Cardio

[dare]

Should I start doing more cardio now that I'm pregnant? How much cardio do you gals do? How's you're week set up with cardio/weights etc...
I've always pretty much focused on weights...now I'm wondering if I should focus on cardio & get in weights when I can?

thanks.

[Erik]

What would be your rationale for doing more?

[colo1278]

well, it looks like she's saying she doesn't do any right now and is wondering if she should be working on her cardiovascular health. Dare- correct meif I am wrong.

Here's what I have read- you shouldn't do anything when you're pregnant that you didn't do before. If you ran 5 miles a day before, then you might be fine continuing that. Just don't start running if you never did before.

Personally right now, I can only manage about a 30 min walk at a relatively leisurely pace. That's mostly because of 1) extreme fatigue 2) pretty bad nausea and 3) I can only go about 30 mins without a bathroom break. I have not been doing weights bc of reason #1. I might pick them up again soon though as I really do not want to lose my muscle.

Generally, keeping fit during your pg is advised by docs- it helps you have a more comfortable pregnancy AND labor. You'll also bounce back easier afterwards.

I have also read not to have your heart rate go above 140, but maybe read for yourself a little bit online and ask your doc too.

:)

[Erik]

I read, 'start doing MORE cardio' as she's doing some and is asking if she should be doing MORE than she is currently doing.

But I could be wrong.

[colo1278]

I read, 'start doing MORE cardio' as she's doing some and is asking if she should be doing MORE than she is currently doing.

But I could be wrong.
yeah I saw that too and understand why you read it that way... but then I guessed into it a little more. I think she is saying that she was doing none and maybe should now do a little.

[dare]

Hey guys!
I have always done some cardio, nothing too intense...just jogging/walking
/biking... a few days per week. I guess I think I should do more now b/c I know I'll be gaining a lot of weight, and I just want to get a handle on things sooner rather than later, and somewhat "control" the weight gain so I don't blow up like a balloon. I just think doing a little extra cardio is better than restricting food intake, which isn't going to happen.

I'm just curious what the other girls are doing for cardio/workouts. That's all!
:)

[colo1278]

I would say stick to what you are doing now for cardio and keep your food intake within reason. I know you said that is not possible, but I think you need to try. I read that the baby only needs an extra 300 cals a day. The women that "eat for two" are the ones that gain too much. And gaining too much can actually be unhealthy for you and your baby. Gaining too little would also be bad, and I think estimating the calories in from food is easier than estimating how much you are actually burning off from exercise.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/159_153.asp

[krispy1138]

I'm no expert, but I think you should be fine if you follow the calorie guidelines colo1278 said (although you should probably verify with your physician) and stick to healthy foods. It seems to me that a lot of the weight pregnant women gain is from junk food (look at Britney Spears, with the Cheetos and Frappuccinos with whipped cream!)

[strongchick]

From what I've read, you don't want to ADD to your program, but you can continue what you have been doing.

Try not to worry so much about weight gain. Those who do so massively take 'eating for two' to the extreme. Don't assume you're going to blow up. You may be fine. Heck, you may be so naseous it would be hard to eat.

[liberty]

I'm no expert, but I think you should be fine if you follow the calorie guidelines colo1278 said (although you should probably verify with your physician) and stick to healthy foods. It seems to me that a lot of the weight pregnant women gain is from junk food (look at Britney Spears, with the Cheetos and Frappuccinos with whipped cream!)

This is a myth that keeps getting mentioned and it kinda burns my butt. Never in a womens life is your weight more monitored than when you are pregnant. Someone weighs you every month than every week and a medical profession informs you of whether your weight gain is adequate or too much. A small minority of women will use this time to "go crazy" and make food choices they don't always make but they are in the minority. Most women are very aware of the quality of food that goes into their body and yet they still gain a great deal of weight. Women have enough trouble with their own body changes that they do not need people thinking they are getting fat due to sitting around eating chips and ice cream. (This rant is not meant for the person quoted as this gets mentioned everytime a person talks about weight gain and pregnancy, this is just the first time I have had enough time to respond)
C

[krispy1138]

This is a myth that keeps getting mentioned and it kinda burns my butt. Never in a womens life is your weight more monitored than when you are pregnant. Someone weighs you every month than every week and a medical profession informs you of whether your weight gain is adequate or too much. A small minority of women will use this time to "go crazy" and make food choices they don't always make but they are in the minority. Most women are very aware of the quality of food that goes into their body and yet they still gain a great deal of weight. Women have enough trouble with their own body changes that they do not need people thinking they are getting fat due to sitting around eating chips and ice cream. (This rant is not meant for the person quoted as this gets mentioned everytime a person talks about weight gain and pregnancy, this is just the first time I have had enough time to respond)
C

I know you said this wasn't meant for me but I'm going to respond anyway.

I was typing out a big long thing but I deleted it because I'm obviously having trouble communicating concepts today. At any rate, I did not mean that most pregnant women gain too much weight (even though it sounds like that from my original post) or that they sit around eating crap all day. Sorry to convey that impression.

[strongchick]

Liberty, your avi is wonderful.

[liberty]

I know you said this wasn't meant for me but I'm going to respond anyway.

I was typing out a big long thing but I deleted it because I'm obviously having trouble communicating concepts today. At any rate, I did not mean that most pregnant women gain too much weight (even though it sounds like that from my original post) or that they sit around eating crap all day. Sorry to convey that impression.

I know what you meant was not necessarily what I was ranting about. That rant has been in me since last September when I got pregnant with #3. I have so many friends who are pregnant and ashamed of their weight gain whether it is 20 pounds or 60 and I wish I had a magic wand to take away that shame. The people gaining 60 are not eating way more than the ones gaining 20 that is just what their body need them to gain. It is a hard emotional time.
C

[liberty]

Liberty, your avi is wonderful.

Thanks, it was his first bath at home. I should put up a new one cause he is a fat little pudding now.
C

[dare]

The people gaining 60 are not eating way more than the ones gaining 20 that is just what their body need them to gain. It is a hard emotional time.
C

I like this quote! I will try to remember that.... :)

[Swiss]

Enjoy this time Dare. I gained 50 with my first (I admit I did eat quite a bit, even though it was healthy) and 27 with my second. Both times the weight came off once I started exercising again.

Just concentrate on eating healthy enjoying a snack every now and then.

[clsupnorth]

I wanted to comment on the original post about cardio/exercise.

In my case, I consider there to be 2 forms of cardio: 1) the less structured, general health, 'fun' kind like walking, pilates, yoga, swimming, biking, etc. Then I consider 2) to be the structured or more intense cardio (HIIT, jogging, anything more hardcore or vigorous.

These are just my own personal definitions. When someone asks me if I do cardio, I think of #2. So in that way, no, I'm not doing any cardio, I stopped doing HIIT as soon as I found out I was pregnant. And really, other than the rare HIIT session anyways, I've barely done #2 cardio in the last 6 months. I've mostly done weights and 'fun' cardio.

So that's the routine I'm continuing. My workouts have still been a 4 day weight split, and I fill the other 3 days with pilates, yoga, walking, or hiking. The fatigue that I was getting is gone now, but even still, I find that I have had to modify my weight program by no longer being able to superset as I get tired too fast. Other than that, everything has stayed the same.

I see myself in the near future changing to a 3-day split instead... just to bring it down a notch. And once belly appears, obviously positioning will change.

[bcmom]

Having had 2 babies and gained 40+ lbs with each, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that exercise, while important, isn't going to make a big difference in the amount of wieght that you gain. I think that the amount of weight you gain is out of your control somewhat. Genetics plays a big role. I ran or rode my stationary bike 6 days a week while pregnant (that was before I learned about how ineffective that was). And I was eating healthy (although I gave in to my ice cream cravings on occassion). And still I gained over 40 lbs. But you know what? I just cleaned uo my diet and started exercising again as soon as I could after having my babies and the weight came off. Continue your workout routine, modify to accomodate your growing pregnancy, stop doing HIIT and just enjoy the time you are pregnant. Your body will be back to normal if you do what you know you need to once the baby comes.

[fitnesschick]

i really don't think you need to add in more cardio! the others are right, eat healthy and enjoy eating while you're pregnant and your body will gain what it needs to. even though the magic number for weight gain is somehow "30lbs" or whatever it is, i kind of thought that was silly.

now is the time to enjoy your body and the miracle of growing a baby. keep doing the cardio you are doing now but mostly enjoy this time of your life :)

[clsupnorth]

I agree with bc mom.... that you will gain what your body needs to. Of course, I assume that that's with continuing to eat properly, and continuing your level of physical activity.

For example, if you are a healthy, moderatively active woman who gets pregnant and continues to be as active as she can (same, if not close to same pre-preg activity level), and eats proper foods (minimizing processed, and 'occasionally' indulging), and not overeating (eating what your body needs calorically.... not 1200+ cals over and above what you need...... then if that woman gains 20 lbs, or 35, or 45 lbs.... then that's what her body needed to gain. Period.

However, I think that if that same woman gets pregnant, then drastically reduces or stops activity altogether, then gives in to every indulgent craving she can come up with, overeats just because she's now pregnant and therefore entitled to now eat for 'five', and eats all sorts of crappy foods, processed, fatty, you name it...... then she may likely gain WAY MORE than what her body needs.

I don't think it's automatically fair for some people to say that WHATEVER you gain is appropriate, because then the women who put on 70+ lbs by letting themselves go justify their actions by saying it's 'natural'. Bull.

My activity level has remained the same... but cardio types have changed. I continue my weight programs and activity not to prevent fat gain, but to maintain and keep as much muscle mass, flexibility, and overall health as possible throughout pregnancy. If I continue to focus on 'health', then I believe I'll gain whatever my body needs to gain. If at any point my focus shifts away from that, and I start to just give in to whatever food is within a 10 ft radius, and give up on walking any farther than to my car (even though I'm capable of much more), then additional fat gain is solely my fault.

I think it's also important to make a distinction between pregnancy WEIGHT gain and pregnancy FAT gain.
You could theoretically gain 45+ lbs during pregnancy (which would be considered excessive depending who you ask, or what your situation is), but only put on 7 lbs of fat within that total. The excessive part could be uterus, blood, tissue, baby, you name it. That's totally uncontrollable.

But if you gain 70 lbs, and it's quite obvious that 45 of that is added fat, well, we know that's more than what baby requires or asks of you... chances are you overdid it.

[liberty]

I agree with bc mom.... that you will gain what your body needs to. Of course, I assume that that's with continuing to eat properly, and continuing your level of physical activity.

For example, if you are a healthy, moderatively active woman who gets pregnant and continues to be as active as she can (same, if not close to same pre-preg activity level), and eats proper foods (minimizing processed, and 'occasionally' indulging), and not overeating (eating what your body needs calorically.... not 1200+ cals over and above what you need...... then if that woman gains 20 lbs, or 35, or 45 lbs.... then that's what her body needed to gain. Period.

However, I think that if that same woman gets pregnant, then drastically reduces or stops activity altogether, then gives in to every indulgent craving she can come up with, overeats just because she's now pregnant and therefore entitled to now eat for 'five', and eats all sorts of crappy foods, processed, fatty, you name it...... then she may likely gain WAY MORE than what her body needs.

I don't think it's automatically fair for some people to say that WHATEVER you gain is appropriate, because then the women who put on 70+ lbs by letting themselves go justify their actions by saying it's 'natural'. Bull.

My activity level has remained the same... but cardio types have changed. I continue my weight programs and activity not to prevent fat gain, but to maintain and keep as much muscle mass, flexibility, and overall health as possible throughout pregnancy. If I continue to focus on 'health', then I believe I'll gain whatever my body needs to gain. If at any point my focus shifts away from that, and I start to just give in to whatever food is within a 10 ft radius, and give up on walking any farther than to my car (even though I'm capable of much more), then additional fat gain is solely my fault.

I think it's also important to make a distinction between pregnancy WEIGHT gain and pregnancy FAT gain.
You could theoretically gain 45+ lbs during pregnancy (which would be considered excessive depending who you ask, or what your situation is), but only put on 7 lbs of fat within that total. The excessive part could be uterus, blood, tissue, baby, you name it. That's totally uncontrollable.

But if you gain 70 lbs, and it's quite obvious that 45 of that is added fat, well, we know that's more than what baby requires or asks of you... chances are you overdid it.

Most pregnant women gain fat (if you want to call it tissue I guess that's ok), the body wants to have a little excess for nursing. I had a friend who ate totally normal and walked everywhere and gained 60 pounds. SHe was not out of control or excessive. Only the pregnant woman knows if she overdid it you cannot assume just by the total weight gained.
C

[H&G'sMom]

I.......

But if you gain 70 lbs, and it's quite obvious that 45 of that is added fat, well, we know that's more than what baby requires or asks of you... chances are you overdid it.

I agree with you on almost everything you said, except this very last part.. bloating and water retention can make it look like you have gained a lot of extra fat, when in reality, it is a lot of fluid. I was due in the dead head of summer and I gained almost 25lbs in the last month, hell, I gained almost 13 pounds in one week when it was really hot. I don't think it humanly possible to gain that much fat in one week, LOL! I couldn't wear socks or fit into any shoes, I was retaining sooo much water. PG varies so much woman to woman that is almost impossible to say how much a woman should or should not gain. JMO.

[clsupnorth]

Only the pregnant woman knows if she overdid it you cannot assume just by the total weight gained.
C

Liberty, that's what I was referring to. Sorry if I didn't make it clearer. I was referring to those women who KNOW that they overdid it. I'm not talking about what others PERCEIVE to be excessive - because perceptions are nearly always completely inaccurate, nor is it anyone else's business. There is 'perceived' excessive fat gain - and then there's 'actual' excessive fat gain... that's the kind that the doctor can tell is excessive, and the woman probably knows that herself, anyways.

In my post, I had a very specific type of woman in mind (plenty of whom I've known personally.) It's the woman who overeats for the whole world, declaring it her god-given right, growing her fetus on donuts and Doritos, sitting on her butt all day long watching her 'stories'..... all the while knowing within herself that she is capable of doing better, and instead, making the conscious choice not to. THEN, when baby arrives and she realizes she's packed on TONS of extra needless fat, she proclaims 'but it's what I was meant to gain!".

With that said, however, if everyone in the medical field agrees (and research shows) that only so much added fat is required to grow a baby, and gross excessive weight gain is unnecessary and undesirable, and can increase risk of labor, delivery, maternal and fetal health risks, then yes, I do think that to some degree, women should be aware of that, and do what they can to ensure that they grow a healthy baby, with what it needs, while at the same time doing what they can, and what is within their power, to ensure that they don't go overboard in the fat gain.

I highly doubt anyone on this board has the personality type of the kind of woman I'm referring to. Anyone who's on EP has an interest in health and doing what's best for their bodies. Y'all are smart women who do what's smart and best.
The type of woman I'm referring to would NEVER come onto EP.

[jackie]

I highly doubt anyone on this board has the personality type of the kind of woman I'm referring to. Anyone who's on EP has an interest in health and doing what's best for their bodies. Y'all are smart women who do what's smart and best.
The type of woman I'm referring to would NEVER come onto EP

I disagree....we did infertility for 3 years until we finally conceived and during IUI & IVF my fertility doctors told me not to exercise and just wait until I got my preg test back...so when we finally got a positive preg results I was afraid to exercise, then I started spotting...and to top that off I could not eat chicken or veggies it made me sick to my stomache during my whole first preg so yes I did gain 70lbs and really did enjoy food that I normally would not eat, I was so excited to be preg, but the day I delivered in the hosipital I started weight watchers on my own and lost the 70lbs, it took me 5 months, but it was so worth it and I started working out again at 6 weeks because I had a c-section. With my next 2 preg we also did IVF so I stopped exercising again, but I could eat chicken so I did not gain as much.And I had vaginal births so I started exercising at 2 weeks.
Even if you are very healthy, eat clean and always workout it is possible to slack for 9 months, I am living proof of that.

[clsupnorth]

I can see that no matter how much I try to clarify, there will be those that understand what I'm getting at and those that don't.
No biggie.... there will always be some posts on a public forum that seem to go in circles and never seem to die. But I hate being a part of those posts.... so I'm gonna go read some journals now.....

[RussianBlue]

What I don't understand is the concept of this "Your body is supposed to gain whatever it needs to gain". When I talk about gain, I don't mean water, blood, etc, I am not referring to weight that actually disappears once you had the baby. If one gains 60lbs and 20lbs still sticks around after delivery, I doubt the person was supposed to gain that much. I still think that comment is an underlying excuse to eat more than needed. You're not gaining fat from not eating nothing.

Anyway, not trying to offend anyone... :)

[liberty]

What I don't understand is the concept of this "Your body is supposed to gain whatever it needs to gain". When I talk about gain, I don't mean water, blood, etc, I am not referring to weight that actually disappears once you had the baby. If one gains 60lbs and 20lbs still sticks around after delivery, I doubt the person was supposed to gain that much. I still think that comment is an underlying excuse to eat more than needed. You're not gaining fat from not eating nothing.

Anyway, not trying to offend anyone... :)

Do you think that you go home the day after you give birth the same weight you started your pregnancy? Just trying to understand your post.... Seems like you are saying the person that gained 60 perhaps gained 20 pounds too much?? By the way clsupnorth, I get what you are saying but I have seen more women boggled bytheir weight gain then the dorito eating ones you were talking about.
C

[clsupnorth]

Do you think that you go home the day after you give birth the same weight you started your pregnancy? Just trying to understand your post.... Seems like you are saying the person that gained 60 perhaps gained 20 pounds too much?? By the way clsupnorth, I get what you are saying but I have seen more women boggled bytheir weight gain then the dorito eating ones you were talking about.
C

Russian Blue kinda pinpointed what I was trying to get across a bit better than I did, I think.

Liberty... thank you for 'agreeing to disagree'. That's interesting, though... maybe it's different social circles, cause I find myself in contact with WAY more women who not only gained a TON of extra fat during pregnancy, but almost seemed proud of it?
I can think of 8 women I know in particular (I go to church with them) who put on in excess of 50+ lbs with each pregancy (one gained 80), and not only did they do so with complete wanton abandon throughout (ate everything in sight, mostly desserts, McDonalds, 5 helpings...), refused to exercise other than walking to the car, but afterwards, they made no effort to lose weight... instead keeping it for consecutive pregnancies. These same women proudly make that exact same statement that was posted "I gained what my body was 'supposed' to gain."
And THEN, they have the nasty habit of trying to make some of the other women feel like total shit. (Those who managed to gain a reasonable amount of weight, ate right, stayed active, and made efforts to lose afterwards).

I've stood there and been witness to one woman tell another who was 6 weeks postpartum and quite slim that "Well, don't you just think you're so perfect... but don't you know plump women make better mothers?"

[liberty]

Well c-north no wonder you think the way you do it makes perfect sense. I live on the west coast, land o' health and the women I hang with are like those on this board, fit and into eating healthy. Their weight gain ranged from 20-60 pounds and did not seem to be food dependednt so they really were gaining what they should have as opposed to the woman you were talking about who seemed to be using pregnancy as an excuse, tsk, tsk.
C

[clsupnorth]

Regionality may have alot to do with it, yes. In northern alberta we certainly have healthy fit people, but we have WAY MORE overweight, inactive people suffering from all sorts of health issues. Some of them use the excuse that it's the cold weather that prohibits them from being active (yeah, right) or that we don't have the facilities (whatever....), etc. But most just don't care.

I know of only ONE person in my entire social circle of friends that is like those on this board - ME. And my husband. So, yeah, if I hear a local woman say "I gained what my body was supposed to", and I look at her and it's obvious that she didn't (because she's still packing 20+lbs all on 3 months post-baby).... it's hard to keep my mouth shut...... very hard.

[jackie]

I not trying to offend anyone, but some people might still have 20lbs to lose at 3 months even if they only gained say 30lb. After my c-section with my first child I came home from the hospital weighing exactley the same as I went in, I didn't even lose my baby weight. They had an iv in my arm for 3 days. With my vaginal births I did lose the weight of the baby, but nothing major in the hospital. Please pregnant girls don't think you are going to come home from the hospital 20-30lbs lighter and fitting into your old jeans, that is what I thought and i was very depressed until I lost all my weight and with all 3 of my preg it took me 4-5 motnhs to get back to my pre-post body. It takes 40 weeks to gain the weight.