Why I gained so much weight being pregnant.

It's no secret. I know what I did wrong... and I'm the first to tell anyone about it! I would love LOVE for you to learn from my mistakes to be completely frank. It's 2 AM... I can't sleep. Too many thoughts going through my head so I thought I'd take to the keyboard.


There are SO many wives tales that go around about what you should or shouldn't do being pregnant. And everyone and their dog thinks that it is their place to give you that advice!


-It's not good to work out being pregnant
-You need to eat for two
-Pregnant women shouldn't run
-Pregnant women shouldn't lift
-Pregnant women shouldn't get their HR above a certain number
-If you weren't working out before getting pregnant you shouldn't work out while pregnant


Can we just clear something up now? PREGNANCY IS NOT AN ILLNESS.


Not an illness.


You are doing something miraculous with your body... and get this. It's doing it all by itself! You don't have to do a thing to create that little bundle of joy cooking inside you.


And guess what??


Working out is GOOD FOR YOU AND YOUR BABY. Ground breaking, I know. I'll post more on this later but simply google "benefits of exercising while pregnant" and you'll get an ear full of reasons why to continue to work out.


So why did I stop working out while I was pregnant? I'd worked out my whole life, I became pregnant and I stopped. Well, I bought into the wives tales... and frankly it was a good excuse to be lazy. So I stopped, I think I went to the gym three times during my whole pregnancy. And I suffered the consequences... the 70 pounds I put on wasn't just baby weight from hormones. It was because I was LAZY. Flat out lazy, no other excuses.


Why did I eat unhealthy while I was pregnant? At first I thought I wasn't gaining enough weight, so I upped my calorie intake (not like I was monitoring it) but can you say eating out ALL of the time and I was a regular at in and out? Let's think about this for a second... my husband gained 40 pounds during MY pregnancy. Nuff said.


So that's it. I stopped eating healthy and I stopped working out. I packed on the pounds and I felt like a beached whale (not the cute pregnant kind).


Ladies, if I can tell you anything... Stop telling yourself you're eating for two as you stuff down four brownies. The extra calories you need are only like 300 calories per day... that's like two glasses of milk. NOT an extra Big Mac (trust me).


And secondly, continue to be active! IT IS what's best for your baby! Obviously consult with your doctor first if you're high risk but at the bare minimum at least go on a walk everyday. Make a point to get your heart rate up for 30 minutes everyday... there are so many benefits to it!


And at the end of the day, stop buying into all those dumb wives tales and ask your doctor before believing anything ;)