Exercise in pregnancy

Overall I try to be quite healthy and love a balanced life. My diet isn't perfect (working for a chocolate company doesn't help) but I try and balance the good and bad together along with exercise. 

That is until any trimester 1... It all goes out the window. There is no energy for any movement that is not essential and I will eat what I can stomach. This time round it was mainly white carbs. I also ate to keep nausea at bay and it worked but of course it did mean I pilled on the pregnancy pounds quite quickly. I struggle with how much I mind about this. I don't mind in the sense that it's natural and I haven't actually weighed myself this time but I do mind when I don't feel like me and things like my arms are huge and there is something I can do about it. But there's also the fact that it's my third pregnancy and with my eldest only 2 1/2 I feel I need to look after my body a bit of we're going to make it through the next months as pain free as possible. I also have in mind that it's healthy for the baby for me to be moving, definitely good for my sanity and well there's labour at the end of it... You'd train for a marathon wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you try and get your body strong for labour. 

In my previous pregnancies I attended specific yoga and Pilates classes. I love them. This time I'm still attending Pilates but have also joined the gym at work. I'm not doing much but as often as I can (maybe 3/4 times a week) I'm heading down there for 40 minutes instead if my lunch break (then eat at my desk after) to do some exercise and stretching. I've been loving it, although it is calm and not strenuous I've been getting that buzz post exercise, it's certainly helping with the hormonal craziness and sleeping too... Within reason (the baby loves dancing on my bladder!). 

I will cover in later posts what I'm doing in the gym as I have found a brilliant video to follow for all you pregnant ladies but I do think there should be more education around what you should and shouldn't do in pregnancy. I'm not expert but having done Pilates I was shocked when I put on an American pregnancy Pilates DVD on and they were doing sit ups. Not only does this feel wrong but there's the whole issue of tummy separation and trying to prevent it not make it worse by doing sit ups!  In pregnancy you should definitely work on your core muscles but through safe exercises. 

I'd love to know what other people have done to stay fit in pregnancy.