Pregnancy Week 37: Active Rest

Pregnancy insomnia continues...I was up at 4, seemingly wide awake, but then pretty much crashed at 6 a.m., when my alarm went off to get up for this morning's workout. Well, I nixed that idea, went back to bed, and was happy that I got a few more minutes of sleep. I was able to get a little workout in later on in the day, but let me just say, for the record, that I am pretty much done with this pregnancy gig. I know, I know. Most women carry their babies until 40 weeks (40 WEEKS!!!) and I've got nothing to complain about, since I've been feeling great for the most part and have been blessed to be able to continue with exercise.

Activity:
2 rounds of modified Shoulder smoker with 10 kg: Clean, then Military press descending ladder R/L 8, 6, 4, 2, 1
Planks 5 x 1 minute
1 hour walk with Asher in double stroller

Breakfast (again, no appetite, couldn't figure out what I wanted to eat):
1 banana
1 plum

Morning snack (since breakfast was obviously lacking in quantity and culinary interest!):
Handful Roasted Mixed nuts

Lunch (3 p.m.):
3 sunnyside up Omega 3 eggs with 2 handfuls sauteed organic baby spinach, 2 spoonfuls salsa, 1/2 avocado
2 handfuls Organic Dark Chocolate chips

Afternoon snack:
2 slices Organic Fuji apple

I took a nap for an hour at 8:30, then was a little hungry, so had "dinner":

Dinner (10 p.m.): Bowl of leftover fish soup
The corn tortilla chips were calling me (they've been calling me ever since we got them on Sunday for our Superbowl Cheat meal! My staple used to be chips and salsa, but I have only had that once this entire pregnancy, last Sunday being the first time, since corn is not on the Paleo approved list). The opened bag is still sitting on the countertop in full view. I had entirely too much....used it to scoop avocado so I could start feeling "full". On Sunday, when I had chips for the first time this pregnancy, my fingers got slightly puffy. Thanks to the Paleo diet, I haven't had any puffiness or swelling during this pregnancy, so it was really a difference after I ate those corn chips! Just waiting for the puffy fingers to strike again now! I tried to salvage the poor nutritional content of the meal (just the massive amount of corn chips I ate...the Fish soup was Paleo all the way), I had 8 ounces of Monavie w/ glucosamine, hoping the antioxidant benefits of the various berries in the juice would redeem me somehow. I am feeling very full right now and a little sick....who's betting that labor will start tonight of all nights?! I have since hidden the chips....

Fluid:
7 cups water

Pregnancy Week 35: KB combination lifts and bodyweight training

As my due date draws nearer, I feel the pressure (literally!) to train my squats even more. Squatting opens up the pelvic outlet, which is certainly a positive thing during birth!

Activity:
KB clean-military press-overhead squat (10 kg) x 10 each side
Advanced position sideplanks x 18 each side

Repeat cycle 10x

Breakfast (I had what was left of the lunch I made Adam this morning):
Curry beef with spinach, mushroom medley, onions, garlic; 1/2 avocado and 1 diced roma tomato
1 GF paleo Chocolate chip raisin scone (with organic ground flaxseed and chia seed)

Morning snack:
1 GF paleo Chocolate chip raisin scone

Lunch (at 3:30 p.m. LOL! wasn't hungry after the scone!):
Spinach salad with green and red bell peppers, cucumber, balsamic vinegar & olive oil
1 banana with almond butter
1 GF paleo Chocolate chip raisin scone

Dinner:
GF Rockfish Fish sticks (from the Gluten-free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam) with ketchup
1 scrambled egg (leftover from the fish sticks)
2 kiwi
10 ounces Monavie with glucosamine

Fluid:
6 cups water

Pregnancy Week 33: KB strengthening

I did a mix of bodyweight and KB work today.

Activity:
Pullups 2 x 4 (narrow grip), 2 x 3 (wide grip) then,

Goblet squat (10 kg) x 10
Single leg deadlift (12 kg) x 10
Ab Roller x 10

Repeat cycle 10x

Breakfast:
Large bowl of Vitamix drink (same recipe as yesterday)

Lunch:
Spinach salad with red bell peppers, tomatoes, 1/2 can light tuna; balsamic vinegar & olive oil
1 orange

Snack:
1/2 GF paleo Chocolate chip raisin scone

Dinner:
Curry beef (organic ground beef, onions, diced carrots, spinach, garlic, curry) on romaine lettuce
1 pear
1 handful Thompsons raisins
15 dark chocolate chips
1 GF paleo chocolate chip raisin scone

Fluid:
7 cups water

Pregnancy Week 26: "A Change is as Good as Rest"

I was dragging this morning and trying not to bail on my workout. I thought I'd go running, but didn't want to drag Asher through another rainy day stroller run (we don't have a rain cover for his stroller) in these cold temperatures. I thought about calling it a Rest Day....but then got inspired to do something little. A friend once said, "Do something every day toward your goal." And Pavel says, "A change is as good as rest." So, thanks to Tracy Reifkind (tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com) , I started with a quick workout that gave me motivation to do a little more:

Activity:
(from Tracy's Shoulder Smoker TG workout)
Light KB presses (8 kg), no rest:
12 L/R
10 L/R
8 L/R
6 L/R
4 L/R
2 L/R

I decided to adapt the concept for the lower body:
Goblet squats (12 kg) alternating with Mountain climbers, no rest:
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2

Breakfast:
2 sunnyside up Omega-3 eggs w/ 1/2 avocado
1 Fuyu persimmon

Snack:
4 Lindor Mint Chocolate balls (yum!)

Lunch:
Large spinach salad w/ tomatoes, cucumber, leftover turkey and a few grapes; balsamic vinegar & olive oil

Dinner:
Leftover roasted brussels sprouts and purple cabbage
A few slices of leftover turkey
2 Dove dark chocolate squares
1 gluten free paleo Cranberry walnut chocolate chip cookie (fresh from the oven!), courtesy of elanaspantry.com

Fluid:
6 cups water

Pregnancy Week 26: Thanksgiving KB strengthening

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so many things...my mom's slow but steady recovery, my dad for hanging in there through thick and thin, my husband who is driven with a passion for excellence in everything he does, my sweet happy healthy little boy, this fetus who is taking up a lot of my abdominal space (but gives me a good excuse to wear maternity pants (a.k.a. "buffet pants") to Thanksgiving supper, a healthy family, to be living in a free country...and all the big and little blessings that I take for granted that God gives us without merit.

Activity:
Pullups (wide and narrow grip) 4x4

Clean-Press-Overhead Squat (12 kg) x 5
Single leg Deadlift (14 kg) x 8
Repeat for 10 cycles

Breakfast:
Big bowl Vitamix drink (see yesterday's post for ingredients)
Handful roasted cashews

Lunch:
Thanksgiving supper cheat meal! Various traditional and non-traditional TG items including napa cabbage w/ scallops & meatballs (with breadcrumbs), purple cabbage (hey, my mom makes some interesting dishes these days), sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, roasted brussels sprouts, spinach salad, turkey w/ cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie

Dinner:
several slices of fresh pineapple, a few bites of leftover mac & cheese

Fluid:
7 cups water

Pregnancy Week 24: Bodyweight and KB strengthening

This was the perfect workout following a night of pregnancy-wakefulness and teething toddler! It follows Mike Mahler's 5 Pillars of KB Training :
1 upper body pull
1 upper body push
1 lower body pull
1 lower body push
core

Activity:
Bodyweight pullups (narrow and wide grip) 4x4
KB military press (14 kg*) 10x5
KB swings (14 kg) 10x60
Multi-directional lunges (14 kg) 10x5
Sideplanks, advanced (hip & shoulder abduction with non-weightbearing leg)10x18

*Since I started KB training in 2006, I have used the 12 kg as my go-to weight for most movements. Naturally, over the years, I began incorporating heavier weights during Swing training, TGUs and Renegade Rows, but the 12 kg was still my favorite weight (ie most challenging for the movement/repetitions). During my first trimester of this pregnancy, swinging the 12 kg just seemed too easy, so I started using the 16 kg with lower volume. As the pregnancy continued, and my pelvic joints got looser, using the 16 kg started becoming uncomfortable. So, a few weeks ago, we got the new KB sizes, 14 and 10 kg! Originally, I intended to use the 14 kg (in the post-partum period after my joints have "tightened up"...so, a long long time from now!) to improve my L arm pressing strength, and the 10 kg for KB training into the third trimester and in the "early" post-partum period. Well, as you can see from the workouts of the last week or so, I just couldn't stay away....I love the 14 kg! It's just the right challenge for me at this time.

Breakfast:
something was just "off" about today; I was hungry but had no appetite. There was no way I was going to make, much less, eat a "healthy" vegetable-fruit drink!!
2 sunnyside up Omega 3 eggs with 1/4 avocado
1/2 Fuyu persimmon

Lunch:
(yes, I made myself eat it, reluctantly)
Spinach salad w/ 1/4 avocado, 1 diced tomato, balsamic vinegar & olive oil

Snack:
3 slices Cranberry walnut bread

Dinner:
1 tilapia filet with taco seasoning
1 serving sauteed squash
1 honeycrisp apple
1 slice Cranberry walnut bread
4 ounces Mona-vie w/ glucosamine

Fluid:
(yes, I had to empty my bladder every 5 minutes all day long)
9 cups water