Fleece is Heaven

Hey kiddies! An early Turkey Day vlog featuring my new zippie jacket. Heaven, glorious heaven.



Love you guys!
Jess

Double Day and Twins?

Hey y'all! Happy Saturday! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! :) Pic above is of Noel Clark from Lean Bodies Fitness at Nationals today. I haven't seen final results but don't think they are up yet. Best of luck to all our girls out there!

I gotta be honest, I had a crappy workout week. I CHOSE to take off three days. I will do an assessment tomorrow (with an accompanying VLOG on the assessment) but mentally I have struggled to get there. I know, I know - I have a lot on my mind - new baby and all that crap but I think having my goal of competing in Kentucky threw me off. I like to have a plan. I had a plan and my hubby knocked me up. Hee hee.

So, it is time for a new plan. One I can adhere to. And to Cynthia's blog about bad habits, one of mine is putting off my workout. Not accceptable. I do think my energy level has dipped a bit but that could just be from not working out as much. I have always had this problem - unless I am organized and have a plan, I just put it off. Silly, silly, silly.

Today, to make up for this week, I did two workouts. The first was an hour of high intensity leg circuits: squats, burpees, step ups, lunges, kick backs, hack squats, romanian split squats, steps ups again, speed skaters. It was awesome. Then later I did shoulders and tris. I took a nap today too - gave body and baby lots of recovery time.

Tomorrow will be back and biceps and a run at the lake along with some core and abs. And I will work my plan. It is kind of tough because my body wasn't where I wanted it to be before I got pregnant (which is probably also WHY I was able to get pregnant - higher bf percentage) so it is weird to train: am I training to lose fat? to gain muscle? to maintain muscle? to get leaner in the areas I can? I don't know. But putting a plan in place is key. And obviously making sure I do everything to take care of little one.

I have my first doc appt on Tuesday although I have talked to my doc already about exercise. It is encouraged. Yeah! But I am curious to find out more. One of my friends who I think is mildly psychic (?) said she thinks we are having twins. WHOA! Now I have that crazy thought running around in my head. :)

All right ladies...I hope all those girls at Muscle in the City are ROCKIN the HOUSE! And more tomorrow!

Love you guys!
Jess

Role Model # 2 and Pregnancy Musings

Hello my little friends! :)

Hope everyone is awesome! And I know you are cause you are all AWESOME inside and out! Thank you so much for all the kind words of support for Jody! He is super excited and is going to kill Ironman Louisville!

A HUGE shout out to all the girls competing in the Muscle in the City compeition - April, Stacey and Angela - and anyone else I am missing!! You guys all look awesome and you are going to have so much fun!! We will be cheering you along!

Most of you saw the pics of Julie - truly an inspiration to ALL pregnant women! I have found another role model....role model #2! :) Her name is Michelle Anderson and some of you may have seen her You Tube on Cynthia's site. If you haven't, check out her blog - you can find it on my blog roll on the right. Her blog is: http://michellefit-journal.blogspot.com/

Anyhoo, she gained a lot of weight during her pregnancy - got up to 182lbs and 49 inch hips!!!! After the baby she weighed 155lbs and competed just 7 months after the baby at 123lbs and 7% body fat!! Is that not amazing????? Crazy. Here is a pic of her from that show:

Wow, huh? She is my 2nd role model - and I am sure you can see why! So, I will assess where I'm at after baby and look at shows and set my goal! :) I know, I am jumping the gun but you gotta understand I had JUST made the decision to compete so I was fired up! :) But the baby is such an awesome detour! Amazing blessing!

Speaking of baby, Julie left a comment on yesterday's blog about NOT feeling like I am preggers and YES! that is exactly what it feels like - NORMAL. Completely normal. I am maybe a little more tired at night and even the frequent peeing has subsided. My boobs hurt - and I can tell I am adding weight in the boobal region but that's about it. It is pretty awesome so far. We will see what the next couple of months bring! :)

Love you guys! Keep on rockin EVERY workout and staying on your meal plan! I have been rocking mine and eating so awesome - giving the baby the nutrients we both need! :) Good thing I was already eating good....well, for the most part! Hee hee.

Later!
Jess

Ironman and My Weekly Recap

You guys...I am SOOOOO freakin excited to post today I can hardly stand it.

Yesterday something AMAZING happened! Jody signed up for his THIRD (yes, THIRD) Ironman Triathlon. He has been talking about doing another one and missed the sign up for Ironman Florida and thought his window had closed for his goal but ALAS, it has not! Ironman Kentucky - perhaps slightly less well known, still has availability and he SIGNED UP! Here is the link to the Ironman Louiville (Kentucky) website: http://ironman.com/louisville

For those of you who don't know, an Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run! It takes place on August 30th (we will have a 6 week old - WHOA!) and I am so proud of Jody I could almost burst! It is awesome. Did I mention this will be his THIRD Ironman??? So cool.

Please go to his blog: http://jody-slowtwitch.blogspot.com/ and wish him luck on his new goal!

Below is my weekly workout recap! Check it. ;)

Week of November 10th

Monday: HIIT 30 minutes AM
Tuesday: AM: Cardio - 20 minutes; PM: 70 minute leg circuits + heavy shoulder workout and abs
Wednesday: Day Off (tired)
Thursday: HIIT 30 minutes AM; 30 minute back workout
Friday: Day Off
Saturday: Shoulders/Triceps - 20 minute jog with doggie
Sunday: 6 mile trail run

Have a great day you guys!
Jess

P.S. Nothing happening in baby land. I feel great. I keep waiting to like throw up spontaneously or something. :)

I See Pregnant People

Here's the deal...you know how when you started working out really hard, you started to notice buff or in shape people more? Like you noticed them before or admired them but then when you first decided to compete you started REALLY noticing - looking at shoulder width, back spread, quad sweep, bicep vein....small butts etc.

Well, I SEE PREGNANT PEOPLE and babies. It is kinda crazy. It is mostly pregnant people but I also see a lot of babies that I didn't see before.

I see them at the grocery store, at the mall, EVERYWHERE. It is funny. At Coldplay there were a bunch of really pregnant girls and that made me so happy - hells yeah I would be at a concert pregnant. The baby can ROCK out. Jody laughs at me...but he is starting to see pregnant people too. And he is being so awesome! Really. Supportive and excited and very sensitive to how my body might be changing. I am a lucky girl.

Workouts this week were pretty good - I took two days off mostly just because we were busy and out of town. I know more than ever I have to get my workouts in in the morning or else I might miss it that day. And I also think my energy level is higher when I workout in the morning - just in general.

That's all I got for today.

Oh, hubby ran a 20:20 5k yesterday. He is SO close to breaking 20 minutes and I just KNOW it is right around the corner! :)

I ran the lake this morning with Amber and the doggie - 6 trail miles and it was glorious. Glorious. Feel great.

Have a great Sunday y'all!
Jess

Coldplay and More Later

Hey y'all!!

Sorry I have been MIA on the blog front since Wednesday. Everything is fine - me and the baby. We went to see Coldplay last minute in KC and had a wonderful time! If you ever get to see them live - GO FOR IT!

Even had a celebratory baby dinner at Capital Grille - amazing.


More later - going to watch Jody run a 5k. It is too fricken cold for me to run - 34 degrees but feels like 25 with wind chill. YUCK!

Jess

New Blog Look - Time to Talk Baby!

Ok guys, it is time to talk baby. :) I am about 5 weeks along (see the baby ticker on the right hand side of my blog). I actually know the exact date of conception - October 23rd (5 years and 2 days after Jody told me he loved me for the very first time) but they count it as starting from your the first day of your last period (sorry Fikenator and any other boys reading this! :)). Here is what has happened so far:

• I was slightly nauseous the first two weeks (this was the same time I was convincing the DH I was preggers and he was telling me I was being paranoid - ha, showed him! :)) but no morning sickness and now it has pretty much gone away (how awesome would it be if that is all I had for morning sickness???? I know, I am probably being VERY unrealistic but you can't blame a girl for trying!
• Boobs are starting to get a little sore but if I have gained any weight (and I don't think I really have - maybe a half a pound or a pound) it is in my boobs. They are starting to come out of the bra. Yes Cynthia, this is gonna be funny for you!
• My workouts were not very good last week - I really already knew I was preggers and it was really distracting me. Hard to put all your energy and effort into a hard workout when you are totally preoccupied with weather or not you are pregnant. And I was really tired the first two weeks.

So, here is the scoop - I am absolutely positively thrilled to be preggers. We had been casually talking about it for a year or so but had never really come to a decision...just chatted about it. We are a super active couple and just never slowed down to really consider it. I guess that is why we actually GOT preggers - it was meant to be and someone had to make the decision for us. :)

While I am thrilled to be pregnant, I also want to take really good care of my body. I have worked hard over the last few years to build muscle, keep my body fat in a range that is reasonable and have endurance and strength. I want to maintain my muscle, stay as fit as possible and gain a healthy/reasonable amount of weight.

Am I freaked out about blowing up? YES!! Hello! But I also know I can be healthy during this pregnancy and not gain more than my body needs. In the first 5 weeks I have eaten 5-6 meals a day - all well balanced. I have had a few cheat meals...nothing crazy.

Here is my inspiration...her name is Julie and the first two pics are her at 8 months and the last one is her at 9 months (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU JULIE for sharing your pics and info!). Can you believe that???? Her blog is listed on the right and she is truly an inspiration. Here is her training routine while preggers: 45 minutes steady state cardio (treadmill incline walking for 45 minutes) and weight lifting 3x a week. Her nutrition was Body for Life style but with more food overall at each meal depending on appetite.



How AWESOME does she look???? AMAZING! Great job Julie!

I can't WAIT to post MY pics. No no, I WILL post my own fit pics at 9 months!

For those of you worried about me working out while pregnant, I have done a lot of reading and research: the don't get your heart rate over 140 bpm is out of date and there is lots of evidence that women who exercise their entire pregnancy. Any of you reading this who have had your own experience, please share.

The key is that you shouldn't START a new training program while pregnant but you can keep exercising at the same level - especially in the first trimester. Moving into the 2nd and 3rd I just have to be careful and pay attention to what my body is telling me.

So what have I done since I have had a bun in the oven:

• That KILLER leg workout with Amber
• A bunch of other workouts - running, lifting, sprinting, etc.
• Abs

I will keep posting my workouts on the right hand side of the screen and do weekly recaps. My plan is to workout at my regular level for first trimester and then start to scale back intensity in 2nd trimester. So first trimester, some short HIIT sessions (like 15-20 minutes), lifting 5-6 days a week, some steady state cardio. Definitely abs (can do them for the whole first tri) because the abs will be such an important part of giving birth. Remember, there will be a few months where I will really have to scale back so I want to take advantage of the ease of first trimester.

What else do you guys want to know??? TALK TO ME! :)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to have a baby! Whoa.

Love you guys!
Jess

P.S. Tell me what you think of the new layout - I am not sure what I think about it. :)

Democracy and 7 Things (You Got Me Kelly :))

This is a democracy, so after all your comments and input, I will be keeping the same blog! You guys are already following this one and I think Jacey said it best: it WILL be the Juice is Worth the Squeeze when I give birth to something the size of a bowling ball! :) I will probably start another one with baby only updates for friends and family - great idea Lynnde. :)

So, Kelly tagged me and I am supposed to give you the 7 random things that you might not know about me. :)

1. I was on the cover of Parenting magazine when I was like 8 or 9. My dad submitted a photo of me and he won the contest and I was on the front cover. I do not have the picture (will see if I can get it next time I see him).
2. I hate centipedes. Hate them. Best way to kill them is to spray them with Lysol - because they are fast, the Lysol eventually kills them no matter what crack or crevice they get into! :)
3. I love magazines - love them. And when I get them, I have to be the first person to flip through every page - if someone else does it in front of me, it really bothers me. And I don't really look at every page but I go through every page.
4. I love old 80's 90's movies - Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Legend, Neverending Story, Night of the Comet (awesome B movie). And further, I love the 80's.
5. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I LIVE for sitting on the couch and having coffee with my hubby (that's gonna change huh??).
6. I eat a fresh cut green bell pepper every day.
7. I have asthma.

That's all I have! :)

Soon to come, the first buff baby blog. :)

Jess

Thanks So Much and Need Your Help :)

You guys are amazing! Amazing!Thank you all so much for your kind and loving comments! We are so excited! SO excited. And each of you has genuine excitement for us which is beyond what I could ask for! Such a warm and positive environment here in blog land....

I thought I would answer some questions that might be floating around out there and then I have a question for you guys! ;)

Q. How did you get pregnant?
A: Well, besides the obvious birds and the bees thing...I am not on the pill and our normally carefully planned physical expression of love for each other happened to not be so careful. It only takes once! :)

Q: How far along are you and when are you due?
A: About four weeks. Middle of July.

Q: Will you workout while preggers?
A: Hells yeah! Ran 4 miles yesterday morning and did legs this morning. I have been doing a lot of digging and reading and talked to my gyno and because I was working out consistently and intensely before I got preggers, I can keep on working out. Yeah!

Q: How will you eat?
A: I will keep eating clean...and probably a lot better now that I know I am taking care of another little person. I am eating 5-6 meals a day. Whole foods. My food right now is the same since my body doesn't really need more food until I am further along. :)

Q: Why tell everyone before you are past your first tri-mester?
A: I am only telling you guys (no one at work knows I have a blog to decrease weirdness in the work place) and our family and a few friends. I know there is some risk in telling people before we are out of the first trimester but you guys are my people and if something happens (god forbid) to the baby, I will need you guys to lean on too. You are all my family!

So, here is what i need to know from you guys:

Should I just keep this blog and post my baby status updates on this blog or should I start a new blog and then come back to this one after the baby? The reason I would start a new one would be so that once the baby is here I can get back to the JWS (juice worth squeeze) blog and then people who were interested in healthy baby body health could check in on it...

What do you guys think? Post your thoughts in comments please. :)
Jess

Thoughts?

Vlog: Withdrawing from March Comp

Hey guys,

I am not going to compete in March....just too much. It is a little longer than my usual vlog but wanted to let you guys know the whys....