Leah Remini and daughter Sofia

King of Queens star Leah Remini, 35, and her daughter Sofia Bella, 22 months, are featured in People’s special diet issue. Leah speaks of her weight loss after pregnancy, where she gained a bit too much – she says, "My obstetrician told me after the fourth month that I’d gained my weight for the whole pregnancy – 25 lbs." Leah started at around 115 lbs, gained 80 lbs during her pregnancy, and is now 130 lbs – and she’d like to lose 6 lbs more.

Leah’s advice for moms to be? "Think about the aftermath. Know that you’re not literally eating for two. In my case, I was eating for four or five!"

Thanks to CBB reader Stephanie for the scan!

Comments

Pamela on April 14th, 2006

and that’s exactly why people should not be seeing someone who practices archaic medicine. geez. she should have taken up smoking crack to ensure she didn’t gain more weight! gah!

kristen on April 15th, 2006

I totally agree with Pamela. I wish that the big magazines would print the studies showing that women are gaining too little weight. It *is* archaic to say that women should only gain a certain amount of weight – it’s different for all moms, for all babies, and for all pregnancies. Even the recommended 30lbs is too little for some women. Pregnant women should focus on excellent nutrition and not weight gain. They should be worried with sudden large amounts of gain, but gradual gain is normal and healthy.

I wish that all women would read about Dr. Tom Brewer’s work with pregnant women and diet, and would really read the clinical studies and what they say – it sure ain’t that we need to gain as little as possible – it’s that we need to eat plenty of nutrient dense foods. You’re eating to keep your own self as healthy as possible and you eating to build an entire human being from scratch – hello, you need to eat well. Cut out the soda and junk food if you’re worried…but if you’re gaining weight on good healthy food and taking walks or swimming or doing some other moderate exercise frequently…then stop obsessing. And don’t read magazines that print crap like People did.

rachel on April 15th, 2006

It seems to me (and I am no doctor) that 25 lbs in the 1st four months is a large weight gain in a little time.
I do agree though that to put pressure on women to gain “as little as possible” is not healthy for the woman or the unborn child, although I am sure this was not what was meant.
Pregnant women should, as kristen said, concentrate on eating whole, nutrient dense foods and cutting out the crap, like junk foods and sodas, and get plenty of low impact exercise, which was recommended to me during my pregnancy.
I gained 25 lbs with my daughter, throughout the entire pregnancy. It was not as if I was starving myself though – she was born a week early and weighed 7 lb 15 ounces and was perfectly healthy.
Like was said before, all women are different.

tink1217 on April 15th, 2006

This is a tough one. On one hand, I agree with Rachel, but in some respects I do agree with the OP. As someone who gained 60 pounds on a 5’2″ frame in my first pregnancy, let me tell you…it was really hard afterwards. I lost all but 10 pounds of it and a month later was PG with my 2nd. I gained 50 with him and he weighed more. I lost all but 15 pounds after that, but it took me close to 2 years to do it. Over the years I have struggled with my weight tremendously. I do think pregnancy and having 2 csections within 2 years was a major contributor. But, I can’t blame it all on that! I HAVE to watch what I eat no matter what. I still struggle with my weight every day. I am still trying to lose 20 pounds. I think what docs need to focus on is healthy food choices for mom and baby during pregnancy. Not how much weight is gained unless there is a risk of gestational diabetes or high blood pressure from it. And, moderate exercise is important too if at all possible. I walked during both of my pregnancies and it didn’t help much. I think I needed to do more than that.

I think Leah looks great, always did, even with the extra weight after the baby. And, her DD is so absolutely beautiful!

heatherforever on April 15th, 2006

I think to some extent every woman is differant, and your body is going to do what it is going to do. I wasn’t in the greatest shape with my first pregnancy, didn’t eat all that well, didn’t excersize, and only gained 23 pounds.

With my second, I was in the best shape of my life, was running 3 miles 6 days a week before pregnancy and into my second trimester, size two, eating great, and I gained 35. It was a differant pregnancy, not anything I had done wrong or right.

I am running again and lost most of the weight, but you know what? I have had two kids. I am breastfeeding. My body is never going to be what it was when I was 18!! I’m ok with that. I think the obsession with loosing weight and looking like we never had kids isn’t healthy. I wish women could focus on the beauty of mothers bodys instead. Yes we should all strive to be healthy and in good shape because it’s good for our bodies. But publishing womens weight in magazines and focusing on numbers and jeans sizes isn’t good for anyones pysche.

We all do the best that we can.

FC on April 15th, 2006

I don’t really see the reason to say what her weight is now. They do that every single time and it’ll only mess around with some weak reader’s mind, telling them they should be this and that weight. That’s what I don’t like.

Anyway, Lea looks great. I am in love with her daughter. I can’t believe how big she’s gotten and that she’ll be two pretty soon. I still remember watching the VH-1 Inside/Out specials for her wedding and then her pregnancy and birth.

But I have to laugh. It looks like Lea has no feet. Her pants swallowed her shoes and feet. ^_^

FC on April 15th, 2006

Oh, and I just wanted to add that Sofia looks a lot like her daddy. I see him in the eyes and other facial features.

She’s such a cutie. ♥

AskMoxie on April 15th, 2006

Kristen, do you have any links for the Tom Brewer stuff? I’d be interested to read it. If you don’t want to post the link here, hop on over to my place and post it or email me. Thanks.

Kat_Momof3 on April 15th, 2006

okay… while I do think that 80lbs was too much for her to gain (she wasn’t underweight to start with or anything)… I think her doctor was harsh… it would have been better to point out how much (on average) she should gain… that she’d gained quite a bit… and just work on eating healthy and keeping the weight gain at a better rate the rest of the pregnancy, but not trying to gain less because of the early gain, or trying to lose it.

I’m very overweight… and was told to try to only gain 10-15lbs with each baby… with my first, I had pre-eclampsia and gained 40lbs… my doc was supportive, trying to help me stay healthy and try to avoid so much weight gain, but also understanding that sometimes it simply isn’t controlable and stressing nutrition and health instead of not eating or other things to try to keep it down.

with my second, I only gained 16lbs… no pre-eclampsia that time… and I ate a TON of food… just mostly veggies and fruit… I allowed myself treats, of course, but when I was just hungry for anything and everything, I’d choose healthy stuff.

with my daughter, I gained 34lbs… I was eating the same as I did with my other two pregnancies… just gained more… and I had a different ob… who didn’t believe in the 10-15lb ideal for me… he said that even though I was overweight and should be eating healthy and trying not to overdo it, he would be fine if I only gained 10-15lbs, or anywhere up to 35… he did think more than that would be a bit much.

the nurses were asking me how I controlled it, as they had all gained over 40lbs with their pregnancies.

I think really, if obs were more supportive like mine all were, and just urged nutrition and exercise to maintain a healthy pregnancy, the numbers wouldn’t be able to be made into such an issue.

DJ on April 15th, 2006

I was a little overweight when I got pregnant with my daughter. I have high blood pressure, and my doctor was very concerned about that and tried different ways of getting it under control. All through that time I kept gaining weight. I do take partial responsability for the weight I gained, about 70 pounds , because I know I didn’t eat like I should. However, I really think my doctor should have been paying more attention to something other than just my BP. Part of the weight I gained was just water weight, and after my daugther was born, I was able to lose a quick 20 to 25 pounds (boy was that nice). However, 19 months later I am about 100 pounds heavier than my ideal body weight. I am determined to get it back off, but boy is it hard. If I ever get pregnant again, I won’t be gaining that much weight, that is for sure!!!

kimmyana on April 15th, 2006

Leah has been open in other interviews about how poorly she ate during her pregnancy, and about how naive she was in thinking that the weight would fall off right after the birth. She even said that she brought her pre-pregnancy jeans to the hospital with her. That works for some women, none of whom gained 80 lbs. though, I’m sure.

Doctors are right to emphasize a certain range for weight gain as a GENERAL GUIDELINE to follow, because no one eating healthily with an emphaisis on nutrition will put on 80 lbs. unless there is something seriously malfunctioning somewhere within the pregnancy. There needs to be some ackowledgement that the extreme weight gain doesn’t just cause harm to your own health, but also to that of your unborn child.

Where society is WRONG is in expecting women to take the weight off rapidly after birth.

Sarah CBB Editor on April 15th, 2006

Here’s a scan of the article that goes with the photo – obviously I can only post so much of it, but since this topic is getting a lot of responses I figured the interest is there! Leah talks about all the crap she ate, and how she took the weight off too.

http://i2.tinypic.com/viiafo.jpg

kristen on April 15th, 2006

Well, I agree that eating junk food is not good, and that weight is not at all “good weight” but I think like so many other posters have said, that gets lost in the weight obsession. It isn’t “you should gain on nutritious foods and not eat empty calories” as it should be. It seems the emphasis is more on “don’t go over 30lbs or else!!”

Anyways, Moxie you can find Dr. Brewer’s general diet guidelines here: http://www.bradleybirth.com/PD.aspx which the Bradley childbirth method’s site. They use Dr. Brewer’s diet. The late doctor also had a small website: http://www.blueribbonbaby.org/ which has good info on it. It’s really hard to find his books, but they’re excellent and detail his 12-year nutrition case study in a prenatal clinic and the excellent outcomes he helped the women achieve. Hop over to my website and send me a note if you want to discuss it further, I feel pretty strongly about prenatal nutrition XD

Kat_Momof3 on April 15th, 2006

I like the article… didn’t think I would… but it was a good point about the fact that normal… aka… most… women do have to work to get the weight off… and that the juice diets and shots and weird stuff just simply don’t work… she lost the weight through regular exercise and good nutrition.

Yonni on April 17th, 2006

Well she looks great, and her daughter is almost 2..She is just losing the weight..She didn’t crash diet or anything…anyway Sophia is so beautiful, and she looks a lot like her daddy..So cute…I haven’t see any pics since she was born I believe…

Yonni on April 17th, 2006

Well she looks great, and her daughter is almost 2..She is just losing the weight..She didn’t crash diet or anything…anyway Sophia is so beautiful, and she looks a lot like her daddy..So cute…I haven’t see any pics since she was born I believe…

Yonni on April 17th, 2006

Well she looks great, and her daughter is almost 2..She is just losing the weight..She didn’t crash diet or anything…anyway Sophia is so beautiful, and she looks a lot like her daddy..So cute…I haven’t see any pics since she was born I believe…

Shanay on August 15th, 2007

Well I’m 11 days away from my due date right now.. and I’ve gained somewhere between 75-95 lbs with this pregnancy… It’s my first pregnancy and I can honestly say I haven’t aten any different than I used to! I eat healthy, yet I do eat a little bit of chocolate every day, since I’ve been pregnant. Not a lot, a little. I fulfill my cravings yet don’t over indulge. I even went to a dietician and she agreed that it seemed I was on the right track as far as what I’ve been eating. However, I DID just quit smoking a few weeks before I became pregnant, so maybe that has something to do with it? I’m not sure. But I don’t FEEL really FAT, just a tiny bit more pudge than I had before on my body. But I’m really not worried because once I”m able to hit the gym again and take the baby for walks, and not have such strong cravings, I’m sure I’ll be fine. .big deal if it takes a little while. Besides, like I said. It’s not like I’m HUGE now, even though it does seem like a lot of weight to gain. I’m not sure what’s going on, because my belly is humungous but not my whole body.

Shanay on August 15th, 2007

I’d just like to add that she still looked great right after having the baby! A little chubby or not, women need to have more self-confidence these days and not dwell on their shortcomings. Just enjoy life, get exercise by walking the baby, and watch portions and the weight will melt itself away!