Staying Active During Pregnancy

I'm trying to be a good pregnant mama. 

Trying to choose the right foods and avoid the wrong ones (although some junk foods definitely slip in!)

Attempting to get the right amount of sleep, although often unsuccessful. 

Doing my best to stay active. 

This is hard though.

I can't run anymore, mostly because I just don't feel comfortable. I know people say you can run if you're in a routine (which I was), but I just felt like every time I struggled for breath, that it was affecting the baby. I'm sure the baby was fine, but for my own piece of mine, I cut out running. I can't push myself too hard like I did in bootcamp last summer. I can't lift too much. Or work too hard. Or get too tired. 

What else is left to do??

I'm still trying to be purposeful about some outdoor activities, such as gardening, but as the summer winds down, I know my time outdoors will take a hit as well. 

So I found three activities that I can keep doing throughout the year and feel comfortable with.

Walking. Swimming. Yoga. 

This is my new fitness routine. 

When life isn't overtaken by holidays, I'm walking every day, swimming once or twice a week, and taking prenatal yoga classes once or twice a week. 

Walking is just a part of life for me with two dogs at home. No big change here. Just continuing to walk whenever I get the chance. Hopefully this continues in our -20 or -30 degree winters too!

 I have always liked swimming, but now it's become purposeful. It feels great to have my growing belly feel weightless again in the water. Plus I feel like I'm getting real exercise doing laps - like if I wasn't in the water, I'd be sweating. But I don't feel like I'm overdoing it or out of breath like I did when I was running.
It's great exercise! 

I'm new to this whole yoga world, but so far it's fantastic. Prenatal yoga takes out all of the "dangerous" moves and keeps it simple. On top of that, my yoga instructor gives tips all the time such as "This is great if you have swollen feet", "This is a great way to relax during contractions", and "This is a great position for stretching out your lower back". I love it! It's also super relaxing. I honestly do feel like it takes away my weekly stressors when I do yoga. This activity will continue for as long as my body allows!

Hopefully this good exercise will continue as my belly continues to grow! 

{xoxo}

Learn to Run 5K... Check!

I did it!!! I ran 5K this morning!! Actually 5.1.... but who's counting...

For those of you keeping track, this is pretty much the best month of my life (engagement, house, completing running goal). I'm really proud of myself actually. It took me 43 minutes to do 5.1K, which is probably horrifically long to some people, but I felt really good about it. I don't have a watch or anything to track my distance, so I just run for a while - or until I feel like falling over - and then I walk. I was hoping that I could do 5K today so I pushed myself a bit, but I'm so glad :)

Now the goal is to improve my time a bit before I get to Ontario for a run with my BFF.

Joop and I post-run.

Joop chilling out by my shoes. [side note: As I write this he is passed out and snoring on the couch beside me, lol. I think he was just as tuckered out from the run as I was!]

Dodgeball Update

First off: we still suck. But today was the best game we've ever played! Seriously, it was so much fun, and we probably won about half of the matches :)

PLUS, my favourite dodgeball moment happened tonight! Sometimes people get very serious about the game. Wearing uniforms, watching the ref like a hawk, being a stickler for stupid rules. Anyway... this one girl got all upset because she said she hit Mr. A in the foot (which she didn't cause he says she didn't, and usually the person who gets hit knows. Unless they are a liar, but I assure you that Mr. A is not). So anyway, she was like "Umm... I was watching, and I know it hit you in the foot." So he humbly left the court. The match went on for a bit...

THEN... someone caught a ball, and Mr. A got to go back on. Once she was the only one left on her team, lots of side comments started coming from our end (i.e. mostly me). Comments like "Oh! I saw that hit her foot!", and "Oh, I was watching, it definitely didn't bounce!", and "FOOT". I was probably being somewhat immature, but she had irritated me.

THEN... Mr. A actually DID hit her in the foot!! She went off and our entire team cheered in victory! It was amazing. Best dodgeball moment of the season.

The End.

Running Update

I can actually say for the first time in my life that I went for a run outside and enjoyed it. I don't know if it was the actual act of running I enjoyed, or the triumph of having a minor success in my personal challenge, but that doesn't matter. Either way I felt great!

A few weeks ago I had taken a hiatus from running. I was sick for a while, and I got busy with all of my house-hunting. So running (not exactly a high priority) took a backseat. Turns out that in running terms, two weeks without training can be a long time. The longest I had ever ran before without stopping was just over 4K (that doesn't seem like much, but it was a huge success for me!). When I started again post-break, I could only do about 2K without wanting to die. Now, don't get me wrong, 2K is still a triumph for me, considering I use to want to give up after 30 seconds, but it was disappointing.

Well, realizing that gave me the motivation I needed to continue training. I run at a very slow pace, but I'm making progress and I'm proud of that. I ran on a track at the fitness centre and realized that I enjoyed that more than my go-to treadmill, and that I could still run the same distance. That got me thinking that maybe I would enjoy outdoor running, so I tried it and I did! About 2.5K at a very slow rate, but I did it!

Unfortunately, that was in Edmonton, and it's still a little snowy/icy for me to feel comfortable running outside in GP, but it's getting warmer outside. Let's hope this motivation stays with me!

Goal reminder: Be able to run 5K (with my best friend in Ontario in May!)

Ouch

Fitness challenge here I come!!!

So GP has this new amazing facility called the multiplex, with all kinds of courts, tracks, fitness areas, etc., and a huge aquatics centre. It's such a great place for a growing town like GP. In order to draw different types of people in they'll be hosting different events throughout the year. One such event is the "move it and lose it" bootcamp that they're hosting.

In my effort in be more fit I figured that this would be a good opportunity. It goes for the next 8 weeks and will be very fun I think. The kickoff event was a 2 1/2 hour seminar given by the famous Paul Plakas. He's the host of the show X-Weighted (if you ever saw it), and he's actually from Edmonton. It was very interesting! Lots of information I already knew, and some new tips too. One thing he said, and I totally agree with is that you should only ever shop the perimeter of the grocery store - fruits, veggies, fresh whole-grain breads, deli meat (not processed), and dairy. Everything in the middle is junk. As I've been struggling to maintain a healthier diet, I find this to be more and more true.

Another tip: If you do everything you would normally do in a day, but add climbing 3 flights of stairs to your regular routine, you will lose 6-10 pounds in a year, without even noticing (all other things kept the same)

Also, if you remove a bit of cream from your coffee (or one equivalent fat item like salad dressing) and keep everything else the same, you will also lose 6-10 pounds in a year.

Crazy little stats. He provided lots in interesting information though, and I really enjoyed the seminar. Next came the first of the many bootcamps. I was surprised because I expected a lot of cardio work in the first bootcamp (i.e. running, jumping, ++movement) but instead he focused on muscle training and work. We did a lot of individual exercises that on their own, weren't too bad, but one after another ended up defeating me!

It was great to practice new exercises, but now, two days later my quads are still sore! Seriously, I really have to get in shape! I think the next sessions will be more cardio based, but this was a good enough workout for me right now!

Paul Plakas doing some teaching. No big deal.

Here's a pic of a couple of friends of mine that are doing the bootcamp too, with Paul Plakas! Sidenote: we had a little conversation about the Grouse Grind cause I was wearing the t-shirt!

Each week also comes with a fitness challenge. The challenge for this week was to do three exercises throughout the week, time yourself, and see if there was an improvement. The exercises are:

1) 20 reps of reverse lunges

2) 20 reps of shuffling 15 feet, touching the ground, shuffling the other way touching the ground and repeating, and

3) 20 reps of going down (chest and stomach on the floor) and getting back up

I would have done them today, but my legs are still too sore for lunges, so we'll try tomorrow! I'll try to let you know my progress. Wish me luck!