Working out mommas-to-be!

greats

Mommy!
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Hi all! I figure it would be awesome to start a group for any pregnant ladies who were given the all clear by their doctors or midwives to exercise during their pregnancies. Doesn't matter how far along you are, anyone is welcome to chat!

Figure we can trade pregnancy workout ideas and healthy recipes :thumbup:

A little background about me... Pregnant with baby #2! With my daughter I constantly used the excuse that I was pregnant in order to not exercise and to eat whatever I wanted. I gained almost 60lbs. I was miserable and in a lot of pain towards the end of my pregnancy. My body could not handle the weight gain. My knees and ankles hurt so badly by 30 weeks and I developed such severe edema that I was put on bed rest.

This time I vowed to never let that happen again. I've been doing an awesome job eating healthy, lots of fruits and veggies, but also a lot of cereal as well as not nearly enough protein as I should be eating. So today I decided to start a food journal to write in a notebook to make sure I'm getting enough protein and healthy fats.

How do you ladies plan on staying healthy during your pregnancy? What have you done so far? What are your goals before and after birth? :flower:
 
I just started working out today. I went to the gym, walked on the treadmill for 30 mins and did a very light arm workout with 5lb weights. My goal is to go 4x a week and to do prenatal yoga at home 2x a week.
 
I've been walking too at 2.5 speed and 1 incline for 30 mins. Hoping to slowly increase. Then I go to the machines and do a variety of arms, legs and abs set at 35-50 lbs for 30 reps. I do those for 30 mins as well.
I find I can't walk more than 10 mins without water so I make sure yo have it with me.
I'd so love to get to yoga, but I never seem to be at the gym at the right time. Plus I feel bad about leaving dd at the childcare for over an hour, so it makes it even harder to schedule. What do you do with your dd while you work out greats?
 
I was super active prior to getting pregnant and am trying to stay that way (within reason).

Used to do Bikram (aka hot) yoga but not allowed to any more, so I've been doing prenatal yoga. I'm the least pregnant in the class, but that's okay.

I also bike, jog and go to bootcamp, though I'm taking it easy today and tomorrow because I feel a cold coming on - boo. :-(

In 2013 I got sick of being overweight and inactive and worked really hard to lose 35 lbs and get in shape. I used to get really upset if I had to miss a workout because of illness or something for fear of backsliding and/or not meeting my fitness goals, but being pregnant has forced me to chill and take it a bit easier on my body.

I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous about the year I'll be off work on maternity leave because right now my job and my exercise routine go hand in hand, but I plan to stay active (with baby) and have until August to dream up a new routine. :)
 
Sass, I go to the gym the minute my husband gets home from work lol today I literally threw him his dinner and said see ya, going to the gym! Lol

Fit_mama that's an amazing accomplishment losing 35lbs!

I've only ever done yoga twice before haha but I plan on buying a pregnancy yoga DVD so I can do it at home.

I need to make a grocery shopping trip tomorrow night to stock up on proteins and fiber foods. My stomach is literally growling every 1.5 hours.
 
What a great idea for a thread! I feel like your description of what you went through is very similar to my experience.

With my son, I gained about 60 lbs. I was too afraid to exercise. I ate whatever wanted to, which was a lot of ice cream at the end. I didn't have swelling or get put on bed rest. But I was miserable and I was so fat for so long and worked harder than I ever should have had to to get to a decent weight.

Now I am on pregnancy #2 and I am determined it won't happen again. I workout 6 days a week. I do 3 days of cardio and 3 days of strength training. I'm very conscientious about what I eat. I have been eating healthy nutrient rich foods as much as possible.

I feel so alone in it though. I am always the only pregnant woman at the gym. I have one friend who exercised in her last pregnancy. It would be so nice to connect with other people doing the same thing. I plan to exercise all the way to the end.
 
I went to the gym this past weekend and I'm going to go this Saturday also. If all goes well then I will slowly incorporate more days into my routine. I did light weight lifting, I was doing heavy weights before BFP. I'm not going to go above a pair of 15lb dumbbells though, for safety. And once I hit the second trimester bench press will be out, I'll have to switch to incline bench.

I'm making sure I eat every two - three hours, but I just eat whatever I want for the most part. But I only have soda's twice a week and I rarely have sweet. Except for mini-wheats... I love mini-wheats.
 
Hi Ladies!!

Very glad you started this too. Here is my background/situation:

I have psoriatic arthritis that affects all of my joints. Light exercise is very good for my joints though to keep them moving. I started doing some pilates and NIA last year 2/3 months before my BFP. My GP said that I could continue both - the lady who runs the classes is amazing, so clued up on everything. Then I got a cold+sinus infection around 7w.

So this week I finally decided I am feeling well enough to start again. I did 30min on the crosstrainer on Tuesday. It was horrible though - having some trouble breathing due to a blocked nose. Did a beginners pilates class yesterday and 20mins today on the crosstrainer. I always train with a heart rate monitor so that I can see when I am pushing myself too hard.

Thanks for your stories on your first pregnancies! I think I was heading that way and my joints hurt already so I don't really want to make it worse if I can avoid it. Luckily my gym has a machine that tracks your weight and body fat. So I got a shock on Tuesday when I saw my body fat shot up by 2%!!!!!
 
I was running 3 days a week and doing BodyPump 3 days a week before getting pregnant. Actually, one of the first things that tipped me off I might have been pregnant was that both things were suddenly getting difficult. I was getting out of breath and hot very easily. I felt something had to be up.
I had every intention of continuing both running and BodyPump for as long as I could, and I did keep going until about week 6 or something like that when my nausea and fatigue just made it too hard for me.
So, I didn't go to the gym at all for a few weeks. I went back at around 12 weeks, I think, when I was starting to feel better. I went to a class I had done a few times before getting pregnant called CC 30/30, which is 30 minutes of step aerobics and 30 minutes of core work. It was WAY too hard to do while pregnant. So, I got a little bit discouraged because I was in such good shape and I didn't want to lose it.
Shortly after that, I decided to ease my way into it and I was walking more frequently and lifting light weights. Then, at around week 16 or so, I felt good enough to try the elliptical machine. That worked great for me! I was able to get just as good of a workout on that as I could with running. After 2 weeks of that or so, I tried running again, but I couldn't do it because my left knee was in pain. My doctor said it was probably because of the prolactin in my system loosening up my ligaments.
Shortly after that, I decided to try a yoga class (not prenatal just regular yoga). I told the instructor that I was pregnant, and she had taught yoga while pregnant before. So, she gave me great modifications. So I did that 2 days a week while lifting weights in the other part of the gym 1 day a week up until week 26. My belly then started getting in the way of a lot of the yoga positions. So, now I'm just mostly lifting weights.
I do 3 sets of 20 walking lunges; 3 sets of 16 leg presses on the machine at weights 115, 120, and 135; 3 sets of 16 on the hip abductor and adductor machines at around 60 lbs (I started out barely being able to do 40 lbs); 3 sets of 16 bicep curls with dumbbells (I started out with 2 10 lb dumbbells, moved up to 2 15 lb ones, and now I can actually lift 2 20 lb ones with no strain on any other part of my body); 3 sets of 16 tricep extentions; 3 sets on the chest fly machine; and 3 sets on the seated upright row machine (This one has been very good for strengthening my back to keep it from hurting from the pull of a growing belly).
Then for cardio, depending on the week, I do different things based on my mood. But I do the elliptical for 30-35 minutes at resistance 6 (for 5 minutes) 7 (for 5 minutes) 8 (for 10 minutes) 9 (for 5 minutes) and 10 (for 5 minutes). On other days, I do a dance class called Sh'Bam. I tried it because it said it was for "all fitness levels" and they said it was perfectly safe to do during pregnancy. It was perfect! There are parts where your heart rate gets up a little bit, but it's kind of like intervals. Because then they bring it back down. So, it's just enough for me to get a great workout without having to worry about my heart rate skyrocketing or feeling like I can't catch my breath. I always leave covered in sweat and needing a shower. I have watched my ability to keep up with it improve as the weeks have gone by. I started it at week 18. This week, I'm actually doing that class 3 days a week instead of the elliptical because they just started a new release with brand new dances and brand new songs and I feel like I need to learn them. ;)
I have to say that I feel fantastic! And I attribute it all to exercise. I have almost no pain now in my 3rd trimester. My heartburn had been getting bad, but I feel the exercise helps my digestive system as well and I haven't had it except 1 time since my first trimester. Before I got back into a good routine, it was starting to get worse by the day. I also have no back pain. I have no trouble getting around. Before I was getting out of breath by the top of the stairs--not anymore. I have watched my ability to lift more weight just continue to improve. I avoid anything that might pull on my abdomen, but there's still lots of stuff to do. It's encouraging to see that those things are getting easier. As for eating, I try to eat a small handful of almonds for a snack and it's very filling and helps give me extra protein. I eat a lot of grilled chicken for protein as well. Right now, at 29 weeks, my stomach has gotten very squished up from the baby, so I can't eat very much at all at once. I have to eat very small meals. So, eat 3 small meals and then I just choose healthy snacks...lots of fruit (apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, bananas). I drink A LOT of water as well. One snack I've started recently that is very satisfying yet low in sugar is plain yogurt with fresh blueberries in it. I find the blueberries add a lot of flavor to the yogurt. And I really don't care for blueberries by themselves most of the time. I only need to eat half a cup of this and I am full. The plain yogurt is filling. I chose a kind with just 6 grams of sugar. It does have a good amount of fat in it, but my body seems to like that and I think is using it as a good fat for the baby.

Sorry if went on too long! I was just trying to do a better job of answering those first questions. I was on my phone last night, and it's easier for me to respond on my computer.
 
Thank you Rebecca. I find this super helpful and very inspiring. I know I'm not currently in great shape, but I do think if I keep at it, I can make progress as you have.
I just can believe I'm having food aversions to grilled or baked chicken. I pretty much can't eat chicken at all and we usually have it atleast twice a week. I never had any food ad versions w dd so I'm hoping this goes away soon.
 
Thanks for starting this group Greats, it's an awesome idea.

Right now, I am trying to do my pregnancy workout (weights and cardio) and prenatal yoga, I do each two times a week. I am also going to try and add a treadclimber workout back into the mix once a week. I do try to walk here at work (normally do about 3 km) but that's been a bit tougher to do since it's been so cold here lately so going to try and motivate myself to be more consistent with walks as well.

Like many of you, I gained more weight than I wanted to with my first (over 40lbs) and by the end of my pregnancy was very swollen and felt awful. I want to try and avoid that this time if necessary.

Looking forward to hearing other's ideas re food. I have been better this time but there is still room for improvement in my diet for sure...I also need to up my water intake, definitely not drinking enough right now.
 
Hi ladies! Rebecca, I loved reading your long post! I'm glad to know that there are so many workout options!

I was in such good shape this past summer. I was a police officer and doing all sorts of running and cross fit type workouts. I ran my fastest mile ever. Then the career itself became very very stressful and I started having panic attacks before work and my thyroid tsh hormone became dangerously high so I decided that being a police officer was affecting my health and I had to leave. The amazing pay and benefits weren't worth it to me.

Then I became pregnant and here I am! When I walked on the treadmill last night I could only do a speed of 3.0 on a 2% incline. Definitely out of shape! But it felt good to be back in the gym.

Last night I made an egg scramble with potatoes, bell peppers, onions, and cherry tomatoes. I topped it with some guacamole and it was so yummy! I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning along with a piece of toast and a glass of milk.

Might make some chicken tonight, but I'm not sure what to do with it. I feel so uninspired! Think it's time to head over to Pinterest for some healthy recipes lol
 
OMG Greats, that egg scramble sounds amazing, might have to try that.

For dinner tonight I think I'm going to make Buffalo Chicken meatballs (made with lean ground chicken) and salad. :thumbup:
 
Those eggs sound fantastic! Now I want some.
Ok, so here's what I've eaten so far today. Let me know what you think. Too much? Just feeling so hungry today.
Oatmeal, 2 chai teas, a low fat yogurt, a whole wheat English muffin with smart ones and blueberry jam, orange slices, 5 mini pretzel sticks, a Jamaican meat pocket (like 20 g of protein but pretty bad for you-400 calories! Eek. Didn't realize when I bought them), a handful of almonds, two ginger lemon cookies. It's currently 1 pm here. This is an insane amount of food, right? I'm trying to make good choices but I just can't shake this hunger.
 
Those eggs sound fantastic! Now I want some.
Ok, so here's what I've eaten so far today. Let me know what you think. Too much? Just feeling so hungry today.
Oatmeal, 2 chai teas, a low fat yogurt, a whole wheat English muffin with smart ones and blueberry jam, orange slices, 5 mini pretzel sticks, a Jamaican meat pocket (like 20 g of protein but pretty bad for you-400 calories! Eek. Didn't realize when I bought them), a handful of almonds, two ginger lemon cookies. It's currently 1 pm here. This is an insane amount of food, right? I'm trying to make good choices but I just can't shake this hunger.

Sass, I think if you're hungry you should eat, doesn't make sense to starve yourself or baby plus that might just lead to you over indulging later on. Other than the Jamaican Meat Patty (yikes at the 400 calories) nothing sounds that bad to be honest. I think eating smaller amounts of healthier snacks is a good practice to get into :thumbup:
 
It's definitely a lot of food but it's really difficult not to eat when you're so hungry! That's what my food journal looked like in length before dinner yesterday so you're definitely not the only one! I read that you're only supposed to be eating an extra 150-200 calories per day to help with baby's growth if you're not working out, more if you are. I tend to eat a lot of empty calories that have little nutrients.

I know my biggest problem is not eating enough protein or fiber and I think that's why I end up so hungry all day long. I've upped my protein a lot so far today. My goal is to eat a good mix of protein and fiber rich foods each meal with fruit in between meals all day long. And to increase the amount of water I drink bc I don't drink as much as I should.
 
Also wanted to add I'm still eating a lot bc I refuse to get to the starving point but I really want to eat more good foods. I do love my potato chips and cheesy stuff :haha:
 
Also wanted to add I'm still eating a lot bc I refuse to get to the starving point but I really want to eat more good foods. I do love my potato chips and cheesy stuff :haha:

That's my problem too, I'm getting cravings for crap food again, which I am trying to avoid eating but it's tough. Today I've snacked on a small bag of smart food and some candy :dohh:
 
Was going to do yoga tonight but I think I overdid it cleaning up after 3 toddlers. I'm really tired all of a sudden and having some cramping and lower back ache. So laying on the couch with my feet up and drinking some water.
 

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