Since becoming pregnant 12 weeks ago, I have been put into a position of empathy with my clients for several reasons.
Firstly, being pregnant is hard. Yes, the rewards are all worth it but as my first pregnancy I can honestly say I was not expecting this! Now that I have hit the 12 week mark and moving to my second trimester life has become easier, but 12 weeks of feeling nauseous, sleeping/napping three times a day due to exhaustion and feeling like exercise is the last thing I want to be doing, is most unlike me.
The other thing pregnancy has forced me to do is to really take a good hard look at myself. Can I go without alcohol? Yes. Soft cheeses? Well, for a while maybe. Seafood? Well if I totally must although knowing there are some fish out there I can eat does allow for some cravings from time-to-time. Am I comfortable with eating healthy? Well, the true answer is yes, I feel like I have been practising this for some years, and now i KNOW WHY!! Not only am I focused to make myself feel well and healthy but also to really focus on nourishing the little life growing inside me, with all the right foods. So having a background in healthy eating is incredibly important.
Personally, I have been lucky that my cravings for the first few weeks were anything fruit... strawberries, oranges, kiwis, pears, you name it. Might seem relatively normal, but for me a self-confessed "leave the fruit til last" kind of gal, this has been extremely unusual behaviour. After week four it wasn't just the fruit but also Vegemite on toast, and any kind of melted cheese concoction on toast. So far we have tried ham cheese tomato on toast, mustard pickles and cheese on toast, creamed corn and cheese on toast, salsa and cheese on toast. Now eating this amount of bread on its' own makes me feel guilty, but let alone with all the cheese added to it! So, for the first time in my life I decided I needed to eat wholemeal bread, great as it satisfies me for at least an hour; and for low-fat cheese - thank god for low fat cheese, or I would be in a lot of troubles. I have also substituted the fat in my diet for a lot of healthy fat options; eggs on toast, avocado and nuts. Carbohydrates here I come.
Which brings me to my next point: HEALTHY WEIGHT GAIN DURING PREGNANCY. Now unless you have been pregnant, you will not understand how difficult this actually is. When all you are craving is carbs (like fruits, and breads), you will gain weight. How much weight should be gained? Well they estimate between 10 and 20kgs.
Pre-pregnancy I weighed 70kg which many of you won't believe (I have a lot of muscle on my body due to being a dancer). After four weeks of pregnancy, despite the huge amounts of food I was eating, my weight had stayed at 70kg due to muscle loss. (Mostly this is because I generally eat a very high protein diet to keep my muscles in order and for the first 4 weeks I couldn't stomach anything apart from fruit and yoghurt or I would become nauseous). Since the cheese, I now weigh 73kg at 12 weeks which I can tell you is all fat and not muscle, but necessary baby fat. However, despite the weight gain I am pleased to say I still fit in my skinny jeans and all my "fat" is out front, round my belly and breasts (which have increased a whole two cup sizes - which my husband seems to be loving but I'm certainly not enjoying when I go for a jog).
Exercise is also difficult in as much as it is difficult to get motivated when you feel constantly exhausted. Fortunately I have a dog that looks at me in a way that makes me feel guilty if he hasn't had his daily one-hour walk, and this has kept me from becoming a complete couch-potato! Actually this one-hour walk really makes a difference to my mental well being as well as my fitness and health and I have found some days I have even been up for a jog, especially in the mornings.
Many people are scared to exercise during pregnancy, but the fact is, you can do anything in pregnancy that you did before, if you are careful in monitoring your exercise levels. There are some guidelines that I will go into further down, but if you have been dancing, keep doing it, running, keep doing it, as long as you remain COMFORTABLE doing it. At Sydney Salsa Congress earlier this year I was inspired to see a full pregnant belly on one of the beautiful samba dancers from Sydney. In all her beautiful pregnancy glory she did stand out for all the right reasons! I am still continuing to dance zouk (a sensual, flowing dance) and the occasional ballet class, although I have given up samba and salsa for now as I find they are a little to jarring into my second trimester.
Anyway, like I said before I have been able to identify more greatly with some of my clients: women with children / pregnant, understanding more closely their levels of exhaustion when training with me; overweight clients who have difficulty stretching - I can't do some of those stretches either now that my belly is poking out; and anyone losing sight of their goal due to recent weight gain (and even though mine is for the right reasons there are days when psychologically it can still be difficult to accept!).
I have also realised in this process the importance of having muscle on your body during this process, and eating all the right healthy foods. Recently a friend lent me a book on "healthy eating for baby"... a few chapters in and I realised I had been eating this way the last five years of my life; and I didn't need to make so many changes after all. Fruit, vegetables, protein, really the only change was to up the carbohydrate intake for baby's energy as well as realising that I was feeding two now instead of one - a good quote: "You are not eating for two, you are consuming the nutrients for two"...
In fact, being pregnant is not easy, but it is not hard either. With a few adjustments to diet and a general commitment to doing some form of exercise every day, you will find that both you and baby will be feeling fantastic in no time!
Pregnancy Guidelines:
- Aim to do some form of exercise every day; light exercises will work if you are finding some activities too strenuous
- Avoid overstretching as ligaments are particularly loose during pregnancy due to changes in hormones and can easily become injured
- Continue to eat as per the meal plan in the below blog, adding additional HEALTHY carbohydrates such as fruit and bread
- Continue your weight training / muscle maintenance if possible
- Doctors and nurses focus on weight loss - you should focus on health - if you are gaining weight it might be from muscle mass and not from fat - they do not differentiate this and realise they all use the standard BMI tests which put some muscly people in the obese weight range - so don't become disillusioned if this happens.
- After the first trimester it can be dangerous to do exercises laying on the back / stretching laying on the back so speak to your trainer about alternative exercise options for you
- Focus on core and pelvic floor muscle development, which will assist in facilitate an easier labour / birth for you
- Even when you are feeling sick / nauseous, EAT! Even though the last thing you want to do after you have visited the toilet bowl is eat, make sure you do! Eat smaller meals and fill your tummy with some kind of carbohydrates and you will be feeling better in no time. Ginger / Peppermint tea and yoghurt can also help to protect the tummy and make it feel better during these situations.
I hope these tips have helped those of you who are pregnant / trying to get pregnant or just generally interested in finding out more about nutrition / health and exercise during pregnancy. Please feel free to post your comments below.
Yours in fitness,
Danielle
