5 Ways To Have A Healthier Pregnancy

When I got pregnant with my first little guy, I thought I had it in the bag when it came to "healthy pregnancy." I already had good habits of exercising regularly, drank a superfood shake which acted as my prenatal vitamin, and was semi-good about clean eating.

BUT 47 pounds later, lots of swelling, an 8lb 11oz baby boy that took me four hours to push out (without medication mind you), and I wasn't so sure I had this clean eating thing in the bag.

This second pregnancy I look and feel much better. My midwife is always commenting about how great I'm looking, that baby is smaller (she feels my body would do better delivering a slightly smaller babe), and is comfortable with me going longer between my appointments, so long as things continue to go well.

So, what did I do different this time? Here are 5 things that came to mind!

1. I was in better shape BEFORE I got pregnant the second time. I was probably in the best shape of my life and the healthiest version of me I've ever been. If you are already pregnant, this one isn't going to help you, but keep it in mind if you plan to have more kiddos.


2. I learned the art of meal planning and prepping my food ahead of time. We all know how intense pregnancy cravings can be. When you're craving something unhealthy, it's hard to resists in the moment, but when you prep your meals and snacks ahead of time, food that is delicious and nutritious, satisfying cravings can be easy and quick AND healthy.


3. Exercise! I exercised throughout my whole pregnancy with Toby, BUT what I didn't do was follow a specific program/plan. I kind of did the whole, "Today I feel like a dance cardio workout, and ummm... 10 minutes is plenty!" This time I found out I was pregnant on week 5 of an intense 6-week program where I followed the meal plan and workouts to a T. That helped launch me into a successful healthy pregnancy. Since then I've completed a 12-week, 25 minutes a day cardio focused program, and just recently started a 12-week strength training program. I'm also walking about 30 minutes a day pushing Toby in the jogger.


4. Yoga. I was never a fan of yoga in the past, but last July I forced myself to only do yoga for 3 weeks to see what I could gain from it. Throughout this pregnancy, I've done some prenatal yoga workouts and also a lower back pain routine whenever my lower back hurts, and—take it from me—it works!


5. Hydration. With my first pregnancy I was pretty good at this, but I only drank water (nothing wrong with that, but there are no electrolytes to help replenish my body after my workouts). This time I've also been drinking an all natural hydration drink during my workouts that not only tastes yummy but is good for me and the baby.

All of these things I believe have helped me maintain a slower, lower, healthier weight gain, on top of keeping swelling to a minimum. Overall, I feel loads better!

Now if I could just convince my body to sleep through the night ;-)

Hope this was helpful! If you have had more than one pregnancy and found the later one to be healthier, I'd love for you to share what you think was different.

If you'd like to know more about the workout routines I've been doing, where I access my yoga, or more about that amazing hydration drink, feel free to drop your email below or contact me above <3

Filled with HOPE,