I get scolded a lot....but my thought is the baby is taking what it needs and I got the fat reserves to keep me running when i can't keep the food down.

You're 100% correct mindstream! I weighed 115 lbs on the day I gave birth before I gave birth. I was sick throughout the pregancy and could not hold food down. Had to feed myself with Boost drinks. My baby was very healthy though born at 37 weeks. I got extremmely skinny as my baby took the nutrients from me. I was probably 110lbs when I got pregnant. But my skinniness was not my choice and it would have bothered if people assumed it was due to selfish misplaced inappropriate vanity. Everyone's pregnancy and child delivery is different. Let's not be judgemental... The good news? I am one of those despicable women who had painless contractions... Never felt any pain...

Whoever wrote this article has no clue what they're talking about. Just because a woman is pregnant doesn't mean she's going to get huge and not lose the weight until several months after she's had the baby. I'm naturally thin, I didn't start showing with my son until I was 7 months pregnant and I lost all of my baby weight within a month of having him. My son weighed 8lbs and 9ozs. My doctor was thrilled because she said most women overeat and gain an obscene amount of weight using pregnancy as an excuse. None of the women in my family start showing until after the 6th month because we got lucky and have good genes. Yes, I am glad I don't get big while I'm pregnant because it's hard to move and you're miserable all the time once your belly starts getting big.

I am currently in my first pregnancy. I eat normally, except I think about what I put into my mouth more frequently. Is this Good for me and the baby? If it is not Good for me or the baby, then I choose it not. I still get the same amount of food, if not more, I don't watch my calories, I understand portion to content ratio I am not concerned with starving myself in the least.

Everybody tells me that I look thinner. I feel that my arm fat, waste, and thigh fat have significantly decreased, I feel more the shape of a woman, more matronly; in my thoughts, actions, words and physicality.

For my experience, I must say that this pregorexia could be a phenomenon natural and each mother differ's with choices and experiences in life, their own; and that is the truth as I know it. So why does society spend so much time dwelling in negativity about minor judgments of ego and appearance.

Pregnancy is an amazing and beautiful experience, why won't people/ experts/ Doctors just let a woman live, love, grow, and be happy during pregnancy?

I am a mother of 3 beautiful, healthy babies. When I was pregnant the first time I had anorexia before I was pregnant and it just turned into pregorexia. I was in the hospital on an IV and they were nearly force feeding me food. But after 20 weeks in the hospital while I was holding my new baby girl I knew things had to be different. Thank god my baby girl was born healty. I breastfed and that made my belly disapper but I forced myself to eat healthy foods and excercise minimally after we brought Selah home. I didn't get anorexic again but I was still about 5 or 10 pounds underweight, but wayyy less than used to be. I got pregnant with twins, boy/girl, the next time and I had a healthy pregnancy, I didn't eat ice cream or lickles or anything, I stuck to organic stuff. I became a vegitarian to help me still have that sense of control, just in a good way. My boy/girl twins were born 4 days overdue at 40 weeks. Mila and Milo were each 7 pounds + and I never lost the pregnancy weight, I turned it into muscle and lost the belly breastfeeding! Good luck to every mother to be and her baby!

I have to place partial blame on doctors for some women feeling bad about gaining weight. My doctor continually harp on my weight gain (I'm 8 months)insisting that I should only gain around 20 lbs. total (I'm 5'8", was 140 before am nearing 180 now). I'm an incredibly healthy eater and used to run 3 miles a day until I was about 5 months pregnant. Now I get about 45 mins moderate excercise most days. I keep insisting that I eat healthy and am active, keeping to around 1600-1700 calories a day. The doctors told me I must be lying and must be eating sweets, fried foods and fatty foods. My husband was appalled and vouched for me that I don't touch that stuff. My body just happens to want to gain the extra weight.

So, at my doctor's request I began a daily food diary, and found that to maintain the weight gain the doctor wants I have to consume only about 1200-1300 calories a day. I feel like its very unhealthy and that my baby is suffering from it. Plus, I have zero energy to stay active. I think I'm just going to tell my doctor she's crazy and eat what my body tells me to. Who cares if I gain 50 pounds? It can always be worked off later.