I found it helpful to plug my starting weight into a pregnancy weight gain calculator like this one, and I used it as a guide. I started in the normal range and gained 30 lbs with the first and about 40 with the second, but weighed ten less when I got pregnant with #2, such that I maxed out at the same number each time. I tend to monitor both finances and weight after the fact and adjust course if need be rather than plan beforehand, but having a guide as to what I might expect to gain weekly helped me stay on track.
I think sometimes your body is just going to gain what you gain. When i was pregnant I worked out every day and ate healthy. I did not eat fast food once during the entire pregnancy! I still gained 40lbs. Just know you can only do so much.
Yes, this. I saw a nutritionist throughout my second pregnancy, and she commented on how well-balanced my diet was and how happy she was with it. We even exchanged recipes. I jogged up until my third trimester and then switched to walking because of hip pain. I also did light lifting. I still gained 55 pounds during my 40w/1d pregnancy. I did give birth to a 21 inch, 9.5lb baby, though, so I guess my body knew what it was doing. A little over a year later, and I've lost all that weight and then some (15 more, to be exact).
I did eat fast food, though. I won't lie to you! LOL. Road trips will do that.
With my second pregnancy I was naturally more active (taking care of a 2 year old) and ate better, but I still gained only 10 pounds less than my first pregnancy. Took me a year both times to get to pp weight too.
I started my pregnancy 20 lbs over my ideal. My OB and MFM gave me serious guilt trips about "this is not the time to diet" and "you must take it easy." I was living in NYC at the time as well and they did not approve of walking as a necessity for life over there. I only got to the 7th month before the baby was born so in total I gained like 25 lbs.
Post-baby, I am now like 40 lbs over my ideal. I was looking forward to the pregnancy phase being over so I could resume the weight loss phase that I was about to start when I got the BFP. For some reason, EVERYONE forgot to tell me that you can't diet if you're breastfeeding. And I got even more guilt trips about "whatever you eat, the baby eats so you need to eat especially if your preemie is ever going to gain any weight."
I don't have any advice only well wishes that this works out for you. Next time I am going to approach all of this so differently.