If you’d like to increase your chances of having a more comfortable pregnancy and a faster return to your pre-pregnancy body, the Fit & Healthy Pregnancy program is for you. Created by registered dietitian, nutrition coach, and mom Laura Flynn, along with Michelle Ladd, a personal trainer with over 12 years of experience, this program will give you everything you need to help you feel your best during the 40 weeks of your pregnancy and beyond.

What’s included in the program:

“The Fit & Healthy Pregnancy Guide: How to Eat and Exercise for a Healthy, Happy Baby and a Hot Post-Bump Body” – 134 page ebook packed with pregnancy information, exercises, and nutrition advice.

“In the Beginning” – a 37 page ebook by Linda Wallace, energy therapist. She includes Donna Eden’s “Daily Energy (tapping) Routine” that is said to restore your body’s energy balance, harmony, and flow. Linda also talks about the dangers of personal care products such as makeup, deodorant, and lotions. She encourages you to gradually replace your toxic care products with safer alternatives.

Personal email coaching – you’ll get the author’s personal email addresses.

Fit & Healthy Pregnancy Childbirth Hypnosis Solution recording – a 19 minute recording available as an MP3 for you to listen online and/or download. Listen to it frequently during pregnancy for a better birth experience.

Fit & Healthy “Stress Less” Hypnosis recording – a 13 minute recording to help you let go of stress and help you relax.

Two Week Grocery Shopping Lists – shopping lists for Good, Better, and Best Meal Plans as outlined in the main FHP manual.

FHP Stretching Guide – 2 pages of stretches along with pictures.

Recipe Rolodex – your complete recipe guide for all three meal plans.

Fit & Healthy Pregnancy blog – helpful articles for pregnant women who want to know more about staying active during pregnancy and eating the way of Weston A. Price.

You don’t need any fancy equipment for the Fit and Healthy Pregnancy workouts. All you will need is a few inexpensive items that you may already have at home. If not, you will be able to find them easily at nearby store.

You will need the following pieces of equipment:

• a pair of dumbbells,
• a resistance band,
• a stability/exercise ball,
• a 12-24” tall step,
• and access to a cable machine.

Dumbbells will give you additional resistance for exercises like squats and chest presses.

A resistance band is used for activating the muscles in a preworkout movement. You will also use the resistance band if you are doing the workouts at home and don’t have access to a cable machine.

The stability ball will be used in several ways. You will use it as you work on improving your posture. You will also use it to challenge your balance if you use it as a bench. You can also use it as a support with unilateral back exercises.

A step is used to work your legs and glutes. You can use a traditional exercise step or improvise and use a chair or staircase.

If you’re at a gym, you can use the cable machine for the exercises listed. This is completely optional and not necessary to your success.

The workout guidelines in Fit & Healthy Pregnancy recommend that you participate in some kind of physical activity 4 to 6 days a week. It is better to do a little bit of exercising every day, rather than doing too much to make up for lost workouts.

The authors of FHP state that there is no perfect workout schedule so no set calendar is provided. They are aware that some days you may not be able to exercise for a variety of reasons that are related to your pregnancy. However, they encourage you to commit to at least 30 minutes of light cardiovascular activity most days. Allow yourself at least one full rest day each week.

The Fit and Healthy Pregnancy meal plan provides you with a total of 3 months of planned meals, giving you 84 dinners, breakfasts, lunches, and snack ideas that will provide your pregnant body with plenty of nutritious calories.

The FHP diet is a little different than what you might expect, unless you’re familiar with the work of Weston A. Price. Mr. Price was a dentist in the early 1900s who began studying nutrition and its effect on dental and physical health. He concluded that the modern American diet is too high in flour, sugar, and processed fats. As a result, he promoted more B Vitamins and mineral salt. Over the years, other students of diet and nutrition have extended this further and this is what the Fit & Healthy Pregnancy meal plan is based on.

The FHP diet includes raw dairy, healthy animal fats, lacto-fermented foods, organic fruits and vegetables, grass fed cows and free range chicken meat and products, cod liver oil, and celtic sea salt. There is a lot of fat and cholesterol in the diet and the author, Laura Flynn, says that eating this way has allowed her to be leaner and feel better than ever.

You will be able to choose the extent to which you commit to the diet. The author of FHP offers you three diet plans: “Good,” “Better,” and “Best.” All three plans include 3 meals and 2 snacks each day.

The “Good” level will give you all the nutrients you need to help you feel healthy throughout your pregnancy. On this level, you won’t need to eat organic fruits and vegetables. However, you will need to buy hormone-free meat, full-fat dairy, and whole grain products. You’ll also need to invest time in making homemade salad dressings and other recipes.

The “Better” eating plan will give you the ultimate eating schedule. It is more time consuming and provides more enzymes and easier access to nutrients in foods for your body.

The “Best” meal plan requires even more planning and effort, but the results are said to last you a lifetime. Here you will make your own lacto-fermented foods and bone broths, eat wild salmon, organic meats, soaked nuts/seeds, soaked grains, and consume filtered water. While these last two meal plans might be difficult to sustain 100% of the time, you do have the option of choosing meals from the “Good” plan when you need to.

The first testimonial you will read on the Fit & Healthy Pregnancy page is Laura Flynn’s, co-author of the program. Before her pregnancy, Laura claims she was 20 pounds overweight and unhealthy, despite being a registered dietitian. It was only during her pregnancy that she became obsessed with her own nutrition since her goal was to have a healthy baby and quickly bounce back to her pre-pregnancy size.

However, the information Laura had been taught didn’t work for her. It was only when she discovered the benefits of eating essential fats and organic produce and grass fed meat that she began to feel better.

Next, she called up her friend and personal trainer, Michelle. Laura credits her nutrition research and pregnancy workouts to the fact that she had minimal morning sickness, great energy levels, and no stiffness or swelling throughout her pregnancy. Best of all, she only gained 29 pounds and lost all of it within 8 weeks of giving birth.

Other testimonials:

“I had the most amazing labor – 1 hr 9 mins!”

“I only gained 22 pounds during pregnancy!”

“Everyone is saying I look very well; no puffiness, skin is great.”

“Even in the late stages of my pregnancy, I felt strong, great posture, without the aches and pains that so many of my pregnant friends think is normal.”

“(The FHP) helped me to gain only an optimal, healthy amount of weight and deliver a beautiful baby.”

“Laura’s FHP…helping me understand the benefits of eating better, but also how EASY it can be. I maintained a high energy level while nursing and it helped me to lose weight…”

“As a marathon runner, I thought I was in pretty good shape before I became pregnant; however, the FHP guide pointed out some much needed changes to my fitness routine.”

Currently, there are not any published and verified testimonials by other users that aren’t already listed on the program’s main page.

If you are newly pregnant and eager to lace up your shoes, please first read this entire review and discuss any changes to your current exercise routine with your doctor or midwife.

If you have not exercised regularly in the previous six months, you should not start a new exercise program during your first trimester. However, there are some safe exercises that you can do.

For those of you who are not yet pregnant or who have been physically active before pregnancy, you will be able to ease into the workouts, giving yourself plenty of grace for pregnancy related morning sickness and fatigue. The FHP manual gives you a lot of great information on exercising during pregnancy, so read the chapters on exercise first.

The strength part of the workouts are broken up into trimesters. So each trimester, you will receive a new set of exercises. The cardiovascular and stretching recommendations stay the same throughout all three trimesters. And remember to take 1 to 3 days off each week to fully recover.

Workout Program Phase 1 – The First Trimester

If you haven’t been training regularly prior to your pregnancy, stick with only light cardio such as walking and biking in the first trimester. Pregnancy is never a time to set new personal bests or train for marathons. You’ll have plenty of time for that later.

As in each of the other two trimesters, all of the workouts for the first trimester begins with a 5 to 10 minute warm up. Michelle explains why this is especially important for expectant mothers and why you can’t afford to skip your warm-up.

Next, you’ll spend a few minutes stretching. FHP provides you with pictures and descriptions for all the stretches. However, you don’t need to do all of them; just the ones where it feels tight for you. And you’ll need to keep in mind that there are certain precautions you need to take when stretching during pregnancy. This includes yoga as well.

If you’re doing a weight lifting workout, you’ll do an activation exercise next that targets the muscles in your legs and gluteal muscles. After that, you’ll move into the four full body and three core exercises.

You’ll finish off with a cool down, which again, is also very important to do during pregnancy. You’ll want to allow yourself 10 minutes to move at a slower pace.  This allows your body to return to normal before going back to your regular routine.

If you’re doing a cardiovascular workout, you’ll follow the same warm-up and stretching protocol, then complete 30 to 45 minutes of a safe cardio activity of your choice. The other option is to add 15 to 20 minutes of cardio on,  after your weight lifting routine.

To rate the intensity of your workout, use the talk test rather than monitoring your heart rate. You should be able to maintain a conversation throughout any workout you do during pregnancy.

Workout Program Phase 2 – The Second Trimester  

Your workouts will remain basically the same in the second trimester. Your warm-up activation movement and weightlifting exercises will change, but the general overall feel of the program is the same.

Your workout frequency, stretching, and cardio guidelines will also stay the same. Remember that the focus is on your posture, preparing you for labour, and the early weeks of motherhood.

Workout Program Phase 3 – The Third Trimester

Once again, your workouts overall will not change as you enter the final trimester of your pregnancy. You may find you may spend more time on stretching tight muscles, so listen to your body.

Your preferences for your cardio activity may change as well. Many women find that cycling on a stationary bike or being in the water takes the stress off their joints and backs,  and is much more comfortable than walking.

There are no clear exercise recommendations following childbirth. We recommend seeking out a physiotherapist who specializes in women’s pregnancy and postpartum bodies before going back to your regular routine. They are trained to assess the condition of your abdominal and perineal muscles that have been stretched to their maximum limit.

The Fit & Healthy Pregnancy Guide is a one of a kind program that will help you navigate the biggest challenges in your pregnancy. You’ll learn how to take care of your growing body by doing resistance and core exercises that will help your back stay stay strong so it can support your growing belly. You’ll also be introduced to a nutrition plan that seems outdated at first glance, but it’s actually a diet that could satisfy the needs of an Olympic level athlete.

At the low cost of only $27, the Fit & Healthy Pregnancy Guide offers you even more than a three-trimester exercise plan, 3 months of meal plans, a recipe guide, and complete shopping lists. You also get the added bonuses of two hypnotherapy audios that will help you prepare psychologically for the challenges of going through childbirth. If this is your first pregnancy, these CDs can be an invaluable resource.

In addition, you have the option of further improving your health with Linda Wallace’s book on energy, tapping, and personal health care products.

What we like about the Fit & Healthy Pregnancy guide is the freedom to move freely between the three meal plans provided. Since the focus is on improving your health, you don’t have to follow any of the nutrition advice to a T. You can also choose which supplements, if any, you will use. These don’t include any fat loss or protein supplements, but rather, ones that are meant to support whole body wellness along with good fetal development of your unborn child.

We also like that the workouts are relatively short. Although you will be told to exercise four to six days a week you can take this with a grain of salt, especially in the first trimester when fatigue and nausea tend to be highest. Also, in the last trimester when fatigue returns. The weightlifting routines are designed for home use and we think that the simplified sessions are perfect for pregnant women and new moms.

The nutrition plans do not include any kind of measuring or calorie counting. Instead, you are told to rely on your hunger and body signals to know when you’ve had enough to eat. This is a great way to get in tune with your body, something that will be especially useful during childbirth.

What we don’t love about the FHP workouts is that they may quickly become boring. You are asked to do the same workout for three months at a time, 2 to 4 times a week. The exercises don’t change that much during the three semesters.

We also encourage you to speak to a trained physiotherapist about how to perform kegels properly. Yes, you need to properly support your pelvic floor, however, the goal of squeezing your perineal muscles tight is not the only task of the pelvic floor. There is a better way to do kegels. A pelvic floor physiotherapist should be on every woman’s prenatal appointment checklist.

If you are a woman who is pregnant or hopes to be pregnant in the near future, you should pick up a copy of Fit & Healthy Pregnancy. The information in it is something every pregnant woman should know.