A journal of my experience balancing being a wife, mom of TWO under TWO (AHHH!) and full time employee while getting back into shape and incorporating fitness into my daily routine. Join me in my journey!
Hey y'all! I hope by now you have all put your Thanksgiving guilt behind you and you are focusing on your plans for this week! I am doing exactly that....but first a recap of the holiday week. :)
Thursday: Turkey Trot and relaxation with the family
Friday: Recovering from Turkey Trot (good GOD my legs were toast from those hills)
Saturday: Running around, movie, shopping, bowling, karaoke and DANCING! Hours of dancing
Sunday: Drive home - and not feeling so hot at the moment
So, as you can see, not so many workouts during my holiday break. In fact, I would say just one good one - the run.
And I also ate Taco Pizza. Has anyone else ever had Taco Pizza from Happy Joes? It is WONDERFUL! And very bad for you but it is one of those things that is SOOOOOO worth it. Imagine, thick and yummy crust, a marinara/bean pizza sauce base, Italian sausage and ground beef, cheese - baked until piping hot. Then, once out of the oven, lettuce and tomato's are sprinkled on top. AND THEN crushed Doritos are sprinked on top of all that. It is SOOOO good. Really. Trust me. So, I had that on Friday night and it was fantastical.
Right now, I am planning my week - workouts, food, etc. And shortly after I wrap that I up I will be heading to the grocery store to purchase all my food for the week and do some quick food prep. I will do the majority of it tomorrow night.
I feel like dukie - literally started feeling very mucusy on the ride home and when I stepped in the house I started aching. So, might have a little bug I am fighting off. I am confident it has to do with the fact that I have been eating like crap. I never do well with refined sugar - my immune system takes a poop when I eat sugar. So tonight it is all about hot tea, vitamin c and a bath.
Oh, and planning my week. :) I can't stress enough to each of you how important it is to review your goals and incorporate them into your daily to-do list. Make sure that each of those items relates back to your goals. Remember there is only one way to eat an elephant - one bite at a time. :)
Have a great week everyone and I will vlog soon. Promise.
Oh, and check out the pregnancy time line lapse video I was telling you guys about. It is pretty cool huh?? We just ordered a new camera that should be here this week and we will start creating our own time line. Fun times.
Hello my little turkey's.....HAPPY THANKSGIVING! My absolute, most favorite, most wonderful holiday of the year! Why??? Because it is a time to JUST give thanks - no gifts, no expectations, no awkward thanks for a gift you didn't ask for :) just time with family and friends. WONDERFUL!
And I am SO very grateful for all of you. I have such a wonderful and special group of supporters on this journey and I can't thank you enough for all you give to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Yesterday we drove to Iowa, where my family is from. It was about 8.5 hours and Pablo (our doggie did great). I was super psyched to get in two workouts before we hit the road! Made me feel great about the rest of the day. For road food, I ate an Egg McMuffin post workout (we hit the road right after I lifted) and it really is one of the best fast food eats. 300 calories for an Egg McMuffin (that is if you INCLUDE cheese), 18 grams of protein, 30 grams of carbs and 12 grams of fat and yummy. Not "clean" but after a kick ass workout it was perfect. Then had a 99 cent chili from Wendy's (another GREAT fast food food - 190 calories, high protein, beans and low in fat) and just the chicken breast (no bun). I also had pork rinds and an apple at our final stop before we got to mom's house. The pork rinds are a FAR stretch from "clean" eating but they are low carb, low fat and high protein. And yummy. Although they WILL stink up a car. :) But wanted to show you some options when you are on the road. You CAN eat ok at fast food restaurants. But you have to be smart and make good choices.
This morning we got up at 7am and drove about an hour from my mom's to run a Turkey Trot in Dubuque, Iowa. It was 7.5 miles of BRUTAL hills. About 7 of them. And I gotta tell you, my running has been crap lately. And I did hamstrings on Tuesday night and then ran HIIT intervals yesterday morning so it was a TOUGH run. Finished in 66 minutes. My goal was 70 minutes or less (because I knew there would be hills). Jody finished in 57 minute - yeah piddle! :) It was so much fun! While we didn't run together, we love to do that stuff and create more memories. And I think it was the baby's first race! :)
All right guys, I have to go make my famous Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (super light, yummy pumpkin pie that isn't super heavy). Graham cracker crust and I add Splenda to make it a bit healthier. :) After that I am going to try to do shoulders quick (my mom has a bunch of dumbbells). Have a wonderful, healthy and happy holiday. You guys are awesome!
Happy hump day all! The lovely and talented Cynthia Herndon above whom I have to pay hommage to for her bad assness. :)
But I guess today isn't really a "hump" day since tomorrow is a holiday. :) Technically Tuesday was the hump day. Sweet. I actually only have 17 more days of work until my 12 day staycation. How awesome is that??? :) I love the staycation and this year it is all about organizing every room of the house - going through everything to get myself as organized as possible before baby.
Anyhoo, on to more important things. Michelle Anderson emailed me!! How cool is that? I sent her an email and asked her what her training schedule was like when she was preggers and she sent me a long email in response. Awesome, just awesome. But her story is so amazing - had a really hard time with high blood pressure and diabetes in her 3rd trimester so she had to take it super easy but she worked out up until 6 months. She weighed like 188lbs when she delivered. And now look at her. Wow is all I can say.
We have had a very "interesting" house guest since Friday night, a friend of the hubby's from college. He actually left yesterday but let me just put it to you this way he talks NON-STOP. Lke not just chatty but everything he was thinking he would say. Anyhoo, he was supposed to leave Sunday morning early but lost his keys and didn't leave until yesterday morning - that would be Tuesday. So Jody and I pretty much felt like we were prisoners in our own home. And I couldn't workout in my workout room b/c the spare bedroom is right next to exercise room. Grrr. Oh well, it is over. We had a wonderful night last night just the two of us before we head to Iowa for the holiday.
I had my first doc appointment yesterday. But it was really just to run tests - not to actually SEE the doc. Which sucks because I was hoping she could check me out more fully. :) But I will be 11 weeks when she sees me so we will get to hear the baby's heart beat (or beats) and she can give me the full scope out in case I got two little critters in there. :) My hcGG hormone (the one you get when you are preggers) is through the roof - when the lab did my pregnancy test she dropped urine on the tester and literally 1.5 seconds later it turned positive. She said it was one of the fastest positive results she has seen. I think that means my Native American name right now would be "Stands with Strong Hormones". :) Kidding. I asked about exercising again (Cynthia this is for you) and the nurse practitioner asked what my current routine is like so I told her and she said keep it up - it is great for me. She just said to listen to my body and adjust as needed.
The biggest change outside of the newly increased size of my boobs is the sleepiness at night. It went away for a couple weeks and it is back again. I am totally going to have to commit to workouts in the morning because I don't think I can muster the eveining workouts like I used to - or maybe over lunch too. But how lucky am I that I don't have an ounce of morning sickness? Lucky, I tell ya.
Below is my workout recap for last week and I just want to give a HUGE shout out to Krissa who last week when I was complaining about my 4 measly workout days, she said: HEY! That is FOUR days you DID workout!! And that is absolutely right! Thank you Krissa!
I will post a Thanksgiving Day post tomorrow - might even do a VLOG with my family. :) Love you guys! Jess
Week of November 17th
Monday: Leg workout - 90 minutes Tuesday: HIIT 30 minutes AM; 45 minute shoulder workout PM Wednesday: OFF :( Just 2 fast paced doggie walks Thursday: OFF :( Just 2 fast paced doggie walks Friday: OFF :( Just 2 fast paced doggie walks Saturday: Legs - 90 minutes AM; Shoulders/Tris - 60 mins PM Sunday: 5.5 mile trail run with Amber - AM; abs PM
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!
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.
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. :)
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.
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!
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. :)
