Already bulging in week 14!
If you exercise regularly, it’s perfectly reasonable that you might scoff at the idea that something the size of a lime is going to change things.
If you’re lucky, it may not.
However, for the vast majority of us, the prospect of first trimester training is like asking a five-year old Benjamin Button to run a marathon after eating a bad prawn.
Having just made it through the first 14 weeks with Number III, the tiredness, tummy troubles and umpteen toilet trips are recent enough that I feel qualified to talk about this (endlessly).
I’m not trying to put you off, quite the opposite. Even in those early days, exercise is amazing for raising your energy levels and encouraging you to eat well (existing on crisps alone will probably be less tempting if you’ve pushed through 30-60 minutes of exercise that morning). Even so, it is worth going into the first trimester battle-ready so that, if and when chronic fatigue mercilessly punches you in the face, your response is not to roll over and grab the nearest multi-pack.
Here are four useful tips to help you take on those pregnancy hormones and, if not run rings around them, at least embrace them whilst doing a steady circuit.
1. Tackle tiredness before turning to training
It’s very common to feel like you’re permanently walking through treacle during those first 12-14 weeks; hardly conducive to a HIIT session, followed by some killer deadlifts. Make sure you are going to bed early, avoid eating too close to bedtime and identify a time of day when you feel least tired in which to train.
2. Resist the temptation to paint your diet beige
There may be days when the only thing you feel able to stomach are hundreds of puffed maize snacks. Sadly, whilst they may make you feel momentarily better, the cruel truth is you’ll feel immeasurably worse in a few hours time (and your fingers will be stained orange for the foreseeable future).
Most of the time it’s important to listen to your body, but when the chips are down, that crafty corpus can be an unscrupulous little liar and will tell you anything if it makes you grab said chips and furiously stuff them in your mouth.
As much as possible, try and stick to ‘nutritious and delicious’. Dark greens (like spinach, asparagus and broccoli) are great sources of folic acid and calcium. Lean protein, complex carbs, good fats (I currently eat avocados like apples) and one or two portions of oily fish a week will help you stay feeling as close to normal as possible and provide critical preggars-friendly nutrients.
Personally, I have never had a problem eating in the first trimester; it’s the cooking and prepping of food that’s the issue. Once on the hob, the most inoffensive item makes me retch like a jungle-dwelling celeb. In a bit to avoid living off takeaways, this time I tried to eat often and eat raw (I basically turned into Gwyneth Paltrow - admittedly minus the glowing skin, flawless beauty and nut-cracking quads).
I’m not going to pretend my first trimester dietary decisions left me feeling tip-top (or that I didn’t succumb to the odd beige binge) but they definitely helped me ensure that I ate wiser, slept more and trained better than in my previous pregnancies.
Protein bread, smashed avocado, heritage tomatoes and trout flakes
3. Drink
Sadly, I am not advocating you overcome the challenges of the first trimester with a few glasses of the good stuff. Not unless, your definition of the ‘good stuff’ is the humble H20. Drink water, lots of it.
4. Stick with what you know and modify if you need
If you’ve always wanted to try Crossfit now is probably not the time. During the first trimester, stick to exercises/classes that you have been doing regularly and this time DO listen to your body. Don’t overdo it. As a rule of thumb, you should be aiming to train at about 70/80 per cent of your usual intensity and you can ramp this back up again come the second trimester.
The really good news is that, for most of us, come the second trimester you will feel great. I chopped and fried two garlic cloves today and can count on one hand how many times I’ve been to the loo (TMI? Probably, but we all need to know there’s light at the end of the 2am toilet tunnel).
