Why Pregnant People Get Fat

I know my title sounds harsh but I can't tell you how often I feel like giving into pregnancy cravings, thinking that the growing abdomen of mine is just a baby, when the reality is, my body is just as susceptible to bad fats and no food group indulgences (think chocolate, cookies, etc.) as a skinny un-pregnant person!  So often, I think of how easy it is to give in and just eat bad.  Just to have that second or third serving of ice cream.  To have another harmless cookie.  To get some donuts.  Pasta for dinner yet again.  Creamy yummy deliciousness.  And then, like so many women before me, I start to make note of the weight loss methods for post pregnancy and how healthy I will eat, as if suddenly my body will jump back and all the bad habits formed during pregnancy will magically disappear along with the baby weight.

The reality is.. healthy eating is healthy eating.  It shouldn't be an ends to a means.  It should be a way of life.  Just because I'm pregnant does not mean I get an excuse to eat bad while my stomach grows anyway.  Just because my body craves some sugar doesn't mean I don't have to moderate it and stay balanced.  You know when you eat bad and then regret it, trying to lose the weight?  Not only that, but you feel awful!  Well.. that happens with pregnancy - only worse because the weight you've gained from the baby camouflages the actual bad weight you put on that the baby really didn't need.

And that is why pregnant people get fat.  Or why this pregnant woman is going to get fat this time around.  Well, that is... unless I keep telling myself and reminding myself that being pregnant is not an excuse to get fat.  You grow for the baby, that is it.  Even worse is the fact that much of the lose skin and excess flab around my waist has not yet made its way off of my body after baby number 1.  So I've got more fat to begin with which means..... I will definitely have more difficulty shedding the baby weight for baby number two.

Oh my.

And yeah, I am not eating for two.  I'm eating for one and a half.