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Getting back to fit after pregnancy - Part 1

Hayley Smyth Pregnant Belly

Hi all! So I've recently given birth to my second child, a healthy little girl, weighing 8lb 12oz and we've called her Milan. 

I’m writing this blog for those who’d like to follow the journey I’ll be taking getting back to my pre-pregnancy body (hopefully). I’ve previously competed in 3 Miss Bikini fitness competitions and looking, feeling fit and healthy is very important to me. I have a 3 year old little girl and I first competed in a competition when she was 14 months old. People ask me what my diet and exercise was like after having her so I thought I’d document it this time.

My pregnancy
During my pregnancy I carried on exercising, this was for a number of reasons, to keep my weight under control, retain some muscle tone and strength, to have some time to myself and also because exercising during pregnancy is great for the baby.

I was training 3 days a week.

Day 1 - Legs (bodyweight exercises) and cross trainer
Day 2 - Upper body toning and cardio (cross trainer)
Day 3 - Swimming

I took a pregnancy multivitamin with Omegas every day and I ate as healthy as possible, porridge for breakfast, meat and vegetables, fruits and clean carbs but I also ate what I fancied, so chocolate, bread and the odd naughty take-away. I did my last show in September 2015 and found I was pregnant in November 2015 so I had already put on the best part of a stone in weight from the diet change before the pregnancy weight. All together I put on just over 2.5 stone and the day I gave birth I weighed 12.10lb.

2 weeks post-natal - Weight: 10.13lb
I’ve naturally lost 2 stone since giving birth and now I’ve started to cut out sugars and cut down on bread. I’m easing myself into it gradually as I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself to soon.

I’m not allowed to exercise yet so I’m walking a lot to keep me active, but to be honest, my new baby is keeping me busy enough :) 

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