Pregnancy is a beautiful thing. I am by no means fitness goals but I wanted to share a few things that helped me not gain an excessive amount of weight while I was pregnant with Keira. With my second pregnancy, I knew that I couldn’t do the same things that I did with my first pregnancy, like eating for two or in my case for three ;). I gained fifty pounds with my pregnancy with Dylan and opted for a c-section because he was measuring big. I think being a bit older and a little bit wiser since my first definitely helped me make smarter decisions the second time around.
You don’t need to eat for two! I followed a pretty strict diet that my doctor put me on because I am a diabetic. It’s a diet that pretty much all gestational diabetics are given when they develop diabetes during pregnancy. I’m not saying that you should follow the same diet but if you eat a nutritious diet and are not literally eating for two you should be able to stay within the recommended guidelines for the amount of safe weight gain for your body type.
Don’t give in to cravings. Ice cream, pickles, pizza…I get it. We finally have an excuse to eat whatever we want to eat because it is a lot of work that our bodies go through to create a baby. However, if we really think about it, how much of these craving is our own needs and not necessarily the baby’s? And does the baby really want half a gallon of ice cream or another slice of pizza? Probably not. I will say I ate pickles because they are really low in carbs!! If you’re a diabetic what matters most is the amount of carbs you consume.
Be active! This is so important! I had to stay as active as I could during the pregnancy. It helped lower my blood sugar and it really made me feel so much better. I was exercising before I got pregnant so it was not as hard for me during the pregnancy. I mean don’t go out and run a marathon but something as simple as walking can make a difference.
A good diet and being physically active during pregnancy can not only help you during but after pregnancy as well. My goal for my second pregnancy was a vbac and I was able to achieve that because I think I had a healthy pregnancy. I did not gain an excessive amount of weight and Keira was not huge like Dylan. I really really do believe that when you want something bad enough you’re more than willing to do whatever it takes to get it. For me that was a healthy baby and a vbac. My recovery was so much faster! I had such a great pregnancy that I really wouldn’t mind having another one but no, it’s not going to happen!
Whatever your goal is, work for it and be willing to make the necessary sacrifices for it. You are for the most part going to gain weight. The weight of the baby is going to add weight to your scale…enjoy the process as much as possible because if you’re like me, you’ll miss being pregnant. Keeping my blood sugar under control after every meal and going for walks even when I didn’t want to were the things that I had to do to make sure I could achieve my goals. I noticed such a huge difference with my first and second pregnancy just by really doing these few simple things that I’ve shared. I really hope they help you too. Again, I’m just sharing what worked for me. Every body is different. Please listen to your doctor regarding what you should do.
