30 Days of Inspiration

I’ve been trying to write this post for some time now, but struggled to find the right words. I’ve gone into my Google Docs, read what I spent hours writing the day before, and then highlighted and deleted the whole dang thing more than once.

What I want to get across in this post, is what has changed for me over the past 30 days of blogging. No doubt you’ve noticed an uptick in posts - I wrote more in the month of October than the rest of the year combined!

*Confession time* At first, blogging in the beginning of October started out for selfish reasons. Blogging has always been an outlet for me - A way for me to organize my thoughts so I can finally lay them to rest instead of letting them keep me up all night. I was (still have been, if I’m being honest) going through a transitional time in my life where I felt I wasn’t in the right place, but I didn’t know where to move next. I wrote some about this in a post earlier this month. 

My goal for the month of October was to write at least twice a week about the things I was going through. As I was re-reading my posts for the month, I realized that most of it has to do with staying healthy and active during my second pregnancy. For those of you who know me, you know that I love running and staying active and healthy through my entire life is a high priority for me.

So, it really got me thinking… Are there other women out there going through the same struggles? The struggles of somehow making an active and healthy lifestyle a priority all while balancing family, work, and faith? Maybe I’m not alone. Maybe some of the stuff I’ve been writing about are things other women are thinking about, too. 

In light of this, I’ve taken the past week off of writing, and started really digging into what it would take to bring my blog to the next level. How can I share with other ladies what I’m learning right now? Not just workouts and recipes to stay fit (especially while being pregnant), but how to live an overall healthy lifestyle and keep everything balanced at the same time.

Because of this thought process, I’ve officially spent a few bucks and bought my own domain: FitandFreshLife.com. It’s going to be my new blog home as soon as I can get the design finished, and I COULD NOT be more excited!!

After taking the past 30 days to write, write, write, thinking it was all just making me feel better, I realized that sharing any info I find can help someone else, too. And that’s a much better goal for me than just spurting my ramblings out online. Over this past month I realized that a better calling for me is to blog to help others, and that’s what I intend to do with my new site. 

It’s been a crazy month of ups and downs, and it was definitely difficult to get my posts done at times, but I really feel that God is tugging on my heart strings to write and share for the benefit of others. Yes, my own personal musings will still show up every now and then (lucky you! ;) ), but us busy moms have to stick together if we’re going to make healthy living a priority for ourselves and our children!

Motivation to Workout When Pregnant

My alarm is blaring. 

I roll over and can’t believe my eyes. Could it be 5:10 already? How is that possible? I swear I just crawled into bed from getting up to pee 5 minutes ago! Maybe I’ll try to workout over lunch instead…

But the lunch workout never happens. And neither does the evening workout I tell myself I’ll do as my lunch hour ticks away.

Let’s face it - finding motivation to workout is tough! And perhaps I’m having a little pity party for myself, but it seems 10 times harder to workout when pregnant. I’ve contemplated the reasons for this and came up with the following:

• I feel huge.
• I’m tired from having to get up 3 times during the night to use the bathroom.
• My workout clothes no longer fit. (Lycra is the enemy of all pregnant women!)
• I can’t achieve any measurable results.

I can tell myself that I’ll feel better if I get up and workout, but how do I know if it’s actually doing me any good?

When weight loss or a healthy lifestyle is your achievable goal, you can tell the difference in the way your clothes fit, in the way your mile time decreases, and in the way your LDL has lowered.

But no matter how active you are during pregnancy, the scale continues to climb, you grow out of your clothes, and your “mile time” has become something you attempt to attain in less than 18 minutes. Unmotivating.

So what’s a pregnant mama to do?

I know I need a little help with motivation, so I set out on a search for ideas. What I came up with are 5 ways to motivate yourself to keep active while pregnant.

1. Set a different kind of goal - One that’s non-food and non-weight related. Even though you can’t get measurable results from working out while pregnant, you can reward yourself for staying healthy. For instance, my goal for this week was to get up and workout 4 mornings. I’ve made it 2 so far, and if I get up tomorrow and Friday, I’m rewarding myself with a pedicure. Think of something fun you’d like to do, or maybe some retail therapy you’d like to indulge in, and make that your reward for staying healthy.
2. Buy some nice-looking/fitting maternity workout gear. This is one area that would probably benefit me a lot. I have a hard time spending money on maternity clothes. My “gear” consists of my husbands old T-Shirts and my old running shorts. I’m so embarrassed to show them, I couldn’t even take a selfie for this post. Yikes. :/
3. If possible, find a workout partner. If you have any other friends or a spouse who are looking to get out and about, see if they want to join you for a workout a day or two a week. Just being accountable to someone can get you out of bed in the morning.
4. Try something new. A new workout DVD geared for pregnant mamas. A swim at your gym’s pool instead of a walk on the treadmill. Mixing it up will keep you interested. Just remember to keep it non-strenuous and check with your doctor first if you have concerns.
5. Most of all, keep your eyes on the big picture. We won’t be pregnant forever (thankfully!) and there are several benefits to keeping active while pregnant. On mornings when we just don’t feel like getting out of bed, even with snazzy new clothes and a new DVD to try, think about those benefits. And most of all, remember that a healthy mama = a healthy baby!

As I’m wrapping up this post with the information I’ve found, I’ve decided to set 2 goals. One = To keep up my morning workouts. I honestly do feel better! And two = Purchase some actual maternity workout gear for Pete’s sake! These stretched out T’s and shorts are unmotivating (and unattractive… let’s be honest). :)

Any other ideas for staying motivated to workout while pregnant? I’d love to hear ‘em! Please post in the comments below.

Weekly Workout Summary

Another week is in the books! I'd like to show you all a typical week of workouts for me. Right now I'm getting in 4 days a week of strong, physical exercise. Here's a rundown of this week: 

Monday and Friday mornings were beautiful, so I was able to get up and head outside to get some nice fresh air. I was able to conquer 3 miles each morning. 

Wednesday morning I decided to head to the gym. I found a nice arm workout to complete, plus threw in a couple leg exercises. Then it was 20 minutes on the elliptical. The perfect way to mix up my week! 

I always try to get in a workout at least one day over the weekend. This weekend we had beautiful weather so little miss Makenna and I headed out for a half hour walk. I'm taking pure advantage of any nice days we have left! 

Here are also a few things I learned this week: 

- It's nearly impossible to take a quality photo of your Garmin while standing in the dark under a street light. I wanted to show my proof of the 3 mile walks, but there is terrible light at 6:15 am. I'll have to start coming indoors to take those photos. I promise I really did walk those days. ;)  

- Working out always inspires me to eat healthier. It kick starts such a healthy cycle when I get up and get myself moving. Because of this, I've decided to push myself to working out 5 mornings this week. I want to stay healthy and in shape for the remainder of this pregnancy! 

- The weather is definitely getting colder. [Enter sad smiley emoticon and a low grumble.] So I've got to find some other workouts for when I can't get outside. SO, luckily, I planned ahead and ordered THIS from Amazon: 

I'm so excited to try something new! And made just for me! And... all the other pregnant women in the world, of course. I should have it this week so I can give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes! 

Alright, off to bed for me! It's supposed to be 50 in the morning, so I'm going to attempt one more morning walk before our highs for the week are only in the mid-fifties. :/

Pregnancy Update

I hit 24 weeks this week! Only 16 left to go. Here's a baby bump update:

And here's a few other updates:

Craving: Scotcheroos.

The perfect blend of peanut butter and chocolate. If you've never heard of them, they are A-MAZING. And quite possibly the devil. I wish when I was pregnant I craved fresh veggies! I'm also kind of avoiding a lot of meat. Ground hamburger or the smell of cooked bacon makes me nauseous. Yuck.

Weight Update: I've gained 16 pounds so far. Feeling pretty good about that. I'll be sure to keep honest about how much the total gain is so you'll all know how much I have to lose again in February. :)

Workouts: My current workouts include walking, the elliptical, strength training once a week, and pushing miss M in her stroller whenever we have time.

That pretty much covers it! I'll have to update again in a few weeks as time goes on. Time to hit the lights now... I'm planning on getting up early for a nice walk while this warm weather still exists!

The struggles of balance!

Lately, I've been feeling kind of lost. Like there’s a greater plan for me, but I have no idea what it is. And that is frustrating! I wanted to figure it out on my own, but truth be told, I just wasn't getting anywhere. 

Let me explain: It’s not really one thing in my life that I feel like I’m doing incorrectly, it’s pretty much everything. Do you ever feel like you’re just doing everything halfway in life? Like you don’t really have a strong focus on one thing? For example, when I’m at work, I make a list of all the things I need to get done at home, and on slow days, I think, “Geez, I could really be catching up on laundry, washing the windows, raking the leaves… [Enter a household item here].” 

On the other side, when I’m at home, I have a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night and think about things at work. “Did i send that email before I left for the day?” And, “Don’t forget to ship out that order when you come in first thing in the morning!” And this is just trying to balance work and owning a home! 

This doesn’t even describe the guilt I sometimes feel for not being a Mom who’s always there or a wife who rarely puts her husband first! (Let me take this moment to publicly apologize to my husband for sometimes being last on my list with the assumption that he’ll always be there… Sorry, hubby!) 

With all this in mind, I went on a search for the best ways to balance work and life, which just lead me to opposing thoughts from articles with titles like “5 ways to correctly balance your work and home life” to “The Truth: There is no work and home life balance” and even to articles from Pepsi Co’s CEO stating that “Women Can Not Have it All.” Talk about a blow to the spirit. What the heck am I even working for then?

It seemed the more I searched for ways to balance everything, the more I felt like I was losing control over everything and not just one thing. *Sigh*

Yes, this is the journey I've been on for the past couple of months, but I promise there’s a positive ending to this somewhat dismal story! :) So what’s a busy working and family-loving mom to do when she needs a little direction in life?

I’m not sure about what everyone’s personal decision is on this topic, but I finally found a place of peace when I stumbled across Proverbs 3:5-6:

This stopped me in my tracks. It explained exactly what I needed to do - I needed to have a little more faith and spend a lot less time trying to figure it all out on my own!

So, with all of the time I’ve spent “soul searching” lately, I've finally decided to give it a break. I don’t understand what the plan is for me, or how I’m exactly going to finally balance work with my family time and relationships with friends, but I will continue to trust that eventually this will all work out just the way it’s supposed to. It’s challenging, but oddly enough, I've felt a lot less stressed. Not to mention I’ve been saving time by not looking up self-help articles, which just work me into a tizzy anyway. :) 

I’m currently just praying for patience. And the hope that some of my questions will be answered SOON because I’d like to know what direction to take and how to get through these challenges! Ug! What’s that you say? Oh right… patience… 

Any other mom’s out there struggling with this?

5 Benefits of Strength Training While Pregnant

Somewhere in the past, I believe it’s possible that pregnant women were told not to exert themselves. This included running, and basically any sort of physical fitness that could raise the heart rate over 140 bpm - Strength training included. Well the times, they are a changin’, and more and more information is being brought forward showing the pure benefits of prenatal strength training.

 First, let’s take a look at the past: A myth exists that women in China would give birth to children in the rice fields, tie the newborns to their backs, and keep working. Ok… this seems a little overboard, not to mention, extreme. There’s no need to go this crazy over staying fit while pregnant. However, let’s be honest here, labor is probably the most intense workout we’ll ever experience! I like to look at it like training for a half marathon. How can I do no training and expect the race to go well? I vote to stay in shape if it will help me in any way!

So, I did some research on reasons to keep strength training while pregnant. And I need to note first (as always) that I am in no way an expert, so please consult with your Dr. before beginning or continuing any workout plan!

Benefit #1: Strength training can help reduce excessive weight gain. Not only does it help to keep your body in shape, but it also keeps your mind strong (so you can turn down those extra 2 PM cravings). Plus, toning up will continue to turn your fat into muscle, reducing extra jiggle.

Benefit #2: Reduces or avoids common pregnancy and postpartum discomfort. Personally, I experienced some back pain with my first pregnancy. It was like my back wasn’t strong enough to carry the extra weight around my tummy. This is where strength training can be helpful as it puts importance on proper posture and focuses on your core, which helps to alleviate pressure on your back.

Benefit #3: Strength training can help to ease labor pains. Your body may be more prepared if you’ve already been keeping it in shape. If it can help reduce pain in any way, I’m all for it!

Benefit #4: Helps build adequate strength for carrying your baby and heavy baby equipment later on. We all know that those baby carriers are HEAVY. My arm muscles never looked as good as when I had to carry my newborn daughter EVERYWHERE in that 30 pound thing. Why not prepare yourself ahead of time?

Benefit #5: Happy endorphins! This is my favorite. And these can come from any sort of exercise completed during pregnancy - a walk outside, a short elliptical workout - Anything to break a small sweat and feel rejuvenated! Pregnancy (and especially postpartum) hormones can wreak havoc on one’s mind. Just a little exercise can help to ease these mood swings. *As a side note, I’m not sure my husband sees these as “mood swings.” I think some days he’s just convinced I’m a crazy pregnant lady. Most days, I truly wonder if he’s right… :)

In conclusion, after doing all of this research, I’m convinced now more than ever that continuing to do some strength training for the next 4 months is a must. Per my Dr.’s orders, I am omitting anything that would include jarring (So sorry burpees… Umm, not!), or anything that would completely overexert myself. So my next plan is to start doing some solid research on the best strength training exercises for pregnancy so I can mix it up. I’ll be sure to post anything I find along the way!

Oh, and total final thought: In researching for this article, I came across a lot of awkward photos of preggo women lifting weights. Let’s remember to keep our attire appropriate for the gym, ladies. ;)

What about you? Do you have any strength training exercises you like to do? I’d love to hear them so please feel free to share in the comments!

Lazy, Fall Weekend

We had a pretty uneventful weekend here... and it was wonderful! They don't come around too often so when we get the chance to sit around and enjoy each other's company, we take full advantage. Here's a few pictures from our lazy weekend:

We discovered that an old keyboard makes the best toddler toy. And yes, she's incredibly comfortable running around the house pants-less. She must get that from her dad. ;)

While Missy Moo took an afternoon nap Saturday, I caught up on some reading from Runner's World and Self. Check out these adorable shoes I came across! I'm pretty set on wearing Asics, which neither of these are, but it definitely makes me want to buy some new running shoes! There are such cute styles out now!

Sunday, this little charmer and I took a walk to the grocery store. I know the nice weather will be ending soon, so I'm taking every chance I have for the two of us to go for a walk. She's not getting any lighter (and neither am I) so pushing her stroller combined with 3 bags of fresh fruit and veggie groceries actually made for a nice little leg workout!

And here was our Sunday evening dinner. Mostly what I had brought home from the grocery store. This recipe is delicious and so easy to make! I put 4 chicken breasts, a bunch of green beans, and cut up potatoes in a 9x13. Then I add a packet of Italian seasoning and drizzle some olive oil on top. Cover it with foil, throw it in a 350 degree oven for an hour, and you're good to go! And I promise it's husband and toddler approved. Oh, and as a side note, the original recipe calls for an entire stick of melted butter being poured over top instead of the olive oil. Yikes. I feel the olive oil makes for a healthier meal.

Well, that pretty much sums up the weekend. Tomorrow it's back to the grind, but I do at least have my workout clothes laid out and ready to go. Let's hope I can wake up to that early morning alarm!