An Honest Look at My Pregnancy

The reason we struggle with insecurity is that we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel”.

Social media, while having so many advantages, has at least as many disadvantages as well. It’s hard to hide from, and we’re bombarded with perfection every day: perfect make-up, perfect hair, perfect drops of sweat on perfectly toned bodies, models and athletes showing off their gorgeous pregnant bodies. For most of us, these images are completely unachievable and let’s be honest, while amazing, also pretty unrealistic. 

As a fit health coach for moms and moms-to-be, my goal is to empower women to feel their best through good nutrition, everyday physical activity, and lifestyle changes at any stage in their lives. And some stages are more difficult than others. Pregnancy is a good example.

If you follow me on social media, you see me posting healthy (and sometimes not so healthy) meals I prepare. You see my workout videos, you see my workout pictures. You sometimes get a glimpse at my family. Here are a few facts I haven’t shared:

• I’m a week away from when Sophie was born and I already gained more weight – this is completely normal the second time around in general, plus I wake up earlier, lift heavier and am generally more active, which also means I eat more (with Sophie I started at 132 ended up at 162, with Annabel I started at 128 and I’m up at 160)
• I have varicose veins – they’re absolutely not pretty, and are rather uncomfortable, not painful, but the sore kind of feeling, especially when I’m sitting for a longer period of time
• I have a lot of discomfort, it’s pretty much a downhill ride from after my workout (at 5:30am), which I push through and enjoy, but you should see me later in the day: I have a hard time getting up, I’m walking funny and slowly and you can just tell I’m not having a whole lot of fun (which may be the reason this nice guy offered to place a tub of Philadelphia cream cheese in my cart… )
• I have pelvic pain way more than I had with Sophie, which again is normal, but still not fun

So then what’s the point, you may ask. Why do I keep working out if I have aches anyways?

So many reasons:

• It makes me feel better about myself
• It makes me a better and more patient mom and wife
• It makes me more productive
• It improves my strength and endurance which in turn will make labor easier and bouncing back to my pre-gpregnancy body easier (hahahahaha on my word choice, bouncing, right, it still is going to be hard work but not as hard as it would be without exercise during my pregnancy)
• I would have way more aches and pains if I wasn’t working out, as evidenced by days I take off – my back is hurting, I get injured way easier (nothing major, just a wrong move here or there)
• Exercising makes me want to eat better and studies show that shaping young tastes starts early, even in the womb

So my point with this post is basically this: do what you can, do your best, do not compare yourself to anybody, love your body, love your body enough that you keep it healthy through physical activity and good nutrition, and most of all, love your unborn child enough that if you wouldn’t do this for yourself, you do it for him/her. I’m not trying to use emotional appeal here, do it for your child(ren), but it’s true. It all starts with you. The healthier you are, the healthier your family will be. The more confident you are, the more confident your children will be. And confidence has nothing to do with your look. It has to do with your strength – inner and outer strength. Believe in yourself because I believe in you.