Staying fit while pregnant

Every now and then we get questions from the Fitgirlcode community and we love that!  This time we received a question by a pregnant fit girl who asked us the following: "I just found out I'm pregnant, and I don't want to gain the weight I just lost, but when I work out I get dizzy really fast. What can I do about this? Can I work out and what do you guys recommend?"

Staying fit while pregnant

First things first. We really want to make clear that these tips are not rules to follow, but tips to motivate and inspire you. None of us have babies (YET) so we sat down and asked all our momma friends and pregnant friends what their take on this subject is.  So here it goes!

Listen to your body
This is so important! Your body is an awesome tool that is capable of doing marvelous things, and sometimes we can get a bit carried away. So always listen to what your body is telling you. Your body is signaling that it's had enough if you feel:

• fatigue
• dizziness
• heart palpitations (your heart pounding in your chest)
• shortness of breath
• pain in your back or pelvis

And if you can't talk while you're exercising, you're doing it too strenuously. Relax and take it back a notch or two :)

Don't eat for two
Well… you can, as long as it's healthy, like fruit and lots of vegetables. One of our friends that just had a baby, had this to say: "It's easy to say to eat for two, when you're not the one that has to train the gained weight off. Don't use your pregnancy to start eating a whole lot more". If you have sweet cravings, there a lot of healthy sweet snacks you can make, like these blueberry muffins or brownies. On our recipe page you find a lot of clean eating recipes that are really healthy and delicious!

Keep walking
Some women keep running during their pregnancy, others just go for a walk. It's important to chose what fits you. If you get dizzy when running, try walking first. From there you try working it up a little bit. And if you still get dizzy, just keep walking. You can grab some light weights on your walk and try walking a little bit faster than normal. Here are some tips to improve your posture

1. Walk tall, look forward, gazing about 20 feet ahead. Keep your chin up.
2. Keep your chest raised, and shoulders down, back and relaxed
3. Bend your arms in slightly less than a 90 degree angle. Swing arms front to back (not side to side - arms should not cross your body.) Do not swing elbows higher than your sternum (breast bone). Swing your arms faster and your feet will follow.
4. Tighten your abs and butt. Flatten your back and tilt your pelvis slightly forward
5. Pretend you are walking along a straight line. To go faster -- take smaller, faster steps.
6. Push off with your toes. Concentrate on landing on your heel, rolling through the step and pushing off with your toes.
7. Breathe naturally. As you walk, take deep, rhythmic breaths, to get the maximum amount of oxygen through your system. Walk fast enough that your breathing is increased yet you are not out of breath.

Yoga
Yoga is always awesome, whether you're pregnant or not. It harmonizes your body and mind and that's always good!. We heard a lot of our friends say they prefer yoga to any other work out, because it helps them to relax. Do you really want to try pregnancy yoga, but don't have a yoga school around? All you need is a mat. We found a nice instruction video that helps you do yoga in the comfort of your own house. Want more? Here you can find the other five parts. Have fun!

Like a fish in water
Swimming is one of the safest forms of exercise, it improves circulation, increases muscle tone and strength, and builds endurance. Swimming helps counteract the increased back strain from your expanding belly. Pregnancy forces the spine and shoulders to round forward and the pelvis to tilt out of alignment, but swimming gently strengthens the muscles and offsets this tendency. Being in the water also protects you from overheating and supports your joints and ligaments as you exercise, preventing injury.

Pilates
Pilates trains your body to be strong, flexible and balanced. Through the movements and positions you improve your coordination and strength. Relaxation and deep breathing are important in controlling how you do the exercises. And the great thing is, it strengthens your tummy, back and pelvic floor muscles without straining other joints, so it's a great exercise to do when you're pregnant.

And last but not least
Choose a work out you like doing, this will help you to keep it up and ALWAYS drink a lot of water. With that said we hope to have given the soon to be mommas enough inspiration and motivation to stay fit during their pregnancies. And let us know when the babies are born! We'd love to see those fit babies ;)

Do you have any questions or matters you need our help with? Please let us know below in the comments or use #fitgirlquestion on Instagram and Twitter or post your questions on our Facebook wall. 

(Source: www.thewalkingsite.com + www.babycenter.com)