It’s ok to talk about weight while pregnant, right? It’s not somehow verboten? Just checking.
So a friend whom I like and respect has told me that the best thing to do while pregnant is to look at your weight, cut that in half, then drink that many ounces a day in liquid (mostly water, of course). Thing is… I’m trying like mad to do this and I’m dropping weight. I feel hungry but unable to eat because my stomach capacity is maxed out. I’m shaky and kind of weak on the days I manage to get to 11 cups of liquid. (I should be drinking 12+ according to that theory.) But if I drink only as much as my body feels inclined to take in I’m drinking 6-8 cups of liquid a day and I can eat. I feel much better physically. I don’t shake.
I think that the ideal of tons of water might just be an ideal for me. I’m beginning to think that is really a bad idea for my health and my pregnancy for me to focus that hard on water.
(For the record my midwife’s general philosophy is: don’t get dehydrated.)
I’m thinking about this because I’ve been trying really hard to get in my liquid today. I am up to 7ish cups of liquid. And I’m shaking like a leaf. I feel like shit. I can barely move around. And I feel like I am starving but my stomach is full. I think I’m done with this.
I think you should listen to what your body is telling you. If it doesn’t seem to need that much liquid, don’t drink that much.
Agree. Your body is smart, and will tell you when things are fucked up.
“Don’t get dehydrated” seems like good advice. Drink a little bit more than you need in order to not be dehydrated doesn’t seem like bad advice. Drink so much water that you can’t eat seems like egregiously bad advice.
I get the impression that my degree of shrunken stomach while pregnant is fairly unusual. I am also still nursing while I’m gestating so my caloric needs are kind of ridiculous. I should be eating something like 3400 calories a day for me, TBD, and Shanna. It’s actually pretty hard for me to eat that much.
Makes me think I should follow that lady to McDonald’s. 😛 (kidding!)
Yeah… it seems to be true.
Try coconut water (though it is high in potassium, fyi) or something other than straight-up water. Water is not always the best way to stay hydrated/full up on electrolytes. Also, if it’s filling you up and you feel like crap, then I would argue that, uhh, it’s not working.
Yeah, your body needs water and you should drink that shit, but it also needs food, too.
I don’t actually drink that much straight up water. I’m big on juice and chicken broth. 🙂
The diet folks used to tell you to drink at least 8 cups a day of water. They were wrong – you should get (on average) 8 cups of liquid, but up to half that can be from food (which has more water than you think for most foods), and that liquids other than water are ok, so long as the part that’s not water is otherwise ok.
You got some advice about testing for dehydration of Shanna a few posts back – that same test works for adults. If you’re not dehydrated and not feeling thirsty, don’t worry.
I am trying to avoid caffeine (not that hard) but I have a hard time avoiding sugar and sodium in the other stuff I drink. I really love chicken broth but the kind that tastes any good is loaded with sodium. I also really like juice but holy crap is that full of sugar. (I don’t drink juice with added sugar, but still.)
sugar=calories and it sounds like you need oodles of calories. To my knowledge, sugar isn’t otherwise bad for you. It’s just a worry that when you eat sugary stuff it’s easy to consume _way_ more calories than you need and way more than you realize. So if you need oodles of calories and you’re supposed to drink fluids, I guess I don’t understand why you’re disparaging your fluids for being high in (natural, un-supplemented) sugars?
I presume you’re otherwise getting lots of veggies and minerals and fiber and protein and everything you need for a balanced, healthy diet :o)
Sugar can help contribute to gestational diabetes. It is not a road I want to go down so I really need to be careful about sugary stuff. I try to keep my juice to two-ish cups a day. It does seriously spike blood sugar so I also try to only drink it while I’m eating real food.
I’m actually not getting enough vegetables because I am really under caloried and vegetables take up a lot of valuable stomach real estate.
that makes sense.
Cover all your veggies in cheese and meat and wrap that in pastry :o) In fact, from now on it’s all quiche, all the time. Mmm, quiche.
I’ll echo the ‘listen to your body’ comments from above.
I’ll also point out that drinking too much water can KILL you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-water-poisoning.htm (this one lists symptoms)
If you’re really concerned with water/liquid in take. Talk to you Doctor or Midwife with specifics.
Well, sure. But you have to drink an awful lot of it.
I drink a lot of juice and chicken broth in with my water so I’m not sure how that relates into water poisoning. I am trying to get electrolytes in with my water.
The linked articles say 1.5 – 3 liters is a normal intake. 12 cups is pretty close to 3 liters.
Getting electrolytes will definately help avoid the water poisoning thing.
Things that appear to be bullshit usually are, in experience.
If your pee runs clear (or at least pretty clear), then you’re fine.
I can drink 12 cups a day and not pee clear. I can drink 4 cups a day and pee clear. It seems to be somewhat random for me.
Lots of things besides hydration will effect color. A large vitamin load will increase color. Since I assume she’s on prenatal vitamins, it’s likely to be colorful.
I had wondered about that…
Whatever, if you’re drinking so much water that you can’t eat enough, it’s too much water.
ante natal vitamins will give you interesting colored pee.
learnt that from my sister. similar to what regular vitamins will do, but even more so.
this is frustrating if one is looking for “copious and clear,” which is what my long ago first aid instructor taught us was what a person wants to make sure they aren’t dehydrated.
I had to ask around to figure out who the hell this is. 🙂 Hi!
Yeah, I’ve had weird pee from vitamins for more years than I care to remember. I hate taking vitamins. ERF!
omg, I am so sorry – I thought you knew this was my LJ handle. I forgot to add who I was. Ack!
antibiotics seem to make me a bit stupid, I think.
but yeah… vitamins are something I don’t enjoy, but sometimes need. best of luck with the pregnancy!
Totally that. Prenatals are weird.
It’s not just prenatals – I can drink a ton of water, and never pee clear because of the vitamins I take. I forget which one, I think it’s one of the B vitamins, makes up most of the difference in color.
B2 (Riboflavin) definitely has that effect.
I still take prenatals and still makes pee strange!!
Congrats on your pregnancy.
-gee
I am on year three of prenatals. I can’t wait to stop taking them because they make me gag. I really shouldn’t until I am done breastfeeding and that means at least three more years. Yuck! Hates them, Precious!
you’ll get all diluted!
then, instead of saying “Fuck those assholes”
you’ll say “Intercourse those anal orifices.”
and you won’t get all passionate about what you believe
you’ll only become mildly interested.
and then you’ll have to go pee.
i’m supposed to drink lots of water.
but i can say “Fuck that shit”
precisely because i don’t!
Were you remembering to count things like cups of red raspberry leaf tea and eating oranges into your liquid count? Because the people who say that water intake is in addition to watery foods have fallen for the lies of people who sell bottled water.
I certainly count tea (I don’t do much caffeinated stuff), juice, soup, and stuff that looks liquid to me. I don’t generally count stuff like fruit. Maybe I should. 🙂
It does sound like you’re just not remotely getting enough calories in. That would totally explain your feeling so shaky and weak, and obviously, losing weight. It seems less to do with ‘water poisoning’ or even electrolyte imbalance (particularly if you’re not really drinking much straight water, and more broth/juice/etc). Certainly, I’d make food your higher priority if your stomach capacity is making fluid consumption a distracting factor.
I’m on the calculation at about 3 quarts a day, too, but I’d say I get a minimum of about 2 quarts most days, but I’m not sure I’m getting a full 3 very often. I DO just drink water on the most part, but lately I’ve been feeling like I need to add a little lime juice or drinking vinegar or something or I just don’t want as much of it.
BTW, I don’t know if it’s just ME you heard this from, but I’d like to qualify the quote as not “the best thing to do” but what I’ve been told by my midwife to use as a gauge. I do think we need a fair amount of liquid between the extra blood volume and all the filtering of it and amniotic fluid we need to be doing, but I don’t think there are LAWS. 🙂
I talked to my midwife about it today and she said that it is absolutely the standard. 🙂 But if it isn’t working for me don’t worry about it. 🙂
I always get at least 8. It’s that next 4 I struggle with. I probably get 70/30 water/other stuff. So I am getting a fair bit of water. 🙂