Having a belly only pregnancy is a goal for many women. You may not fully be able to control where you gain weight, but you can minimize it by trying to keep your weight gain in the healthy range.
A belly only pregnancy shouldn't be your main goal. Your main goal should be a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.
Tips for a Belly Only Pregnancy
Eat Small Meals
Eat 5-6 small meals a day not 5-6 regular or large meals. Eating small meals helps with your portion control and your appetite.
You are always going to be hungry, after you pass the nausea stage! You're growing a baby and you need to fuel your body. Make sure you strive to fill your diet with healthy items. If you need a list of healthy snacks and meals keep reading!
Make sure you are also drink lots of water! I get really bad headaches when I don't drink enough and while you are pregnant you will need a lot of water for your growing baby and the amount of fluid your body will increase.
Now if you are wondering what kind of foods really help you and your developing baby Allie from The Perfect Pregnancy Plan wrote a very in depth course about your nutrition during pregnancy and how it can affect your baby into adulthood.
It's crazy to me how much nutrition can benefit or hurt your baby.
Workout
If you want to have a belly only pregnancy you need to make sure that you are working all parts of your body. You can focus on the parts where you easily gain weight such as the butt, thighs, and love handles. You can tone these areas to shape them (but it doesn't mean fat will be burned off in the specific area you work).If you are wanting pregnancy safe workouts you can check out my fitness tab!
You could also check out the pregnancy workout plan that Allie made. She has different workouts that you can do to prepare your body at different stages of your pregnancy.
It helps prepare your body for the changes it will make during pregnancy and strengthen different parts before they get strained from your growth.
It's a truly amazing program that I wish I had while I was pregnant. I will for sure use it on my next pregnancy!
You will need to workout 5 days a week mixing both cardio and weight lifting.
I like to do brisk walks for my cardio, but if you decide to stick with running, HIIT, or CrossFit check with your doctor first. Any workout program you do it's smart to check with your doctor just to be on the safe side! They are there to help you to have a healthy baby and pregnancy.
Make sure you know the amount of calories you are intaking as well.
Don't Eat For Two
In your 1st Trimester you should not increase your calorie intake. The 2nd trimester you add 340 calories and the 3rd only 450.
If you want full numbers most people say to eat 1,800 calories in the first, 2,200 in the 2nd, and 2,400 in the 3rd. This is if you are starting at a healthy weight.
Weight Gain
During the 1st Trimester you will gain 1-5 pounds. This jumps up to 1-2 pounds a week in the 2nd and 3rd trimester.
Everyone will gain a different amount. Talk with your doctor about what your goal should be. Some women will need to gain less and some will need to gain more. It all depends if you start your pregnancy underweight, overweight, or at a healthy range.
I want to help y'all have as healthy of a pregnancy as you can so I have a list of nutritional snacks and an ab workout that you can do while pregnant!
Nutritional Snacks
- Fruit or veggies
- Yogurt with fruit and granola (this is my lunch everyday because it's so good!)
- Apples with cheese or peanut butter
- Tail mix
- Crackers or veggies with hummus
- Homemade smoothies
- Banana and peanut butter
- Peanut butter and banana slices on toast
- Fiber bars, the help you poop!
- Tortilla chips with guacamole
- Half of a tuna sandwich
- Protein bars
- Ants on a log (celery with peanuts butter and raisins)
- Eggs with spinach on an English muffin or toast
- Cottage cheese with fruit
- Grapes and Cheddar cheese cubes
- Fruit salad (cut up fruit then add a dash of lime juice and honey)
- Cucumber sandwiches (cucumbers, dill, and cream cheese)
- Frozen grapes with string cheese
- Real fruit popsicles
If you are wanting a variety of healthy dinners these ones are great from I heart Naptime!
You can read more tips on your nutrition during pregnancy here. Or you can also take a course on the different foods that can affect your baby into adulthood!
Meal prepping or only having healthy snacks in your purse is a great way to choose that over junk food! It's all about the prepping!
Belly-Only Workout
Side Crunch x15 each side
Pelvic Tilt x10
Side Plank x30 seconds each side
Bird-Dog x20 each side
Cat-Cow x20
Do this workout 2-3 times with a rest in between each set.
I hope y'all enjoy this workout and do your best with having a healthy pregnancy! Take care of yourself and your baby/babies!