Weight! We obsess about it or we neglect it. We work out in order to fight it. We stuff ourselves or we undereat in order to control it. We admire or hate how we look when we stand in front of a mirror.
Listen up, no matter how society conditions us to think about ourselves if we put on a pound or two, we’re not here for it. No ma’am! What we’re here to talk to you about is how good you should feel about your workouts in 2022 as you get fit for fertility.
The truth is being either overweight or underweight can reduce your chances of getting pregnant, and exercising gently, moderately, or hard (depending on your fitness levels) will help you maintain a healthy BMI.
How Does Weight Affect Fertility?
Let’s begin with what happens to fertility if you’re overweight. If you are severely overweight when you do become pregnant, there’s an increased risk of complications such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, so it’s important that you’re at a healthy weight both before and during your pregnancy.
Losing those extra pounds to prepare your body for something you have yearned so much for takes dedication and keeping your eyes on the prize. Some of the workouts we recommend below can help you to stay motivated on any weight loss journey.
However, we do want to caution you that once you are actually pregnant, if you’re very overweight, it is best not to do a drastic diet, or exercise your way to bliss in order to try and lose weight in pregnancy, as this might not be safe for you or the baby.
The best way to lose weight is to consult with a certified nutritionist or with your doctor who’ll give you advice on the best way to reach a healthy BMI.
Being Underweight
We’ve seen those super skinny models and how society touts their standards of beauty as ideal but we’ve also seen them shamed them for their weight too.
While we’ll leave the judgment of “whether you can’t be too rich or too skinny” for others — we’re not putting shame in anyone’s game. But we do have something to say about pregnancy and being underweight.
FACT: Being being underweight can cause hormone imbalances and affect ovulation in a similar fashion to being overweight. Compared to women of a healthy-weight, underweight women are more than twice as likely to take more than a year to get pregnant. Having a BMI of less than 18.5 is considered underweight and unhealthy.
Let’s Talk About these Workouts for Getting Fit
Again, we would like you to see your GP and nutritionist about any preparations you undertake to get fit for fertility. However as workouts on YouTube have become the rage since COVID 19 came to town and decided to stay awhile, we thought we’d recommend three workouts you can consider for 2022, whether you want to lose or gain weight.
Feeling great about moving your body and being in tune with it depends on your willpower but also it helps if you have friends who are on a similar fitness journey and if you feel good about life in general! Timing matters too, along with the person taking you through the paces of getting fit.
YouTube checks off all these boxes.
So if you want to generally start 2022 off feeling good and strong as you begin to wrap your head about getting pregnant this year, then we’ve chosen three workout channels to help, from easy to tough. We wanted to make sure we found a channel for everyone.
1. Sydney Cummings
Sydney will feel like your best friend as soon as you take one of her workouts. She knows the fitness game, she is a former state (US) athlete. She is also super motivational so on those tough days when the last thing you want to do is a workout; you’ll hear her voice in your head reminding you of your dreams and the importance of getting your body moving.
You’ll love Sydney’s YouTube because she has such an awesome variety of workouts on it: think HIT, weights, Tabatha, stretching, bands, kettlebells etc. She also does 30-day and 50-day challenges so all you have to do is show up and commit the time.
2. Alo Yoga
Alo Yoga is a pretty pricey sportswear company, but their workouts are all FREE on YouTube and we’re here for it. Now I know many folks get the impression that with yoga you sit and chant and/or gently stretch your body to the sound of chimes. Forget about that!
Welcome to the sweaty surprise of Alo Yoga’s world. With 60-minute workouts that are as intense as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, this fitness channel will remind you that cardio classes alone aren’t the only form of workouts that can leave you dripping with sweat.
However, they do have way gentler stretches for every type of body. If you are underweight, you may find doing a 30-minute yoga pilates workout may open up your appetite. Did you hurt your back and does doing something strenuous seems impossible? They’ve got stretch workouts for just that. Getting to love exercise is about understanding your body, taking care of it, loving it, and releasing all those happy endorphins. I know. I know. You want to check out Alo Yoga right now, don’t ya!
3. Caroline Girvan
We adore Caroline. She burst onto the scene in 2020 just as we were going through the pandemic and amassed over 1,000,000 followers in one year. Crazy right? But actually not so crazy when you consider the amount of effort Caroline puts into making sure her followers sweat, and get results. Plus you’ll gasp at the way the flowers in her studio always match her workout gear.
It’s unreal the attention she pays to detail. Caroline has some of the toughest workouts on YouTube especially if you’re diving into EPIC 3 and above. Caroline does not talk during her sessions, she gives signals and demonstrates how to do a movement before each execution. Expect to sweat and keep coming back for more.