Monday, April 21, 2014

Week 14 - Wannabe Fit Mama

Officially in the second trimester and the baby is now the size of a lemon (~9cm)! 



The bump isn't out yet but unfortunately the bloat continues. I don't feel pregnant, just fat! My clothes feel increasingly tight, which is annoying. Sigh, why can't I be one of those skinny-everywhere-but-cute-little-bump pregnant ladies. Haha, it doesn't help that my appetite has been voracious from day one. 


But just because I’m knocked up it doesn't mean I’m letting myself go. I want to be FIT - exercising during pregnancy is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your growing baby during these crazy 9 months. Other than benefits in achieving a speedy delivery and recovery afterwards, I find the time spent exercising highly therapeutic. 

Running
I used to run pretty often B.P., and I hope to continue running until the 3rd Trimester, or until the stomach gets too big, whichever comes earlier. I've had to change some of my usual regime, of course. These days I go slower and don't impose distance targets on myself. Most weeks I try for two 30 minute runs and try to hit 5-6km each time. If I'm tired, it's not the end of the way, I just walk the rest of the way home. After the run, I always feel incredible and I'm just waiting for the day when the baby tells me with a kick to the rib that he/ she likes it too! My energy level during the 2nd Trimester is supposed to increase so I might try to run for a longer period if I feel up to it. 

Pilates
I’ve always wanted to start doing some pilates to correct my terrible posture, so I figured why not start now, before I get too heavy. 4 lessons in, I am proud to report that even though not more toned, I am a lot more self aware about how I stand, walk and move. The instructor tells me I tend to over work my right side especially the shoulder, so my objective is to start waking up the left side muscles to that I can handle the baby weight more evenly in the future.  

Ballet Barre 
I also decided to mix up my workouts. So I read somewhere about this new Ballet moves inspired workout, googled for classes in Singapore and 3 classes in, I am hooked! Besides how effective the workout is to tone, lift and burn my thighs, booty and arms, I like that it's all done to chirpy music and I feel like a (albeit clumsy) ballerina. This is not a prenatal class per se, so I had to inform the instructors for them to modify some of the exercises such as skipping the abdominal twisting. My arms and thighs were killing me for days after the first class, but I'm glad to report I feel much stronger now. 
Yoga
I really miss Bikram Yoga - the sweat, the hard work and the euphoria after. Now that I'm pregnant the heat is out of the question, but I would really like to try out a prenatal yoga class soon. If nothing else, it would be good to properly stretch out those aching muscles.   

Aqua-Aerobics
They say swimming is the best form of exercise for pregnancy but unfortunately I can't swim. Since it's probably not a good idea for me to start swimming now, I might just go to try out a water-based exercise class soon. Let me know if you know where runs good classes!

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