A HEALTHY PREGNANCY/ 01

wish listed "the tank" by hatch collection/ food photos via my instagram feed

Let me give you a little back story before I start this weekly series which I think you will find beneficial, pregnant or not. When I was pregnant with Matilda I was working full-time in a stressful environment, on my feet, and dealing with the loss of Sam's Mama. We found out that she had passed in my first trimester. Thankfully we had already shared the news that I was pregnant which gave me a peace knowing that she knew Matilda was coming, the heartbreak that also came was knowing that Matilda would never know one of our favorite people. Matilda's middle name is Louise, after Mama Lou.

All this to say that I was stressed. I think a lot of pregnant or non pregnant women can relate to feeling overwhelmed and to emotional eating. Not only was I making poor food choices but the only exercise I got was walking down to the food court for lunch (Chik-fil-a and I were really good friends). I gained about 55 lbs when I was pregnant. My feet were so swollen that I could only wear size 10 Havianas and my rings stopped fitting at 5 months. It took me a long time to get to where I am today.

One of my fears with getting pregnant was that I would have the same physical experience. I didn't trust myself! Even with all of my new knowledge about food and nutrition I was afraid that the old Lesley would come rearin' her "I'll have a cheeseburger, fries, and a large Sprite" self. An interesting aspect of pregnancy is that people become feeders, "You're eatin' for two!" "Go ahead and have whatever you want to eat, 9 months on, 9 months off." I get where people are coming from, but all of the indulgence can really take its toll. There's a better way!

Part of the trickiness with the first trimester is that real food DOES NOT sound good. I have severe food aversions that I was worried wouldn't go away and thankfully they have for the most part! Vegetables are back in rotation. I think it's all about survival and that you can't beat yourself up if you live off bread and peanut butter until you feel better. With that out of the way, for most women they feel much more like themselves in the second trimester which is where I'm going to kick things off. I want to create a sort of helpful guide for looking and feeling your best. One of the first things I've done is made a commitment to myself and my growing baby to eat well. I've reintroduced My Fitness Pal (username homemadegrits) and have made my daily food and exercise journal public so you can keep me accountable! I changed my goal settings to "maintain my current weight" and set the daily calories at 1500. In the first and second trimester you do not need to eat any extra calories, but I'm also not trying to lose weight. I know a lot of doctors don't put a ton of emphasis on monitoring weight gain, but I think you'll be happy in the long run if you keep things in check with weekly weigh-ins. You should gain about 5 lbs in the first trimester and about a lb a week after that.

I'll be sharing recipes and exercise tips in the coming weeks, but just wanted to lay the foundation. Hopefully I can inspire some other expecting mamas to take great care of their bodies during their pregnancy!