tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post4942511147340787808..comments2024-02-06T08:43:35.333+01:00Comments on Sea Legs Girl: The Perfect Pregnancy Plansea legs girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14782712411873234071noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-14578274036454472552011-02-22T11:21:53.667+01:002011-02-22T11:21:53.667+01:00Oh I thought I might add that I ran an average of ...Oh I thought I might add that I ran an average of 47 miles a week during my pregnancy and still gained 22 pounds. I was able to run to the end and ran 7 miles the day I went into labor. 5 months later I'm in fairly good shape. I just ran a half marathon on Sunday in 1:36:11. Not a PR, but I think it's the lack of sleep and being sick all winter that's impacting my training now. Not that I just had a baby.Katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06399320835082431959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-68024448588506455242011-02-22T10:53:19.638+01:002011-02-22T10:53:19.638+01:00I think many docs in the US want to see women gain...I think many docs in the US want to see women gaining less than the 25 - 35 pounds now. I was normal weight and gained 22 pounds. When I checked into the hospital I overheard the nurses saying "her weight wasn't too crazy or completely out of control." Insinuating that I had gained too much weight. I was a little irritated. They really shouldn't recommend a certain weight gain if they want you to gain less. 5 months later I have lost all the weight plus a couple pounds with very little effort. I think for me my weight was probably fine.Katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06399320835082431959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-22565855713606977672011-02-21T00:22:55.045+01:002011-02-21T00:22:55.045+01:00Pregnancy probably isn't the best time to star...Pregnancy probably isn't the best time to start a new activity but i don't see why it isn't a good time to keep meeting goals in an activity you are used to. <br /><br />My mom had me in the 80s and she was a swimmer. she swam every morning for her entire pregnancy like usual. at the time, with her doctors, swimming was considered good low-impact exercise for pregnant women at the time, and she was encouraged. She wasn't a runner, and i think taking it up while pregnant might have been a mistake, especially trail running, as balance and proper footing is something you need to be comfortable with when there's a baby on board. As someone who is notoriously clumsy, I know trail running is going to be an issue for me when i'm pregnant.<br /><br />I will probably be ready for a pregnancy later in a year or two, and i'm a healthy weight now, but I would also be healthy if i was 10 pounds less. I don't know if I really need much weight gain at all during a pregnancy, but I think looking at it from the perspective of weight gain alone must be a mistake.<br /><br />I've never seen the harm in exercise for health and wellness of the child, but if you are doing it for vanity reasons or starving yourself while pregnant to help with exercise goals or weight gain goals, i do think that's a problem. Health of yourself and baby should surpass everything else, and that involves being selfless and yeah, sacrificing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-31432876586429854582011-02-18T18:31:38.710+01:002011-02-18T18:31:38.710+01:00Sigh.
I don't think I ever said you were enco...Sigh.<br /><br />I don't think I ever said you were encouraging EDs or starvation???? I was just wishing for your own peace of mind, Sealegsgirl, thta you could be a little more moderate with food and exercising. But that's me projecting onto you. You're obviously happy with things. I also think you're misunderstanding my tone - I like you, chica! I just worry (occupationa hazard, working with eating disorder patients day in and day out). Just trying to create some banter!<br /><br />I'll bow out now. I could never stand up to two smart doctors. I'll take my lazy butt on out of here and go eat some jellybeans with my kiddo :P.Allison Chapplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05345469985528298687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-823815921011153382011-02-18T18:16:05.014+01:002011-02-18T18:16:05.014+01:00Hey, just saw this and thought you might be intere...Hey, just saw this and thought you might be interested. "Women who are extremely obese may not need to gain that much weight during pregnancy, and those who don’t add too many pounds may find themselves and their babies healthier.<br />The findings were presented recently at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s annual meeting in San Francisco. The study looked at data on 73,977 women from New York’s Finger Lakes region who gave birth to one child between 2004 and 2008." <br /><br />It says: <br />“The study suggests that even the recommended amounts of weight gain might be more than is needed for the most obese women,” said Dr. Eva Pressman, director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at New York’s University of Rochester Medical Center, in a news release.<br /><br />More here:<br />http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/m/news/story.cfm?id=3116Jacquelinehttp://jackandviv.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-14446042184487462512011-02-18T17:24:24.600+01:002011-02-18T17:24:24.600+01:00@FB: yes, that was Ancel Keys' study at the Un...@FB: yes, that was Ancel Keys' study at the University of Minnesota. The volunteers were Mennonite, old order Amish and Brethren who would not fight for religious reasons and they each lost about 25% of their weight, eating mostly cabbage and root vegetables. In their place, I would probably have joined the study (and been tossed early, as many were, for mental derangement).SteveQhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16943650844671498074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-20174446784753553532011-02-18T14:07:55.909+01:002011-02-18T14:07:55.909+01:00The Chapples, epidemiology is made up of large pop...The Chapples, epidemiology is made up of large population studies that are overwhelmingly observational in nature, ie. no intervention is made. You simply gather the data and wait to see what happens. <br /><br />The data are out there, and some databases probably already contain numbers waiting for a researcher.<br /><br />I guess you could say that epedimiology is made up of thousands of anecdotes. The problem with the anecdotes on this blog is that they are skewed towards fit, well-educated women. The selection bias is too significant. You could then argue that all observational studies are biased, and you would be right, but attempts are always made to control for these. <br /><br />Interventional studies are rarely undertaken in studies of exercise and diet, simply because it's close to impossible to change people's behavior. One exception to this is a famous (and infamous) study looking at conscientious objectors during World War II. They calorie-resticted those poor kids to see what would happen to them. I believe it was done in Minnesota. The pictures of the emaciated non-warriors are impressive, and it's obvious that no one would have entered such a study voluntarily.Fast Bastard - World's Fastest Hematologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09439674206797439620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-75448795613412592932011-02-18T14:04:40.436+01:002011-02-18T14:04:40.436+01:00The Chappels - let's just hold our horses for ...The Chappels - let's just hold our horses for a second here. I don't think anyone here is encouraging starvation or an eating disorder. At least I'm not. I guess I could also try to only gain 9 lbs, but SR would never be able to put up with my crankiness. I just don't want anyone telling me it's healthier to gain 25. <br /><br />I, by the way, somewhat disagree with your quote in the sense that I believe one should eat until one is 80% full, according to the Japanese/Okinowan way of thinking. I, of course, don't always follow this, but do believe in it.sea legs girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14782712411873234071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-88411242771591412852011-02-18T12:58:04.246+01:002011-02-18T12:58:04.246+01:00And Fat Bastard, there never WILL be epidemiology ...And Fat Bastard, there never WILL be epidemiology on this topic, just anecdotes because of pure ethics. No one is ever going to back a study that might put a baby at risk. The best we can do is gather information from individuals who happened to run higher mileage during pregnancy and who kept their weight to a minimum BY CHOICE to see what the short- and longterm affects are on the child. <br /><br />I tend to think of things like Green Light - why not moderate and just ENJOY being pregnant? Take it as a time to truly listen to your body rather than trying to control and manipulate the experience? Actually, why not do that anyway, even when not pregnant? <br /><br />I am going to add my favorite quote from Ellyn Satter, an expert on children's feeding (but also works with adults). I think this same theory can be used with exercise:<br /><br />"Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it -not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good. Normal eating is mostly three meals a day, or four or five, or it can be choosing to munch along the way. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful. Normal eating is overeating at times, feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. And it can be undereating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.<br /><br />In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your hunger, your schedule, your proximity to food and your feelings."<br /><br />I'm not picking on you, just worry about how hyperfocused you are on the issue.Allison Chapplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05345469985528298687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-68505909427509021572011-02-18T09:50:41.242+01:002011-02-18T09:50:41.242+01:00I think most people reading SLGs blog are already ...I think most people reading SLGs blog are already on a page that tells us that a moderate amount of running (or other exercise, but most readers are runners) has benefits for both mother and baby. <br /><br />Many people aren't on that page yet, including probably a lot of gun shy OB/GYNs. Considering what they deal with every day, their ethos has always been "don't rock the boat". There was one reader a while back who was told by several OBs not to run at all. But the OB community is coming around, I think. <br /><br />But. <br /><br />There is no epidemiology out there - at all - looking at intense running/exercise in pregnancy. Yes, there are plenty of anecdotes, on this blog and elewhere, but no epidemiology. <br /><br />SLG, as a budding expert of epidemiology, you are forced to admit that there is no research supporting (or refuting) your assertions. <br /><br />With many beneficial things in medicine, the effect curce is shaped like a U. No exercise is harmful, sure. 99% of your readers agree with this, as carefully selected as we may be. Then the risk decreases as you add exercise, but it's not unreasonable to imagine that at some point you start adding risk (and start climbing up the far side of the U). You could even argue that OF COURSE it's a U-shaped curve. At some point running to much, even non-pregnant, becomes dangerous. The question is where that U starts climbing, and the truth is we don't know. <br /><br />Right now, SLG, you're headed towards being an expert in the very narrow field of retinal epidemiology. I'm just imagining if you had gone into exercise/pregnancy epidemiology. <br /><br />Would you rather be setting guidelines for screening in diabetic eye disease or for running in pregnancy?Fast Bastard - World's Fastest Hematologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09439674206797439620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-442656930707201922011-02-18T08:53:05.556+01:002011-02-18T08:53:05.556+01:00Once they said that each pregnancy costs a tooth f...Once they said that each pregnancy costs a tooth for the woman. I don't think anybody would want to sacrifice their teeth these days, and why sacrifice at all? You are so right, exercise is good and each and everyone should do what she is able to according to where she was before pregnancy. And if she was nowhere, this is the time to do at least some walking in order to prepare her lazy body for the birth!Kirstenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14000695114298710579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-15370603493233127142011-02-18T08:38:56.013+01:002011-02-18T08:38:56.013+01:00I would like to throw another apsect into the disc...I would like to throw another apsect into the discussion. I absolutely do not find any links to the articles I am going to refer to right now, I will search for them later - maybe someone else can help? Concerning maternal weight gain and infant birth weight there seems to be as trong correlation between it with regard to gain of lean "mass" in the mother (blood volume and placenta, to be specific) with maternal fat gain not being related to birth weight. Of course, one would ask how to influence placental growth/increae in blood volume withot promoting fat gain? There are some guesses (not from the studies I mentioned)that keeping protein intake in the 75-100 g range and not restricting salt intake might help keeping fluid in the bloodstream, but this is, from my best knowledge, not based in scientific research. I will see if I find the articles..Irisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-30259595886371529802011-02-18T07:25:48.257+01:002011-02-18T07:25:48.257+01:00Olga - your honesty is so refreshing. I am glad to...Olga - your honesty is so refreshing. I am glad to hear that pregnanct women are doing Bikram Yoga without worries. I wish I could find a Bikram class here!sea legs girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14782712411873234071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-82381583866549155082011-02-18T07:24:55.472+01:002011-02-18T07:24:55.472+01:00Steve Q, alright, I'm not going to let you say...Steve Q, alright, I'm not going to let you say that Stefanie's pregnancy would be "risky" for most women and not explain in what way it would be risky! What is it in particular you are thinking of?sea legs girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14782712411873234071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-51081970793025249652011-02-18T07:17:39.228+01:002011-02-18T07:17:39.228+01:00Ha! Green Light, you feel "sad" for me b...Ha! Green Light, you feel "sad" for me because I am suggesting that it is OK to not gain 25 lbs - and that 9 lbs also can be healthy! Go take your sadness and pity somewhere where it will do some good! I'm not saying I want to gain 9 lbs - but also not saying other women can't. Let's put it this way - don't cry too much over this :D.sea legs girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14782712411873234071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-1246026537505165082011-02-18T05:21:02.887+01:002011-02-18T05:21:02.887+01:00Oh, SLG, I'm sorry. It really seemed a couple...Oh, SLG, I'm sorry. It really seemed a couple months ago like you were on a healthier course of admitting you don't have the healthiest attitudes about food. Now here you are, pregnancy seems to have retriggered your worst tendencies and you're back to attaching significance to the mere number of how much weight you'll gain during pregnancy, and holding up as ideals or examples women who gained extremely low amounts of weight. <br /><br />How about this for a radical idea? Eat reasonable quantities of healthy food, exercise as much as it feels good for your body (without overdoing it), and enjoy being pregnant as much as possible? <br /><br />It doesn't sound like you'd be capable of doing that. I'd be more concerned about that, than whether you gain 10 or 20 or 50 pounds.<br /><br />I'm sorry. It makes me sad for you.green lighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11710702006690038659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-37106317325354762122011-02-17T18:01:13.273+01:002011-02-17T18:01:13.273+01:00I tend to feel more like WNLitigator. I exercise ...I tend to feel more like WNLitigator. I exercise throughout pregnancy. I eat healthily, but do not obsess about it. And my body packs on the pounds to be sure. But this being my 3rd pregnancy, I also now feel confident knowing that my body is just doing what it thinks it needs to do, and the weight will come off after the baby is born. (While I get frustrated w/the pace of that at times, I do try to remind myself, 9 months on, 9 months off. That would probably drive you bonkers though.) Anyway, I just think it's funny b/c I consider myself fit and healthy, yet here I am in week 15 of pregnancy and I have not gotten on the scale at home and try not to look when they weigh me at the midwife's office, because I feel I'm just listening to my body and letting it do it's thing and trying not to worry about it. So your 16 lb. goal makes me chuckle not b/c it's right or wrong or high or low, just because I'm so much happier not even following along with my weight. I'm trying to get as much exercise as I can, and just stopping if something hurts. Anyway, to reitterate WNLitigator's point, don't assume all women gaining on the high end of the spectrum are unhealthy lazy slobs just because you sometimes feel overly criticized for gaining on the low end of the spectrum or exercising a lot.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06582340182176367822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-83667925238957962642011-02-17T17:25:41.088+01:002011-02-17T17:25:41.088+01:00I love your posts about exercise and pregnancy. I...I love your posts about exercise and pregnancy. I think women, all women (for that matter, all people), should be encouraged to live lives that leave room for good food and enough exercise. <br /><br />However, I think that pregnant women are coming up against factors that would discourage them from intensifying their exercise during pregnancy or even begin taking it up. While ACOG may officially state that an exercise regime is important to a pregnant woman’s health, in practice a woman’s OB/Gyn might advise against “too much” exercise. I don’t know how often that happens, but I’ve heard it from my own friends with children, and I was surprised how much sway their doctor’s had over their decisions to cut down on or even cut out exercise.<br /><br />I absolutely hate this obsession with weight gain in pregnant women (not yours, I mean in general). As a person who has had some pretty bad relationships with scales in the past, I would be terrified to visit a doctor’s office in America. Not owning a scale helps me to focus on eating right and exercising in a much healthier and less obsessive way. I’m not sure I could handle knowing how much weight I gain during pregnancy. Do you think that women need to be monitored on their weight gain? I know that pregnant women are almost never weighed during pre-natal visits in The Netherlands. As some of the comments have stated, weight gain varies from woman to woman, and a healthy woman could be on the low or high end.<br /><br />The questions you’ve raised about exercise and weight gain in pregnancy do make me think that there is a larger factor at play here. It seems to me that there are a lot of external agents trying to control a woman’s body during pregnancy. I realize that might be overstating a bit, and I am sure that there are many researchers and physicians who want to understand pregnancy and provide useful knowledge for the medical community and pregnant women. I just find the list of do’s and don’ts for pregnant women to be terribly exhausting, and the language used feels dictatorial. I like the comment Heather made about taking back one’s own body.<br /><br />Okay, I’ve been rambling a lot now. Just wanted to say I liked the post.Dianahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14137207492303218465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-4506987276293494282011-02-17T17:18:23.030+01:002011-02-17T17:18:23.030+01:00The day after I made the song recommendation, I he...The day after I made the song recommendation, I heard it in the background of a car commercial, making me do the Homer Simpson "D'Oh!" sound. My coolness badge got revoked.<br /><br />Every pregnancy is different, even for the same parents. Shocke's pregnancy may have been perfect for her, but sounds risky for most women.SteveQhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16943650844671498074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-5737003985609413672011-02-17T16:34:13.489+01:002011-02-17T16:34:13.489+01:00OK, since I am neither pregnant nor plan to be any...OK, since I am neither pregnant nor plan to be anymore, I skipped your last few posts by just glancing over, but since I just came back from Bikram (hot) yoga where instructor is pregnant, it reminded me of you - and of your previous (?) post on sauna. I also saw plenty of students in a room at 105F and 55% humidity twisting and dripping sweat in my 10 years of practice. Bikram says it's very beneficial - I think so too (adding on Russian style saunas from times before time and women sitting there, including pregnant).<br />Anyhow, whatever. Frankly, I don't care about studies lately. Just do what feels right for you. I strongly believe unless you are a waco, you do no harm to a baby. And if you are a waco, people's blubber won't help.Olgahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00493291972954387932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-25619611730740641692011-02-17T15:30:10.067+01:002011-02-17T15:30:10.067+01:00Iris - well, I think that makes sense about retain...Iris - well, I think that makes sense about retaining fluid other places than the intravascular space. Thanks so much for taking the time for a discussion!<br /><br />Allison/The Chappels - well, I am just relieved you didn't get mad at my comment. Just be aware that telling SLG to chill is like telling The Sahara to chill - just ask my poor family :).Thanks a lot for taking the time to give me those links. As much as I don't need to find extra things to read, I will enjoy them!sea legs girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14782712411873234071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-17259041996046024662011-02-17T13:17:16.560+01:002011-02-17T13:17:16.560+01:00Oops, my cutting and pasting messed up. The "...Oops, my cutting and pasting messed up. The "not peppery" blog is the third one that I'm talking about - I added two more after I typed that and they ended up listed before that one.Allison Chapplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05345469985528298687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-17978696992633101982011-02-17T13:14:56.740+01:002011-02-17T13:14:56.740+01:00Woman, I am not competing with you! That's why...Woman, I am not competing with you! That's why I said I am just messing with you - comparing one person's pregnancy to another's is like apples and oranges. CHILL!! My point is that just bodies do what they're going to do - you exercise a lot more than I do and we've gained the same amount of weight. I could care less if I have gained 5 pounds or 15 at this point, just want a healthy baby in the end. I know that I can bounce back into shape post-partum and that's what matters to me! <br /><br />I don't think these two would mind me linking their blogs because they are both supreme athletes AND gained plenty of weight in their pregancies because that's just what happened. Two I know personally - Alicia's a nationally ranked triathlete, all around crazy-talented athlete. Angela qualified for Kona post-partum and is also a super fast runner/triathlete. The third one I've linked has run VERY fast times pre and post-parturm<br /><br />http://aliciaparr.com/blog/<br />(gained 40 pounds)<br /><br /><br />http://willtrainforcreamcheeseicing.blogspot.com/<br />(gained over 25 pounds)<br /><br />http://rebeccadewire.blogspot.com/<br />(another great athlete who gained 58 lbs and 40 lbs with #1 and #2)<br /><br />http://www.runlikeamother.com/<br />(Rachel Ross, world class triathlete, gained 50 pounds with her first baby)<br /><br />http://notpeppery.blogspot.com/<br />(gained ~40 pounds with both kids)<br /><br />I admit I get my feathers ruffled bit on the topic because I feel like it can be another time in life when a woman feels inadequate if her body just happens to need or want to gain more than 20 pounds.Allison Chapplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05345469985528298687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-85696891356865471442011-02-17T12:55:13.730+01:002011-02-17T12:55:13.730+01:00Sealegs, it might very well be additional water we...Sealegs, it might very well be additional water weight which doesn`t necessarily mean swelling bur might be evenly distributed (maybe in relation to the circumstances accompagnying the miscarriage?). As digestion slows down in many women it might have been just more volume in the digestive tract (I do not know, however, how much "that" might weight :-))Irisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-834846832861622672.post-9715067017870553972011-02-17T12:22:28.421+01:002011-02-17T12:22:28.421+01:00Iris - Thanks for your input. Let me put it this w...Iris - Thanks for your input. Let me put it this way: when I had my miscarriage I had gained 4 lbs by 6 weeks. About 5 days after the miscarriage, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I simply can't explain that with anything other that an accumulation of extra water somewhere! Any thoughts?sea legs girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14782712411873234071noreply@blogger.com