Staying Fit While Pregnant…the 2nd time around.

I wrote this post here not long after having Scarlett. It is by far my most read, most reposted and most pinned post ever. Do you know what that tells me? There are quite a lot of women out there that are scared of getting pregnant for fear of what will happen to their body or feeling down because they are not where they want to be after having a baby. Women desperate to stay in shape during and after pregnancy.

I wrote that post because I remembering feeling the same when I first got pregnant.  I wanted women to know that you can stay healthy and fit while pregnant. The things that people would say to me when I was pregnant were so inconsiderate:

"Well, there goes the body." 

"You will probably get a lot of strech-marks. I did"

"Having kids ruins your body forever. I was never the same."

"You won't believe what pregnancy is going to do to you!"

All of these comments baffled me. While some women do get stretch marks and your body does change, clearly not one woman is the same. Just like the pregnancy/delivery stories that women tell, they are all very different. What made them think that what happened to them would happen to me, is still beyond me. Anyway, I decided that I would listen. Yes that is right, I listened to every one of them tell me this or that or give their advice. But instead of letting that scare me or bring me down, I turned it into motivation. Proving that I could do my best to stay healthy and in shape while pregnant. I started a pregnancy workout regimen and kept eating as healthy as I could. I did the best I could and my end results….well you can decide for yourself….I actually felt more comfortable in my body after pregnancy than I did before.

Before Baby:

After Baby:

So here I am, pregnant with my second child and this pregnancy seems to be more difficult than the last. For one thing, I will be honest, I hadn't worked out much leading up to this pregnancy. I was very sick in the beginning. Even more so this second time around. Or so it seemed. I also felt more exhausted. This makes sense since I have a three year old, I work full time and have a husband who works long hours. I had my challenges. Still, I repeated this to myself:

"I'm going to do the best I can do. Not the best that someone else can do, But 100% of MY best." 

 I refuse to compare myself to others. It's so easy to get on Instagram and see the women who post their 7 month pregnancy photos that look the size of me at 4 months. Not a single thing against them. But again, everyone is so intricately different. I am no exception. Comparing ourselves to others is not fair nor does it make sense. So don't!! I started working out as soon as I felt good again. This was at about 16 weeks. I began slowly since I hadn't worked out in quite awhile. Anything I could do, even if it meant I had Scarlett working out next to me with her mini weights, copying everything I did. At least I was doing something. I tried immensely to eat good but with the severe nausea, it was hard in the first 4 months. I basically ate whatever made me feel not sick, in moderation.

And that my friends is what I believe the key to staying in shape and keeping fit during pregnancy is. Moderation and balance. Now that I'm feeling better, I recently started eating a balanced diet that I keep track of in a journal. I monitor my intake of the food groups and try to stay eating a good balance, making sure that I 'm getting adequate calories according to the trimester and my original pre-pregnancy weight. What I don't do... is obsess over it. It's just a way to recognize what I am eating and make healthy choices. When I write down what I eat, it's easier to see where I might be getting too much of or not enough of something. And I definitely do not deprive myself. If I get a craving for chocolate, you best believe I'm eating it!!  I just make sure not to overindulge. One treat a day of whatever I want is my goal. (It's usually chocolate) And not 3 slices of chocolate cake! More like 2 cookies, or maybe some chocolate covered strawberries or a piece of dark chocolate.

One of my major focuses this time around is eating organic and non-GMO foods. That has been easier than I thought since we have gone almost all organic over the last year.

As for Working out, I was doing the same workout dvd's that I did when I was pregnant with Scarlett. Denise Austin has one that is broken down by trimester. Although I started to get bored of the same ones. If you are able to get to the gym, awesome! Some people have to actually go to the gym to be motivated. For me, I don't have the time, nor the energy to find someone to watch Scarlett (Ty works some late evenings) and then saddle up in my car and drive to the gym in the cold winter. With the negative temps, going outside is not happening right now either. So for me, dvd's work. I am super excited that I found and started Tracy Anderson: The Pregnancy Project this week! What I love about these DVD's is that unlike most prenatal workouts, Tracy is actually pregnant in her workouts and working out right along with you. There is a dvd for each month. I'm really into it!!! 

I'm taking some Prenatal Yoga classes that start soon, too. I know it is hard to get started in a workout routine, especially with kids or a busy schedule, but I promise you, once you start one, it gets easier and you will feel so much better! Although I think working out and eating right are both important, I think eating well is a bigger contributor to the weight gain and staying within the weight gain guidelines. Gaining weight slowly will help with stretch marks as well. I use the calculator here. 

Which brings me to the next topic. I have been trying out some amazing lotions, oils and belly rubs that I will share in an upcoming post. I started showing much quicker this time around so the oils and belly creams started early too. I really try to drink as much water as I can. It is annoying to go pee every 5 minutes, especially at work, but it's more important to me to be healthy. I suck it up and deal with it.



I don't know how things will end up this second time around. I know that each pregnancy is different and we can't predict the outcome for anything. My pregnancy this time is different than my last, physically and emotionally. Either way, I'm going to do the best that I can. I will keep you posted with my tips, things that I'm doing along with food journal samples as I progress through pregnancy number 2.

Congrats & Good luck to all you Mama-To-Be's!!!



XO
Lauren 



You can follow my journey on Instagram: itslaurenrebecca