The First Trimester and Fitness- My Experience

Hi friends!  Thank you so much for your congratulations and well wishes on the big news   We’re so excited!

So, I haven’t really been posting consistently lately (though, do I ever?) for a few reasons, the first being that I had the big news to absorb/digest/spend all of my time thinking about and the second being that although I don’t consider myself a “healthy living blogger” per se, my favorite things to write about are my running/yoga/healthy eating adventures. 

Well, there hasn’t been much running/yoga/healthy eating going on in these parts in the last few months

Exercise in the First Trimester

Prior to getting pregnant, I had the notion that I would run miles and miles throughout my pregnancy.  How cute and fun!  Well.  I continued running a few times a week right after I found out.  I immediately noticed that my pace was significantly slower.  It was still cold at this point, and my hands got ridiculously numb despite wearing gloves.  Still, I wanted to continue one of my favorite pastimes!  The last run I completed was about eight weeks ago.  I ran four miles with my friend Melissa, and it was a STRUGGLE.  It felt like I was hauling a mac truck and our pace was significantly slower than our normal pace (over 12 min/mile).  I believe this is because your blood volume increases when you are pregnant (perhaps that’s why I am out of breath after walking up a flight of stairs ) but I’m not certain.  When I woke up the next morning, I felt like I could sleep for days!  I was around five weeks along at this point.

A few days later I started to have some spotting issues.  Everything was fine (thank goodness) but the doctor told me to stop running.  To be honest, I was kind of relieved to get the out.  Running had become exhausting.  Last week (on the tail end of 11 weeks) the doctor gave me the okay to start running again.  I’m a little nervous that my body somehow forgot to run and that taking the eight weeks off will mean that I won’t even be able to run a mile.  I’m going to try this weekend.  If I can’t, that’s okay.  I’m not going to push anything and just embrace what is going on with my body right now. 

As for hot yoga, my last class was January 27th.  That class was so odd and I ended up nearly passing out at the end, with my hands cramping up like a lobster.  Turns out that I was pregnant   Though I love hot yoga/bikram, it is important during pregnancy that your core temperature does not get raised.  I’ve heard of experienced yogis that continue to practice bikram until the day they deliver, but I don’t want to take that risk. 

So, no running and hot yoga means that I have found myself with a LOT of free time.  I have made friends with this chair in my living room (with my buddy Bailey, of course).

We spend a lot of time together reading and watching television.  I have read so many books (current read: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) and have probably seen every episode of The First 48 (love that show!)  This hiatus from running and yoga has made me realize how busy those two activities kept me.  It’s a new adjustment to feel like a bit of a laze but I think my body needs it- so I’m going with it! 

As for current physical activity, I recently started a once weekly prenatal yoga class and walking for a half an hour with my friend Kara on our lunch break.  After two of these walks, I woke up with sore shins.  What happened to muscle memory?!    As for the prenatal yoga, it’s a great stretch and feels like a hard workout, even though during my pre-pregnancy days I would have considered it a warmup.   Honestly, that’s all I’ve really done from week five until now (soo for the past two months).  When I get home from work I think of my activity level pre-pregnancy (running a few miles after work and then a 90 minute bikram class, woohoo!) and nearly pass out from exhaustion (okay, that’s a bit dramatic but seriously- I have never been so tired!). 

My ultimate goal is to slowly incorporate running back into my routine 2-3 times a week (probably 2-3 miles max) and to practice prenatal yoga a few times a week.  If I can do it, great!  If not- that’s okay too. 

Eating in the First Trimester

As for my eating habits, well, let’s just say I haven’t had the healthiest cravings.  Thankfully I didn’t experience terrible morning sickness but I did have quite a few food aversions.  There was a few weeks when the only thing I could stomach for dinner was cereal.  Or spaggetios.  Seriously!  Until recently, I had a bagel and cream cheese every day for breakfast.  All I wanted were carbs and more carbs!  The thought of anything green or healthy made me shudder in distaste.  For the past few months, I’ve mainly had bagels, mac n cheese, burgers and cereal.  I am  happy to say that I can now eat salad again (I had one for lunch yesterday for the first time in forever!) and am back to having greek yogurt for breakast.  I still do want things that I wouldn’t touch pre-pregnancy (McDonald’s fries, cheez-its- I housed a whole box in three days!) but I’d like to think I’m getting back into the groove. 

So, that’s where I’ve been at for the past few months.  Looking at the second trimester, I’m excited to incorporate some good eats into my diet and to get some healthy physical activity in.  It’s not just my health I need to worry about now!

For those of you with children: did you maintain the same fitness and eating routine when you were pregnant?  If not, how did you modify it?  If you don’t have children yet and plan to do so- will you try to stick to the same routine?

—

Before I sign off-

My dear blend Heather is hosting a fantastic raffle for Relay for Life, in honor of her Aunt Pat.  If you enter the raffle not only are you donating to a great cause, but you get a chance to win some awesome goodies!   So head on over to Heather’s blog for a chance to win some awesome stuff!

Katie