Pregnancy/Postpartum Health and Fitness

I’ve been asked to shine the light on how to stay fit before, during and after pregnancy. Personally, I look better now after having 2 kids than I did in high school! I attribute this to one thing and one thing only…. I made the CONSCIOUS DECISION to not let myself go when I got pregnant with my first daughter Lili. It was not an accident, it was not genetic, and it was not a fluke. It was a decision I made. I learned in a nutrition class when I was pregnant with Lili that a pregnant woman only needs an extra 200-300 calories a day to sustain a healthy pregnancy, that’s less than a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and a banana (see the pic above)… AKA not very much food! Yet the majority of women take pregnancy as free reign to eat as they please and let themselves go, meanwhile thinking “I’ll just lose the weight after I have the baby.” HAHAHA! Yeah right. Guess what new moms, you won’t even have time to shower, much less workout or count calories! It’s SOOOOO much easier to be proactive when it comes to baby weight, that it blows my mind to see women gain upwards of 40, 50, 60 or more pounds while pregnant. You’ll have the baby, you’ll be stressed out and super busy… you’ll keep the weight, you’ll have another baby… you’ll keep THAT weight and before you know it a vicious cycle has started and your unhealthy and unhappy! So here are my tips and more info from my own personal experiences for both pregnancy and postpartum baby weight:

1.)    Don’t give yourself a fatty food pass.

I’ve pretty much already addressed this but I’ll elaborate a little more. One thing I don’t understand is why would you pay LESS attention to how good you eat when you’re pregnant and trying to feed your baby, helping them to be healthy and all the while they are growing their little organs and everything inside of you??? Shouldn’t that be the HEALTHIEST you EVER EAT??? Shouldn’t you want to give your baby every vitamin and nutrient known to man? Versus eating fast food and ice cream all day??? I don’t get that. Also, carrying more weight during pregnancy can add to complications such as preeclampsia, miscarriage, gestational diabetes and I even read an article that linked autism and overweight moms. (Now whether that’s true or not, I have no idea.) But it seems to me that this would be the one time in your life to really focus on healthy eating and proper nutrition, not the other way around.

 

2.)    A breastfeeding mom needs more calories than a pregnant mom.

Again, I mentioned this above, that a pregnant mom only needs about 200-300 more calories, and that’s only in the second and third trimester; whereas a breastfeeding mom needs about 300-500 more calories, depending on how much the baby nurses. And again, a healthy well-rounded diet would need to make up the extra calories in order to give the baby all the vitamins and nutrients it needs.

 

3.)    Oh and breastfeeding burns TONS of calories!

Breastfeeding, on average, burns about 500 calories a day. It also helps your uterus get back to its normal size faster, which helps your tummy flatten out and lose that baby pudge that is still there after child birth. Since I only gained about 35 pounds during each pregnancy (which was right on track for my size , I lost the first 20 lbs during labor and I attribute losing the last 15-20 lbs to breastfeeding. And yes, you read that math right, I actually was SMALLER after having my second daughter than I was before I had her! However, that was due to muscle loss from not being able to lift weights while pregnant, which bring me to my next topic…

 

4.)    Working out while pregnant.

In general, a woman should be able to do the same activities while pregnant that she did before getting pregnant, or at least for the first 2 trimesters before a big ‘ole belly is in the way!

I, however, was not able to do that, unfortunately, due to pregnancy complications and my Doctor’s instruction. So because I could not lift weights, I lost muscle and in turn, lost weight.  After having my second daughter, I stayed pretty slim until she was about 6 months old and I was able to get back into my routine of working out and was able to put some muscle back on. She is now 3 years old and I have gained about 15 lbs since she was born.

 I would recommend for a pregnant woman to continue a resistance and strength training program, but not to use heavy weight as that can cause straining which can pull the uterus away from the uterine wall. Also I would recommend to do moderate paced cardio. No sprints or anything too strenuous as a high spike in heart rate that would normally be optimal for calorie burning, may cause issues with the baby’s heart beat.

 In general, I would say for all physical activity to stay at an intensity level of 40-70% of your maximum speed, weight, or strength.

 

This picture is of me going into the hospital to have my second daughter. I weighed 150 lbs on the day I went in to have both my girls. She was born and weighed a healthy 7 and a half pounds and

within about 4 weeks of having her, I weighed 112 lbs. I attribute this to both breastfeeding and also watching what I ate during pregnancy. Another bonus to not gaining excess weight during pregnancy is that I have no stretch marks! This can also be genetic, however, as some people have more elasticity in their skin than others. I also applied stretch mark creams RELIGIOUSLY!

I heard on TV not too long ago, a woman saying that when she became a mother, she stopped feeling sexy. How terrible is that??? That breaks my heart. When a woman becomes a mother, she should feel the best she ever has! She should feel strong, she should feel brave and courageous. She should feel beautiful and sexy as hell! My goal is to help other moms and women to find their sexy, even while wiping poopy butts all day and blowing snotty little noses. Don't give up ladies. You can do it!!! :)

 

Annie McDonald

 HouseofGlutes@outlook.com and House of Glutes on FB