Seriously, all I want to do right now is WORK OUT! But, with nine weeks to go before my baby is born, other areas of my life are pre-empting that plan. Take, for example, today: it was to be my first day back at the gym after a few weeks of exile. I laid out my clothes, packed my bag, filled my water bottle, and dug out my favorite cap. I was soooooo ready. Then, I was foiled. No sleep.
I am blaming it on my husband, since he's the one who turned on the bathroom light and woke me up at 12:57 am. For the next two and a half hours I laid awake with the lyrics to "Uptown Girl," running through my head and my brain spinning with all of the stuff left to do before the baby comes. The point is, I wasn't sleeping. And, if I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't resting.
The old, single me would have just sucked it up and gone to the gym anyway. I know, not ideal but that's me. But I'm double now. I can't just do whatever I want and deal with the consequences later. I knew that if I didn't get some sleep and still went to the gym, by 2:00 I'd be falling asleep and wearing myself out, killing any chances of another workout the next day.
See? I do learn some stuff once in a while. :)
ANYWAY, I finally fell back asleep around 3:30 am (after reading a few chapters of a book and eating a raspberry muffin). When my alarm went off at 4:20, I said a silent curse word in my head and changed the time to 6:30. Damn grown-up being responsible and *&%^ing sleep!
>:/
I have my fingers crossed for tomorrow, that I'll get a good night's sleep and be able to meet my walking group. But at this point in the game, I'm realizing that crossing my fingers is about the best plan I can make some days!
I wonder how evil it would be to disconnect the bathroom light... :)
Good day! Get out there and get healthy!
Showing posts with label pregnancy workouts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pregnancy workouts. Show all posts
Monday, August 15, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Hello Third Trimester! Let's go running!
Hungry. I am so hungry! I’ve hit the third trimester and I am H-U-N-G-R-Y! And tired. But mostly hungry.
So I am eating! Naturally there’s a bit of a gap between what I crave (sweets upon sweets) and what I know I should be eating (not sweets). So, I am eating fruits and veggies that are naturally sweet…and making a few stops at the frozen yogurt place for when I just can’t take it anymore. I figure I’m at about an 85/15 split of uber-healthy and healthier-than-candy so it’s all good.
I might feel like a bulldozer in a bagel shop but in reality, my nutrition plan is pretty sound:
• Banana pre-workout
• Egg whites (and one egg) in a pita along with a smoothie (strawberries, blueberries, a little OJ, some water, and a scoop of protein powder) for breakfast
• My big ginormous salad for lunch: spinach, romaine, grilled chicken, strawberries, blueberries, walnuts, and a little feta tossed with a tablespoon or so of Annie’s Papaya Poppy Seed dressing for lunch
• Snacks including carrots and a Horizons Organic Colby cheese stick, an organic apple with peanut butter, and some turkey, spinach, cucumber, tomato, and mustard in a wrap, along with some almonds.
• Dinner varies: turkey burger, grilled chicken, healthified pizza, and one of these days we really will get around to grilling fish like we always want to!
When I am not eating I am exercising, and while I am exercising I am wondering: “should I still be exercising like this?” A trip to my doc today confirmed that I’m in the clear: I can continue to run, swim, elliptical, and lift weights until I decide to stop. That will make the strange looks and sometimes outright chastising I get from spectators a little easier to take. It’s amazing some of the myths people honestly believe about pregnancy. But, as hard as it may be to wrap our heads around, exercise is actually GOOD for pregnant women (and everyone else) and as long as you have no health concerns, moderate exercise is safe until your doctor or you pull the plug on it.
The intensity of my workouts have scaled back quite a bit but a typical week is full of energy:
• Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I call “Gym and Swim.” That means I hit the gym in the morning for some low-impact cardio on the elliptical (and History Detectives on PBS) or run (okay, shuffle) on the treadmill and then strength training with my trainer. I’m still running the gambit and exercising all muscle groups, just modifying things a tad. I’m pretty sure last week was the end of real push-ups for a while…and no it wasn’t because my stomach hit the floor first!
• Tuesday I walk with my running group! We recently switched to walking to accommodate some injuries, and this is a perfect workout for me right now.
• Thursday I rest. And yes I still feel like a slacker about it.
• Saturday I run! And by run, I mean shuffle along the street for 5 miles or so, alternating three minutes of running with one minute of walking. It keeps me sane.
I feel good, I look good, and most of all, the baby is perfect. I’ve surpassed my goal of running through the first six months and now I am just curious to see how long I can go! It’s been a really wonderful pregnancy and I am so thrilled to have maintained my fitness throughout.
Okay, enough baby talk. I’ll be back tomorrow with answers to some questions I’ve been getting about preparing and packing food, and the social stigma that goes along with it. In the meantime, get out there and get healthy!
So I am eating! Naturally there’s a bit of a gap between what I crave (sweets upon sweets) and what I know I should be eating (not sweets). So, I am eating fruits and veggies that are naturally sweet…and making a few stops at the frozen yogurt place for when I just can’t take it anymore. I figure I’m at about an 85/15 split of uber-healthy and healthier-than-candy so it’s all good.
I might feel like a bulldozer in a bagel shop but in reality, my nutrition plan is pretty sound:
• Banana pre-workout
• Egg whites (and one egg) in a pita along with a smoothie (strawberries, blueberries, a little OJ, some water, and a scoop of protein powder) for breakfast
• My big ginormous salad for lunch: spinach, romaine, grilled chicken, strawberries, blueberries, walnuts, and a little feta tossed with a tablespoon or so of Annie’s Papaya Poppy Seed dressing for lunch
• Snacks including carrots and a Horizons Organic Colby cheese stick, an organic apple with peanut butter, and some turkey, spinach, cucumber, tomato, and mustard in a wrap, along with some almonds.
• Dinner varies: turkey burger, grilled chicken, healthified pizza, and one of these days we really will get around to grilling fish like we always want to!
When I am not eating I am exercising, and while I am exercising I am wondering: “should I still be exercising like this?” A trip to my doc today confirmed that I’m in the clear: I can continue to run, swim, elliptical, and lift weights until I decide to stop. That will make the strange looks and sometimes outright chastising I get from spectators a little easier to take. It’s amazing some of the myths people honestly believe about pregnancy. But, as hard as it may be to wrap our heads around, exercise is actually GOOD for pregnant women (and everyone else) and as long as you have no health concerns, moderate exercise is safe until your doctor or you pull the plug on it.
The intensity of my workouts have scaled back quite a bit but a typical week is full of energy:
• Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I call “Gym and Swim.” That means I hit the gym in the morning for some low-impact cardio on the elliptical (and History Detectives on PBS) or run (okay, shuffle) on the treadmill and then strength training with my trainer. I’m still running the gambit and exercising all muscle groups, just modifying things a tad. I’m pretty sure last week was the end of real push-ups for a while…and no it wasn’t because my stomach hit the floor first!
• Tuesday I walk with my running group! We recently switched to walking to accommodate some injuries, and this is a perfect workout for me right now.
• Thursday I rest. And yes I still feel like a slacker about it.
• Saturday I run! And by run, I mean shuffle along the street for 5 miles or so, alternating three minutes of running with one minute of walking. It keeps me sane.
I feel good, I look good, and most of all, the baby is perfect. I’ve surpassed my goal of running through the first six months and now I am just curious to see how long I can go! It’s been a really wonderful pregnancy and I am so thrilled to have maintained my fitness throughout.
Okay, enough baby talk. I’ll be back tomorrow with answers to some questions I’ve been getting about preparing and packing food, and the social stigma that goes along with it. In the meantime, get out there and get healthy!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The Rule of the Belly: Workouts
Okay, I promised not to constantly bore you with the details of my pregnancy (although it is thrilling and I could talk about it for days) but so many have asked how I am coping with changing my training routine to suit my new maternal state. So, get ready for some ME TIME! And by "me" I meant specifically me. Everyone listen to meeee!
To be honest, not much has changed although you wouldn't know it to hear me complaining every day about how lame I feel as a benchwarmer. I am still running, but I've started doing mostly 3 minute run/1 minute walk intervals and have decreased my frequency from 4-5 days a week to just 2-3. The frequency decrease was more related to achilles tendonitis than being preggo, but it suits me better now. So, my mileage has gone down from 25-30 miles a week to more like 12-15. Replacing those runs has been time on the elliptical, which gives me plenty of time to examine the state of my butt in the gym mirror.
When I got pregnant I announced to a friend that I would have the best-looking pregnant butt ever seen. But for some reason I still have the same butt I had before I got pregnant. Strange. It's looking better these days, though, because I've been swimming. Once the temperature gets over 80 degrees and the sun comes out, I cannot resist the lure of chlorine and lane ropes. So, about three days a week I've been swimming laps for 30 minutes. I'm planning to continue this until they close the pool in October (gotta love Florida) or I start shivering, whichever happens first. Check out some pregnancy swimming guidelines here.
Finally, weights. Yes, pregnant women can lift weights! I have a great trainer who has completely embraced my challenge to keep my arms and legs toned and muscular even though I am gaining fat, and he is definitely delivering. Three days a week I am doing total body resistance training, mostly compound exercises, just like before I got pregnant, just being sure not to overdo it. So far so good! I miss my plyo and speed/agility workouts but I've found I am able to do those vicariously through my preschooler, who has experienced a sudden surge of physical activity now that his mom is an athlete in exile.
Not overdoing it is the hardest part. I love training really hard and being completely fatigued at the end of a workout but those are on hold for a while. Right now my goal is 60 minutes of decent cardio five times a week, weights three times a week. Luckily, I have a great gym buddy who has generously offered to pick up my slack, and by the looks of it he is going to be totally ripped by the end of the summer. David, you're a machine! A very sweaty machine. LOL Preggos, read about the signs that you're overdoing it in the gym when working out for two.
I hope that in a month I can report the same - still active, just modified! At almost halfway though (cannot believe that) all signs point to yes. It's a good thing too, I'm eating all of those burned calories! More on that later. For now,
Good day!
To be honest, not much has changed although you wouldn't know it to hear me complaining every day about how lame I feel as a benchwarmer. I am still running, but I've started doing mostly 3 minute run/1 minute walk intervals and have decreased my frequency from 4-5 days a week to just 2-3. The frequency decrease was more related to achilles tendonitis than being preggo, but it suits me better now. So, my mileage has gone down from 25-30 miles a week to more like 12-15. Replacing those runs has been time on the elliptical, which gives me plenty of time to examine the state of my butt in the gym mirror.
When I got pregnant I announced to a friend that I would have the best-looking pregnant butt ever seen. But for some reason I still have the same butt I had before I got pregnant. Strange. It's looking better these days, though, because I've been swimming. Once the temperature gets over 80 degrees and the sun comes out, I cannot resist the lure of chlorine and lane ropes. So, about three days a week I've been swimming laps for 30 minutes. I'm planning to continue this until they close the pool in October (gotta love Florida) or I start shivering, whichever happens first. Check out some pregnancy swimming guidelines here.
Finally, weights. Yes, pregnant women can lift weights! I have a great trainer who has completely embraced my challenge to keep my arms and legs toned and muscular even though I am gaining fat, and he is definitely delivering. Three days a week I am doing total body resistance training, mostly compound exercises, just like before I got pregnant, just being sure not to overdo it. So far so good! I miss my plyo and speed/agility workouts but I've found I am able to do those vicariously through my preschooler, who has experienced a sudden surge of physical activity now that his mom is an athlete in exile.
Not overdoing it is the hardest part. I love training really hard and being completely fatigued at the end of a workout but those are on hold for a while. Right now my goal is 60 minutes of decent cardio five times a week, weights three times a week. Luckily, I have a great gym buddy who has generously offered to pick up my slack, and by the looks of it he is going to be totally ripped by the end of the summer. David, you're a machine! A very sweaty machine. LOL Preggos, read about the signs that you're overdoing it in the gym when working out for two.
I hope that in a month I can report the same - still active, just modified! At almost halfway though (cannot believe that) all signs point to yes. It's a good thing too, I'm eating all of those burned calories! More on that later. For now,
Good day!
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