Pakistani Expat: “I ran my first marathon while pregnant”

Gulf News

Having gained a lot of baby weight during her first two pregnancies, Sadaf Majdy Khan, a Dubai-based mum from Pakistan, was determined to do things differently if she got pregnant for a third time. Sadaf Khan wants to challenge the assumption that exercise in pregnancy is harmful.  Read the full story:  https://bit.ly/2FeoTqc  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #pregnancy #marathon #exercise

Transcript

00:00I wanted to showcase how you can stay active during pregnancy.

00:08It was kind of difficult but working out is a way for me to just release stress and it really

00:16helped me stay active. It gave me enough energy to run around and it kept me on track health-wise

00:22during this pregnancy as well. I wasn't ever this fit and active in my previous pregnancies.

00:34This time because I had professional certifications and you know fitness training experience and

00:38everything so I could actually apply those learnings on myself and I could keep myself

00:43fit. I had been working out and eating healthy from the very first month to now. I was able to

00:50maintain a good weight while being in quarantine. In my second pregnancy I gained about 20-22 kgs

01:00and it was the hardest time for me after delivering to come back to my normal weight.

01:08It took me almost two years to get back in my pre-pregnancy weight. This time around

01:14I had a completely different approach. I knew how hard it is so I wanted to make sure that

01:20this time around I'm fit, I'm healthy from the beginning so that I don't even reach to

01:25that level where you know I'm stressing about it and I'm worrying about it.

01:33Last year almost half of the year I spent training for my first ever marathon. I decided that 2020

01:40is going to be my year of running and I'm going to start with the Dubai Standard Chartered Marathon.

01:45Three weeks before the Dubai Standard Chartered Marathon I found out I'm pregnant. I just did not

01:51want to let go of this goal. I had spent so many hours training and working hard. I talked to my

01:57gynecologist. She had looked at my previous pregnancies. I had no complications. I had no

02:03health issues. I had been training so she said that as long as I maintain a comfortable pace

02:08and I don't go to win the medal or you know try to get a new race target, I can go ahead.

02:16But I have to listen to my body. I have to make sure that I remember that I'm still pregnant.

02:21Luckily my husband was running the marathon with me. We were training together so for the full

02:27marathon he ran at my pace. He took pee breaks whenever I had to take the breaks

02:33and I refueled myself at intervals to make sure I'm eating and I have full

02:38energy. It took us long but yes I ran the full marathon about eight, nine weeks pregnant.

02:52I wanted to showcase how you can stay active during pregnancy and I'm talking about

02:58from where I come in the Southeast Asian culture. It's very unheard of for a pregnant woman to be

03:05running around to be going to the gym and working out and lifting weights. I wanted to change that

03:10perception that you know Eastern women can work out. It's actually good. There's no physiological

03:16difference between us and like you know the Western women. So while we say it's okay for them

03:22it's not okay for us you know. So for our culture I wanted to showcase

03:27through my pregnancy journey that it's okay to work out and go out and run.

03:36Life gives you unexpected situation. You try to find some solution and when I got into the

03:43situation where you know all the outdoor plans were cancelled and I could not go to gyms anymore

03:49and you know everything was closed. I realized I'm not the only one pregnant during this pandemic.

03:54There might be so many other women who are pregnant and just like me with small children at

04:00home. If I can show them that they can still stay active and healthy while being logged out at home

04:08and quarantined at home then they can have safe and healthy pregnancies at home as well. That's

04:12when I started making online workout videos right here and I would just set a tripod and I would

04:19do my daily workout right here and I would put them on Instagram and YouTube and I started

04:25getting so many pregnant women reaching out to me telling me that this has been a blessing because

04:31you know now they have something to watch and get inspired and motivated. They watch a video and

04:36they're like okay this is doable. I can do it. If she can do it in her living room I can do it.

04:40So I think that became a very bright shining light for me and I decided I'm gonna do this whole

04:48motivational and inspirational thing of helping women stay fit during pregnancy from home

04:53and that has been the best thing that I've done during this COVID.

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