Looooooooong Week, Babymoon and Much Bigger Bump!

Happy Hump Day everyone! New baby pic above - holy cow my belly is definitely popping out. 6 months along - 24 weeks! Total weight gain so far: 10.5lbs. Holy crap we only have 16 more weeks! AHHHHH!

I am so sorry I have been MIA in blog land and on your blogs. Work has been insane since a week ago Monday and we went to Atlanta for our babymoon last Thursday - had a great time but we spent 20 hours of 72 in a car. Yikes! And work has been absolutely NUTTY! But I think you guys have figured that out about me....when I go MIA it usually just means work is crazy. I have to prioritize and right now it is hubby, workouts, work, sleep. :) I AM growing a baby after all.

Things I've observed lately:

• I had started walking uphill, fast at an incline but now running feels better. The key here is to listen to your body. :)
  
• After FIVE spin instructors at the new gym, we found a gal we REALLY like who teaches on Tuesday and Thursday morning so those will be my spin days - always.
• I can DEFINITELY tell it is taking longer for my body to recover for weight workouts - even though I am just doing full body workouts.
• It is REALLY strange to do abs. I do ball roll outs, planks, crunches on a ball - all that good stuff.
• I still have absolutely NO cravings. NONE. In fact, I don't even have any taste buds for eating out.
• I feel SO very powerful working out the way I am...it makes me feel like I am going to have such a bigger role in the birth of our child. Can't wait!
• If you are pregnant or know someone who is....I can't recommend enough working out while pregnant (with approval of your doctor)...it makes you feel so much better about your body, delivery, etc.
  

Below is my weekly recap from week before last...it was pretty crappy with work and this week I am feeling run down already.

Week of March 16th:

Monday: Treadmill 10% incline, 4.4 MPH 45 mins AM; Shoulders 45 mins PM
Tuesday: Spin class - 45 mins AM; Body Pump 60 mins PM
Wed - Sat: OFF (had some activity in those three days - dog walking, walking - but no real workouts)
Sunday: Body Pump 80 minutes PM

Running Weekly Totals:
2 cardio
3 lift: 1 body part, 2 Body Pump
0 stretch
4 days off (work was CRAZY!)

I hope you guys have a great week! I hope to catch up soon!
Love to all!
Jess

I Want My Baby Bump, Baby Bump.... :) Week 23

10lb weight gain

Hey y'all! I hope you are having a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL healthy and POWERFUL weekend! I have had a pretty darn good weekend despite the fact that I worked a bunch yesterday AND today. Basically had some fantastic workouts, a lot of great time with the hubby and friends and am feeling pretty darn fantastic in general.

I had a doc appt on Thursday last week and it was AMAZING. Everything happens for a reason and I feel SO much better about the doc, the nurse and the facility. Everyone was very nice, sweet and ready to answer all of my questions. My doctor is so wonderful...a great bedside manner and very gentle (if you know what I mean - wink, wink). She gave me some great information:

• Fibroid is in a great spot but she will keep monitoring it via ultra sound to make sure it isn't getting any bigger. Shouldn't interfere with birth at all.
  
• My activity level and workout (I actually printed out a monthly recap from my blog for her) are A-OK as long as I am feeling good (which I am). She wants me to be careful with any type of balancing exercise like bicycling or something that would require a lot of balance.
• Recommended weight gain is 25-35 lbs (no sh** but it was good to have the clarity from my crazy previous doc of 50-70lbs).
  
• Everything looks great!!!
  
• Heartbeat is 140 (and it was the last time too) which by the way is he LINE for the old wives tale - so 140 and below is a boy and 140 and above is a girl. We are straight up 140. ;) Of course.
• I go back in four weeks for an updated ultra sound and my glucose test.

So very happy that I changed docs....love it! If you aren't happy with your doc, switch - ASAP!

Here is my weekly recap....I plan on doing a Body Pump workout tonight too so I have logged it and will change it if I need to later. :)

Week of March 9th:
Monday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.4 MPH, 45 mins AM; Shoulders 45 mins PM
Tuesday: Back/biceps 45 mins PM
Wednesday: Spin class - 45 mins AM; Body Pump (Muscle Max) 60 mins - 45 mins
Thursday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.3 MPH, 45 mins AM; 40 minute shoulders SLAM!
Friday: 45 minutes Body Pump
Saturday: 45 min Spin class AM; 45 minute Body Pump (Cathe Push/Pull)
Sunday: 5 minute warm up - treadmill at 4.3 10% incline, 45 minute run at 10 min miles, 2% incline, 10 minute cool down walk - 60 mins AM; Body Pump 60 minutes PM

Running Weekly Totals:
5 cardio
7 lift: 3 body parts, 4 Body Pump
0 stretch
0 day off

Overall, pretty darn good week of workouts. I am at around 90% compliance for my food - and am starting to eat more meals because of how tiny my tummy is....I was STUFFED after a small apple the other day - WHEW.

A couple of shouts out to some people that are new to the blog. Prettyface - thank you SO much for stopping by and saying hi! Yes, my doc has given me the thumbs up on my workouts. And Kia - HUGE congrats on your pregnancy! Jacey sent you my way and me yours - can't wait to follow our journey's together!!! Jacey - thank you so much for thinking of me and passing me along to Kia! Sherry Shay - CONGRATS to you too!!! You let the cat out of the bag and I am so excited for you! I hope my email to you didn't deter you from still working towards your goals!! You are gonna ROCK this pregnancy!

And to the rest of you that were so sweet and wonderful and posted so many comments on my last pic post of the night out pics - you guys are all so special and sweet! And I have to tell you, I am still feeling pretty darn sexy and sassy! My hubby says I am the hottest pregnant woman he has every seen but COME ON, he is married to me and he might want to get lucky! :) Hee hee. But it is great to feel strong and powerful.

I am still struggling with the new look in figure....I am acutally not struggling with it - I am just not ready to leave a full blog post on my thoughts. Figure is DEFINITELY becoming a softer sport and I am very interested to see hwo they will award at the Olympia as well. If you haven't yet listened to the lastest Body Sport talk radios, go to BodySport and check out the Jen Hendershott interview and the Allison Ethier interviw (NPC) - Terry Goodlad talks a TON about his thoughts on the new Bikini division along with how Figure is evolving.

And finally, the sweetest moment happened on Tuesday night with the hubby. The baby is moving a TON - like the wiggliest, wildest feelings inside of me. And when our litle peanut is really active, I can feel it on the outside. Well, I am always grabbing the DH's hand to put on my belly and feel it and low and behold as soon as I put Jody's hand there - the baby stops moving. Sneaky little devil! Anyway, the other night we were going to bed and Jody and I have a couple of little rituals...we always go to be together (99.9% of the time) and we kiss before we go to sleep. Not like hot steamy makeout (although sometimes we do that too! ;)) but always a kiss or two to sign out for the day. So I get in bed and am laying on my back (just for the kiss) and he rolls over and puts his hand on my stomach while he kisses me and BAM! the baby kicked his hand! Jody's eyes got really big and he suddenly came face to face (or hand to hand) with the fact that there is a baby in my belly!! :) I couldn't have planned it more perfectly.

I am also sorry I have been a bad blog follower this week....I have been slammed with work and have been working out and then working each night. I am going to do some catch up tonight and tomorrow night but you know I love you guys! Don't forget it.

And I do have one question for you guys....is there anything I am NOT sharing with you guys that you want to know more about?? Anything at all??? Let me know if there is and I will be happy to share!

Love you guys and have a great week!!
Jess

Night on the Town and Lovin My Baby Bump!

Weight gain to date: 9lbs




Hey y'all!!! Happy Day Light Savings Time!!! Do you love Springing forward or hate it? I personally think they should do away with Day Light Savings Time (DLST)... it was invented for farmers that now use equipment with lights so why can't we just NOT have DLST? Help a sister out - if any one knows of another reason I would love to hear it. And from what I understand, it is really hard to get your kids back on a schedule after DLST.

Check out new baby bump pic above...definitely starting to bump out more and more. I am actually loving this stage with two exceptions: 1) I am not quite big enough to fill out my maternity clothes and not small enough to wear my old clothes. 2) I get full really easily. And by the end of the day, I feel like I swallowed a basketball - I have no room left. BUT other than that, pregnancy is awesome. I feel so blessed and lucky. I had a week of drama but in 22 weeks, a week of drama is pretty easy to deal with. And the baby is moving like crazy - before it just felt like little flutters and now it is full out karate practice happening inside my belly. :) So much fun. Jody hasn't felt it yet - but I am sure he will soon - just have to time the baby moving to his hand on my belly right!

The other pics are of me ready for date night with my hubby so you could see what I look like preggers in regular clothes. The shirt is actually a shirt I have from pre-pregnancy - ruched shirts are the BEST! They show your curves but not every bump and lump. And those pants I have on are the absolutely BEST. They are from Japanese Weekend and are their luxe jersey gaucho pants. At $56 they are a little pricey but TOTALLY worth it. So cute cause you can wear them with heels, boots, flip flops...really anything. And SO comfortable. And the only reason they are maternity is because of the soft band at the waist that you can roll - but I will totally wear these post pregnancy. It is kinda fun to wear clothes now since I LOOK pregnant. :) BTW, I had a WONDERFUL date night with my hubby - very romantic. Everyone needs date night now and then!

My workouts are feeling really good...I have had a really good week this week. I am entering in my workout for today as "planned" and will update it tonight if I don't adhere. :) Eats are good too....just a couple of cheat meals - I may even switch to 7-8 meals a day just because of how "full" I feel. Here is my weekly recap:

Week of March 2nd:
Monday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.4 MPH, 45 mins AM; Body Pump 60 minutes PM
Tuesday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.4 MPH, 45 mins AM;
Wednesday: OFF (not feeling 100%)
Thursday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.4 MPH, 45 mins AM; Body Pump 60 minutes LUNCH
Friday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.4 MPH, 45 mins AM
Saturday: SPIN class, 45 mins AM; Body Pump 65 mins PM
Sunday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.4 MPH, 45 mins & 30 minutes yoga

Running Weekly Totals:
6 cardio
3 lift: 3 Body Pump;
1 stretch
1 day off

Now, on to the Arnold....I will do another post this week on my thoughts about the Arnold placings however I want to say congrats to all the competitors! All of them looked absolutely BEAUTIFUL - stunning! I am not sure what I think of the bikini competition and clearly they are rewarding softer looks in figure. A HUGE congratultions to Stacey and Tina who looked so beautiful and got up on stage and rocked it!!! Nice job ladies!!!

Have a great weekend everyone! Keep up the hard work - the year is almost 1/4 of the way through - are you on track to reach your goals????

Jess

Monthly Recap and Baby Bump 20.5 Weeks!

Hey y'all! New bump pics for you....Kinda funny week 20.5 looks less bumpy that week 19.5. Funny huh? Who knows - maybe I ate more last week..?? ;) I will have Jody take a pic of me in my maternity clothes on the way to work one of these days and post it for you since it is weird to see me in maternity clothes versus my green (GRRR!) shorts and blue tank. :)

I hope everyone had an absolutely WONDERFUL weekend! I certainly did...hanging with the hubby and feeling like $1 million bucks! :) I can't tell you the peace of mind I got from the Thursday ultra sound and talking to smart docs. I have had a couple great workouts and plan to get back to my normal regimen tomorrow. Plus I will dial in my eating back in...for me, when I can't work out, I struggle with eating super healthy which is actually silly b/c if I could eat good I can stop whatever ill effects I could have from not working out. But it's mental so what can you do??

I can't believe the Arnold is NEXT weekend!! A huge shout out to Tina and Stacey who are competing at the show! You guys are going to ROCK IT! Someone please stop by Carla Sanchez's VPX booth and tell her Jessica said hi - she has been so awesome to talk to during my pregnancy and I am sure she is absolutely gorgeous in person!

Below is my monthly recap for February. I technically took off two full weeks (with a smattering of workouts during those two weeks) and since February is a short month, it was definitely not my best in terms of total number of workouts. BUT with the complications I had which cause the two weeks off I am absolutely 100% OK with taking that time off. What is most important is the bambino and taking care of my precious cargo. :) And God forbid, if I have anything else happen, I will be happy to take more time off. My goal is to be healthy and active and share my journey of pregnancy fitness and my post postpartum rebound.

So here is how February shaped up:

Monthly totals for February:

• Total days in month: 28
• Total cardio: 16
  
• Total lifts: 14
• Yoga/stretching: 3
• Days off: 8

Compared to monthly totals for January:

• Total days: 31
• Total cardio: 31
• Total lifts: 18
• Yoga/stretching: 3
• Days off: 3

Difference in January vs. February:

• 3 less days in the month!
• 15 fewer cardio sessions
• 4 fewer lift/weight training sessions
• Same number of yoga stretching
• 5 additional days off

And here is the weekly detail of my workouts!
Week of February 23rd:
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Biceps (light)
Wednesday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.2 MPH, 30 mins
Thursday: Body Pump 60 mins
Friday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.2 MPH, 30 mins
Saturday: Treadmill, 10% incline, 4.2 MPH, 30 mins; 60 mins Vinyasa Yoga
Sunday: Biceps/triceps

Running Weekly Totals:
3 cardio
3 lift: 1 Body Pump, 2 bi's, tris
1 stretch: 1 yoga
1 day off

Week of February 16th:
Monday-Friday: OFF (rest and recovery on doc's orders)
Saturday: Biceps and shoulders - 45 minutes
Sunday: Light leg workout - 30 mins, Elliptical - 30 mins.

Running Weekly Totals:
2 cardio
2 lift: 1 bi's/shoulders & 1 legs
5 days off

Week of February 9th:
Monday: 45 minute treadmill @10% incline 4.4 MPH AM; Body Pump 60 mins plus 15 mins stability ball abs PM
Tuesday: Yoga 30 mins AM; Shoulders/abs 40 minutes & 30 minutes elliptical PM
Wednesday: 45 minute treadmill @10% incline 4.4 MPH AM; Body Pump 60 mins PM
Thursday: OFF (yeah! :))
Friday: 55 minute SPIN AM;
Saturday: 45 minute SPIN AM
Sunday: OFF

Running Weekly Totals:
5 cardio
3 lift: 2 Body Pump; 1 shoulder
1 stretch
2 days off

Week of Feb 2nd:
Monday: 45 minute treadmill @10% incline 4.4 MPH AM
Tuesday: Shoulders - 45 mins PM
Wednesday: 45 minute treadmill @10% incline 4.4 MPH AM; Body Pump 60 mins PM
Thursday: 45 minutes treadmill @10% incline 4.4 MPH AM; Spin class PM
Friday: 70 minute Body Pump workout (double arms) followed by 30 minute steady state cardio PM
Saturday: 45 minute AWESOME SPIN class! AM
Sunday: DOUBLE Body Pump - 1 hr, 45 mins WHEW

Running Weekly Totals:
6 cardio
5 lift: 4 Body Pump, 1 body part :)
0 stretch
0 days off

Have a great week everyone! Love you guys!
Jess