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Pregnancy and Weight Gain (or Weight Loss)?

February 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
Wendy Powell from MuTu System pregnant with her second child

Wendy Powell from MuTu System pregnant with her second child

Today I am posting an article by Wendy Powell of the MuTu System about pregnancy and nutrition.   Wendy decided over ten years ago to take her health seriously and that decision has been life-changing.  She became qualified as a personal trainer in 2001, and has founded a system for new “mums” and not-so-new-mums (she’s from the UK!) to help them stay in shape, get back in shape, and develop overall core strength.  Wendy has been a great resource 9 Kid Fitness as I am always researching the newest in fitness for women of all ranges and ages.  Hope you enjoy her post!

Pregnancy and weight loss are jarring concepts because you can’t deny your body food when you have a baby depending on you for its nutritious breakfasts, lunches and dinners! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Nutrition, Women's Health Tagged With: , ,

Exercise After Baby…How Do We Do It?

November 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Shannon working out at Pure Barre at 38 weeks!

A topic that many are interested in is how and when to get back to fitness after a pregnancy. Although getting back to fitness after each of my nine pregnancies was a priority for me, it changed as I had more children and as I got older. I talked to two women who both had a baby in the not-so-distant past and who are both already back to a full workout routine. I met Shannon at Pure Barre and was amazed as she continued to work out and look great throughout her pregnancy.  Ashley is a friend who also exercised throughout her eighth pregnancy…doing mostly P90X at her house.   I also weighed in on some of the questions…

1. How long ago did you give birth? Was it a C-section?
Ashley: My youngest is 4 months old.  Not a C-section.

Shannon:  I gave birth to my second son 14 weeks ago. I had a C-section due to complications from my first son’s delivery.

2. Did you exercise during your pregnancy? If so, did that help in terms of birth or recovery?
Ashley:  Yes, 5-6 days a week up until the week she was born.  It helped greatly in terms of energy during the pregnancy.  My labors have started to slow down (she is my 8th).  It’s hard to tell if it helped in terms of birth.  It certainly helped in terms of my health.  Her strip during labor was flawless … no way to know for sure if that is connected to a healthy mommy, but I have to think it factors in.  My recovery was very easy.  That is absolutely attributed to the exercise.  I’ve had non-exercising pregnancies and the recovery period is much longer. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Family Life, Getting Started Tagged With: , , ,

Be Careful Running in the Heat if You Are Pregnant

June 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

pregnant womanI was on a local running trail last night with a few of my cross country runners and we ran by a pregnant woman pushing a baby jogger. She caught my eye, not just because of her bump, but also because she was wearing black exercise tights…and it was 98 degrees! She was running at a slow pace, and was smiling, so I’m sure she was fine, but my alarm bells were ringing. As I have confessed before on this website, I am a hypocrite when it comes to seeing pregant women running. Although I ran through each of my nine pregnancies, except my first (I started getting cramps at six months and so stopped running), I still wanted to scream at that woman to stop running and get out of the heat! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Family Life, Running, Women's Health Tagged With: , ,

Exercise and Pregnancy

March 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Boy, am I a hypocrite! I have nine children, and, with the exception of baby #1(Charlie), I ran throughout each pregnancy. Baby number 5 (Annie) was born a few hours after I ran 4 miles. And I ran the day before number’s 8 (C.C.) and 9 (Sam) were born. Every pregnancy went to term, with more than a few going beyond the due date. My mother, understandably, disapproved at first. But I reassured her that the minute I thought something wasn’t right, or felt that running was not good for the baby, I would immediately stop. I felt very fortunate that my doctors were supportive, and I always knew that I could talk to them without feeling judged.
With all of that being said, I could not believe my gut reaction the day I was driving and I saw a pregnant woman running. She was at least seven months along, maybe more. And it looked, well…wrong! It just didn’t seem right. That’s all I could think. I quickly recovered, and thought, “Good for her!” However, I couldn’t shake that initial feeling when I saw her swollen tummy and watched her running. Wow, what a hypocrite I was!
Things have come a long way since our mothers and grandmothers were pregnant. But what is now acceptable? Is it okay to run throughout the pregnancy? To do aerobics? Pilates? Lift weights? A recent article in Runner’s World talked about exercise and pregnancy.

Filed Under: Family Life, Running, Women's Health Tagged With: ,