Pregnancy Workout - Cable Machines! & Breastfeeding Truths!

BREASTFEEDING TRUTHS!

Written May 16th 2015:
 I have so many pregnant friends and ones who just had babies (guess its that phase in life) and I just wanted to share my dose of reality because I wish someone would have posted this for me to read when I was pregnant. BREASTFEEDING is NOT EASY (especially at first)!!! I know for some of you it will be and I am truly happy for you. But for me...it's just wasn't. I was super overwhelmed. And Remy latched great, so that wasn't the issue. Figuring him out was exhausting- what position did he like? why is he choking? is my flow too fast? he just spit up everything! why is he falling asleep? is he getting enough? is he getting too much? is it gas pains? what foods do I need to give up? why hasn't he pooped? It was endless. Around the clock me and my little man working on getting this thing right. And I mean literally around the clock... I was on call 24 hours a day. No one else could feed him or help. No one else to take on the challenge of figuring your baby out. It was, quite honestly, like one crazy, demanding, full time job in which you weren't allowed to sleep at night. Everything blurred together into one giant Groundhog Day. THAT WAS MY REALITY! I apparently saw too many glamorous IG nursing pics and thought it was going to be all rainbows and sunshine. It wasn't. And I sure do wish someone would have warned me. It DOES get MUCH easier as you go. But there are still a lot of not-so-fun nursing things....like pumping, keeping the milk cold, pumping, no feeding on the go, pumping. Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome to be able to give your baby all the nutrients it needs, but it's not this easy peasy cakewalk thing (for most). You've got to have the will to do it! And if you do, you will make it. Just remember one Groundhog Day at a time ;) and eventually you will feel normal again and you'll be proud. Rightfully so!

And here is a great third trimester cable machine workout (full-body) I loved this one!

Eating Healthy While Pregnant

Healthy?! If by healthy you mean a healthy serving of french fries :)
Well let's just talk about the diet I tried to stick to, because we all know sometimes cheating is necessary and did I mention that I was big, hungry pregnant during the holidays?! Note to self: Get  pregnant in the summer next go 'round, when people snack on watermelon not snowman sugar cookies and peppermint bark.

My pregnancy diet/ healthy eating plan
This method won't work for everyone, but for me it really does: when I am honestly hungry, I eat something. AND 9 times out of 10 I try to make sure it's a fruit, vegetable or protein. I try not to eat fruit past lunch time, unless I workout in the afternoon. It's sort of my way to ensure that all the fast burning carbs I eat (sugars) will be used up before I go to bed.

Here are some really basic healthy eating tips (pregnant or not):

• When you’re hungry drink a glass of water first. Seriously! Even if you still plan to eat something as soon as you’re done with the water, that’s fine. Just drink a full glass before hand. 
• Drink a full glass of water before you do anything else in the morning!  
• Always go to the fridge first! When you’re hungry, don’t dart for the pantry.   Go straight to the fridge and find something to eat there.  
• Try to fit in eating potassium rich foods (spinach, kale, bananas, oranges, etc)   once a day. This will help you avoid cramping after workouts.   
• If you need a treat, choose a healthier option like Frozen Yogurt and buy it at   a restaurant. Do not bring a carton home EVER! Small semi-sweet dark chocolate is ok too, but allow yourself one or two squares a night.  
• Weight-training is SO important! Extra muscle burns more energy at rest than fat.  Extra muscle will also burn more fat in active phase, so having more muscle will definitely help burn more energy and fat! 
• Don’t eat carbs by themselves! Always try to pair carbs with a protein or a vegetable. For example, if you’re in a hurry and have to eat a bowl of whole grain cereal for breakfast, pair it with a bit of cottage cheese on the side or egg whites. This will help to ensure those carbs digest more slowly which will cause less insulin to be released and therefore have less of an impact on your ability to burn fat. 
• Never, ever, ever eat carbs right before bed.  
• Skip the oil! Cook with low-sodium vegetable stock as much as possible! 
• Try not to eat  FRUIT past lunch! The only exception is pre-workout.

My last few weeks growing my sweet babe.

Welcoming Remington to the blog world.

I'm back!
Gosh- it's been 7 months since I've last been on here and I've missed writing so much. Let me first start out by welcoming my sweet baby boy to the (blog) world, Remington. Born Feb. 16th 2016, 7lbs 1oz, 20in. He is delightful, a total dream....

I told you, huh? Nothing beats a wrinkly, pouty-liped, sleepy newborn. Nothing.

Someday, I'll write his whole arrival story and how I've handled my first 7 months as a mama. But for now I want to cover a few other things as well. I did write all of my workouts down through my pregnancy and most of them from post postpartum. While I enjoy writing a ton of fluff on here and tend to use this blog as my journal space, I know most of the thousand or so readers that came last month came to see the workouts. SO as promised, I will continue to post them and I will also document my postpartum fitness recovery- it has NOT been easy (let me guess, you expected that).

Below is Workout #13, Second Trimester, Back and Shoulder Day.  AND
Workout #14, Third Trimester, Leg Day (this get harder and harder the bigger you get).
As a side note, I want to mention that a lot of my repetition counts are high- and that's because you should NOT be attempting to lift super heavy while pregnant. Of course, you want to maintain your muscle so you do want the weight to be a challenge, but you should be able to get in the number of repetitions I've listed on the workout cards. If you can only squeeze out 7-8 reps- you're going too heavy. That's my rule at least to help prevent injury while pregnant :)

Let me make a long story on my absence very short....
My husband and I started a business and I had a baby. The word BUSY does not every nearly describe how chaotic and crazy my life was 7 months ago. Now, I work at our business 2 days a week and hang out with my little buddy the rest of the time. Life is SO good. I've spent the past few weeks feeling so grateful to God for this beautiful (sometimes crazy) life. I honestly could not have dreamed of anything better.







Newborn photos by the lovely http://www.daniellehobbsphotography.com/

Naming Baby and Second Trimester Worko

I'm in my 35th week and I really can't grasp my head around the fact that very, very soon I will be holding sweet baby Remy in my arms. Did I mention his name yet?  Remington "Remy". We fell in love with the name Remy- it's origin is French and it means oarsmen or rower. We wanted little squiggles to also have a longer name, and wanted Remy to be his nickname, so we Googled and found that Remy was short for a few different names, but our favorite was Remington. Sounds legit if he's going to become a lawyer or something. :)
Remy: People with this name have a deep inner desire for travel and adventure, and want to set their own pace in life without being governed by tradition....

One day, little Remy, you will have many of your own adventures. But that day is not today. First, you have to grow in me for a few more weeks, then together we will fight (well a little more me than you) to bring you into this world, and then I'm going to be crazy mama bear and love on you all the time and want to protect you from all harm, and then one day when you're good and ready (and I still won't be) you will have your own adventures and discover so many things this amazing world we live in has to offer. 

Anyway, onto my fitness life! I actually came down with a virus/sinus infection for the past few days and have been out of commission. I knew especially with growing a little one I needed to rest a lot more than usual. I'm not sure if it was getting sick or just this growing babe, but my back pain is back and it's been pretty painful. So when I have been at the gym, I've been sitting on the upright bike taking it easy. My routine has been 20 min. on the elliptical and 40 min. on the upright bike. Since all the pain and sinus issues, I've kept my heart rate exertion less than 80% (I wear a monitor when I workout). However, I've found that the best method to keep your heart rate in a good place for you and baby is to use the Rate of Perceived Exertion. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) says stay between 5-8 and ACSM says 3-7 on a 10-point scale.

Rate of Perceived Exertion

0 Feeling you get when sitting.
1 Activities like getting dressed.
2 Feeling you might get while doing laundry.
3 Taking a casual walk.
4 Walking briskly, but still maintaining conversation.
5 Feeling you get when rushing out the door.
6 Feeling you get when rushing up a flight of stairs.
7 Exercise while singing.
8 Slightly tiring exercise, but still speaking full sentences.
9 Feeling fatigue. Breathing hard.
10 All out exercise. Could not maintain for more than 30 seconds.

Workout below (remember I am just now posting workouts from my second trimester):

35 week pic :) with a bad, bad cold!

My gym selfie vs. some random girl :) :)

My sleepover with these two was the best!!! <3 my nephews!

Maternity Pics and Pregnancy Workout #9 & #10...

It's been a month since my last post. Where has the time gone? Well, the holiday rush orders (for Jean & Grace) and then the holidays themselves just seemed to swallow up most of my month. It was a good month though. I spent lots of time with friends and family and J was home for an entire two weeks! Yippee!

On top of all that goodness, month 8 of my pregnancy was fantastic!! 

-My back pain has lessened 

-I had an ultrasound to check on my placenta previa and (praise God) my placenta moved!!

-Baby has lots of hair! (I got to see a sweet view during the ultrasound)

-Oh and I got to eat a ton of goodies over the holidays and this baby belly hid it all for me :)

I am experiencing a few new pregnancy "symptoms" as I grow..

-Indigestion! It doesn't matter what I eat, even a sip of water sends my digestive tract in a tiff

-Constipation. No one wants to talk about it, but it happens. I find amping up my fiber intake has helped quite a bit (of course that means drinking more h2o to compensate) 

-It's hard to get out of bed. I officially feel like a turtle on its back.

It's been a fast journey so far, not a moment has gone by slow and I am afraid maybe this is a little foreshadowing for parenting. I always hear people say "they grow up so fast" and even though this baby is still in me, I am already beginning to relate to some of those emotions.

I probably will regret saying this in a week or two, but for journaling purposes, at week 33, I can honestly say I love being pregnant. Love. There is something deep inside my heart that has been touched by this entire experience. And at the end of the day I might not like the stretch marks on my boobs, the inability to carry really heavy stuff, the rollover maneuver I have to make to get out of bed, or the baby foot jabs that hurt my ribs, but despite all of that I love this feeling of growing my son inside me. I love watching him move about in there. I love dreaming of the little baby he'll be, the littler toddler I'll chase around the house, the boy my husband will workout with, the teenager we will teach to drive and the man I'll one day have to let go of. I promise myself to do what I can to embrace all the moments of his life, to not let time slip by too quickly and to often think back to where it all began.

Workouts below (still for second trimester):

On a side note mine J's maternity pics came in and I couldn't be happier! Minted Photography is the best <3