Why do people blame being pregnant causes a person to be over weight?

With my firstborn I actually lost weight during my pregnancy! So after his birth I weighed less. With my second child I never put a pound on and the day after he was born weighed exactly the same weight as I had before I was pregnant, which felt really good! My weight was 9stone 2 pound, I still weighed the same when I became pregnant with my 3rd child, but when he was born I weighed 10stone and 7pounds and I could not shift it. Now I am the master when it comes to dieting and keeping my weight down and I love my exercise, but no matter what I did I could not shift a pound, in fact I kept putting it on and on and in the end I had crawled up to 12 stone, I was heavier than my husband, I was so down about it and even had my thyroid checked to see if it was that and it was fine. But I could not get rid of it, I became pregnant with my fourth child and I was absolutely dreading it, I thought how big am I going to be when I have had this baby I was scared I thought I would end up being about 18 stone!! My pregnancy weight went up to 13stone and 7pounds and then halfway through my pregnancy I started losing weight, this was due to illness in the pregnancy and by the time I gave birth to my daughter I weighed 10 stone. I carried on eating healthily hoping against hope that this time I would lose it and not be like last time, and I did after a few weeks the weight started to come off and I got down to 9stone. I think that everyones bodies are different during and after pregnancy, hormones being altered can be a huge pain in the butt as I found out. I used to think the same, well they could lose it if they really want to, but sometimes you cannot no matter how hard you try. I was lucky in that whatever stopped me losing weight after my 3rd child, put itself right after my 4th and I was able to get my weight down. I am a very active person as well and always exercised both during and after pregnancy.

I do not agree on this one bit for the simple fact that every one has a different body and every one has different genetics and heritage. You may be small and you may not have obesity that runs in your family so pregnancy could have not affected your weight. But for many women they struggle to stay at an average weight or a weight they are comfortable at because obesity runs in there family or they may have a slow metabolism and many other factors can play a big part. Also not everyone can be active in their pregnancy due to severe morning sickness, back pains, restrictions given by their doctor and many other reasons. Such as me I am 6 months pregnant right now and I have been admitted into the hospital 4 times now because I throw up everything I eat and drink so Im extremely dehydrated and I also have been diagnosed with acid reflux disease and anytime I do any kind of activity or bending over acid from my stomach comes up into my throat and burns the lining of my esophagus which now they are telling me I have to have surgery for. So I dont think its always an excuse women use for being a little on the heavier side but you really should stop and think about the other factors that can play a huge role in their life not just pregnancy.

You were very lucky. A friend of mine recently had a baby. She put no way on anywhere other than around her tummy and she seemed to "spring" straight back into shape. In fact this happened to two of my friends recently. They are naturally thin but neither of them are particularly active. People blame pregnancy for being overweight because it happens. I know this because after having my first child 8 years ago and despite being active and healthy, I am still overweight. I was never skinny or anything but the fat on my front came about while I was pregnant and never went away again. People who can get straight back into shape and/or don't put weight on in the first place are lucky and must have a very good metabolism. I'm sure there are people who could lose SOME weight after having a baby who don't but for some of us, the weight just will not be shifted. Believe me, I'm still trying!

I think gaining a bit of weight is to be expected, as it affects peoples ability to exercise, and can cause odd food cravings. but you do see some people "eating for two" forgetting one of them is the size of a grapefruit. not two full size adult human beings.

Well, I'm either overweight or I'm in my 80th trimester!

It's easier to lose weight after the first one than it is with ones that come after. You can lose all the weight but it still may change your body. My wife got down to her pre-pregnancy weight after our second child and although her weight was the same her body was different, her waist size never did get back the way it was before. Everything just got stretched out apparently. So while it is of course possible to lose all the weight it doesn't mean the body will ever be like it was before having kids.

I think because their habits change, they eat more or are less active, Im like you, I was active during my pregnancy, I was even out there chopping wood for the fire a couple of days before I delivered. I was back to being myself within a couple of weeks.

Here is the thing everyone is different to how they react to pregnancy. Did you know that after each pregnancy your body chemistry changes? Which mean a once skinny person with a healthy metabolism could end up with metabolism problems after a pregnancy. My first pregnancy I was a gest diabetic I excerised and still gained lots of weight I ate small meals and followed the guidelines to the tea but guess what it didn't matter. My body gained weight. Little did I know that I had a matabolism issue and that with every pregnancy it complicated it worse and worse to the point now that I can get sick and not eat and puke for days and still gain 10lbs. LOL!!! I am now on meds but i have had five children and the weight gained from the medical problems ( when pregnant)where I was on bed rest for two out of three pregnancy becuase when you get toxemia you blow up like a balloon no matter how careful you are when you eat and what you eat. But the point here is everyone is different and so is how there body reacts. Some people gain lots of weight their body chemsitry changes and it takes them forever to get it off. My gram she ended up allergic to eggs during one pregnancy caused by the pregnancy and on another pregnancy she had she became allergic to water any prolonged exposure to water she breaks out into hives and then is miserable .. She takes quick showers and has a dishwasher. LOL!!! But no one can prove or deny the pregnancy does or doesn't cause weight gain. It can change your body chemistry to the point where you have problems losing the weight you gain and it can make it so that you have other problems. LOL!!! Here is a site that states that stress

Well some people want find a reason to blame why they are over weight,well I always lose weight with my pregnancies,which I'M OVERWEIGHT,But is due to I did have a baby a few months ago and haven't been able to get out in the winter with the baby,but having a baby is never an excuse for being over weight.My mom used to say thats why she was overweight and made us feel like it was our fault,which makes a kid feel horrible,no mother should do that to their child.

It actually is hard to lose extra pregnancy weight for a lot of women. Sometimes it isnt that though. Pregnancy can actually cause a women's thyroid to go out of whack. This can cause some problems with the weight loss. I never had a problem but only gained 23lbs. with my first and 22lbs so far with this one and only have 3 weeks to go. Often women use pregnancy as an excuse to eat everything and anything in sight and then wonder why they gain that kind of weight.

Hi wisconsin26, Clearly I am a man and have never personally been pregnant (big surprise huh?). But I am diabetic and know a bit about the bodies physiology. Not a lot I am still learning but let me share with you what I know. When you are pregnant your body goes through tons of changes, one of which is your hormone levels adjsut dramatically. Because of these shifts in hormone level, some women develop gestational diabetes, GD. I share that only to make the point that there are significant hormonal changes. Not all women develop GD, but the hormone level changes are universal. Some women's bodies can handle these changes better than others. Women whose bodies do not adapt as well to these shifts will experience changes in their blood sugar levels. When our blood sugar is under control, we do not feel hungry. Our bodies are efficiently processing the fuel, food, we give it. when our blood sugar gets too high or too low, we feel hungry even though we may have had plenty to eat. Our bodies are not processing the fuel we are giving it and it craves more. Thus creating weight gain. It can take many months for a woman's body to resume it's normal physiology but by then the weight is on and it is difficult to remove. Some women's bodies will tolerate those shifts better than others. That is why some women gain lots of weight and others don't. I know. This post was super boring! Sorry.

I was one of those who gain a lot of weight during the entire pregnancy. I always feel hungry and when i feel that i like something, they give it to me. I can resist from eating and i drink a lot of water,about 12 to 15 glasses a day. I can't do a diet because my daughter is taking her milk from me, it took me 2 years before i go back to my weight before pregnancy. I also know someone that even how lot of foods she eat, she doesn't gain weight but during pregnancy, she look so fat and now retain or i think more skinny than before. There are instances that women had a hard times during pregnancy, lot of do's and dont's that prevent them for being active so they gain weight. It was all depend to women if how they will manage it after giving birth, if they want to be back with their old weight or just eat so much. As far as i know, when you start gaining weight, it is easy to add more if you will not manage your eating habits right.

well some women due to medical problems cannot be so active during pregnancy so the weight will stay on longer. besides the fact that every body is different, some people don't lose weight as fast because of their metabolism or whatever. After my first pregnancy I went on a type of birth control that now i know and doctors know cause you to gain weight, so that didn't help matters either.

its because they keep on eating while they were pregnant; so, they still continued eating a lot of food even when they already delivered their child

I really think many people who fall into the category you are talking about probably weighed more than they should have pre pregnancy. I was 115 when I got pregnant with my son, I went up to 150 and was back to 115 with in 3 months. I agree with you. If you eat health and stay active during your pregnancy you will gain weight but it will drop off after the baby if born.

After giving birth to my first I hadn't gained anything but after my second I still had excess weight. and I was actually more active with my second than my first. I think it has a lot to do with being active both while pregnant and afterwards. Some people gain too much during pregnancy and then after the baby comes they don't do any exercises to lose the excess weight so they complain about it instead of doing something about it ya know. I myself have always been overweight and i know that it is 100% my fault and not my kids or my parents fault. I have never really worried much about it because I am who I am but now that I am getting older and having kids I really want to lose some weight. but anyways i totally agree with you it is the womens own fault that they don't lose the baby fat.

Everyone and every pregnancy is different. It's hard for some women to be very active during their pregnancy for medical reasons or the fact that they spend all of their energy on work or any number of other reasons. I think its fair to give women about a year to get all of their baby weight off. Some women may even need longer. It's not a good excuse to stay overweight for the rest of your life, but not every woman can get rid of all of their tummy pudge either. You're lucky and not like most women. I had my daughter nine months ago and still have only managed to get a little over half my baby weight off. I put on quite a bit because it was hard for me to get out walking or to the gym and at one point my husband was working nights. (hes in the Air force and we live in Germany) Its rainy all the time here and we only have one car. I don't an pregnant women who like to go walking in cold rain, lol. Try to be a little less judgemental of overweight mommys. We all have a different story and a number of reasons why we don't look the way we did pre-baby. Yes there are women who use it as an excuse and never try to do anything about it. But not everyone. Great discussion, this one got all of us mommys talking. :)