My shirt says…”I caught me a wee leprechaun!”
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I did a “Lucky 7” workout….
70 – Jump Ropes
7 – Deadlifts
7 – Push-Ups
7 – Squats
7 – Overhead Press with Dumbbells
7 – Lunges with Dumbbells
7 – Assisted Pull-Ups
7 – Keg RDLs
Repeat 4 times
Good luck!
It has been a week since we had to make a trip to the hospital and a week since my last workout. I have taken the time to let me body recover and to make sure to perfect my eating habits to decrease the chance of going back to the hospital again. Wednesday was the lowest energy I have been in a long time and it felt like my abs had been through one of the toughest workouts ever thanks to all the contractions. By Friday some of my energy had returned and I no longer felt like my blood sugar was tanked.
To detail how my meals have changed…first and foremost I have increased my eating frequency. Every couple of hours I will have a meal or a snack with both protein and complex carbohydrates. I was sometimes doing this before, but now I am not missing a snack! I am completely staying away from sugary snacks and drinks to avoid the huge spike in your blood sugar. I will have the occasional soda, natural and sweetened with Stevia, to satisfy my sweet tooth, but nothing else. Stevia is a natural sweetener that will not affect your blood sugar levels like regular sugar, but is a much healthier option than artificial sweeteners.
Yesterday’s meals…
Breakfast: 2 Sausages, Quinoa bake, and protein shake.
Snack: Trail mix with dried fruit, cashews and pecans.
Lunch: Chicken breast, sauteed squash, zucchini and carrots, and gluten free mac’n cheese
Snack: Apples and natural peanut butter
Snack: Chia Seed Bar
Dinner: Sweet potatoes cooked in Natural Bacon grease, bacon, asparagus and grilled pork chops.
Snack: Right before bed I will typically have a small amount of nuts or a protein muffin and a glass of water.
The reason I have been so conscience about my food and eating is due to the fact that my blood sugar seems to be running lower than my normal. This can be expected the baby is taking a good amount of the nutrients away from me to grow. Because my blood sugars tend to be lower I have the tendency to uptake sugars quickly and utilize them even quicker. For those of you who may not be a familiar with how your blood sugar works. When you eat something sugary (cookies, candy, cereal, bread, etc) your body is able to take in those nutrients much quicker than protein or fat, which quickly increases your blood sugar. As seen in the image below protein and fat take longer to be broken down into fuel and do not affect the blood sugar as does carbs.
Some people may notice that immediately after eating something sugary or made of simply carbohydrates they have energy, but within an hour they are looking for something else to eat or caffeine to bring their energy up.
This doesn’t mean that people do not need carbohydrates, we do! But we need to be smart about when and what types we are consuming. Carbohydrates that are more complex and provide a great amount of nutrients are items such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, vegetables and fruits. These will not have as dramatic effect on the blood sugar as items such as white rice, tortillas, sugars, cereals, etc.
Some women’s blood sugars, like mine, may run lower than their “normal” during pregnancy, which can lead to symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, weakness, blured vision, hunger or headaches. Maintaining a steady diet in protein, fats and complex carbohydrates can ensure blood sugar levels remain steady throughout the day.
Women who have or are at risk for having gestational diabetes will actually have the opposite or high blood sugar levels. Gestational diabetes starts when your body is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for pregnancy. Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy. Glucose builds up in the blood to high levels. This is called hyperglycemia. (See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/gestational/what-is-gestational-diabetes.html#sthash.nXpsbDst.dpuf)
Today’s workout…
1 mile (1600 meter) Row on Rower
Leg Press – 3×10
Walking lunges with barbell – 2x8each leg
Barbell RDLs – 2×10
Lateral box step ups – 2x10each leg (holding Kettlebell in hands)
Post workout feelings – GREAT! Minimal contractions, lots of water consumed and legs were happy to get a short workout in!!!
Well it seems even trainers make mistakes and end up in the hospital! Luckily this was just a short visit to get my contractions under control, but it was a lesson learned by me.
It must have started Tuesday morning when I was running late getting out the door and only grabbed a protein shake for breakfast and a protein bar for snack later that morning. Lunch was make shift (I hadn’t got the chance to get to the store) I had eggs, chorizo, tomatoes and cheese. Afternoon snack (worst pick of all) a few dark chocolate chips. Finally, dinner was pot roast, carrots and kale chips. Overall this may seem like a good day of food, but when you look a little closer the calories and nutrient content are on the low side.
Thus the problem began, at 7pm I began having contractions, which is typical for me. Normally I just make sure to relax, drink some extra water and they fade away. An hour into contractions, 36 ounces of water down and they were only picking up pace. By 9:00pm I called the doctor, who recommended I take a trip to my labor and delivery ward. Not fun when you have a 21 month old just barely in bed, tired husband and lets be honest no one likes to go to the hospital.
I am glad we went in as my contractions began to be almost two minutes apart, not painful, but uncomfortable for the bladder by all means. After running several test I received the lovely terbutaline shot (Nurse warned me it burned and holy crap did it!). Contractions slowed and we were set to be released. The end results determined that I was well hydrated, but I had ketones in my urine. This means that my body was utilizing fat stores rather than carbohydrates and that I was in a calorie deficit. You can compare this to a body builder right before they have a show. This could have been the reason my body was contracting when it wasn’t needing to. Turns out my glucose test also determined my blood sugar levels are low, meaning my body readily utilizes carbohydrates! Typically, a fasting glucose level should be between 86-120, but mine was well below at 68.
This isn’t a terrible thing, but it does mean I need to consume a higher number of calories to keep my body happy and that I need to ensure I am balancing my meals efficiently with protein and complex carbohydrates. Several weeks ago I noticed that I was having trouble with spinning and nausea, which I also attributed to food intake. At that point I found eating simple carbs (sugars, breads, etc.) would cause me to drop in blood sugar and become dizzy. Now I have also come to realize I need more calories during the day. This may seem like a no brainer, but the struggle is most times I don’t feel hungry in between meals. Therefore, I have started eating meals/snacks (regardless of being hungry) every 2-3 hours to ensure my blood sugar will remain stable and not drop too quickly. It has taken two days to feel like my blood sugar is at a sustainable level and to get my energy back. Obviously, no workouts for the time being, but I am hoping to get back to it this weekend.
Moral of this story is – life can take over and especially as mom’s we forget to take care of ourselves (ex: not eat enough), but when you are pregnant you need to ensure you are taking care of yourself for your babies shake. Luckily everything looked great with our little girl, but now it is time I focus on food!
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
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.
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!
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
strengthtrain4baby 