Hi ladies. It's been a long time since I've posted. I am 10 weeks pregnant with my first. Eeeekkkkk. I've always done high intensity workouts: cathe, spinning, plyometrics, running etc. My doctor said in the first trimester I can continue since my body is used to these activities but to take it down a notch. It sounds simple enough but I feel lost. I had started the ice/ripped with hiit rotation but now I'm questioning doing that since the ripped workouts are intense. I feel like I have no direction. Plus eating healthy has been mentally tough. I justify eating extra food and junk because I'm going to gain weight anyway which is not a good way to look at it as I don't want to gain a super amount of weight. So I'm writing to get advice from you on workouts and diet during pregnancy. I know there is a ton of fit mamas on this board. Thanks
Pregnancy advice
- Thread starter kariev
- Start date
I made very few alterations to any of the workouts that I did through either of my pregnancies. Towards the end, I couldn't do pushups. It just killed my back. But crunches/ab work on my back - no problem. Lifting heavy - no problem. etc...
You'll hear to watch your heart rate, and not lie flat on your back, stop doing push ups... Here's the deal...
You will be CRYSTAL clear on what your body/baby allows for as you go. Plain and simple, if you're pushing beyond what your body can do while pregnant, you're not going to feel well very quickly. And as with anything else, stop and modify.
And you're not going to accidentally stumble into something that causes massive damage, either, so don't worry about that. The point where you start to not feel well vs. where you've actually done something to hurt the baby is way past you feeling light headed or puky.
With your first especially, it's so easy to freak out because you don't know. Listen to your body. It will tell you what you can do.
Diet is harder. Do what you can. You're starving. And you want junk.
Here's what I can tell you, don't go overboard crazy. Apart from that, you're going to gain what you're going to gain, and nothing you can do will change it. I ate the same during both pregnancies, gained 26 lbs with my first, and 35 with the second. You can't control what would naturally happen...just don't help it along by living on pizza and fast food, you know?
And congratulations!
You'll hear to watch your heart rate, and not lie flat on your back, stop doing push ups... Here's the deal...
You will be CRYSTAL clear on what your body/baby allows for as you go. Plain and simple, if you're pushing beyond what your body can do while pregnant, you're not going to feel well very quickly. And as with anything else, stop and modify.
And you're not going to accidentally stumble into something that causes massive damage, either, so don't worry about that. The point where you start to not feel well vs. where you've actually done something to hurt the baby is way past you feeling light headed or puky.
With your first especially, it's so easy to freak out because you don't know. Listen to your body. It will tell you what you can do.
Diet is harder. Do what you can. You're starving. And you want junk.
Here's what I can tell you, don't go overboard crazy. Apart from that, you're going to gain what you're going to gain, and nothing you can do will change it. I ate the same during both pregnancies, gained 26 lbs with my first, and 35 with the second. You can't control what would naturally happen...just don't help it along by living on pizza and fast food, you know?
And congratulations!
JeanneMarie
Cathlete
First of all, congrats!
Second, get rid of the idea that you are "eating for two" and you're "going to gain weight anyway, so why not just eat anything." You do not have to gain a ton of weight. Eat like you always do. Workout how you feel. I continued to walk and do my usual routine of working out, but I did dial it down a notch. You'll know what you can handle.
I know I'm not the norm, but my pregnancy weight gain was minimal really. I gained 16 lbs and had a healthy 9 lb baby boy. I ate the good stuff and plenty of it, just not the bad stuff... the sugary treats that everyone thinks they need. You don't need them any more during pregnancy than you do when you are not pregnant!
Good luck!
Second, get rid of the idea that you are "eating for two" and you're "going to gain weight anyway, so why not just eat anything." You do not have to gain a ton of weight. Eat like you always do. Workout how you feel. I continued to walk and do my usual routine of working out, but I did dial it down a notch. You'll know what you can handle.
I know I'm not the norm, but my pregnancy weight gain was minimal really. I gained 16 lbs and had a healthy 9 lb baby boy. I ate the good stuff and plenty of it, just not the bad stuff... the sugary treats that everyone thinks they need. You don't need them any more during pregnancy than you do when you are not pregnant!
Good luck!
lisa_la_machina
Cathlete
Congrats on your pregnancy! Every woman is different and every pregnancy is different, so I can just tell you what worked for me in my two pregnancies.
I learned all I could about Diastasis Recti and then trained in the safest way possible to avoid getting the ab separation. I don't think it's ever 100% avoidable but there are things you can do to minimize the risk. Cathe had DR with one (or both?) of her pregnancies. If you're interested you can search the forums to find her very detailed and helpful post about DR.
I listened to my body, first and foremost. I made it a goal to not do any exercises where I was straining. I still worked hard and got my heart rate up and lifted weights until my muscles burned, but I didn't strain--i.e., that feeling you get when you're eeking out your last rep at failure or when you're doing HiiT and can just barely get the breath in and out. RWH came out when I was pregnant with my second baby, and I just shelved it until postpartum and I had fully recovered, ready for intense workouts again. It didn't feel right for my body to lift heavy or to do HiiT cardio.
The workouts that did feel good to me were high rep weight workouts and steady state cardio. Cathe Live was an amazing resource, too! Some favorites exercises were: PUB, MM, HR, ME, Strong UB Live + Core, lower impact Live workouts, XTrain Legs, LLA, GG, Jari Love, some Gin Miller total body. I also got some of the original Firms and they were fun to do. And then lots and lots of walking and stretching.
I ate as smartly as I could. I wasn't perfect. I ate a lot of nut butters and downed Trader Joe's Cookie Butter like it was its own food group. Other than that, I kept the indulgences to a minimum and focused on my staples: veggies, meat protein, full fat dairy, complex carbs (mostly air popped popcorn and oatmeal and potatoes), green smoothies or fruit smoothies. I gained 25lbs with both pregnancies. Like Jeanne Marie said, you're definitely not "eating for two."
Modify as needed and listen to your body. You are the best expert on your body. Never feel bad for resting when you need to. Never apologize for doing the workouts that are appropriate for your pregnant body, either (I got some weird looks when I went to the gym, like people thought I should be at home on the couch).
Good luck!
I learned all I could about Diastasis Recti and then trained in the safest way possible to avoid getting the ab separation. I don't think it's ever 100% avoidable but there are things you can do to minimize the risk. Cathe had DR with one (or both?) of her pregnancies. If you're interested you can search the forums to find her very detailed and helpful post about DR.
I listened to my body, first and foremost. I made it a goal to not do any exercises where I was straining. I still worked hard and got my heart rate up and lifted weights until my muscles burned, but I didn't strain--i.e., that feeling you get when you're eeking out your last rep at failure or when you're doing HiiT and can just barely get the breath in and out. RWH came out when I was pregnant with my second baby, and I just shelved it until postpartum and I had fully recovered, ready for intense workouts again. It didn't feel right for my body to lift heavy or to do HiiT cardio.
The workouts that did feel good to me were high rep weight workouts and steady state cardio. Cathe Live was an amazing resource, too! Some favorites exercises were: PUB, MM, HR, ME, Strong UB Live + Core, lower impact Live workouts, XTrain Legs, LLA, GG, Jari Love, some Gin Miller total body. I also got some of the original Firms and they were fun to do. And then lots and lots of walking and stretching.
I ate as smartly as I could. I wasn't perfect. I ate a lot of nut butters and downed Trader Joe's Cookie Butter like it was its own food group. Other than that, I kept the indulgences to a minimum and focused on my staples: veggies, meat protein, full fat dairy, complex carbs (mostly air popped popcorn and oatmeal and potatoes), green smoothies or fruit smoothies. I gained 25lbs with both pregnancies. Like Jeanne Marie said, you're definitely not "eating for two."
Modify as needed and listen to your body. You are the best expert on your body. Never feel bad for resting when you need to. Never apologize for doing the workouts that are appropriate for your pregnant body, either (I got some weird looks when I went to the gym, like people thought I should be at home on the couch).
Good luck!
Thank you all for your advice! It's so nice to read stories about people who have already went through it. I'm going to shelve ripped with hiit for now. I'm a member to Cathe on demand so I know there are endless options. Also I will stick with Kelly Coffey workouts as well. As far as diet I definitely know it's not eating for 2 but my body just seems to want carbs carbs and more carbs......pita chips, wheat thins, pretzels, etc. Diet is definitely a mind set. 6 1/2 months left to go! Thanks again ladies
lisa_la_machina
Cathlete
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I did a lot of KCM workouts. Love her total body workouts, her NYC workout, and some of her other circuits.
The other thing I forgot to mention is that I did have to modify for balance issues as my belly got bigger, like I didn't do one leg elevated lunges or anything else that made me feel wobbly.
aveggiegirl
Cathlete
Congratulations Kariev!!
nckfitheart2009
Cathlete
Hi Kariev,
Congratulation for your first child expectancy! You have probably been advised to listen to your body in previous post.
I would go with what the doctor said which is decreasing the intensity. I just would not go into setting demanding goal though.
I just wanted to let you know you can still enjoy plyos. Last week I saw a vid of a cathlete enjoying and rocking
cardio leg blast with modification of course. She is due in few weeks if I recall right.
She looked great with fluid clean form
. Yes you can do it, your body and baby permitting!All the very best and please keep us posted.
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Congratulations! Everyone here already had great advice and the only thing I can think to add is that I really also enjoyed adding Shiva Rea's prenatal yoga to my workouts. I actually learned about her DVD on the Pregnancy forum here and really loved it. Not only for the stretching and relaxation but I loved concentrating and really thinking about connecting with the baby. They're quick and there are three different ladies for the three different trimesters so you can follow whoever depending on the trimester you're in. It really helped my lower back and hips especially towards the end. Good luck and enjoy this wonderful time!
Congratulations, Kariev! I'm sure you've already figured out for yourself how to structure your workouts. I can share my experience especially because I think I was in a similar situation to you. I was quite active pre-pregnancy - cycled to work every day (ca 16 miles), did Body Attack/Body Combat/Cath/KCM; I considered myself high-intermediate - low-advanced. I also really enjoyed the high intensity of Body Attack/Body Combat. When I became pregnant I knew if I had to drop the classes I'd miss them a lot, but I still felt it was not advisable to do them at the same intensity level, so my compromise was to continue doing them but control the effort I put in - so instead of giving it my 80-90% I held back and gave 60%. I still really enjoyed them and I could keep up without needing modifications until I hit the 7 months mark, at which point they started causing me some pelvic pain and had to be dropped. After that, I switched to spinning which felt quite comfortable till the end of the pregnancy. Another class I could do till the very end was Body Pump. And I also continued cycling; in fact, I cycled on the day the contractions started!
I also found I could stick with quite a few KCM workouts; the one I did the most often was Body Shop. Your Best Body also continued to be doable, as well as Trim Down. Kickboxing workouts involved too much core rotation that felt awkward from some point so I stopped doing them.
On the whole, listen to your body and change things up if they don't feel right any more! I'm sure there are women who can do the same workouts throughout the pregnancy but that didn't quite work out for me. Nevertheless I stayed very active all the way, tried some some new ways to exercise and as a result had a relatively easy and quite enjoyable pregnancy. And in the end I gave birth to a healthy baby boy 7lb4 a few weeks ago
Hope you are doing well; take good care of yourself Xxx
I also found I could stick with quite a few KCM workouts; the one I did the most often was Body Shop. Your Best Body also continued to be doable, as well as Trim Down. Kickboxing workouts involved too much core rotation that felt awkward from some point so I stopped doing them.
On the whole, listen to your body and change things up if they don't feel right any more! I'm sure there are women who can do the same workouts throughout the pregnancy but that didn't quite work out for me. Nevertheless I stayed very active all the way, tried some some new ways to exercise and as a result had a relatively easy and quite enjoyable pregnancy. And in the end I gave birth to a healthy baby boy 7lb4 a few weeks ago
Hope you are doing well; take good care of yourself Xxx
Jane Power-Grimm
Cathlete
Congrats! Some great advice above. The only things I would add:
-Think about your food as nourishment for your baby. You are not eating quantity for two as stated above, but what you are eating also feeds him/her. This motivated me not to eat junk as I didn't want to feed my baby junk. Healthy food will make a healthy baby. The book "The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care" by Morrell and Cowan may be of interest.
-If people ask what they can do for you or what gifts you may like, suggest healthy food you can pop in your freezer. Yes, I was always hungry too and had those crazy food cravings! And I was often fatigued and didn't feel like prepping food. But if a healthy option was right within reach, I did a lot better. I suggested food as gifts so often I even had some left over for those important post-postpartum days when I needed it too.
All the best on this exciting new journey.
The only things I would add:-Think about your food as nourishment for your baby. You are not eating quantity for two as stated above, but what you are eating also feeds him/her. This motivated me not to eat junk as I didn't want to feed my baby junk. Healthy food will make a healthy baby. The book "The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care" by Morrell and Cowan may be of interest.
-If people ask what they can do for you or what gifts you may like, suggest healthy food you can pop in your freezer. Yes, I was always hungry too and had those crazy food cravings! And I was often fatigued and didn't feel like prepping food. But if a healthy option was right within reach, I did a lot better. I suggested food as gifts so often I even had some left over for those important post-postpartum days when I needed it too.
All the best on this exciting new journey.
nckfitheart2009
Cathlete
@kariev
Hope you are in good health. Just wanted to share link below about a pregnant athlete
former bikini competitor. she does offer good advise, exercise modification and tips.
ATB.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a60630/nathalia-melo-wilson-interview/
Hope you are in good health. Just wanted to share link below about a pregnant athlete
former bikini competitor. she does offer good advise, exercise modification and tips.
ATB.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a60630/nathalia-melo-wilson-interview/
Thanks! I am well. Approaching 22 weeks. I follow this competitor on Facebook. Thank you for the article. It was a great read!