The phrase “eating for two” wrongly suggests doubling calorie intake during pregnancy. Current medical guidelines recommend something quite different: no extra calories in the first trimester, roughly 300-340 extra kcal per day in the second, and 450 in the third.
The gap between “double” and “a few hundred extra calories” is enormous – practically the equivalent of one solid snack, not a whole second meal.
The increased need comes from fetal development and additional metabolic processes, not from literally needing to feed “two full people” – a newborn weighs a small fraction of an adult’s weight.
A popular saying can stay in circulation for decades, long after the real numbers said something else.
See also:
– Pregnancy Weight Gain Calculator →