Tag: eating healthy

Getting dizzy!

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This week has been a crazy whirlwind of events. My husband and I have picked up our personal training business to include “Brewery Boot Camps”, keeping me so busy I have failed to get my posts up for everyone here! I have been able to fit small workouts in here and there, just no time to share with everyone. So here I am playing catch up once again!

Along with our busy schedule I have now developed a new symptom I never even had with my first pregnancy – dizziness! Initially I thought this was due to lack of water and eating, but after reviewing my food and water intake for the day I was on the positive side. However, the one change that day was my carbohydrate intake was higher than normal. We ate out and I had a the corned beef hash – heavy on the hash and light on the corned beef. Later when I got home I had a craving for sweets and gave in on this occation – bad idea! As a result my blood sugar spiked quickly and dropped even quicker that evening resulting in dizziness and nausea. Eating a dinner of lean protein and vegetables was helpful, but it took a good day to truly recover. Upon talking with other friends it seems I am not alone in this feeling and (note this is not scientifically proven) it seems baby girls tend to cause this more often than boys. As a result I have begun to eat a healthy protein and carbohydrates (vegetables and fruits) every couple of hours to avoid my dizziness. This is not fool proof, but it has helped a great deal. Plus, the bottom line is I really do not need to eat ANY sweets to avoid crazy blood sugar levels, therefore this is keeping from doing so. Pregnancy is hard, but if anyone can do it a woman can!!!

Workout for the day…

Overhead Press – 5
Push Press – 5
Jerk – 5
Repeat 5 times

Pull Ups – 10
Walking lunges with weight – 10 each leg
Repeat 3 times

 

Is it a Boy or a Girl?

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The next weightlifting Chavez will be….

its a girl

Happy Friday!

Workout of the Day…

400 meter row
10 Squats
10 RDLs
10 Overhead Press
Repeat 4 times

Bump-date!

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The picture on the left is from my 1st pregnancy and the one on the right is from this week. (I know they are different weeks, last time we forgot week 23). Do you think we’re having a boy or a girl?

How far along: 23 weeks!

Baby Size: A mango {11 inches, 1 pounds}

Weight gain: 15 lbs

Maternity clothes: Yes. Even my yoga pants are a bit tight.

Stretch marks: None yet.

Sleep: Good. Getting up typically once per night to pee.

Gender: Stay tuned this Thursday for the gender reveal!

Movement: Yep, little one is moving like crazy and loves kicking my pelvic floor!

Looking forward to: Meeting our sweat pea – SOON! Matt set up the hammock in the backyard this weekend so we have another little place to relax once the baby arrives.

Food cravings: Had a few sweet cravings this week, otherwise GREEN CHILI!Food aversions: Pork and strong spice smells.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Strong smells and plain water.
What I miss: Being able to sit up with my ab muscles! And I am really looking forward to an ice cold Hard cider.
Symptoms: Baby kicks, bloated after my meals and occasional Braxton Hicks contractions.
Nursery: Almost cleaned out and we are starting to pick colors and designs to paint on the walls.
Belly Button in or out? Out – and when I cough more out!

Wedding rings on or off? On and no swelling.

Mood: Fairly good. I have occasional moments of annoyance, typically when I need more food or sleep, but otherwise upbeat.

Workouts: Good, on hold till further notice from my OB, due to contractions.
January Distance Challenge – 28.25 miles down, 21.75 miles to go!

Men Will Never Truly Understand

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I have been taking it a bit easier the past couple days – my higher activity has been causing a few Braxton Hicks contractions in the evenings. I had this last pregnancy starting at 17 weeks, but until I see my doctor on Monday I don’t want to push it. This little one has some more cooking to do!

Now that I have crossed the half way mark of this pregnancy I am starting to notice my energy is draining. I am always a go, go, go person, but lately I have had to stop and rest. My husband on occasion even asks why I am so tired, of course my response “I don’t know, could it be the person growing inside of me?” Someday’s I really wish men could truly understand what women go through just to make a baby.

Don’t get me wrong my husband does help out more and is really looking forward to our newest edition, but there are someday’s I truly wish he could understand what it is like to be pregnant.

 

I am always joking with my girlfriends about guys needing to experience just three small parts of pregnancy – 1 Day of nausea, vomiting and the “morning sickness”, 1 day of being humongous (9 months pregnant) walking around with the extra weight and finally, just 1 HOUR of labor pains. One hour that is all I am asking! 🙂 If any of you haven’t seen the viral videos where guys are hooked up to electrical stimulation machines which simulate labor pains, it is definitely worth your while and a few laughs (Men in Labor) or the other great video is done by the Try Guys (Try Labor Simulation). While they will never truly understand what women go through, this could gets them just a little closer. Of course when I offered to find a location my husband could try this he quickly found a reason he would be unable to do so!

Needless to say pregnancy is not for the faint of heart and definitely takes a lot to endure. I even have a few girlfriends who, because of my fabulous stories of pregnancy, have sworn off babies and will simply “buy” them! I highly doubt when it come there time that they could not face the challenge, but it doesn’t sound a lot easier on the body that way.

 

January Distance Challenge – 16.25 miles down and 33.75 miles to go!  I have some catching up to do!!! Eeek

Energy boost!

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Earlier than usual wake up today, and boy did it make for a tiresome morning! I did manage to get a good workout in and it truly helped increase my energy. Energy can be affected by many things – pregnancy number one, amount of sleep, quality of sleep, food and exercise. To maximize your energy levels its important to balance each of these things.

Today’s workout –

Warm-Up: Half mile (800 meters) on the rower

Workout – 15 minutes as many rounds as possible

500 meter row
5 Deadlifts
10 Box Jumps
Repeat

I was able to complete 4 rounds in 15 minutes 48 seconds (I wasn’t going to quit half way through a round)

Cool down – 400 meters on the rower

 

January Distance Challenge – 13 miles down, 37 miles to go!

Confessions of a Slacker!

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I must confess I have let my life take over my workout time the past week and I am guilty of slacking! It has been 6 days since my last workout, but as of today – no more slacking! First of all my body feels awful and neglected. Second, I have challenged all my clients to a distance challenge for January, so I need to get my butt moving. As of yesterday (January 4th) – zero miles, but as of today the 5th – 2 miles down and 48 to go. In June of last year I did this same challenge and took on 100 miles, but with two differences I had the outdoors to run and didn’t have to worry about ice and extremely cold temperatures and I wasn’t pregnant. Therefore, for the month January I feel that half of the miles (50) should be a challenge. If you are interested in participating in my challenge please email or comment below and I would love to help you stick to your goals. All of my clients have chosen a distance whether it be running, biking, swimming or using their pedometer to track their steps and set a number goal to achieve. Each week I will check in with your progress and post it on my website to help keep you accountable. Top two people will win a prize! Participation is completely free, so please join in!  Most important thing to remember about slacking is that it only last as long as you let it. We all have those days, sometimes even weeks, we just don’t feel like working out. Not to mention missing one day seems to make missing next day even easier. There are so many excuses to NOT do something, but we need to focus on the reasons you WANT to ACCOMPLISH something. It’s not about having time to workout, it’s about MAKING time to workout!!!

Today I made sure to schedule in a good workout. I wanted to get a bit of strength and cardio in to fire up my lazy muscles! Here is what I did…

8 Squats
20 Kettlebell Swings without stopping (if I stopped before 20 I had to do 5 Burpees for each rest)
400 meter Row
Repeat 4 times

I finished up my workout with a short 5 minute Tabata (sprinting intervals).  When I say sprinting this was not my usual graceful sprint, but rather slow run with a bouncing belly! 🙂 For the Tabata I did 30 seconds sprinting, 30 seconds rest and repeated 5 times. Keep in mind when you are pregnant to ensure you stay within safe range during your “sprint” should be able to say a full sentence while running and don’t feel strange in any way. If you have not sprinted in the past year these should only be a fast paced walk!!!!

 

January Distance Challenge Count: 2 Miles down, 48 miles to go!

New Years Resolutions

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happy new year

With the start of 2016 everyone is starting to think about those New Years Resolutions. Some may be planning the trip of a lifetime. Others may plan on getting ahead in their career, and many of us even set new fitness goals. Just like everyone else, even personal trainers are always looking for goals to set for themselves to keep motivated.  Please try to think outside the box.

I’d like to challenge everyone to not only set goals that can be accomplished in the gym, but to set goals that can be enjoyed in the great outdoors.  Being outside has proven to be very beneficial for the mind and body.  Below are just a few goals that my family and I hope to accomplish in the outdoors this year:

  • Take the kid(s) sledding in the mountains.  Not that our local sledding hill won’t suffice, but experiencing new(and as my husband says “steeper and faster”)  hills is always an adventure.  If I must say, schlepping all of that gear up and down the hill is always an awesome workout…especially since the kid normally rides in the sled on the way UP the mountain as well.
  • Bring the kids hiking on some of our favorite trails we used to go on.  The kids are small and easy to carry now, the extra weight provides for a better workout and more of an experience for the whole group.  Everyone knows the further you hike the better the pictures!
  • Complete 1,000 miles in running, biking or some form of cardio. In June last year I did a hundred miles, so I thought it would be fun to have a year long cardio goal. Taking into consideration I will be in my third trimester for a majority of the year I will include other modes of cardio than just running.
  • Build a more inviting outdoor living area.  Not only do we want to sit and relax on the patio while we watch the little ones play, but we’d like to have a great outdoor area to exercise.  Being cooped up in a dark basement trying to get a workout in while it’s beautiful outside can be trying for even the most motivated.
  • What are some of your OUTDOOR goals?

Eventually it is going to be time to move indoors.  Don’t worry, I’m not talking about the gym…yet!  I’m referring to the  kitchen!  Here are some of the family goals for the new year that involve a healthy diet:

  • Meal PLAN and PREP as often as possible.
  • Purchase as organic as possible when it comes to the dirty dozen foods.
  • Try a new recipe every other week(being realistic).  If we enjoy the recipe I will post it on the website as soon as possible.
  • Try to let as little food as possible go to waste
  • What are your NUTRITION goals? 

I told you we would eventually move into the gym! This can be at your home, your local park or your local gym.  Hopefully it’s not as busy as my gym has been and will be this coming month- Geeze! With goals of a healthy mommy body and even healthier baby, there are somethings that only a good ole fashioned strength training session can work.  Gym have their upsides – not only does the gym have all that fancy equipment, but it has the people to go with it.  The support structure that your gym friends and family can prove to be invaluable.  If your friends are anything like mine they’ll rag on you for missing your workout, which only enhances my own guilt.  Everyone has those days when working out just sounds terrible, but there really very few reasons to miss your workouts.  They don’t always have to be the best workout, sometimes they just have to be a workout… Below are some of my goals for this coming year I hope to accomplish in the gym:

  • Get my pre-baby belly back.  This could be different for everyone.  I’m not talking about a hard 6-pack, but for me it means core strength.  Back to the days when I could do a 5 min plank, sit-ups for days, and be able to laugh so hard that I thought my sides were going to split WITHOUT actually peeing my pants!
  • Master the double under.
  • Keep my knees as healthy and stable as possible so I can continue to play soccer at the level I do.
  • What are some of your GYM/FITNESS goals?

The biggest thing to remember is to increase your success of achieving your goals is that they need to be realistic. If you want to lose weight or gain muscles there are many things to consider – exercise program, nutrition plan and time it will take to accomplish these. If you set your goals too high – example: I am going to lose 50 pounds in 2 weeks – unless you plan on losing a limb this is not going to be realistic. Plan your goals in stages – your long term goal may be to lose 50 pounds, but maybe you want to lose 5 pounds by the end of January and 12 pounds by February, etc. Plus, maybe you want to climb your very first 14,000 foot mountain, well you will need to start building your muscle (strength training) and increasing your cardio, which will also help you reach your long term goal of losing weight!!!  Think outside the of the box with your goals. Your 2016 goals should be for you and about what you are passionate about achieving.

Tell me what your goals are for 2016 and I will do my best to help you stay accountable! If you have questions or need help achieving these goals email me I am here to help – strengthtrain4baby@gmail.com.

 

 

Jump Ro-pee-ing and Hot Breakfast

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Have you ever had the sensation of peeing your pants, or actually peeing your pants, while working out? Well I have, and today was no exception. If you are a first time mom or new to working out, many women experience some weakening of the pelvic floor muscles which can cause you to slightly pee your pants when working out. When you are pregnant this sensation can be exacerbated by the extra weight on your bladder and post baby this can be due to weak muscles. This is where strength training can play a huge roll in recovery!

Today’s workout involved a lot of jump roping! Due to the snow that came through Colorado my workout was limited to the indoors, but I wanted to get some cardio in. Thus, my first choice was jump roping! Turns out my one weakness, since the start of this pregnancy, has been that damn jump rope. While it may cause a few extra trips to the bathroom jump roping is a great way to increase your heart rate, burn a good number of calories and break a sweat.

Keep in mind that due my weaker pelvic floor muscles I have incorporated exercises to build these muscles up in each of my workouts. Exercises such as hip thrusts, squats, core, etc. can help build a stronger pelvic floor. I have seen a huge improvement in my own pelvic floor over the past several months. In September, at my CrossFit Competition, I immediately would feel the “peeing your pants” sensation. Today, I didn’t have any issues until the very last set on the jump rope.

The moral of this story is regardless of this fun occurrence it is important to keep working out. The benefits for mom and baby WAY out weigh the embarrassment of a little uncontrolled bladder.

As Billy Madison would say, “You ain’t cool unless you pee your pants”. Stay strong and keep working out!

Warm-Up:
500 Jump Rope

Workout:
Single Leg Stand-Ups with KB Overhead Press – 10 each side
10 Push-Ups
10 Tricep dip with feet on Fit Ball
20 Figure-8 Lunges
20 KB Mountain Climbers
10 Fit Ball Pike
15 KB Goblet Squats
100 Jump Ropes

Repeat 3 times

 

Here snowy day breakfast recipe!

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Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa
Feeds 3-4 people

Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa
2 cups Coconut or Almond milk
1 pinch of salt
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup
¾ lemon zested, ¼ squeezed juice
1 cup blueberries
2 tsp flax seed

Directions:
Rinse quinoa in a fine strainer with cold water to remove bitterness until water runs clear and is no longer frothy. Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until warm, 2-3 minutes. Stir quinoa and salt into the milk; simmer over medium-low heat until much of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir maple syrup, lemon zest and lemon juice into the quinoa mixture. Gently fold blueberries into the mixture. Divide quinoa mixture between bowls and top with 1 tsp flax seed and serve!!!

For more breakfast recipes click here.

Nutrition and Meal Prepping

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This time of year at our house football takes over our every Sunday. While I enjoy watching football, it seems I really enjoy napping while everyone else is cheer our team on. The games typically fall during my son’s nap time and when I sit down for 5 minutes without a little one to chase. The downfall of Sunday’s however, we typically have several people over for the game and they bring lots of chips, dip and junk food. If it’s not consumed during the game, it normally stays my house tempting my very pregnant taste buds. I love my husband and our friends dearly but I don’t normally keep chips and cookies around the house.

Nutrition is very important for you and for your baby. Many times I hear women giving in to the fact that they are going to gain weight and eat mindlessly on junk foods. While a treat here and there isn’t bad for you, it is extremely important to consider what foods your are “feeding” your baby.  Sure they give you a list of the foods you need to avoid during pregnancy, excess fish and seafood, lunch meats, unpasteurized cheeses, alcohols, herbal teas and caffeine, but what about the foods you should be eating? Making sure you have a balanced diet of proteins, vegetables, fruits and complex carbohydrates can keep you going all day long and provide the needed nutrients for your growing baby.

One of the best ways to keep up with your nutrition is to make sure you are meal planning. My husband and myself always prep our meals for the week on Sunday. Yes, sometimes it is a pain because we get busy, but I find that if we don’t prepare meals a head of time we are scrounging around for food or headed out to eat. When we prep our meals I try to make something for breakfast that is quick and easy like an egg bake, lunches for each day, snacks to get us through the week and I plan out most dinners. When I am talking snacks I don’t just mean things for us to take to work, but also items for home while we are cooking dinner. (This is the time many of us, especially pregnant women, eat mindlessly on unhealthy snacks).

I always start by making a list of what I will prepare for breakfast, lunches, dinners and snacks. I will then use that list to build my grocery list. This way I have a pre-made list to ensures I have all ingredients I need for my meals and it will help eliminate adding unneeded and unhealthy items to my cart.

This plan has worked great up to the point in which I became pregnant! Now food either sounds amazing or like the worst thing in the world. And it never fails to sound horrible when I am making my shopping list. I make sure to still build my meals like I would when I am not pregnant, but stick with items I know I will eat regardless of how they sound today. Many women, myself included, crave more carbs or tend to eat more carbs because they are lighter on the stomach. Choosing the right carbohydrates can play a key role in how your feel for the rest of the day. While I wake up some morning just craving a dough nut, I know that if I don’t get some protein in I will be starving an hour later and feel more nauseous because my blood sugar is all over the place. My best advise (to keep it simple) is to make sure you have both protein (meat/eggs/seafood) and carbs (vegetables/fruits/wheat bread/sweet potatoes/brown rice) at the same time. This will help you feel full longer and will provide your body and baby nutrients you need.

Bottom line is regardless of how you feel it helps to plan a head. Don’t feel like you need to make gourmet meals every time, you can make a healthy and nutritious meal just by keeping it simple. Try out my easy Crock Pot Mexican Chicken Soup below.

Mexican Chicken Soup

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Ingredients:
4 Chicken breasts
32 oz Chicken Broth
1 can organic black beans
1 package Cream Cheese
3/4 cup green chilis
1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn
1 green pepper sliced
1 red pepper sliced
1 onion sliced
1 large tomato
Grape seed oil

Directions:
Coat inside of the Crock Pot with small amount of grape seed oil. This is to make cleaning easier at the end. In the bottom place the onions, green and red peppers and the chicken breasts on top. Cut cream cheese into chunks and place randomly. Add chicken stock, black beans drained, tomato, corn and green chilis. Stir lightly. Place on medium heat for 6 hours.

When it is done take chicken breasts out and shred chicken. Return chicken to crock pot, serve and enjoy!