The goal of staying fit and eating healthy during pregnancy isn’t always a great journey. First-trimester fatigue and morning sickness, along with ailments that come later — like back pain — makes it very hard to work out and opt for healthy choices.
Yet it’s known that maintaining healthy pregnancy habits has many benefits. It can help make for easier labor, help you lose postpartum weight faster, and give you more energy throughout your pregnancy.
Wholesome meals and exercising are also good for your baby. A new study even finds that weight gained during pregnancy can impact a child’s cardiometabolic health later in life.
But knowing these facts doesn’t make staying healthy easier. If you’re like me, you’ll crave ice cream and french fries — not salad. And it’s likely you’ll be feeling too queasy to hit the gym.
Without a doubt, staying healthy during pregnancy requires extra discipline. But there are tactics I found helpful for motivating me to eat well and exercise throughout the long months.
Table of Contents
Stages of Pregnancy
The First Trimester
The first trimester is the time when your body is adjusting to being newly pregnant. Hormone levels are all over the place, morning sickness and fatigue are common and it is really important to listen to your body and rest when you need to.
There is however evidence that gentle physical activity (such as going for a walk) can help to ease mild morning sickness and fatigue symptoms.
The first trimester is not a good time to be embarking on new fitness pursuits – it is best to stick to low impact forms of exercise that your body is used to e.g. walking, swimming, and light weights training.
The Second Trimester
The second trimester usually means the end of the morning sickness and often results in improved energy levels for most women.
This is the perfect time to start looking at joining in some specific pregnancy exercise classes such as Clinical Pilates (under the supervision of a physio), aqua aerobics, and yoga. As well as being great for conditioning, toning and gently stretching pregnant bodies, these group activities are great for relaxation and meeting other new mums-to-be.
The Third Trimester
During this trimester your baby and your belly will grow the most! Again, while very important to keep active, you should listen to your body and also factor in plenty of rest time, especially if you are suffering from swollen ankles or fatigue. Swimming and water-based activities are brilliant for the third trimester, as you will feel weightless in the water.
How to stay fit during pregnancy?
In terms of intensity of exercise during pregnancy, it is good to be huffing and puffing a bit, but you should still be able to carry on a conversation with someone, so don’t push it too far.
Have a plan
Research recommends having a plan in place for anything you set out to do in life, and it’s especially true for your workout and fitness goals!
When it comes to working out, it’s a good idea to have a plan established of what days and times you’re going to exercise, and what you’re actually going to do during your workout, otherwise, it probably won’t end up happening.
Plus, if you have a plan, you won’t be toddling around which means you can get your workout done quicker.
Low impact exercises
These are the safest, and this includes things like walking, swimming, stationary cycling, aqua aerobics, yoga, and Pilates.
It is not recommended to do high impact or heavyweight training exercises such as running, step aerobics, cross-fit, or body combat/pump.
This is because your body undergoes huge hormonal and postural changes that result in increased potential for injury if you overload your body. Not to mention the stressful effect of high impact exercise on your pelvic floor!
Switch your exercise routine
In order to continue seeing results, you’ll want to make sure that you’re frequently switching up your exercise routine. I generally recommend switching it up every 4-6 weeks.
Throughout pregnancy, You can do this either performing higher reps and lowering the weight.
Although I strongly recommend that you try to stay as active as possible during pregnancy, before embarking on any exercise routine, I would advise that you speak to your doctor first to see what’s appropriate for you.
As previously mentioned, my advice would be to try to get in the best shape possible before pregnancy, so that you can continue on with your routine during pregnancy.
Examine your diet to understand your cravings
Yes, pregnancy cravings are real. During the first half of pregnancy, You may long for juicy cheeseburgers. Knowing how to stay fit during pregnancy is very important in this scenario.
To ensure you and your baby get what you need, your diet should include several minerals and nutrients — namely calcium, iron, and folate which is totally good for you and the baby
Sources:
Why I created Chem-club for you?
Chem-club Lifestyle Coaching Company focused on fitting the training and nutrition to the client and not the opposite way around. We’ve built our foundation around the incontrovertible fact that every single person we are available in contact with could be a different individual: different body, goals, hormones, social responsibilities, schedules, dietary history, and views on what “being fit” really means.
When it affects training and nutrition, credible coaching and education is the key to noticing results that last forever.
At Chem-club, it’s our task to develop world-class coaching, education, and accountability to ensure our clients achieve the results they came to us for. We’ve got many free articles to assist educate you extra.
