'Curvy Wife' Influencer Sarah Tripp Gets Real About Hitting 200 Lbs. During Pregnancy

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Although weight gain during pregnancy is healthy (the acceptable target is between 25 and 35 pounds!) it's not always easy to accept your new body. Influencer Sarah Tripp experienced this first hand but took to social media to explain how her changing body is nothing to be ashamed of.

Tripp shared a sweet photo of her and her husband posing while showing off her baby bump and explained the emotional rollercoaster that pregnancy-related weight gain has caused.

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“today it happened. i looked down at the scale at my doctor’s appointment: 202 lbs. for a few fleeting moments, i felt bad about myself,” she wrote in her caption. “some of my best advice for curvy gals is to toss their scales out the window and never let a number define them. in fact, i don’t even own a scale and haven’t for years! but being pregnant means i get weighed at least once a month at check ups, and i do ask to know the number so i can mentally track for my health and baby’s development.”

Tripp said that despite having so many supportive figures in her life, she still struggled with accepting the number on the scale. She explained that she hadn’t weighed this much since her “yo-yoing weight gain and loss” throughout college, but there are other factors that made her feel insecure about her new weight.

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“maybe because being pregnant is a very emotional stage of life,” she wrote. “maybe it’s because i look nothing like all the cute, thin bloggers i scroll past with their adorable basketball bellies and fab maternity style. or maybe it’s because no one really talks about being curvy and pregnant, let alone show it with pictures and vulnerability.”

Tripp emphasized the point that although she has gained weight, she is, after all, growing a human inside of her.

“your girl officially joined the 200lbs club today, and i really had to take a step back and remember that i’m growing a tiny human inside of me and it’s okay. and even if i weren’t, it would still be okay,” she wrote.

Weight gain comes with being pregnant, but doctors have created guidelines to help women figure out how much weight is healthy. According to the Office of Women’s Health, there is a target weight range depending on your BMI, and your doctor can help you determine that number. Fahimeh Sasan, DO, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York previously told Health that pregnant women should only add 200 to 300 extra calories daily, and those should come from foods like vegetables, fruits or whole grains.

RELATED: Is It Safe to Lose Weight While Pregnant? Here’s What You Need to Know

Tripp and her husband announced the news of their pregnancy back in April, and revealed that they are expecting a baby boy during a gender reveal in June. Tripp’s husband, Robbie, went viral in 2017 after a controversial post about how much he loves his "curvy wife." Critics of the post were angry for a handful of reasons. Some believed he was acting as though his love for his curvy wife was revolutionary. Others thought he should stay out of the women's body positive movement altogether. Ultimately, the two have opened up a space for conversations about body positivity and focusing on health rather than the numbers on a scale.

“my body grows and changes and gains weight. it doesn’t define me… and it doesn’t define you either," she wrote in her post. "i’m sticking with my motto of throwing out your scale, being kind to yourself during different stages of life, putting importance on health, and learning not to place worth solely in numbers. you got this curvy ladies and mamas! you’re so beautiful.”

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