5 Things Every Expecting Athlete Should Know

A year ago, you could find my social media pictures followed by the all too familiar #1month out tag; fast forward to today and I’m still hastagging, but my numbers have moved up a bit, well 8 more months to be exact.

I’m not counting down the days, carbs, or cardio sessions until my next time onstage, I’m training for one of my biggest obstacles so far in my life; becoming a mom.

Now, some of you might wonder, what does this have anything to do with a fitness and bodybuilding athlete blog?

Well, thanks to many athletes now becoming moms to be; it has everything to do with fitness! Today’s woman athlete is not taking 9 months off; they’re training strong and creating mini fits!

When I first found out I was expecting, I felt like most expecting moms; terrified! I was adding the life changes, body changes, and trying to figure out how I can have the healthiest baby and still keep a part of my old self.

So I wrote this blog to all my moms, moms to be, and future moms out there who love training, love being a mother, and may need some solid advice on being a momma and an athlete.

5 Things Every Expecting Athlete Should Know:

-The weight on your barbell isn’t an indicator of how strong you will become. Your body will feel weak, your feet will feel slow, and PR’s will go from the squat rack to being happy you just made it through a workout. Cut yourself some slack; you’re growing a human being! Strength will be endless inside of you, and the outside? It’ll be back before you know it.

-You’re eating for two; not the whole family. Everyone will give you a pass, and at times it will be so tempting to abandon your healthy eating habits when you’re nauseated, tired, and well just pregnant in general. But remember why you started healthy eating in the first place? To be healthy!

The general rule for moms is a surplus of 300 extra calories to your daily diet.  Remember healthy weight gain is part of pregnancy, and depending on your starting weight it can vary from 15-40 pounds for moms to be.  Pizza and fries sound amazing whether you're pregnant or not, but there is life AND your body after baby; keep it balanced.

Now, more than ever, its crucial for you to eat nutrient dense food for yourself and your growing baby. By the way, babies also love ice cream from time to time.

-Focus on keeping the habit, not the 6 pack. Pregnancy is a lot like training for a show. You have a time line, an end result, but in between, you have no idea what’s going to happen!

Becoming pregnant can be so challenging for an athlete; mentally and physically. My attitude became far more positive when I quit focusing on what I could accomplish in a workout to simply focusing on the goal of keeping the habit.

-Add the prenatals and don’t throw out all the supplements. Each expecting mother is different on their approach to well everything about her baby, and its totally ok! After consulting with my doctor, I found that a lot of my current supplements were completely safe and beneficial during pregnancy. Here are my daily supplements while expecting:

-Pre natal vitamins                                                    -Axis Labs Citrus Omega

-Axis Labs Clutch Whey Protein                              -Axis Labs NGAGE Amino

Obviously, stimulants and caffeine are out during your 9 month journey, but having products like Clutch were so great to have during my first trimester when I couldn’t keep solid food down and protein was hard to get into my diet.

-Eat, Love, Train. I’ve been in the fitness industry for 5 years and during that time I’ve loved, hated, and worked on my body non-stop. I never settled for anything less than my strongest and best package.

With that being said, pregnancy has taught me invaluable lessons. I appreciate EVERY training day, because they’re not easy. I’m so thankful to be able to eat healthy food, because at times, broccoli seems more like poison than vegetables when you’re pregnant, and my body? I love it, I respect it, and I’m so in awe of the things it can do.

Eat well mommas. Love your body at any size, and train for yourself and your baby’s health.

Not very long ago, I heard a quote, as corny as it is, it really put being pregnancy into a great perspective.

“You never understand life, until it grows inside you.”

I thought I was strong because of what I could accomplish in the gym. I thought I had control because of the dedication to diet I could have, and most of all I thought pride, was that feeling I had walking across stage.

It’s true, all those feelings are real, but pregnancy has taught me a couple things so far: I’m strong because I have to be an example for my child. You can’t control anything in pregnancy besides your attitude, and pride? Well I’ve accomplished some great things in my life, but I’m pretty sure I won’t know real pride until I get to meet my son for the first time.

Article Contributed by:

Alysha White, Axis Labs Sponsored Athlete and Master Trainer