Tag: healthy and pregnant

Working the bump

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I love that I am now “truly pregnant”, by that I mean, when I go to bend over my belly is in the way, I can hold a glass on my belly when relaxing on the couch and I find myself peeing every two seconds! The next best thing is that I am still feeling great in my workouts. 27 weeks down and only 13 or so to go. The modification I have made at this time to my workouts include cutting out Cleans (I could still do them, but my belly would require me to rainbow a bit, so I’ll just skip them for a couple months), taking a slightly wider stance for my squats to accommodate my every growing belly, lighter weights and more breaks to catch my breath or wait out my Braxton-Hicks contractions.

Today’s workout…

1/2 mile jog on treadmill

Squats – 10
Bulgarian Split Squats with Kettlebell – 10 each leg
Repeat 3 times

Overhead Press – 10
Dumbbell Push Ups – 10 (Dumbbells are simply used to accomodate the large belly and maintain my fully range of motion)
Lateral dumbbell arm raises – 10
Repeat 3 times

When life takes over stay true to your nutrition

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Our schedule has been next to impossible to fit in my workouts, so I have been focusing on my food! When in doubt make sure you are eating as healthy as possible. I am sure many of your have heard the saying “Getting fit is 80 percent nutrition” or that “Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym” – both having a great deal of truth. To explain why we need to consider our daily schedules. Typically a person spends thirty to ninety minutes working out per day, leaving between 22-23 hours left to make great decisions. With the fact that you are eating at least 3 times per day, plus 2-3 snacks, you have many more opportunities to make bad nutrition decisions than working out. Plus, if you aren’t fueling your body properly and are unable to optimize your metabolism you may not see changes you desire.

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Therefore, today I made the meals for he remaining part of our week. Lunches for this week included Naked Chicken Fajitas, in a skillet I sauteed one onion and 5 garlic cloves in grape seed oil. Then added chicken breasts chopped into pieces and cooked fully. When they were fully cooked I added my spices chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic salt, and cumin. Mixed thoroughly, add peppers and cover to cook. In the containers I added black beans, peppers and chicken mixture, tomato slices, shredded cheese and a dash of cilantro. For the side I had half an avocado for some healthy fat.  This is an easy and delicious meal!

Colorado Beauty

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Today was such a beautiful day there was no reason to not get out and “run”! It felt absolutely amazing. Inside I am trying to hold in my excitement for the Spring as tomorrow it could be snowing, after all I live in Colorado. But I have realized that the nice weather makes it so much more fun to get activity in. Even my son upon asking him if he wanted to go for a run in the stroller, ran to the garage with excitement.

A mile and a half later, full bladder and a sleepy little one we made it home.

Deadlifts, Rows and High Pulls

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Workout of the day…

10 – Deadlifts
12 – Bent over Barbell Rows
10- Barbell High Pulls

5 Rounds with heavy weight

Beautiful Colorado Outdoor Workout

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One thing I love about Colorado is that one day we are freezing and playing in snow and the next it is 60 degrees and sunny! I took advantage of a beautiful day and got a workout in outside while my little one was napping. My energy has been extremely low the past week and a half and workouts have been a struggle – not today. Between a good night sleep and great food for the day I had plenty of energy and took full advantage of it.

I have a lot of people asking me have I eat so here is a run down of what I ate today to keep my energy going…

Breakfast: Protein Shake (20 ounces Coconut Milk, 2 Scoops Chocolate Protein Powder, 1/4 cup frozen cherries- tastes just like chocolate covered cherries), Chorizo and a Chocolate Gluten Free Protein Muffin

Lunch: Chicken Breast with Bacon and Brussel Sprouts

Snack: Protein shake following my workout (20 ounces Coconut Milk, 2 Scoops Chocolate Protein Powder and 1 tsp powdered Peanut butter)

2nd Snack: UCAN bar

Dinner: Pork Chop with Green Chili, Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes and Onions made in the Crockpot. Blueberries for dessert!

Today’s workout…

100 Jump Ropes
10 – Step Ups/Bicep Curls to Overhead press each side
10 – Walking lunges each side with dumbbells
20 – Wall Balls
10 – Push Ups

Repeated 4 times

 

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

 

Super Bowl Funday!

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Got my workout in early this morning so that I could enjoy the game (since our Broncos are going to win it! – fingers crossed). A couple pieces of advice I offer my clients on this crazy Super Bowl weekend…

  • Eat a meal before you go to a party if you are unsure if your host will have healthy options.
  • Stick to the meat and vegetables. Skip the chips, desserts and minimize the sugary drinks!
  • Make the game into your workout. Each touch down do 10 Squats, each turnover 10 sit ups, field goals 5 burpees, etc.

Today’s workout…

Leg Press – 10×3
Front Squats – 10×3
Overhead Press – 10×3
Incline Bench – 10×3
Dumbbell bicep curl to overhead press – 10×3
Seated Rows – 10×3
Lat Pulls – 10×3

Getting out of a Slump

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Week 24 is kicking my butt. My energy has dropped, I have a slight cold and my son isn’t sleeping well. These all add up to me not working out. I know I have told my clients time and time again you really have no excuse to not workout and yet hear I am almost a week out with no workouts. I have played in the snow twice so I can’t say I wasn’t active at all but in terms of a true workout – nothing!

Getting out of slump can be tricky. You can tell yourself you will “do it tomorrow”, but a majority of the time the same thing is said the next day. My advice…start out slow, but as Nike says “Just do it”! So that is just what I did.  It took all my efforts to get myself down in the basement for my workout, but when all was said and done it felt good.

Today’s workout was…

200 Jump Ropes
10 Mountain Climbers with Fitball
20 Prisioner Lunges
Stair Calf Raises (start on the bottom step and do 10 calf raises, then step up to the next step and do 9, 8, 7…)
10 RDLs with KB
10 Inverted Push-Ups

Repeat 3 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