Pregnancy

The myth about needing to eat for two had, unfortunately, long been debunked by the time I was pregnant with my first son. I still remember the tragic moment when I read that I was only supposed to be eating 100-300 extra calories of "nutrient-rich foods." One of my pregnancy guides had helpfully provided some suggestions: an apple, or perhaps a yogurt and a small handful of raisins.

Yeah RIGHT, I thought to myself as I troweled in yet another heaping spoonful of peanut butter directly from the jar, before returning to the pile of crackers I'd topped with jalapeño jack cheese slices. (Later, there would be ice cream and buttery slices of cinnamon toast.) A few extra raisins. Suuuuuure.

Given my history with eating for two five an entire catered wedding party, I kind of love Hilary Duff's confession that she treated pregnancy "like a free pass" when it came to her diet. GIRL, YOU ARE SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE.

Duff made an appearance on Bethenny Frankel's talk show (wait, Bethenny Frankel has a talk show?) and while she's definitely curvier than her pre-pregnancy self, I thought she looked absolutely amazing -- glowing, happy, and super proud of her baby Luca, who she gave birth to in March.

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Frankel peppered her with questions about her weight gain, which seems like a deeply lame subject to focus on, but Duff was refreshingly candid on how she had given herself permission to eat what she wanted while she was pregnant:

My whole life I’ve worked out and exercised and been in the public eye and always kind of watched what I ate. And this was like a free pass and it was a blast.

Frankel seemed weirdly focused on how she, in contrast, had barely gained any weight during pregnancy, even going so far as to show a photo of her bikini-clad third trimester bod during the interview. Oh, and she made it clear she'd lost the weight very quickly, thanks in part to the fact that "when you have a c-section you don't eat for 6 days in the hospital."

(O RLY? I was allowed food the same day as my surgery. And I didn't spend SIX DAYS there, for crying out loud. But maybe Frankel went to a special hospital/weight loss spa?)

As for Duff, she said that if she ever decides to have a second baby, she would try not to gain as much weight, but that "I wouldn't go back and change [this pregnancy] because I had a lot of fun."

Here's the video:

I am SO with Duff on this one. We all know what the guidelines are, and if anything, more and more studies are coming out that say overweight women should diet during pregnancy -- but I think if you're in good health, well, it may not be a FREE pass, but pregnancy can be a mighty damn fine time for indulging. For me, it was like I grew extra taste buds along with giant hooters and a round belly, everything just tasted so GOOD. I definitely overshot that 100-300 calorie goal, but it was 100 percent worth the effort it took afterwards to get back in shape.

I'm glad Hilary Duff enjoyed every bit of her pregnancy and didn't feel shackled to unrealistic Hollywood expectations. She's working to lose the weight now, but she's in no big rush -- and she's got the right attitude about adjusting to her new curves:

The second I start to get down like 'what happened to my body?' I look at my beautiful baby and I've never been more appreciative for this body that I have.

Did you eat what you wanted during pregnancy, or did you make sure you stayed within the recommended guidelines?

Image via Bethenny TV