The Bright Side

This pregnancy has been totally different than any other pregnancy I have had, in regards to the food that I am eating. When I was pregnant with Mason, the only thing I couldn't stand was milk chocolate and Subway. I could still eat at Subway but couldn't stand the smell inside so I never ate there. (nothing against Subway but something about all the meat and everything just overwhelmed my senses.)

Second pregnancy, I only knew I was pregnant for 1.5 weeks so no real changes there. Third pregnancy I ate ice cream. A LOT! It was my comfort food. I would celebrate with ice cream and have my own little pity party with it since the hubs was away. I didn't buy a whole carton of it I went to an ice cream shop and would get my butter pecan ice cream with peanuts and carmel in a waffle cone. That was my go to. (hence the reason I gained 15 lbs with the 12 week pregnancy.) I also ate out more, hubs gone and I just didn't want to deal with cooking after all the good or bad news I was getting.

Fourth pregnancy. I have a huge desire for more water at the beginning of the pregnancy, and can't really eat too much of anything else. My appetite has just diminished with this pregnancy. I am eating about a 1/3 of what I was eating prior. I just can't finish most of my food. I am finally getting that "full" feeling for like the first time in my life and it is while I am pregnant. Also, sweets aren't doing it for me this time around. Half the time I have a hard time eating sweet things, or have a little here and a little there. (except ice cream, I realized the other night that I can still down that stuff even if my "full" meter is going off. Keeping it in check though.) I am also way more conscience of what I am putting in my mouth this time around than any other pregnancy. Because I can't eat as much food I have to put the right foods in. My main priority is protein, protein, protein. When I eat a meal I really have to have protein. I crave it. If Matt gets pizza for dinner I have often had an egg on the side just to get the boost of protein. PB is a great friend of mine as are eggs. And milk. I have been craving milk so very much. My greens intake isn't so hot though except when I make green smoothies but I am taking supplements to help out with my fruit and veggie intake to make sure I am getting enough minerals in a day.

I think the lack of being able to gorge out on food and the increased in exercise has helped me maintain my pre-pregnancy weight from this pregnancy. I am still 2 lbs under what I started this pregnancy at. I still eat. And if I am hungry enough and my body will let me I can still put away a good amount of food, but it is the proper amount of food that my body needs and wants. Another cool trick. If it doesn't feel right to me I can't eat it. Couple times now I have tried to eat something and it was not what my body wanted and it was Bad, like BAD tasting to me.

Long story short. I am listening to my body. In the food dept. probably for the first time in my life and it is pretty cool realizing that I can still exercise, grow a baby and eat clean healthy foods and feel pretty good too! Thank you body of mine for being so amazing!

Guest Blogger

I wrote a guest post on a fellow bloggers page and it is being featured today! Check it out here!

http://www.katieheddleston.com/2014/01/23/guest-post-one-fit-momma-to-be/

Be sure to check out all of Katie's blog as she has a TON of awesome posts to read up on and an amazing business. She makes running/exercise headbands in super cute designs!

Thanks Katie for letting me post!

MIA? Not Really

I know I have been MIA but this week has been a fun week for us in the Allen household. Monday was a federal holiday, which my hubs gets off, so family day for us. Then with the snow he had a half day Tuesday, yesterday and TODAY! CRAZY HUH! This central VA area just freaks out with snow and such, but the ice has been pretty bad too so I understand, and I kind of like the extra family we are getting so I haven't blogged because my schedule has been off and we have been having some fun together.

Monday Matt and I were able to go on a DATE! We try to go on one every month. We both need some time away from the kid. We went to one of our fav resurants here in town, Kabob Palace. It is an Afghan food restaurant. It is so yummy and clean tasting! And it is the only time my hubs will eat butternut squash and a salad! They have an appetizer that is called a Bolanee Kadu and it is a turnover filled with butter nut squash, onions and special seasonings served with a garlic yogurt dipping sauce. TO DIE FOR! If you have an Afghan style food restaurant look for this and try it! SO GOOD! Then they have such yummy kabobs and supper yummy brown rice and fresh from scratch made nan bread! I love that place!

Tuesday was the snow day. It finally started to come down around 10am. We didn't get too much but that night it iced completely over!

Wednesday, fun Wednesday we took Mace out to play in the snow. It was about 11 degrees out and felt like 4 per weather.com. Mason's gloves were too small so he went out without. (later my mom suggested putting socks on his hands, why didn't I think of that!) I got Mason all layered up even in his snow bibs we got at a consignment sale last fall. Mason had fun at first, following Matt around. Archer was the first to bail, his poor paws were cold. Mason liked to touch the white stuff and called it pretty but then his hands to cold. After about 10 minutes he freaked out and went to Daddy to go back inside. While inside it took about 15 minutes to calm him down from being scared not understanding what was happening to his hands and why they were so cold. Again Daddy to the rescue which is a first in this house! The rest of the day, we stayed nice and warm inside. I haven't been to the gym, due to schedules being off. And planned on going today, but as I was writing this out, Mason came upstairs to me and puked. LOVELY! Today is going to be an at home walking day it looks like. Did it yesterday too because I have to get my miles in this week. 9 miles to do on SAT!

Sorry for being MIA but loving the family time!

QOTD: How do you do exercise when the weather is freight full?

~After all the excitement in the snow we stayed inside. Learned my kid has one heck of a kicking ability!~

January Week 3 Workout Recap

This week was a slow week for me. Literally. I walked all week. Didn't make it to the gym on Monday. Tuesday we had another 2 year old visiting us all day while his mommy was  having her 2nd baby, so no gym. But when I did go, I just couldn't get that groove to run. I don't know what happened this week. I tried but it was like trying to fight my body too much, so I walked. I was get really strong round ligament pulling pain and it affected my speed of the walking. This week I will see if it continues, but I might have to get a support belt to help me out if this continues. Yesterday in my 4 mile walk, I got 3-4 braxton hicks contractions along with round ligament pain. But I am pretty sure yesterdays icky feeling was due to a lack of water the day before and day of.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 2 miles walk (18 min/mile)
Thursday: 1 mile walk (16:30 min/mile), prenatal yoga
Friday: rest
Saturday: 4 miles walk (was supposed to do 5 ARGH!) (17:15 min/mile)

This coming week is a big mileage long run on Saturday so I have to do way more, and get my groove back!

Each walk was way over the min I need for the half marathon. I know I will have to do lots of spurts of running with my walking for the half. I know I can do it! 5 weeks left until my race, then I can back off on the mileage! BUT I CAN DO THIS!

Any tips or advice to push through a burnout week?

4 Tips to Staying Active As A Fit Mom To Be

I have just over 5 weeks until my first 1/2 marathon! I AM GETTING SO VERY EXCITED! This weekend is the Tinkerbell half Marathon at Disneyland. My friend Kat and I almost signed up for it but decided against and and to try it another year. I could have been running a 1/2 marathon this weekend! EEK! That is kind of scary.  But my training for the Princess Half is coming along quite nicely!

Yesterday in prenatal yoga I mentioned that I only have about 5 weeks until the race and all the women's jaws dropped with the fact that I am still running, let alone training for a 1/2 while pregnant. I also saw my doc yesterday for my monthly checkup and he was very proud of me for my training, and my lack of weight gain. My blood pressure is better than average, my weight per his records has only gone up 4 lbs and that is because I lost so much and I am slowly gaining it back, still 2 lbs under what I was when I got pregnant by the way.  Baby sounds great, and looks great per the ultrasound. He said, this is how pregnancy should be. Continuing what you were doing before and having fun with it.

So as a momma to be my question to you is, how can we continue to exercise and be fit when we don't feel so fit, or in the beginning really like doing anything at all? It is hard. I tell this all the women I talk to. It is hard to get that motivation to go running most days, even now at 23 weeks. I still would rather just lounge on the couch or in my bed staying nice and warm and comfy than go to the gym and exercise. But exercising while pregnant is pretty cool. I am still getting tons of looks at the gym when I am running, because I look pregnant now and it is just not common to see a pregnant lady running. (plus the older generation were told not to run at all or had specific rules which have since changed but they might not know about those changes) I also get a lot of "good job!, great workout" too which is pretty cool because I look pregnant and I am still working my body! But I feel so empowered and I know I am doing something good for my body and for my baby. And he likes the bouncy ride too. Here are some tips to help you get back into exercising while pregnant even if you are just newly pregnant or if you are 38 weeks and are going to do some serious walking to get that baby out!

Start small-
If you haven't exercised in months or years or ever. Do not go to the gym and decide to start walking/running 4 miles in one day. You might feel great after you finish but your legs and feet will be barking at you tomorrow. YOU MUST START SMALL! Make it more of a time thing than distance. Don't go too fast, maybe just a little faster than you would normally walk so that you are doing something different. Start with 30 min at a 3.2-3.5. If you feel yourself struggling to keep up with that speed, slow down. If you sign up for a class for the first time, stand in the back or to the side, and take it easy. Allow yourself 2-3 classes to learn the moves and get the groove of things. Also look for shorter timed classes as taking an hour step class is a very long class, or choose a machine that lets you look in on the class to get a sense of what they do.

Pain vs Soreness-
Know the difference between being sore and having pain. Yes, after your first exercise like the day after, you will be sore. It is ok. You feet will ache, your muscles in your legs will be tight and won't really let you walk all that much, or if you lift for the first time ever you might have a hard time lifting your arms up to brush your hair or teeth. Been there. Felt that. Biggest thing go walk again that day. It will help get the soreness out by moving the lactic acid around and getting it out of your system. That is what makes you sore. The lactic acid being released from your muscles, oh and the little micro tears but they are ok too. But go walk it off. It will feel better. I promise. Pain is different on the other hand. Right now my feet are sore after I do my long runs. But if my knee really hurts than that is cause for concern. Usually muscles are sore. Joints are pain. Think about that in your sore/pain assessment after you exercise. If you have pain, ice it and take a day or 2 off to let it heal and try to think about what you did to make that pain, don't do it again. Maybe you stepped wrong in the step class, or your knee didn't like the 4 miles you did because it wasn't conditioned to do it. Think about what you did and try not to repeat it again for awhile.

Stretching-
This is the biggest thing. After you exercise you must stretch. No before. Don't stretch before. After! Take some time, a good 15 min really to get a really good stretch. Stretch your whole body. It will feel good. I am having a hard time stretching right now because some of my favorite stretches I can't do anymore because of my belly. IT Stretch. I miss you! But I still do the old fashion sit on the floor and stretch my hamstrings. If I really need a good stretch then I also have my foam roller which is a great device to help move that lactic acid around. But take the time. Even if you walk, stretch out and don't forget to get your upper body too. Your shoulders were working, your arms were working, stretch them out too. Show them the love!

Hydrate-
Water. You must drink water before, during and after you exercise. It is really important again to stay hydrated. If you feel thirsty than you should have already drank something! So drink and drink a little more. Try not to drink too much water while exercising so you don't get that sloshing feeling or puky feeling, that is why drink before. After you exercise it is important to drink because it helps to flush that nasty lactic acid out of your system. Drink a glass of water before the gym drink during and then drink another glass after the gym and during the rest of the day. WATER is the key too. No fruit juices, or sugar drinks. WATER. We are made up of 80% of the stuff it is the stuff we should be drinking!

In all honestly these are things that we already know. I am not a fitness expert or a doctor but we have heard these rules a thousand times. These are the things I follow too. Last summer I started small with the running and now I am up to 7.5 miles. Progress is a great thing! We need to be reminded of them every now and then. I was last night at a church activity and that is why I wanted to write about it today. We all need a reminder.

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey!