13 weeks have flown by!! I'm not sure if I finally hit the second trimester mark, but I do feel like I have! Things have been GREAT. No food aversions, no sickness and almost no cravings. I have only done this once (and I'm only 13 weeks in) BUT I swear being healthy has played a HUGE role in keeping me feeling good.
I said I would get into more detail about exercising and the effects it has on pregnancy once I got further along. Second and third trimester are impacted a lot more by exercise and you have to be careful on things you do. I have seen videos online that are showing ladies the WRONG things and it scares me. Please be careful what you read and believe!! So here's the low down on things you can and CAN'T do once you hit your second trimester: 1) NO heated yoga classes, PLEASE. You shouldn't even be doing this in your first trimester. Your body can overheat easily and if you are overheating your baby is even in more danger. Make sure to stay cool and wear loose fitted clothing. Do not exercise outside if it is very warm out. 2) Stay hydrated. I know this seems like a no brainier and you should be doing this even if you aren't pregnant BUT when you are pregnant you need to be even more hydrated. For every 15-20 minutes of exercise, you should be drinking about 6- 8oz of water. Yes, it seems like a lot but you will need it! 3) NO exercises lying down on your back! This can be very dangerous for your baby once you hit your second trimester. This can put pressure on your vena cava and reduce blood flow. Instead, try inverted exercises or use a stability ball. 4) Don't stand still for too long! Just as lying on your back can reduce blood flow, so can standing for long periods of time. And not to mention, it can cause varicose veins. Most jobs don't require a lot of standing but mine does. I prop one leg up on a bench when I am training clients and switch my weight from leg to leg to help decrease this. 5) NO rotational movement. I know working on those woodchops are fun but those are a no- no when pregnant. Once your belly starts to grow you don't want to twist and turn with weight. This could compress the baby and be dangerous. Instead, try other transverse abdominal exercises (there are a lot in Pilates). This will be safe to do and help to keep your core strong. These are just a few things to keep in mind when exercising in second and third trimester. Remember to consult with your physician before starting a workout routine. Never increase your intensity from pregnancy. Maintenance and staying healthy is what is important. 5)
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Sorry for the delay in updating! We just officially made our pregnancy announcement on social media! I was a little scared to do so for some reason but it's great to have so much love and support!
We just got back from Disney world (we brought the baby for the first time and it was free!) and it was quite fun. It was a tad bit chilly but hey, anything beats -5 in Chicago! While we were away there were a lot of things that crossed my mind as I saw many families and fellow pregnant ladies a like. Everyone goes about life differently but I cannot, CANNOT, stress how important it is to be healthy!! Especially when you're expecting! Disney was great but what drove me nuts was seeing all the unhealthy food and all the children that were eating it! Loads of sugar doesn't do good for anyone! I felt like crap as well because it was extremely hard for us to eat clean. We even brought our own snacks and packed lunches. Can you believe it?! OK , I am getting side tracked.... I wanted to talk about the things I changed in my lifestyle once I found out I was pregnant. Now I have always been healthy but obviously you take it to a new level when you find out your expecting. Things I changed: My doc said 200mg of caffeine was OK per day but for some reason I didn't crave it as much. I think it was my body telling me I didn't need it. I do have a cup maybe 2-3 times a week but nothing more. Hydration is super important so I try to drink AT LEAST 3-4 liters a day! I aim for a gallon (4 liters) but sometimes it is hard. I can't stress how important drinking water is...!! Cut back on intensity of workouts and weight. Breathing was rough during the first trimester and recovery sucked (and still does). I listened to my body and have cut back on weights but have upped my reps. This helps a lot. No one needs to PR while pregnant. Lotion!! My mom can't stress enough to me putting on lotion EVERYDAY (not going to lie sometimes I miss a day). She claims it will prevent stretch marks. Why take a chance? Lotion, people! Fruits! I didn't eat a ton of fruit before because of my bodybuilding background. Fruit equals sugar and sugar equals fat was my mentality. However, fruit carries a TON of nutrients and I was craving it hard core. I knew my body needed to fill up on those nutrients so I listened and have upped my fruit intake by 200% probably! Organic, organic, organic. I try to buy organic when I can but sometimes it can be just darn right expensive. Well, I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to go 100% organic on everything because what I eat also feeds the baby and fillers, artificial additives and processed food won't do the baby (or me really) any good! Keep doing what I'm doing. I feel sometimes when things change in our life we let it effect our entire life. I was letting this happen in the beginning. I just felt lost and out of control. I told myself to get it together and KEEP it together because getting off a schedule (in my case) will just make a mess for me. Doing everything I can that I used to was a huge part and I am thankful I did (and am). These are a few of the things I started doing when I found out I was expecting. Since I am in my 2nd trimester (or almost..? Is it 12 or 13 weeks?!) I am going to start talking about what to do for exercises since SO much changes!! Hello Week TEN!
My OH My, time is flying by! Forgive me if you find myself repeating things in my post. I must admit that my memory has BEEN MISSING lately. I hope to find it soon. In the meantime, bare with me please! So the little peanut is now the size of a kumquat. I needed to google that one because I didn't really know how big a kumquat was (alas the picture). I was chatting with a client today about being pregnant, feeling pregnant but not LOOKING pregnant. It's kind of annoying! You go through so much in the beginning and no one knows at all (besides the ones close to you). However it's fun having such a special secret!! For week 10, I decided that I am going to switch to ALL organic foods. I typically eat very healthy and buy organic when I can but I don't ALWAYS buy fruit and veggies organic . I decided why not go the extra step and treat my body (and growing fetus) with extra care and love. You only get one body, might as well treat it the best! I found this cute little question and answer and decided to throw it in for today's blog! Hello and welcome to my personal blog! For those of you who follow me through my business, CW Physique, thanks for coming! And those who just found this on the internet, welcome! This blog will be a little bit different and less formal. I have created this blog to document my experiences through pregnancy and my lows and highs of staying fit and healthy during it all. If you have any comments or questions, I'd love to hear about them! DISCLAIMER: If you are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, please consult your doctor before starting any exercise routine. I am starting this blog at almost 10 weeks pregnant. I am a little upset with myself, because I wish I started sooner! I figure now is better than never! My husband and I are expecting our bundle of joy the first week of August in 2016. Yay! We couldn't be more excited! However, with this new journey comes SO many unknowns, and it can be quite overwhelming and a little scary honestly! The questions that run through my head are how will my body respond during this process, will everything be healthy and go as planned, what about afterwards? Crap, what happens after these 10 months?! So I decided to just relax and let nature do it's thing (or at least try and relax) and pray that all goes well! You hear a lot about morning sickness and throwing up left and right. I am very fortunate that I did NOT throw up (knock on wood). I actually felt amazing the first 5 weeks! I thought, whoa this is a piece of cake! Well, then week 6 hit and so did the nausea. The thought of ANY food made me want to hurl. I couldn't eat my favorite foods like eggs, chicken, or peanut butter. Those that know me, know that I eat A LOT of eggs. I probably eat (or ate) 13-16 egg WHITES a day! Try going from that to nothing! All I could stomach was crackers and frozen yogurt. Yah, the yogurt was amazinggg :) I started feeling guilty because I am such a healthy eater and being a nutritionist, I knew it wasn't right! My mom and doctor talked me off the ledge by reassuring me that my body has storage of vital nutrients for the baby. Not to mention, the baby is only the size of an olive right now so it doesn't take much. PHEW. Week 10 is when I started feeling better. Wednesday this week I woke up hungry! I haven't been hungry in what seems like a LONG time. I was so excited! I was even able to eat my eggs! JOY TO THE WORLD! It was great. I did find myself being EXTRA hungry the past two days but that might of been because I dropped about 5 lbs and my body is trying to get back to its starting weight. Doc said it was normal and that I'm not supposed to gain much in the first trimester anyways. Here's a little bit on my current food and workout plan: WORKOUTS: The first few weeks were rough! It was very hard for me (and still is) to catch my breath. I know this is a sign for some women and because we have such much blood pumping to the olive, our heart is in overdrive! Our resting heart rate actually rises during first trimester (and again in third). I'm going with this theory that this is why I can't breathe! Cardio was lame weeks 5-8 but its picking back up. I do intervals for about 15 minutes POST lifting, 5 days a week. On the weekends I take my dog for a nice long walk. As far as lifting goes, I am still working hard but paying attention to my body! You can keep exercising during pregnancy but you should NOT increase intensity from what you were previously doing. Sooo if you weren't working out before, now is NOT the time to start. However, if you're thinking about becoming pregnant then by ALL means, start exercising! The benefits of exercise are out of this world!!! Did you know that women who exercise have a decrease in common prenatal symptoms such as constipation, swollen limbs, leg cramps, nausea, varicose veins, insomnia, fatigue, back pain and other musculoskeletal issues?! Crazy, huh!? There's so many more benefits to exercising while pregnant that I'll touch upon in later blogs. Just get those wheels turning and start SERIOUSLY consider starting an exercise routine! NUTRITION: I'm happy to report my nutrition is WAY better this week! Oh it makes me so happy I could jump! It was really driving me bonkers that I couldn't even eat eggs or veggies! I eat so many veggies a day (normally) so it made me sad that I wasn't doing this in the previous weeks. However, its a whole new ball game this week! And hopefully for the remainder of the pregnancy! One thing I want to note is cravings. Cravings aren't something I have really experienced. I mean, I've heard women wake up in the middle of the night wanting pickles and bacon and that they must have it that second! Can't say that's happened and frankly, I hope it doesn't! I have wanted more fruit but in my opinion, that is my body telling me I need more vitamins from fruit. Today, I woke up and had 1 slice of Ezekiel bread with 1 tsp of natural peanut butter along with 1 protein pancake. The protein pancake consisted of 150g of egg whites and 100g of fresh berries and cinnamon. That's it! I whisk it together and put it on the stove to cook! Easy, healthy and quick! I always pre-make chicken for the week and freeze it. I grab the containers every morning along with some fruit and eat it as a mid-morning snack. Yes, I love eating chicken at 10am, don't you? I typically get home for a lunch break (or sometimes have to bring it with me) and will eat a big salad with some egg whites and 1 whole egg. I've been trying to up my carbs because I know my body needs it so I'm adding in A LOT of fruit these days. I also have added in other grains here and there such and brown rice, red potatoes, and so on. I was so used to tracking my macros (I've been doing it for years) that it's been a little hard for me to let go. I've realized that it is more important to listen to my body now then ever. It's amazing what the body is capable of and I figure that it will know what I need to do. Being in-tune with your body is so important!! Stay tuned for more progress on Baby Pango! That's the name we are giving it for now! :D Have a happy day! Cristina |
AuthorCristina Panagopoulos is the owner and founder of CW Physique, an in-home personal training and nutrition company. She has been in the fitness industry for over a decade and loves helping others transform their lives. She is certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a personal trainer and metabolic coach along with American Fitness Professionals & Associates certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. Over the years, Cristina gained specialty certifications through the American Council of Exercise for Orthopedic Exercise and Pre and Post Natal Exercising. Cristina started this blog as a casual and personal journey through her experiences of pregnancy and later on motherhood. She wants to educate females on proper fitness and nutrition who are going through pregnancy and motherhood. For more information, please email Cristina directly at [email protected] Archives
October 2016
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