How to Stay Healthy and Fit While You Are Pregnant
When you become pregnant, the health of you and your baby is first and foremost on your mind.
My routine is always changing, and I just like to move! But, having a healthy pregnancy was important to me from the beginning. Before doing anything fitness related during pregnancy, I asked my doctor and you definitely should too.
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Before I got pregnant, I was a pretty regular gym goer and a pretty healthy eater. I definitely indulged every so often (I’m human!) and I’ve never really followed any diets or been super into healthy eating or anything.
I just like to be relatively healthy. I ran, went to the gym for strength training, did home workouts, walked a lot… pretty much anything I felt like doing that day.
As long as I’m moving I’m happy!
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Then I got pregnant.
The first trimester can really kick you in the butt. Morning sickness (which doesn’t only happen in the morning, who named it that…) and exhaustion take over.
I was always napping if I wasn’t working, and don’t even get me started on trying to do any housework. I tried my best to keep up with my workouts but a lot of the time I just couldn’t and focused more on eating healthy.
However, I didn’t really feel like getting back into the routine I had pre-pregnancy. I know it’s dumb, but I didn’t feel like going to the gym and people staring at my belly, even though they probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought.
It’s not that I’m really self-conscious about my pregnancy belly – I actually love my bump! I just preferred to do home workouts. I decided to switch up my routine for some different pregnancy-friendly ways to stay fit.
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Here are some easy ways you can stay healthy and fit, and most importantly, feel good during your pregnancy!
Exercise
Yoga is something that is more easily manageable during pregnancy and can really help with blood circulation, energy levels, and even those annoying round ligament pains.
All the stretching and focusing on breathing is known to really help with labor, particularly if you’re going natural and need some techniques to help you through that – which was my plan!
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Youtube has some great prenatal yoga videos. You can also look for a local prenatal yoga class to go to and even meet some new mama friends!
I loved the prenatal yoga class because I wasn’t the only one there with a big belly and awkward movements! It was also a lot easier to stick to something I could do at home with videos as well.
Walking is the easiest, and maybe even the most effective way to stay healthy during pregnancy. Even just for 15 minutes a day, or whenever you can, makes such a big difference.
I absolutely love walking and up until it started getting really cold, I walked to work and back. This made a huge difference in how I felt everyday.
Take a Prenatal Vitamin
Prenatal vitamins are packed full of amazing nutritional value that can be vital to the health of your baby.
They can also help cover any nutritional gaps you may be missing in your diet.
You can get great ones from Amazon!
You can also ask your doctor for a suggestion.
Water, Water, Water!
Hydration is KEY during pregnancy!
Hydration helps with amniotic fluid formation, carrying nutrients through your body and too your baby, creating extra blood volume (you have about 40-50% more blood and fluid volume in your body during pregnancy!), and lowers the chances of preterm labor.
Staying hydrated is a good idea for anyone, but especially when you’re pregnant.
It’s recommended you drink about 10 cups of water (or any liquid really) a day when pregnant as opposed to the regular 8.
This sounds insane, and I’m not going to pretend I actually did this or kept track every single day because for some reason it’s really hard for me to drink that much.
But I did try, especially on days I was exercising. I recommend getting a cute water bottle with a fruit infuser you can carry around everywhere you go! That definitely helped me.
Eat Well
All those pregnancy cravings are so hard to ignore! I found what really helped me was trying to choose healthier options for those cravings.
Chickaboom Sweet and Salty Popcorn was my go to, as well as small amounts of dark chocolate. The only thing with dark chocolate is it does have a little more caffeine in it, so it’s a good idea to monitor how much chocolate and other caffeine sources you consume.
Another thing to mention about eating is that although you are technically eating for two, you don’t actually need to double up on how much you eat.
You only really need about an extra 300 calories a day more than your usual diet. This is for a completely normal pregnancy, not for someone who is either over or under weight.
Of course, I’m not a doctor, so always ask your doctor about eating habits for your own pregnancy.
I’ve always been so hungry during my pregnancy, so I haven’t had a problem keeping up with this!
Weight Gain
The important thing to remember about weight during pregnancy is, again, as long as your doctor says you’re healthy and everything is going fine, then your weight gain doesn’t really matter.
I know of people who have gained less and who’s bump looks bigger, and people who have gained more and look smaller.
So, as hard as I know it is, don’t worry too much about the scale! Everybody is different. Stay healthy and allow your body to do what it needs to carry your little one!
Listen to Your Body
Always always always listen to your body. If you need to rest, rest.
If you have the energy to exercise, definitely exercise. Don’t feel bad about giving into those cravings every so often, a little won’t hurt baby! No one knows your body like you do, so do what you need to do.
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