Pleeeease, I want to do some exercise

[ByeBabyBatshit]

There are a couple of other threads that this post could go under, but I'm starting my own because I love the attention

I had my midwife booking-in appointment today, and she told me that you shouldn't start doing exercise in pregnancy, but you can carry on doing whatever your body's used to.

Before I got pregnant, I was studying full-time- and I was eating pretty much every minute I wasn't studying, as a method of procrastination/ distraction. I put on a hell of a lot of weight. My pregnancy wasn't particularly planned, and I was so shocked to get the positive pregnancy test that I ate constantly all the way through December as I got my head round it all. I had joined a gym two days before getting the BFP, but hadn't started going again.

I am REALLY struggling with the 'losing control' aspect of pregnancy, and I really want to do some exercise. At my appointment today, my BMI was measured at 29. I feel like such a whale, and I don't even have a bump yet! Pleeease tell me I can do some sort of exercise- I'm feeling so fat and disgusting.

Swimming is very good or going for a nice walk. TBH i didnt exercise during pregnancy because i was too tired/sick to really do anything.

You can walk or do prenatal yoga. I think what they mean is don't start strenuous exercise if you haven't been already doing it. But exercise is good for both you and the baby. You will feel much better if you do something.

or you could ry to find a pregnancy exercise class - in London there are some excellent ones by Maternally Fit. Another class is run Bees Knees. There might be some where you live? Or maybe you can find a dvd?

It would be good for you to get some exercise, not only for your physical health but also for your psychological well-being. Definitely pregnancy yoga or an aqua-natal class would be fine for you. Or just good old walking or swimming.

The British Wheel of Yoga or Birthlight sites should find you a teacher near you or contact your local leisure centre for an aqua natal class.

As others have said, I think the midwife meant not to go from doing not a lot to training for a 10k run. She almost certainly did not mean that you have to be inactive - they don't like that either!

So long as you are not over-exerting yourself, gentle exercise is fine. It's probably not the time to be joining the gym and going on the cross trainer for an hour a day, but the suggestions above about what you could do are good. Aquanatal is pleasant and you get the bonus of meeting other pregnant women too.

I'm sure gym would still be ok if you were selective about what you did. Ie. walking briskly on treadmill, using exercise bike, gradual upper body strengthening with (light) free weights. Hopefully you have a good gym instructor there who can help you devise a low intensity programme that keeps you active. As long as you're not over exerting yourself then keeping active is the best thing for you and your baby!

I had to miss 3 months right at the start of my pregnancy, so haven't gone bac to running because I know I've lost most of my fitness there. But I'm swimming a few times a week (slowest in the pool) and walking.

Just don't overdo things!

Oh fgs (your MW, not you!). Of course you can exercise, although this might not be the time to take up rock-climbing, scuba-diving or paragliding.

You're not an idiot, you know how much you can do.

If you have that gym membership then go and walk on the treadmill , if you can hire a personal trainer there then they should be able to devise a plan that will be safe for you to do. Failing that just walk every day, if you are tired, stop, the most important thing is to listen to your body it will tell you when you need to rest. Congrats on your pregnancy btw :)