Is Walking an hour 3x a week enough?

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BrittanyBrines
BrittanyBrines Posts: 144 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Everyone, I have a question for all of you experts. I am expecting my 3rd child and am now 14 weeks pregnant. So far, I have gained 9 lbs. I was 115 before pregnancy and had a BFP of 15%. For the first 3 months I basically quit all exercise because I was exhausted and didn't feel well. I have started back up, but I am basically just walking a lot. I have been walking anywhere from 3-6 miles 3 times a week. What I wanted to know was, is that enough cardio to help curb my weight gain. I am eating healthy with a few "junk days" here and there (we eat clean, no processed stuff and no sugar unless it is a rare junk day). I seem to be gaining fast and want to slow it down a bit. Obviously, I don't want to be unhealthy for the baby, but do know from having my other two, that exercising helped a ton DURING pregnancy AND helped so much after (it really really helped the weight come off fast). I want this to happen again. It is harder having two littles ones now, but going for long walks makes it better. So my question is, is my walks (and strength training) enough to help, or should I be adding extra cardio in there as well? Thanks for any help!

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  • PinkCoconut
    PinkCoconut Posts: 655 Member
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    Honestly? It's really not about the exercise, it's ALL about nutrition! When I was pregnant last year I used MFP and set it to gain 1/2 lb per week and I tracked. Although I was able to work out all throughout my pregnancy I didn't do it for the calorie burn but just to stay energized and so I wouldn't lose my fitness afterwards. It's all about nutrition, stay as close as you gain to your calories and you'll be fine. I'm one of those people who just looks at food the wrong way and I gain but when all was said and done with my pregnancy I gained only about 16 lbs of actual fat.

    Feel free to friend me and we can chat! And congrats on your wee one! :)
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
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    The gaining weight piece is going to be related to food consumption but also considerations for fluid retention when you are pregnant. They will tell you not to start anything vigorous that you haven't already been training your body to do pre-pregnancy. I would think that your safest way not to gain too much too fast would not be to look at upping things to burn more calories but more or less carefully watching the amount of calories you put in your mouth making sure you are getting enough for a healthy pregnancy but not excessive amounts that would cause weight gain more than what your body would naturally gain during pregnancy.

    Regardless, this isn't a question for a public internet forum. You should talk to your OB about this and get his/her recommendation as they know your situation personally. Seriously, they are the professionals and you should never take any advice (even mine) when it comes to the health of your baby from a place like this.
  • BrittanyBrines
    BrittanyBrines Posts: 144 Member
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    @ElliottTN, Thank you for your concern, actually I have discussed this with my midwife and she says to do whatever I am comfortable with since I was really active and in great shape before pregnancy, so I am not starting anything new. I have told her all that I was wanting to continue doing and what my goal is and I have already gotten the go ahead from her, but she was unable to answer the question on if walking alone as cardio would be enough. I used mostly zumba with added walking last time I was expecting. Which is why I asked people on here who have experience with exercising and fruit on the tree. She is a midwife and wonderful at her job, but self-admittedly doesn't know much about fitness training as that is not what she went to school for. :)

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