Exercising during Pregnancy

Clyde hits the 27 weeks mark tomorrow, and I'm proud to say that I've come a long way where exercising during pregnancy is concerned. In my previous pregnancy, the only exercise I did was to go shopping during lunch and walk down to buy some food during tea break. Being a first time mother at that time, anything more than walking is considered too dangerous for the baby.

In this pregnancy though, I really have to give credit to having a True Fitness below my workplace. I have been a regular for about a year prior to pregnancy, and didn't want to lose the momentum that I have built up. I was initially a bit worried during first trimester, and consulted my gynae who is not in favor of me hitting the gym. She gave me a letter to suspend my gym membership (which is still with me), and told me not to do anything more than light walking and swimming. So, I ended up walking the treadmill for 30 min during lunch, at least 3 times a week. After morning sickness left me at week 18, I started feeling more energetic and crave the heart pounding feeling. 

With renewed energy, I got myself on the Precor Cross Ramp that supposedly reduces the impact on the joints (as opposed to jogging on the treadmill).

I was pleasantly surprised to find I could pretty much keep the same level compared to pre-pregnancy, so that's what I have been doing since week 18. According to the stats on the machine, I could burn about 320 calories in 28 min, covering a distance of 3.9km. That helps to keep my weight gain in check (my appetite has been increasing recently, and I often find myself waking up to hunger pangs at 3am in the morning) and hopefully keep water retention away.  

Some 3 weeks back, I experienced my first leg cramps while sleeping. Coincidentally, my sister in law who works at Clarins gave me a bottle of Clarins Energizing Emulsion that is supposed to soothe tired legs. I didn't think much of it when I first applied. It leaves a very cooling feeling after a while, and just like its description - really soothing. 

It became a routine for me to apply it only on my gym days. Strangely enough, I didn't experience any leg cramps on nights when I applied this. I can only say its a godsend!

Thanks to my sister in law, I had the chance to try a few Clarins product this pregnancy. I will write about their stretch marks product in a separate post.