3 Tips How to Stay in Shape While Pregnant

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Trying to stay in shape while pregnant is no mean feat, and until recently had been considered somewhat taboo.

However, with the press coverage of many celebrity moms and moms-to-be like Britney Spears, Ashlee Simpson, Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie showing off their in-shape bodies, many women would like to discover what the secret is on how to stay in shape while pregnant.

Now, I don't want to dwell on these celebrity moms, 'cos let's not forget that they are surrounded by some of the most highly paid personal trainers, nutritionists, doctors and the like, who make their money from keeping these women in tip top shape - basically their career depends on helping them to stay in shape while pregnant. So comparing yourself to them is not the way to start.

However, there are some simple steps that you can follow to help you to stay in shape while pregnant, making you and your baby healthier, and having an easier labour and delivery. Below, I've highlighted the top 3 things you can do to stay in shape while pregnant.

1. Control Your Cravings
Controlling your cravings is one of the most important things you'll need to do if you're looking to stay in shape while pregnant.

Pregnancy cravings are perfectly natural as your hormones are going haywire, and your body is telling you it needs certain foods. However, unbridled eating and submission to those cravings is one of the main reasons for excessive weight gain during pregnancy.

Choosing foods that have a low Glycemic Index (GI), like oatmeal will give you a slow and sustained energy release throughout the day, as opposed to sugary foods like chocolate that give quick bursts of energy and then trail off quickly, giving you that tell-tale emotional "drop" that always accompanies high-glucose, high-fat foods.

Try substituting some of the high GI, high fat foods for others that are lower on the scale. For example, eating a cold fruit smoothie or non-fat frozen yogurt instead of ice-cream; whole grains breads with a little jam instead of doughnuts and pastries...things like that.

Eating good regular meals will help you to avoid unnecessary snacking which often contributes to consuming high sugar foods, and making it more difficult to stay in shape while pregnant.

Feel free to indulge sometimes though, your baby needs it. And pregnancy is about the best excuse you'll ever get! ;)

2. Diet = Bad....Eat More = Good!
If you only take one piece of information away from this article, let it be this...Pregnancy is NOT the time to be dieting. Going on specific diets in order to stay in shape while pregnant is dangerous and can harm your baby's health as well as your own. Most diets were never designed to be used during pregnancy, so please avoid using them.

However, there are some things you can do concerning what you eat and when you eat it, that can help you to stay in shape while pregnant.

We've already discussed the importance of controlling your cravings, but did you know that eating more regularly can be more beneficial to you than eating less when trying to stay in shape while pregnant?

Snacking is probably the single biggest reason for excessive weight gain during pregnancy, so how can you beat it? Try eating smaller meals more regularly.

You see, the traditional 3 meals a day works well in theory, but as you know, with such hectic lifestyles these days the practice is very different. If you miss one of those meals, let's say lunch, you are now going several hours without eating...at which point the snacking begins.

Start your day with a good healthy breakfast that will set you up for the rest of the day. Make sure you eat a good lunch and dinner, but slightly smaller portions than normal. In between the 3 meals you can set designated times to have another "meal" - not really a full cooked meal as such, but something like a banana, small salad, pasta...stuff like that. This should help you to stay in shape while pregnant without the need for dangerous diets.

3. Exercise
Beyond making better food choices, getting regular exercise will help you to stay in shape while pregnant.

The amount of exercise you should be doing while pregnant depends on your situation and whether you were particularly active before your pregnancy. Therefore I recommend you consult your doctor before going straight out and busting your tail in the gym or something.

Types of exercises for pregnant women vary, but there is general agreement that stomach crunches and sit-ups are at best risky, and at worst dangerous, and should not be performed. As are any exercises that require you to lie on your front or put pressure on your belly.

Swimming is excellent and there are many pools with classes that cater for pregnant women. Yoga can also be performed which will help you to relax and relieve the back pains that are common while pregnant. Again, make sure you find a qualified Yoga instructor that specialises in pregnant women.

How to Stay Slim While Pregnant

For many women the joy of becoming pregnant quickly evaporates once they start to consider issues such as what to eat while pregnant, how much to eat, what not to eat while pregnant and will I pack on a ton of weight?

Additionally there is a ton of pregnancy diet information available in all the mainstream sources such as pregnancy magazines, websites and books, but there's one big problem with it. Most of this information is so conflicting that after reading a few different articles on what to eat while pregnant you don't know what's right and what's wrong anymore.

For many women the notion of losing their trim, pre-pregnancy figure during pregnancy and never getting it back is something they just accept. Let's face it, with the wrong things to eat while pregnant, most women pack on loads of pregnancy fat and often fail to get rid of it after giving birth. How often have you heard the phrase "eating for two" as an excuse when pregnant women plough into hearty quantities of high fat and high sugar foods. This notion of eating for two has to be one of the biggest myths around when it comes to eating healthy while pregnant. If you take this approach it's inevitable that you will pile on tens of pounds of excess body fat during your pregnancy.

Many women are led to believe that attempting to retain a trim figure and not packing on the pounds is dangerous and will lead to malnourishment for their growing baby. Nothing in fact could be farther from the truth. The real increase in calories required during pregnancy is remarkably small with the extra required being somewhere around the number of calories contained within a single banana.

As opposed to being unhealthy for the baby, a huge extra consumption of the wrong type of calories is actually putting your baby at risk of becoming overweight or obese during childhood and later in life. Additionally, if you're carrying around pounds of extra fat throughout your pregnancy, you're likely to suffer more from pregnancy fatigue and poor health yourself making the entire 9 months far more difficult than it has to be.

The best diet for pregnant women is a program by Isabel de los Rios, developer of the best-selling Diet Solution Program. Isabel's pregnancy diet is called "What to Eat While Pregnant". This program is aimed at ensuring optimal nutrition and health for both mom and growing baby while also teaching you how to stay slim during pregnancy. For many women the question is how to stay thin while pregnant without some dangerous crash diet or dangerous weight loss pills. Isabel answers all these questions and more using 3 basic concepts.

1. Knowing The Best Food to Eat While Pregnant

2. Knowing What Not to Eat While Pregnant

3. Knowing How to Combine the Right Foods

Within the program is a clearly laid out list of food to eat while pregnant and menu plans. When you know how to combine the 3 concepts above, it is possible to eat hearty quantities and nourish your baby to give it the best possible start in life, yet now pack on tons of pregnancy fat. For more information, see the links at the bottom of this article.