Work It Out

I am in horrible shape. I have never been very athetically inclined. In my younger days (pre-twenties), I was really skinny. I remember trying on 0's and 2's for my prom dresses and finding them too big. I worked at a fast food restaurant, and so ate whatever I wanted, however much I wanted of it. I never seemed to gain weight and certainly didn't work out to keep my figure.

In my 20's, this changed. I gained about thirty pounds in a year, probably just my metabolism slowing down, because I wasn't eating any differently. My husband also has to fight his weight, so we find it's easier to support each other and eat healthier together. By my mid-twenties, I had figured out that my body could no longer eat whatever it wanted and get away with no exercise. My husband and I joined a gym, and even though I was still heavier than I was in high school, I am pretty sure that I was much more healthy. I was in the best shape of my life. Not that I was running any marathons or anything, but my arms and legs were toned, I could run for an hour on the treadmill, and I felt really good.

Infertility really changed that. For most of the past two years, I have been either pregnant or trying to get pregnant. In TTC cycles, I had to start pelvic rest and low activity restriction (defined as lifting nothing more than five pounds and no exercise) immediately following ovulation. Of course, the other two weeks of the month, I could do whatever I chose. For me, the hardest part about exercise is getting into the habit. Once I am in a routine, I am actually pretty dedicated. But this two weeks on, two weeks off routine really messed with my ability to stay on track.

Now that I am in the second trimester, my activity restrictions have been lifted for the most part. I am eager to start to work some of this flab off. I am not trying to lose weight or anything crazy like that, but I just want to feel a bit more active and not have such wobbly arms and legs - especially considering that I will be heavily pregnant in the hottest months of the year and will be dying for sleeveless shirts. My husband had picked up a Fit Pregnancy magazine for me and I read about an exercise video that sounded pretty good, so I ordered it online this week and it arrived yesterday.

I really like this video. It incorporates a lot of different things, light weight lifting, exercise ball, tubing, etc. The one thing I will say is that it doesn't give you a lot of instruction as to what kind of accessories you need to complete the workout. I kept having to pause the DVD and go the garage to get the next item when they would begin a new set.

What I loved is that the instructor is pregnant and did the instructions in "real" time - the DVD is broken down, first by trimester, then by month. So, first you go to your trimester, then there is a special warm up section for that. Then, you can pick what month of pregnancy you are in and there is a fifteen minute workout session for that month. Finally, there is a cool down, also specific to the trimester you are in. The instuctor is as pregnant as you are for each month of the video. While I was jealous of her toned abs and solid arms, I did notice a bit of cellulite on her thighs, as well as some spider veins. I don't say that to be mean, just that it made me feel better that even a very fit woman would have some of those things during pregnancy. With the warm up, month-specific workout, and then cooldown, it is about 30 minuntes of working out. I was a little suspicious that such a short workout could do much, but let me tell you, I am sore this morning.

But it felt really good last night and I liked the pace of the DVD as well as the way that you can kind of individualize your session. I also got a prenatal pilates/yoga from my friend, so I will be trying that today. Sleeveless shirts, here I come!