Exercise...

[taz]

I'm 19 weeks preggie with my 4th bub, now i've never had a Kylie Minogue type body, i absolutely hate exercise in any way shape or form, i am addicted to chocolate and will most probably keel over by the time I'm 50. `Normally being pregnant gives you kind of an excuse to eat more or less what you feel like but this time i am more concerned.

My brother sent me his holiday video taken last christmas and i look huge, main problem areas being round the middle, shoulders and arms, so i have decided that in order to make life easier and more enjoyable for myself i need to address the situation.

I am currently 80kilos, which is more or less what i've been since no3 was born, i put on 10 kilos with him and lost it within a week, I've not put on anything so far this pregnancy, but what i'd like to do is exercise, find something i enjoy and help tone those arms so i can wear something sleeveless come december when I'm 40 weeks preggie and roasting.

Has anyone ever tried this while pregnant or does anyone have any suggestions. whatever i do has to be done with my toddler in tow, so no classes and swimming is out until the pool heats up again (nov or oct at a push). I went and bought myself a fit ball and some toning balls this morning as i though if nothing else the ball will be comfy to sit on if my spd comes back in earnest.

Also does anyone know of any good videos (sorry dvds) out there for the unfit preggie woman who wants to do something about herself.

Thanks in advance girls, as you can probably tell given half a chance i'll just go and curl up with my maltesers again but deep down inside i really do want to change things and i'm scared if i don't do it now i'll be like this forever.

Taz

[~Raven~]

ROFL Taz!
I excersice with my fitball and a set of 2 kilo dumbells.
Start out gently and sit on the ball for balance. You can do your pelvic squeezes while you are excercising your arms.
You can do some bicep and tricep curls and punches while sitting on the ball. You can also push the weights up in the air kind of like a bench press while laying on the floor.
Start with small repititions. Aim for 5 then increase as you get stronger. No need to make yourself sore by trying to do too much too soon, and don't forget to stretch after!
Also you can do your bicep curls while you lean on the ball against the wall and do squats at the same time (that way you can get your workout over quicker and get back to your maltesers )

[julesy]

There's actually a great DVD out called preggie bellies that I bought at Rebel Sports. It's good because it uses a fit ball and weights (which you already have!) and shows good workouts for women at different fitness levels. I thought it was great in my first and second trimesters, and have used it a little in the third...mainly arms though, as the bouncing on the ball can be really tiring.

Hope this helps!

Julesy

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Your toddler could actually help - you could do some outside games, although you won't always feel it, just following your toddler everywhere and kicking a ball around is great exercise, same for dancing around the sitting room! However, when taking up new exercise in pregnancy you're meant to discuss it with your doctor, maybe a doctor/midwife will have some suggestions. Best of luck to you Taz!

[Fi]

I dont know if this will help, but the council operated gyms/pools/centres in Geelong all have limited child minding services that are really good.
So I could play netball and put Jenna into their care for 1hr for $2.50. There were yoga classes etc and swimming pools, and maybe something like this could be a good place to start?
Other than that I would suggest gentle walking behind your toddler in the pram. Safe, cheap and fun for both of you!

[taz]

Well girls thanks for your help

sammi-j the idea is to get off the meltesers for good, after that i have to get off the cadburys rockyroad, its soooo good and only comes in those big bars......

Julesy i don't know about bouncing on the bloody thing being tiring, i got it out of the box and attached the pump that came with it...... OMG:eek: i coudn't even get it half way, i eventually went to the shed and got the electric pump.

Ryn I took your advice and decided to let the kids help, after school i took them and the dog to the beach, now we haven't been since about april when hellboy was scared of the water........ not any more, it was rough as hell and he wouldn't run away from them, the fear of him slipping my hand and being swept away probably stressed a couple of kilos off me As for asking the doc, he's pretty useless i'd probabky get more sence out of the toddler

Fi all good ideas but sports sorts of places scare the hell out of me and although i do try the walking..... well lets face it it's dull as anything, noww maybe if i could go for a gentle walk with hellboy in the stroller with something interesting to look at.... like Daniel Chicks thighs.... or any other good looking footy players thighs for that matter.... now that would make it interesting

seriously girls keep them coming, the more ideas the better, if anyone hasd a good way to put me off chocolate I'd love to hear it.

Taz

[visitor2]

Taz I'm with you on not doing any exercise. I really should get out walking more but i just don't. Let me know the fit ball goes.

So if your going off chocolate my idea that i will email you about soon you won't want to come too

[taz]

Taz I'm with you on not doing any exercise. I really should get out walking more but i just don't. Let me know the fit ball goes.

So if your going off chocolate my idea that i will email you about soon you won't want to come too

The fit ball is going great, the boys are having loads of fun throwing it at each other:eek:

Taz

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Taz, I'm one of those awful people who can and does just stop buying chocolate so can't eat it because there's none in the house (and can do the same with coffee, alcohol... anything else you care to name and I even did that pre-pg). Even if that only works for a couple of weeks for you then it's some help. It's easier to be strong when you only need to be for the weekly shop - so often I just buy it in because I know I'll want it later, whereas if I didn't buy it I couldn't eat it.

I only have one chocolate "rule" now, and that's to eat fruit/vegetables before chocolate, meals don't count, so I'll eat an apple before I have a chocolate bar, or if I have a fondue I'll make sure I only have strawberries, grapes or orange segments (or whatever else you like fruit-wise) to dip in, not marshmallows. That way you can still eat chocolate, but it's "healthy" chocolate and because of the food before it you eat less of it.

The other thing is to figure out how many calories you burn up walking a kilometre and always convert calories to kilometres before you buy a chocolate bar and make sure you walk the bar off... that may put you off a bit! Try to "power walk" for some of that as well to burn off even more calories: a mix of jogging and fast walking for just 5-10 minutes every other day during those walks helps a lot, even more if you're pushing a stroller! I know you can get ironing board covers with near-naked men on, can you get a stroller-cover with similar? Or just turn the ironing board cover into the top of your stroller?

Good luck with getting off the chocolate!

[taz]

Taz, I'm one of those awful people who can and does just stop buying chocolate so can't eat it because there's none in the house (and can do the same with coffee, alcohol... anything else you care to name and I even did that pre-pg). Even if that only works for a couple of weeks for you then it's some help. It's easier to be strong when you only need to be for the weekly shop - so often I just buy it in because I know I'll want it later, whereas if I didn't buy it I couldn't eat it.

I only have one chocolate "rule" now, and that's to eat fruit/vegetables before chocolate, meals don't count, so I'll eat an apple before I have a chocolate bar, or if I have a fondue I'll make sure I only have strawberries, grapes or orange segments (or whatever else you like fruit-wise) to dip in, not marshmallows. That way you can still eat chocolate, but it's "healthy" chocolate and because of the food before it you eat less of it.

The other thing is to figure out how many calories you burn up walking a kilometre and always convert calories to kilometres before you buy a chocolate bar and make sure you walk the bar off... that may put you off a bit! Try to "power walk" for some of that as well to burn off even more calories: a mix of jogging and fast walking for just 5-10 minutes every other day during those walks helps a lot, even more if you're pushing a stroller! I know you can get ironing board covers with near-naked men on, can you get a stroller-cover with similar? Or just turn the ironing board cover into the top of your stroller?

Good luck with getting off the chocolate!

Yes that all makes sence..... but..... i've been trying this for as long as i can remember, i eventually had a test which revealed that my body doesn't deal too well with sugar, not like as in diabetes, but basically if i need a sugar hit which i do frequently, my body gets rid of it in seconds and leaves me craving more immediately, so really if i have 1 bit i need more, or if i don't have any i am an animal you don;t want to be near. Running just isnt an option, i did gradually biold up to running a few years back, i stuck at it for 3 months and just got the the run 2 mins walk 2 mins bit when i discovered i was preggie and was advised to stop as my midwife didn't think it was advisable to try and build up my fitness level while iwas preggie.... oh yeah and i was daft enough to believe her, i took that as an order to give up all exercise and eat more chocolate.

maybe i could try cutting out pics of Daniel Chicks thighs to stick inside my sunnies, just imagine we walking along....... blind and drooling.... what a sight:eek:

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Could you try ripe bananas for your sugar hits? Sorry, that's probably not a lot of help as you've tried it before, but it might be worth trying first. They also have some carbs in so should help maintain the "hit".

While it's not great to start new exercise in pregnancy, continuing with running shouldn't be a problem... but taking it up properly might not be a great idea, although most people do jog without realising it. And swimming... eugh, I may have to start that too, it's meant to be really really good for pregnant women. Or I could just tell everyone how much I prefer showers instead.

Mmm, blind and drooling... just watch out that people don't think you're out on the pull looking like that LOL.

[taz]

Could you try ripe bananas for your sugar hits? Sorry, that's probably not a lot of help as you've tried it before, but it might be worth trying first. They also have some carbs in so should help maintain the "hit".

While it's not great to start new exercise in pregnancy, continuing with running shouldn't be a problem... but taking it up properly might not be a great idea, although most people do jog without realising it. And swimming... eugh, I may have to start that too, it's meant to be really really good for pregnant women. Or I could just tell everyone how much I prefer showers instead.

Mmm, blind and drooling... just watch out that people don't think you're out on the pull looking like that LOL.

At $14 per kilo bananas area rare find i our house at the moment, i'll only buy them if the other half is making a kashmiri korma......mmmmmmmm possibly better than rocky road, oh bugger i'm drooling again, its really not very becoming

Don't you think swimming would be fab if you ddn't have to strip off and get wet, I'll happily swim when i can get in my own pool again, i did that last summer along with 10mins taking my frustrations out on my punch bag, until the new neighbours complained about the noise, the bag was attatched to the pergola and clanged a bit.:mad:

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

$14 a kilo! Cripes, that is bad. No wonder people don't eat fruit any more!

I think swimming would be fab if you didn't have to bare your body to the world, if I could go in jeans and t-shirt then I wouldn't mind quite so much! I hate swimming costumes, they make me look so ugly. Oh, and the amount of time you have to spend on your bikini line every week to go swimming is beyond a joke - or maybe that's just if you're a hair monster (currently double hair monster, drat this baby!) like me.

Punching bags are great, could you get your DH to hold it so it didn't clang?

[taz]

$14 a kilo! Cripes, that is bad. No wonder people don't eat fruit any more!

I think swimming would be fab if you didn't have to bare your body to the world, if I could go in jeans and t-shirt then I wouldn't mind quite so much! I hate swimming costumes, they make me look so ugly. Oh, and the amount of time you have to spend on your bikini line every week to go swimming is beyond a joke - or maybe that's just if you're a hair monster (currently double hair monster, drat this baby!) like me.

Punching bags are great, could you get your DH to hold it so it didn't clang?

Beleive me he's not so well endowded that he has to hold it to stop it clanging..... oh you mean the punchbag...... well i've been on at him for 6 months to hang it in the garage, then i could also move my twice used stepper and once used exercise bike out there too, ok i'd have to remove the car to use anything but i can do that........ you see i am always full of good intentions, i just need someone with a rod of steel there to make me keep them. I'm afraid i'm one of these people who is always up for coffee and cake at the expense of whatever else i should be doing....exercise, housework to name but a couple.

On a more serious note, i have just sat and bawled my eyes out over the fact that i'm fed up being fat and frumpy, my brother and his family will be back in 2 months (they are moving here) and i just think they are going to look at me and think my god she still hasn't lost any weight, i know i'm the only one who can help myself but i find it virtually impossible, then you always get someone who says "oh you don't look that heavy" then you could kiss their feet and go off to celebrate with a bag of maltesers. Sadly i don;t like myself much and really need someone to give me a good kick up the bum or a slap round the head to sort me out....... or liposuction:eek:

Taz

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

LOL, Taz, maybe we could start buying cow-bells for our DHs so the neighbours could complain about something. Oh, I just want to see DH's face when I suggest that to him!

TBH, I can't think of ONE woman who likes her body, myself included, and I'm the body-happiest person I know. There's always something to change! 80kg is about 12-13 stone, which isn't all that heavy... my mum is about 13-14 stone and she's no way fat. If you need encouragement, this is another great way toddlers can help - a few rounds of "head, shoulders, knees and toes" or any other dancing activity that makes you move and touch things (even just telling a story where you all have to run to the door... then to the window...) will make them beg for that thing over and over again to help you do it! I learnt that the hard way running Anchor Boys, a gang of 5-year-olds who want you to run about with them soon gets you fit!

Will your brother even notice your weight? My DH, who sees me naked (sometimes), doesn't notice a change of 5kg, men don't notice and don't think about it. Harsh, but true!

Could you do an airbrush thing, where you stick your head on a skinny model, to give you some encouragement?

BTW, from the skinny perspective, it's just as bad. "Oooh, I don't know where you put it" or "you'll get fat one day, I used to be skinny too" comments annoy me very much, especially as I know how much I work out to stay this way! Sorry, that's not very helpful, but comments on size are always rude, I've yet to hear anyone but my husband say something nice about my figure and even close friends I'd offer to help with going out exercising with them would make "how do you do it" comments about my size. Well, if they did my exercises they could do it too!

Also, when I bake cakes I make sure I have one particular tape playing, it's full of dancing tunes so I just dance around the kitchen with my mixing bowl in my arms stirring away. I started this after having a shower radio tuned to club hits in a morning to wake me up and stop me taking half an hour to wash myself and ended up grooving in the bathroom. Same as with the dusting or vacuuming - I set myself time limits. Not so that it's exercise, just so that I aren't cleaning all morning. If I wasn't in a routine to do yoga and aerobics I wouldn't be able to get into one - I've had to build it up very slowly so that it becomes second nature to me. So at first it would be a few sit-ups in front of the TV (just while waiting for coffee to cool down enough to drink it), then sit-ups and touching toes, then I added the stretches... now I do 30-40 minutes, including a warm-up, without thinking about it. I think this would be good for you too - have five minutes of playing stretches with your children at, say 2pm, then they'll encourage you to keep it up until you realise that you're doing it even when they aren't there.

There's also a big difference between "fat and frumpy" and "volumptuous and attractive" - quite often it's just a case of the level of fitness, not the level of fat. So you might not have to exercise too much to be happier!

Also, have you checked out the BB Fat Fighters gang in the health and fitness forums chatter? I should have thought of those earlier, I know they're great at motivating each other. And they don't write huge essays like I do either, so another bonus LOL.

[Nelle]

Hey Taz, I'm awful at exercise too I like Ryn's idea of filling up before starting on the chocolate, that's like my have a glass of water before drinking the expensive juice rule! So you don't want quite as much, and you're not using it to relieve hunger, it's just a treat.

I don't know if this is a good idea or whatever, but how about a weight loss place? Like, my cousin goes to a place called 'Curves', perhaps look around and find out if any places help pregnant women be healthy. That could be good for 2 reasons: 1st, they are trained to be encouraging and friendly, and 2nd, having to be accountable to someone about your progress could help you be motivated.
Anyway, just a suggestion.

Hope you find something that works for you And remember that health is far more important than your size, although I know it's nice to be a size that you're happy with. I'm not very big but I am SOO unfit, which is definitely going to be a problem for labour :eek: But I do understand about walking being boring. Would a portable music player help? All the best anyway!

[visitor2]

Taz with your brother and his family coming back don't forget you are pg and that is a good reason to me for being fat. I say it to DH all the time. Not everyone is able to get rid of the extra weight in between having kids i never did and i have said after this one it's my time. I also think it's what's on the inside that is important not what someone looks like.

You know I'm not far from you and once we both have had our little ones how about joining the gym together and they do have a creche for the little ones. Then that way to fat frumps can do it toghether.