When I became pregnant with my first child, almost two years ago, I decided that I wanted to continue my active lifestyle. I had always been an active person. I loved to run, walk, swim, and canoe, amongst other things. I thought that if I continued to be active through my pregnancy, I would just increase the chances that I would have a healthy pregnancy and baby.



Well, a couple of the months of the pregnancy went by and I was doing great - running a couple of times a week - and then I was gaining weight and my level of commitment was reducing daily. It became simpler to go to work and come home and relax - and to forgo any form of working out. I started to get a bit frustrated with my lack of physical activity so I decided to make it a personal focal point for myself to get back to being active again.

I have listed five strategies that I used to kick-start me into being active while pregnant with our first child...

1. No time like the present. If you are still in the first part of the pregnancy try to get active right away. It may be as simple as an evening walk through the neighbourhood. The sooner you start the easier it will be as you progress through your expectancy.

2. There is something magical about verbalizing your commitment to someone else. Tell your spouse of your choice to be active while you are expecting. Tell your friends, tell your mom and your dad. They may or may not workout with you - but they will also be able to `cheer you on` as you take care of yourself and your baby as the months pass by.

3. Most of us know people or have family members that enjoy running, swimming or walking. Invite one or two of them to join you on a regular basis to exercise with you. My dad and I became running partners. Each week we would identify three days that we would run together - and we both kept the schedule. We would run 5 km. together. Knowing that someone else has your exercise time in their schedule makes it very difficult to `bail-out` on exercising.

4. Motivate yourself. Think about what you can realistically achieve - maybe it is to exercise for 30 minutes four times per week; maybe your goal is to get ready to run a 5 mile race - and then actually run it and complete it; maybe your objective is to walk in a 8 mile fundraising event. Establishing something to aim for can be a powerful motivating force for many of us - I know that it was for me.

5. Think of different activities. You don`t have to do the same exercise style every time that you are active. Think of what is fun for you - maybe you like to ride a bike (go for a 45 minute bicycle ride); do you like to swim - sign up for an aqua fitness class at your local community center; does your husband like to dance - take a dance class (that would be an exciting activity while expecting). The key is to be active and have fun while doing it!