My Tips For A Fit Pregnancy
I’ve had a lot of people ask questions about my pregnancy and how I felt, how I managed work, and how I stayed active. So, I thought it would be fun to put together my tips and ideas for having a fit pregnancy.
I am, by no means, a health expert and anything I write about is my own personal experience and opinion. My pregnancy was fairly “easy” and had no complications, so the things I did were perfect for me and my pregnancy. Please remember that everyone is different and each person has their own story and experience. I am only writing this as a way to maybe help some people and offer some easy tips!
Alright, shall we get started?
Staying active in the first trimester was really important to me. I knew that I wanted to be able to stay active throughout my entire pregnancy, so I didn’t want to go three months without exercise. When I got pregnant, I was in excellent shape, but I knew that I would need to change my exercise routine. I didn’t have terrible morning sickness, but I definitely dealt with daily nausea. For me, exercise was the fix. Once I started my walk, run or body movement exercises, the nausea would fade away. So, even though it was tough for a couple minutes, it was always worth it for me. I knew I would feel better afterwards.
I made sure I got some type of exercise every day. Just like responding to emails was on my to-do list, my workout was too. I am a planner and I love structure, so it has never been hard for me to schedule exercise into my routine. It helps my mental state and it’s never really been an option. Yes, there are days when I wake up and feel off, so I give my body rest. But, for the most part, I wake up first thing and do my workout. That way, I don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day and it was an easy way to fight the nausea.
Learning more about grace. I’m a pretty competitive person. And most of the time, I am competitive with myself. I want to always be bettering myself and improving. So, it was hard for me to start my pregnancy being so strong and in good shape, and then as the months progressed I would have to alter my workouts or abilites. Running has been a huge part of my life for about 7 years. And I had to stop running. This is the longest duration of time I haven’t run for about 10 years. I’ve had to let go and give myself grace. It was really hard at first, but through pregnancy I’ve learned so much about letting go of control and just being at peace.
Eat greens and lean protein, but be free too! I’ve had my fair share of dietary issues, so my diet is primarily gluten and dairy free. One of the hardest things during my pregnancy was the change in my appetite. I had the hardest time actually finding foods that I wanted to eat. Most foods didn’t sound good and when I found something I would want to eat, it would last for a couple of weeks and then I couldn’t eat it anymore. As someone who loves routine and likes to plan ahead, this was really hard. My best advice is to do your best to feed your body and your baby the nutrients that it needs, but also give yourself freedom to eat differently and change things up.
If you don’t have one, consider a gym membership for the duration of your pregnancy. Before getting pregnant I never had a membership. I didn’t need it! I would run outdoors and would do my own Pilates and body weight movement exercises as home. In fact, I don’t really like gyms. But, our Winter was incredibly rainy, I had to stop running, and the Summer (starting in May) was really hot. So, having a membership during my pregnancy was so great! I was able to use cardio machines (not my favorite, but it kept me active!) go to classes and stay committed to my workouts. I don’t know yet if I will return, but it was a huge blessing during the pregnancy.
Like I said above, this is what worked for me. Every person and every pregnancy is different! You need to listen to your body and decide what is the best thing for YOU.