How I Stayed In Shape During Pregnancy

My mother always told me that she had no problems with weight until she got pregnant. Considering that I had already been heavy since high school, you can imagine how terrified I was at the thought of ever getting pregnant. Not long after my husband and I started dating our senior year of high school, I started to lose the weight and kept it off until... I got pregnant. You always hear the stories of women saying, I gained so much weight during my pregnancy. So what does that mean for someone like me? I had been chubby before!!! My mother had struggled with weight her entire life and is still heavy to this day. I can gain ten pounds even if I just look at a cinnamon roll. I was terrified. I cried. A lot. On the night that I took my pregnancy test, I wrote this for my husband. The weeks to follow were a bit panicked for me. This was it. I had done well since high school, and now I was just going to lose it. I'd get stretch marks on the only part of my body that didn't already have stretch marks. Then one night I just remember reaching my breaking point and deciding that I didn't care how I was going to do it, but I was going to be healthy during my pregnancy. I had to come to grips with the fact that if I wanted to help my body, I had to start from the very beginning...I mean with my genetics...this could be a mess. So I thought to myself, out of all the things that people eat, what can you live without while being pregnant and still be healthy? It occurred to me to cut out sugar. The baby didn't need sugar. In fact, the thought of feeding my baby sugar via the womb sounded horrible. So I declared to my husband that I was going to do a sugar free fast. All sugars were cut out, even in food. Fruit was okay, but everything else was on the chopping block. Because of my fear, I was determined! It's amazing what happens to discipline when you have been told your entire life that pregnancy is when all the trouble starts. So I started to grow, every way that I was supposed to... [caption id="attachment_28183" align="alignnone" width="225"] Six Months[/caption] [caption id="attachment_28188" align="alignnone" width="225"] Seven Months[/caption] [caption id="attachment_28187" align="alignnone" width="225"] One week before she was born![/caption] I felt so good. I continued to do yoga and pilates the entire nine months. I ate no sugar! Not even a cheat day. Just three days after she was born, I stared at my pre-pregnancy jeans. I still remembered what my mother had said... But then I reminded myself how hard I had worked. [caption id="attachment_28185" align="alignnone" width="225"] My pre-pregnancy jeans, buttoned and zipped, three days post birth![/caption] I couldn't believe that my mom, for once, hadn't been correct. I didn't have to go back to the chubby girl that I was. Pregnancy didn't have to mean the start of all my body troubles. When I got pregnant again, I did the same thing. Being a mom has been one of the greatest things I have ever known. And all I can say is... Don't be afraid of what you don't know. Your fear doesn't define you. Fears only push you to find a solution. You can do it, no matter what obstacle is in your way. I promise. XO, Tessa