Proven Ways to Stay Fit During Your Pregnancy

Pregnant women need to take care of themselves while they care for the little one inside and practically pregnancy is not a smooth sailing journey. One may be caught up with waves of mood swings, morning sickness, first-trimester nausea, fatigue, food aversions, pregnancy cravings. Ailments like back pain, swelling of legs also make it difficult for pregnant women to manage with healthy choices and regular routines.

Studies show that healthy habits during pregnancy have a bundle of benefits. While on one hand, it helps easy labor, healthy children, maintain good energy levels during pregnancy. On the other hand, it helps shed the extra kilos gained postpartum easily and prevents congenital conditions. Having an exercise regime, nutritious well-balanced dietary choices, healthy yoga practices under trained eyes, and staying fit while pregnant is paramount for your as well as the child's health.

This article is a handbook with well-proven tips that will tell you how to stay healthy and in shape while pregnant.

Table of Content

Feel free to skip ahead if one topic catches your eye:

How to stay fit during your Pregnancy?
Benefits of Exercise during Pregnancy
What are the signs of Healthy Pregnancy?
Things to Avoid during Pregnancy

Take Away

1. How to stay fit during your Pregnancy?

Today’s sedentary lifestyle and work stress have harmed health to a greater extent and for pregnant women, staying fit while pregnant is cardinal. Here are some of the ways to get fit while pregnant.

Keep a check on your diet: Diet is one of the significant aspects to be taken care of during pregnancy. Pregnant women need to ensure that they have sumptuous, healthy, well-balanced, and nutritious food. Having a protein-rich diet, including foods with calcium such as green leafy vegetables, and dairy products. Studies have proven that folate-rich foods like cereal, pasta, rice, bread, can decrease the risk of neural tube defects in the child. It is essential to have foods with enough iron content like leafy vegetables, beans, fish, eggs, and fresh fruits to maintain a good level of hemoglobin during pregnancy.
Prenatal vitamin inclusions: Prenatal vitamins are essentials that bridge the nutritional gaps and help support the growth and development of the child during pregnancy. Folic acid is one such prenatal vitamin that is taken before pregnancy. It can reduce the likelihood of neural birth defects like spina bifida in the newborn. Consult your doctor for a healthy diet plan during pregnancy and requirements of supplements for the healthy development and growth of you and your fetus.

Get enough sleep: A good sound sleep for 7-8 hours during pregnancy is a must for you and your child’s health. Sleep calms your brain’s activity, relaxes your mind, Keeps all your worries and tensions away. A continuous undisturbed sleep can ensure that you are active, established mental, emotional peace, and feel recharged.
Be active: Ensure that you keep yourself engaged in activities, keep moving, and stay active. Yoga, meditation, light pregnancy exercises, and performing your daily activities can help you have an active lifestyle.
Stay hydrated: In pregnant women, the water element forms the placenta and the amniotic sac. Sufficient water intake is required for the development of the fetus. And so, remaining hydrated during pregnancy is a must.
Avoid stress: While pregnant, it is required to avoid unnecessary stress and try to take a break from work overload. Reading a book, taking a nap, engaging in hobbies, listening to music are ways to relax and rest whenever the body wants it.

How to control your cravings? Pregnancy cravings are highly unpredictable and cannot be avoided. These cravings can pull out unhealthy food options. Try to replace the high-calorie, high sugar foods with the healthier forms.

2. Benefits of Exercise during Pregnancy

The advantages that exercise bestows are innumerable and exercising during pregnancy can favor a range of health benefits.

Mood swings and morning sickness are byproducts of the hormonal changes that take place within a pregnant mother. Exercise can create an environment to change the mood and pep up energy levels.
Exercises have high healing power. It can speed up the post-delivery recovery aiding a quick healing and faster recovery.
Exercises are known to improve blood circulation, immune responses and so, exercising can lessen the chances of delivery complications.
First-trimester fatigue is usually dealt with during pregnancy. Feeling lethargic can be reduced with a regular and minimum exercise routine.
Proper exercise and effective postures can reduce overall body pains during pregnancy, especially backaches.

3. What are the signs of Healthy Pregnancy?

The signs of pregnancy begin with missing your periods after which one can experience considerable signs of pregnancy that are generally normal. A few of them are mentioned below:

Tender and swollen breasts
Nauseated feeling
Vomiting
Excessive fatigue
Frequent urination
Specific food cravings
Random food aversions
Constipation and heartburn
Frequent mood fluctuations

These signs indicate that the pregnancy is healthy and going in a positive direction.

4. Things to Avoid during Pregnancy

Now that we have understood the uses of staying healthy during pregnancy, knowing what to avoid to remain in shape while pregnant is also obligatory. Some of them are:

Avoid excess sugar intake as this can increase your weight as well as your baby’s weight; can lead to gestational diabetes, and other pregnancy complications.
Do not over-stress your body with rigorous physical exercise and adventurous sports/activities like jumping, heavy weight lifting, rock climbing, horse riding, and many more.
Say no to lifestyle habituations such as alcohol, smoking, and certain medications that can impact pregnancy and child growth.
Avoid massage especially near the abdominal region.
Do not wear tight clothes that can cause skin irritation and suffocate.
Pregnant women are advised to stay away from too much caffeine consumption, foods that lead to aversions, and hot sauna baths.

Take Away

Pregnancy is an exciting yet nervous journey for many and every pregnancy is unique with unmatched experiences. A healthy pregnancy needs a well-balanced diet, moderate daily exercise, healthy yoga practice, meditation, good sound sleep, and avoiding unhealthy habits. The healthy lifestyle maintained during pregnancy is known to benefit both the mother and child.

Connect with Dr. Puja, the best gynecologist in delhi; who ensures to take care of every minute requirements of pregnancy including your routines, exercise regimes, diagnostic tests, dietary and medical requirements, and many more.

Dr. Puja’s Clinic provides the most updated and upgraded services that facilitate a healthy pregnancy for you and a safe childbirth process and post delivery support.