Today we are joined by one of our lovely ambassadors and PT Narelle from Frichot Fitness who will be sharing her pregnancy journey with us and her top tips on how to stay active!

I’m a mum of two very active boys (4 years old and 2 years old) and 22 weeks pregnant with our 3rd baby.  I’m a Personal Trainer and running coach living in regional Victoria.

The First Trimester:

I had a pretty lousy first trimester.  I felt tired all day long, didn’t want to eat the normal things I enjoyed, and felt nauseous a lot.

The key things I made sure I did during the first trimester to help were:
  • Having regular snacks to keep blood sugars stable
  • Kept fluid up as much as possible – green tea, water and lemon cordial were the favourites
  • When the 4 year old was at kinder and the 2 year old was having his afternoon nap I did too. The housework was always put second, and the nap first!
  • Kept active as much as I could. Some days that was nothing, others I would get a walk, run, pilates, stretch or strength session in.
  • Gave in to cravings. I craved a lot of salt, so hot chips were a regular occurrence for me.  Something I don’t normally eat a lot of, but we did seem to find ourselves having fish & chips for dinner a lot more in those early months.  The kids and hubby weren’t too disappointed in that, and it made me feel better so that’s what we did.
We wanted to wait until after the 12week scan to share the news.  I find that the most difficult part of the first trimester is not being able to tell people why you’re feeling lousy, not doing as much as you normally do and just generally so much more tired.

The second trimester:

So what now? I'm keeping up with a regular 5k at parkrun each week where I either run slowly on my own, or run/walk with my boys in the pram.  It’s great having the weekly event on the calendar to look forward to, meet up with friends and keep active.

I'm trying to keep a minimum of one strength session and one Pilates per week. I'll continue to listen to my body but also challenge myself to get out in the gym even when I don't feel like it because just like when not pregnant I always feel great after a session in the gym and know that it's doing my mind and body the world of good.

I wasn't showing at all for the first 12weeks but I have been wearing the high waist pants from RunFaster right from the start. As I've now started to grow more of a belly these are even more amazing with no pressure on the belly & keep me feeling supported.

I am enjoying eating normal foods again, lots of healthy juices, vegetables and snacks.  My favourites at the moment are:
  • Porridge with greek yogurt, berries and maple syrup
  • Freshly squeezed orange, carrot and ginger juice. We go through so many oranges in our house.  The kids love their juice in the morning and I know the vitamin c boost is doing us the world of good during these cold winter months.
  • Carmen’s muesli bars
  • Home made chocolate protein balls and nut bars
  • Corn thins with peanut butter – we also go through a lot of peanut butter!
  • Home made Banana muffins
  • Fresh fruit
Dinners are generally lamb, beef, chicken or salmon and veggies. We’re pretty simple eaters really but it works for us and I really enjoy the fresh veggies and protein at the end of the day. Lasagne, Bolognaise or gnocchi are also regulars on our menu.

Being kind to myself:

I think the absolute most important thing that is making this pregnancy so relaxed is that I’m being kind to myself. This will be our third baby and I've learned over this time that putting pressure on myself doesn't help at all.

I'm moving as much as I can but not overdoing it. I’m resting regularly. I’m listening to my doctor. Mentally I’m calm and I’m not being hard on myself.  Taking the kids to the skate park, riding the bikes to visit family and just getting outside helps both my very active boys, but is just as important for me as well.  I love eating nutritious food, I feel good when I do, and I listen to food cravings and give in to them as well.  Just keeping things simple, balanced, and enjoying the changes that are occurring.

Pregnancy really is a wonderful thing. I’m literally just back from the doctor and seeing my little bub on the screen is just so beautiful. I know every pregnancy is different and am just taking mine as it comes, being kind to my body, my mind and trying to enjoy it as much as I can.

I look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks.

Narelle xx

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