I was determined not to let the same thing happen the next time I got pregnant. Over the course of a year-and-a-half I got back in shape. In fact, I got more in shape than I ever had been in my life. Which isn't saying a lot because I've never been athletic or fit so I pretty much started from the beginning, but it was a lot for me and I felt really good. Sure, I wasn't overweight, but I had zero muscle strength and no energy. I was a cardio girl during that time, I didn't know any different. Until I started learning more about exercise and seeing the results in other woman, I pretty much just ran. Ran my butt off. Trained and ran a half-marathon, and ran some more. I enjoyed it at the time, but after beginning to discover other parts of the fitness world I realized that pure cardio wasn't necessarily the healthiest or most effective way to get fit, and it wasn't the way for me...I wanted more. I started simply by doing pushups and ab exercises, and P90x when I could...but my workouts were inconsistent, I knew I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could and I knew I was capable of more. In the end we decided to join a gym and I was stoked to push myself and get into a more regular routine.
Just before the time we got a membership we had recently made major changes in our diet. I was feeling on top of the world as a result and was hungry to learn as much as I could about health and fitness. I had always been a health-concious person, but I had no clue that my health-conciousness could be improved so much. Over the course of that year-and-a-half after my daughter was born I really started paying attention to the way food made me feel, what I was putting in my body and why. My husband and I decided to make a few huge changes in our daily eating, specifically cutting out bread, gluten, refined sugars, all processed foods, and additives. And making it a point to get the things our bodies needed, like protein, good fats, and lots and lots and lots of green veggies. I'd never felt better in my life.
Then, I got pregnant.
I remember the first day I went to the gym...it was the day I found out I was pregnant. If it had been my first pregnancy that would've scared me enough to cancel my gym membership, but not this time. I had recently had a miscarriage a couple months beforehand so the idea I had of pushing myself really hard was out. But I knew I wanted to stay active, and I had a strange peace in the back of my head that told me I we would be fine and not to give up--not to let fear destroy what I believed was important and justify becoming a couch potato. I would keep up what my body was already used to, and I really wanted to try a few classes that interested me...so I went to the gym!
I went to a Zumba class that first day, and I still have to laugh at myself when I think about it. Regardless, I went back the next week, and the next, and found it fun for awhile. I had a free session with a personal trainer and she showed me some basics for the results that I wanted, most of which I already knew. I also tried a couple other gym classes and ended up loving one specifically involving circuit training with a more crossfit-type approach. I quit Zumba after awhile, because even though it made me sweat I felt like for the time I was in class I could get a more effective workout doing an hour of something else. I tried a lot of new things that I'd never done before, specifically in class, and fell into a groove that challenged me. I listened to my body, kept a steady pace and pushed myself where I could.
Staying active wasn't a challenge for me in the beginning, even though I was tired a lot and napped nearly everyday, I mostly looked forward to my workouts. Food, was the biggest challenge those first several weeks, mainly because I felt some level of nausea 90% of the day. I didn't want to eat anything, but I forced myself to at least consume the things I knew I, and the baby, needed. I did really good at first sticking to my normal diet, but all I craved was bread and sugary things. And since nothing else sounded good to me it was really hard not to gorge on these things. I did keep up with fueling my body with the good things I needed, but it was the extra stuff I wanted that I knew I didn't need, that was hard. I did start incorporating bread into my regular diet at one point, convincing myself that maybe my body just needed it. And maybe it did, I don't know, but it didn't make me feel any better. It only temporarily satisfied the craving...kinda. And it made it that much harder to say no to other things. The more I let myself indulge in the things I craved the more I realized how much it was slowing me down and making my energy wane. I wrestled with justifying my choices and kept going back and forth--thinking I needed it, thinking I didn't. Trying to go without it and letting myself have things. Once I realized that I was letting things creep back into my diet out of pure laziness...I cut them out. Which was about the same time the nausea disappeared. So I re-adjusted a bit and got back on the track I wanted to be. I started feeling amazing almost instantly, in fact, despite my growing belly and feeling my little human kick inside of me, when the second trimester was in full swing I didn't feel pregnant at all.
Mid second-trimester I battled more with working out than I did in the beginning. It was winter and over the course of a month my family took turns being sick. I missed workouts because I didn't feel good. I missed workouts because my daughter didn't feel good. I missed workouts because I felt like I needed to recover before I pushed my body. Some of it was necessity. But honestly, most of it was probably plain laziness. I had issues with my hips being tilted at one point which sent my pubic bone to cause me crazy pain. It was weird, but it only lasted a week with the help of chiropractor to 'fix me' and it hasn't happened again. But it was a really hard and emotional week for me because I thought I was done for for the rest of the of the pregnancy. Not only did I not want to feel like that for the next several months, but I hated the feeling of suddenly being able to do nothing. I felt like a failure. I wondered how (if I was the most fit I'd ever been in my life before I got pregnant) why would I have this problem during this pregnancy when I didn't have anything like it during the first? I jumped to conclusions, freaked myself by reading things online, and felt really defeated. After dealing with my crazy emotions for a week I finally found peace in myself and reminded myself what was important. And when the pain disappeared I was so incredibly thankful and it re-energinzed me in every way. I felt amazing again, physically, emotionally and mentally.
Since then, I've kept up a routine and have been feeling even better as a result. I am 33 (and a half!) weeks along and I feel the best right now than I have the entire pregnancy. And for the majority of this pregnancy I have felt great in every way! I literally feel like I can do everything I was doing when I was 10 weeks along. I have energy. I don't hurt. I feel good. Which is not at all how I felt during my first pregnancy this late in the game. I honestly feel totally different than I did last time and I am shocked. I remember dreading picking something up off the floor at this point when I was pregnant with my daughter. I was winded all the time. I hurt, everywhere. I was exhausted. I felt huge and bloated. Right now I feel like I could go run 6 miles or bench 150lbs (which I totally can't!) without difficulty. But I have that energy. I feel strong. I feel alive. I don't hurt. I don't have a problem bending down or picking up my daughter and carrying her throughout the day. I'm tired--because of my bad habit of getting to bed late and the fact that I have to get up to pee several times already, but I'm far from exhausted. I have ambition. I don't feel like a whale. I don't really feel that pregnant...and I'm having a baby in 6ish weeks!
At 33 weeks pregnant, I feel amazing. I've gained 21lbs thus far. I've made it a point to listen to my body, eat when I'm hungry and in terms of quality instead of quantity. And instead of my body getting weaker throughout this pregnancy (like I thought it was going to!) it has actually gotten stronger. I have improved the power in my legs, I have visibly improved the look and strength in my arms. I'm far from where I'd like to be some day in terms of lifting heavy weights, and I see women (pregnant and not) do and lift much more than me, but I've lifted more being pregnant than I could when I wasn't and that makes me feel good. Despite the fact that my body is changing and a producing a human-being, despite the fact that cute clothes don't fit, despite the fact that my emotions are all over the place and sensitive, it makes me feel happy. It makes me feel strong and alive.
Exercise and healthy eating is tough when you're not pregnant, and it's tough when you are pregnant. For me it's not just about looking a certain way, it's about being healthy because it's good for me. It's good for my baby. If eating healthy and exercise were easy it probably wouldn't be important. Anything worth something...takes effort. Mentally, emotional and physically. It takes all of those things to make healthy choices and so for me these last 33 weeks have been a learning process on discovering how strong I can be, and how strong I'm not. It's been an interesting journey, I've learned a lot about myself, and it's not over yet!
Bringing a baby into this world is a special thing. One I don't take lightly--which is why I've tried so hard to stay healthy and active this whole time. As women we were made to birth babies. We were also meant to have muscle and eat basic, good food. We were meant to be strong. Embrace that. Believe in yourself. Believe in your body. And believe in your mind.
33 weeks
40lb Weighted squats
33 weeks
120lb Seated Row
33 weeks
60lb bench press
33 weeks
Plank curls
33 weeks
Weighted sit ups
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