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
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories |