Pregnant and Keeping Fit

There's nothing like a pregnancy to call attention to your health and your body! So far, I've been lucky! I have pretty much sailed through the first 6 months but now that I've entered into the 7th and that final 3rd trimester, I definately notice a difference!

I was flying high on those wonderful 2nd trimester energy hormones for a while, until someone built a wall up in front of me and I ran right into it! Suddenly my back hurt, my legs felt swollen, I couldn't sleep well, and what's up with the heartburn?! Also, on a beach walk with a friend last week, she officially noticed me waddling. I said to her, "I feel like a pregnant woman going for a walk!" and she said, "Yea, you look like a pregnant woman going for a walk - you're kind of waddling!"

Needless to say, I've had to reevaluate my exercise/eating plan which has actually been a nice change. I stopped running about 2 weeks ago (to save my aching back) and have switched to cycling classes. What a great cardio workout! What I love about cycling class is that you really can go at your own pace which is great for a pregnant gal! (And, no one else can tell that you are lagging behind the class... only recommended during pregnancy, of course!)

I also decided it was time to stop teaching the exercise classes I was leading. Teaching requires a different energy during a workout and I found that it was becoming a little exhausting. Now I can take similar BOSU/muscle conditioning classes but at my own pace.

I'm really glad that I've been able to continue exercising during my pregnancy. I get the occasional weird look from someone who doesn't understand and probably thinks that I should be at home with my feet up but I truly believe that I have had such a healthy pregnancy so far because I've been in good shape. I think it's helped stave off excessive morning sickness and has helped me manage changes in my moods and hormones. I continue to put on weight (about 20 lbs. so far) at a good rate and I see most of it going to my baby, not my butt! Basically, the benefits of exercising while pregnant are the same as when you aren't... so why wouldn't you want to stay fit and healthy during this important time in your life?

The heartburn issue has also forced me to change my tried and true 3-meals-a-day policy. I tend to manage my weight best if I am eating 3 meals a day and leaving it at that. Whenever I've tried 5-6 "smaller" meals in the past, I've had trouble figuring out how to do that! Half of them usually end up being bigger than small which ends up meaning I'm eating more than if I were sticking to my 3-meal plan. So, this is a good exercise for me... getting acquainted with the smaller meal. Honestly, I'm liking it better. Basically, what it means for me is breaking my lunch up into 3 mini-meals. Instead of having it altogether, today I had my ricecakes and hummus late morning, my lentil soup around noon and my apple for a snack a few hours later.

This really isn't brain surgery or anything but what it can do for me it trigger an eating response. Eating 3 times a day was a good way for me to control what was going into my mouth. When I open up the day to eating more frequently, it offers more opportunities to eat more than I should or would like to. What I am working on now, in this phase of evolution in my weight maintenance, is learning to trust myself and listen to the cues coming from my body, not from my head! And believe me, there is a difference! My head likes to tell me that having dessert every night really isn't that bad and I suppose you could argue that it isn't. However, it is a habit that over time can keep you from evolving beyond weight loss. We tend to hold onto a couple of things that keep one foot in the doorway to our old habits instead of closing that door for good. There are many reasons for this and other peoples opinons and influences can have a lot to do with it. It is the phase that I happen to be in right now - keeping one foot in the door, for what reason? Most likely something emotional that I need to let go of because I know that eating dessert every night doesn't generally make me feel good.

But this is all a part of the weight loss process, or evolution, that we embark upon when we decide to make a change in our lives. For me, that process was initiated 11 years ago and it's one I'm still working on getting right. But it's introduced me to myself in an interesting and meaningful way that I appreciate and choose to embrace.