Search Results for: blog continued exercise during pregnancy

The Pre Pregnancy Jeans

There is a lot of anticipation for post partum women to get back into their pre pregnancy jeans. It seems to be an ever present goal one that marks the successful manipulation of the post pregnant body back to what is considered normal. To an even greater extent, a woman’s pre pregnancy jeans fitting again after giving birth is the litmus test that the woman has officially bounced back. This has been my position from the very beginning of my first pregnancy. I thought that if my pre pregnancy jeans fit again after my baby was born, then I would … Continue reading →

Losing the Pregnancy Weight Part II

I won the competition which was both exciting and sad. I was ecstatic that I won, I put in lots of hard work, but there were lots of other teachers who had more weight to lose and they could have easily beat me and should have. Either way the “biggest loser” competition was the motivation I needed to jump start my weight loss and get me in the habit of regular exercise. I did not stop exercising after the competition … I still had about ten more pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Instead, I continued … Continue reading →

Pregnancy Reflections: Exercise

I cannot reiterate enough how important it is to exercise frequently and consistently throughout pregnancy. The results are quite amazing. I first became committed to exercise with my first pregnancy. I did not exercise nearly as frequently or intensely with my first pregnancy nor was I as consistent with my workout routine. I gained more weight with my first pregnancy and it took me over six months to get close to my pre-pregnancy size. I was also in the process of transitioning to a whole food diet with local and organic foods. It was during the post pregnancy phase of … Continue reading →

Continued Exercise During Pregnancy

It was my first pregnancy that convinced me that exercise should be a regular and consistent part of my daily and weekly routine. Having developed a firm commitment to exercise in the last three years, I find myself not only enjoying my workout routine during my second pregnancy but depending on it for relief from pregnancy aches and pains. I have discovered now more than ever before that consistency in a prenatal exercise is essential to a healthy pregnancy. In early pregnancy I continued to do my regular workouts without any need for modification. My goals at the beginning of … Continue reading →

The Top Five Reasons Why I Love to Exercise During Pregnancy

As hard as it is to get starting on a regular exercise routine, maintaining it can be even harder. We all know that there are a million reasons why we cannot seem to find the time or motivation to exercise, but we cannot deny the benefits of regular exercise. While we tend to focus on the negative aspects of exercise (overcoming obstacles, finding the time and motivation, etc.), there are even more positive reasons to start a workout regimen. Upon my own personal reflection of the last few years of my own exercise routine, I realized that I have gained … Continue reading →

Pregnancy and Baking

Baking is something I have not done in a long time. I absolutely love to bake and have been baking pretty regularly since I was eight years old. The only time I have not felt inclined to bake has been during my first trimesters. Of course there have been times when I really want to bake and choose not to given the amount of “empty calories” I tend to eat when I bake; and it is really hard to lose the baby weight with a dozen freshly baked chocolate chip cookies tempting me to indulge. Most recently, I gave up … Continue reading →

Motivation to Exercise

I have never been much of an exerciser. I went for runs with my college roommates but that only lasted a couple weeks. I made good use of the treadmill in the basement in the last few weeks preceding my wedding. I took a Pilate class for a month just to get out of the house while my husband spent late nights at rehearsals during graduate school. I never stuck with anything I tried and I never really cared. Sure I needed to get fit and tone my pathetically weak muscles, but the motivation just wasn’t there. That all changed … Continue reading →

Twelve Months Post Partum: An Exercising Journey Part I

Now that it has officially  been an entire years since my daughter’s birth, I feel that my post partum period has come to a close.  This twelve month phase of my life has been rather incredible mostly because of the precious gift of my daughter’s life and the joys (and frustrations) of being a mother, but also because I seemed to have accomplished my post partum fitness goals.  I felt that it was fitting to bring my post partum journey to a close by divulging some of my fitness triumphs and defeats. I set out determined to get back into … Continue reading →

The Fourth Week Post-Partum

Before I entered my fourth week post-partum, I made preparations for what needed to take place beginning with week four. Even before my daughter was born I was preparing myself for my four week break from exercise. I was determined to begin exercising again as soon as my midwife gave the okay. She said that it would be fine to resume my workout routine within four to six weeks. While my body bounced back much more quickly than with my son, there really is only one way to achieve abdominal muscle tone after pregnancy: regular exercise especially abdominal toning. I … Continue reading →

Labor Part III

After about thirty minutes of these stronger contractions, I told my husband to call the midwife. It was about eight in the morning. Once the midwife and her on-call nurse arrived, they checked my progress. I was still only about three centimeters dilated but my cervix was now anterior so there was progress albeit still slow progress in the last eight hours of labor. Soon after the midwife and nurse arrive my contractions continued to get stronger and more painful. The contractions seemed to be right on top of each other. With every contractions I reached for my husband for … Continue reading →