fit mom

My workouts

| cheriarmour

So I’m sitting on the couch, in desperate need of a shower.  This weekend was really cool, I will recap tomorrow.  But today, this morning, I ended up subbing a BodyPump class for Grant in the morning, and then I took a little break and taught a Total Body Strength Class at the Y for one of my instructors, who is really awesome, but I think she’s dropping her kid off at camp that day.

Which, btw, camps started yesterday and it totally makes me sob.  I love camp so much, and there’s this irrational part of me that found myself daydreaming about what it might be like to teach a few classes up in Pennsylvania.  Then I remember that I’m pregnant, and I’ve been referring to myself at Tilikum, and that the last thing a bunch of kids wants to do is hang out with a knocked-up 30-year-old.

Anyways, I’m gross, because after those two classes, I made sure that me and Austin hit a few laps around the neighborhood so that I could make my 10,000 steps, and while I was out there, I got to thinking that I’m really grateful – even though I’m in my third, I still classify the first trimester as probably the worst I’ve felt in my entire life.  I mean, I still have 12 weeks, so things can go downhill, but for the moment, I’m really seizing these moments.

So, my workouts during this time…

First, I’ve been really surprised at how I’ve been able to maintain some type of teaching schedule.  I kind of thought by June I would be done, but here I am in June, and I’ve been teaching things.

Things I Have Not Really Taught Lately

  • Step
  • Bosu
  • Really anything high-impact

More than anything else, high-impact is really disturbing to my bladder, and it also feels like me and the baby fighting for oxygen sometimes.

Things I HAVE Taught, and Feel Really Good About

  • Cycle
  • Toning/Total Body Strength
  • Body Pump <-Feels amazing

MY Workout

So in addition to the things that I’ve taught that feel good, as far as MY workouts, I am really focusing on strength, short short short occasional runs, and I walk every day in order to get all of my steps.  I truly think that despite some of the fatigue I had, especially in the beginning, doing something (not necessarily Crossfitting or anything hardcore if that’s not your jam), like walking, slight jogging, or lifting weights in ADDITION to my thyroid medication has been the only thing that has propped me up and kept me from keeling over during most of this pregnancy.  I really really hope that during subsequent pregnancies, I am able to stay so active so that I don’t feel like I’m dying of naps all day, but I am crossing my fingers that this holds out as long as possible.

What workouts did you do on this absolutely scorching weekend?

26 Weeks

| cheriarmour

Baby is the size of a(n): Keeping trend with the subjective fruit/veggie comparisons, this baby is the size of a coconut OR an eggplant depending on which app you’re going with.

Due date: Sept 3rd, 2016

Total weight gain:  I have not stepped on the scale in actual ages.  I’m in the 20 range I know, and I’m continuing to exercise, teach, and not eat everything in sight.  Which really isn’t super hard because my stomach feels like its been squished into something the size of a grape.  If I even think about overeating, I get refluxy and really uncomfortable.

Sleep:  I do it. Interrupted, always, by an early-morning bathroom break.  Yesterday’s break, and I was up, watching TV with the cats until it was time for regular people to wake up.

Best moment this week:  Step class with Jana!  I sort of tricked myself into going – about 20 minutes before 10am on Saturday morning, the strength instructor called with an emergency, and I was up and close enough to come in and teach the class.  Jana’s class was right after, so I stayed, and I was really glad I did.  Great workout, and great (though short lived) energy boost.  One riser, and a few mods, and I was good.

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Food cravings:   Sparkling things still.  Pie is still something that interests me, but acquiring pie is a really difficult task, and my main barrier to entry as it relates to dessert.  I really just like pie CRUST.

Food aversions:  Eh.  Food in general.  I am a big big fan of smoothies lately because they’re so easy to get in without having to do much prep or anything.

Symptoms:  Again, I feel big.  And I’m experiencing some pelvic pain, most likely indicative of a fun thing that happens to your pelvis and which sort of spontaneously resolves itself after delivery.  I’m waiting to hear back from the prenatal yoga instructor, and I’m paying a visit to the chiropractor this week for that, and a little SI joint irritation.

Looking forward to:  Visiting baby land again.  Austin and I went to Target and Babies blah blah this weekend, and it was really really fun.  I thought it was going to be kind of overwhelming and lame, but it really wasn’t.  I’ve largely accepted that we have no clue what we’re doing, and nothing will really change that.  Makes things feel soooo much smoother once you can be at peace with that.  We’re going back to nab a few more things next weekend 🙂

ICYMI…

25 Weeks, 24 Weeks, 22 Weeks – Changing it Up!, 21 Weeks (A little late), 20 Weeks – Halfway There, 19 Weeks…it’s a…, 18 Weeks, 17 Weeks, 16 Weeks, 15 Weeks, 14 Weeks, 13 Weeks, 12 Weeks

Exercise While Pregnant

| cheriarmour

A question I’ve gotten a lot, given my profession (Group Fitness Director at the Y), is if I’m continuing to teach classes, followed up by how I’m continuing to teach classes and exercise in my current delicate state.  (That delicate is total sarcasm btws.  I feel a lot of things.  Tired.  Big-bellied.  Kinda sweaty as it relates to my bra area.  But certainly not delicate.)

As kind of a frame of reference, here’s what I’m teaching in a typical week.  This is definitely down from my old usual – I used I teach one or two classes on Fridays (Zumba and Barre as needed), and I used to teach every Saturday morning Zumba.  I usually try to add a little bit of elliptical or treadmill in on these days – I do NOT do that on Mondays typically.  On Fridays, I work out with Jill, for a half-hour, down from the hour we used to do.  I’ve begun to make arrangements for my Mondays for over the summer, and the same for my Wednesday mornings.

Mondays – Zumba 7:20pm

Tuesdays – Total Body Strength (TBS) 5:30pm 

Wednesdays – 7:30am Cycle

Thursdays – 5:45am BodyPump™, 6:15pm TBS

Fridays – 5:45am BodyPump™ Express (this format is only 45 minutes)

The answer is that it’s doable, it’s all doable, but it’s definitely different.  Here’s how.  (And seriously, keep in mind that this is all going to be very different for everyone.  And that I’m not a doctor.  So don’t go doing something weird.)

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So early in, even before I knew I was pregnant, something was different.  I was really fatigued in Flywheel, and assumed that it was the holidays, and that I just needed to sign up for a marathon or something to get my butt into fighting shape.  I continued with HIIT workouts, went to hot yoga, and continued to notice some fatigue, almost as if I was fighting some sort of illness.  In reality, I was starting to make a baby, and we were starting to fight for air, and the hormone dump in the beginning was contributing to my  fatigue and headaches.

  • Certain Core/Ab Work doesn’t really work for me anymore.  For weeks and weeks into the pregnancy, I was able to continue with some core work without much issue.  At some point, being flat on my back became sort of uncomfortable, so I’ve made the switch to demo-ing a lot of these moves quickly, and then switching over to planks, side planks, and standing core work, where my focus is really maintaining a strong core, and not getting a six-pack (obviously).  I believe it has helped some with lower back pain, but I’m not far enough in my pregnancy to definitively say that it’s working against back pain.
  • Lifting feels really good.  Lifting weights is probably one of the things that I’ve not only maintained, but gotten a little stronger with, and I really credit teaching and taking BodyPump™ with that.  My upper body is really strong, and my glutes/quads/hamstrings are really really strong from tons of squats and lunges.  I am careful with weighting squats, and I’m careful with lower back, even though clean/hang and clean and press are some of my favorite lifts.  I make sure to lift juuust enough, and not overdo it, and to really watch my form.  I have not really done a truly heavy deadlift, but just enough, once again, so that I’m engaging my lower back  muscles without completely overdoing it.
  • Running is a challenge.  I was a woman who swore that pregnancy would not affect my mileage, and when it did, it wouldn’t be huge.  It has been a big change.  The way things are set up for me, my son is having a great time, and all the equipment he comes with is really restricting my bladder.  The second I empty my bladder, it begins to fill back up, and when I do higher-impact exercises, I find myself ducking into bathrooms immediately.  So I tend to keep runs to 20 minutes or so.  It was definitely sort of discouraging at first, but I’m keeping up with it in other ways, so I feel okay about it.
  • Cycle feels good…even though I have to dial the crazy back a bit.  I have fallen in love with teaching Cycle, and I really enjoy how I sweat when I’m on the bike.  It really reminds me of a running sweat, without the damage I feel like I’m doing to my bladder.  As I get bigger, I may have to figure out how to accommodate my belly, but for now, it has been really awesome.  I do find on some climbs, I feel like I’m fighting for air, so I have to deal some of the up/down/up/down that shoots your heart rate through the roof back a bit.

I think pregnancy and remaining active is one of those things in which you walk a really really fine balance.  It is a necessity, to sweat each day.  However, within the bounds of a growing and changing body, it it necessary to sweat safely, and more so than ever, do so with proper form.  When you go for a run, the goal isn’t necessarily to kill yourself or burn the most calories, but perform this daily routine in the hopes that labor, delivery, and recovery (that one is the biggie) is as smooth as it is supposed to be.

Anyways, I’m enjoying figuring out what modifications work for me, all while eyeballing things I may like to challenge myself and do once I don’t have a belly in the way.

Pregnant or not, what’s your favorite way to stay fit?

Big Life Things!

| cheriarmour

Hi!  I have not been posting here with my usual frequency but I have a really good reason, which I will totally get to later.  I promise.

First off, how was your freakin’ weekend?

Mine was/is good.  These posts are always kind of time warpy, because you pre-post, and you pre-write, and you’re talking about things that are kind of still happening, and you come back to unfinished stuff, and it’s just weird.  But my weekend, which is almost over, has been really really good, and really restful.

It started off like a house on fire.  Friday evening, we hosted another Zumba/Cardio Dance party at the Y, which featured like 5 teachers for two hours.  I ended up working a good bit from home on Friday, so by the time the party started around 6:30, I wasn’t completely worn down.  Here are a few shots from the evening.

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After the party, Austin was still at a Hurricanes game for some hockey sports, so I headed to the Drafthouse for some post-party food which included some pickle chips (ugh, so delicious even though I despise pickles in their true form) and veggie burgers.

Saturday was another full day.  I taught a class, went and helped Austin repair a few things we needed, and snuck a mid afternoon nap in before I hit the couch really really hard and finished the night with cartoons.  I was seriously in bed well before midnight, and slept hard until I had to come into work to help Fleet Feet out on a busy(ish) Sunday.

Big Life Thing

So here’s the deal.  I’ve been really annoying and “vague blogged” a few things here and there.

So out with it!

A day or so after Christmas, I went out drinking with some friends of mine, then we went to the gay club to dance.  I had a great time, but the next day, I was feeling…off.  Not hungover, and not sick, but like I had some vertigo going on.  Which is the best way to describe it, but probably not 100% even capturing it.  I mentioned this to a friend over text, and she responded “knocked up”.  I told her there was no way, but stopped by the Walgreens right across the street, and picked up a really, really cheap pregnancy test that came in like a box of two.

It came out positive.  So I took the next one.

Positive.

I showed Austin, who was in a veritable state of shock, and he sort of paced around the yard for a while before I sent him on a mission to pick up a few more fancy tests, the ones you see the commercials for.

Positive, positive, positive.

Of course, at this time, I’m panicking, and had send photo evidence to Chelsie (“knocked up”) who immediately replied with a “congratulations,” and some really fun emojis, photo evidence to Jill, my trainer, and photo evidence to Kaity, all mom friends of mine who I felt would have more insight on if the tests were indeed reading the way I was seeing.

All that to say, is I am pregnant and have been very pregnant since around Christmastime.  I have really wanted to share with bunches of people, but it’s kind of conventional wisdom that you don’t share before 12 weeks.  Which I really have mixed feelings about, but, I will share more on that later.

Eep!  We are nervous – this was not necessarily the most expected or most planned thing right now, but we’re in a good place for it, and there’s no time like the present, right?  I think I was more nervous before I told people because I was afraid if I told people I would jinx it, and I’m also good friends with some couples who have struggled with fertility issues, and I’ve been afraid that this would be a lot for them.  Which, for the record, has not been the case – everyone has been really rockin’ about it, and I have even had some offers for clothes and books.  Which lord knows I could use, because I really have no idea what I’m doing.

So really quickly, let me answer a few of the biggest questions people have had for me.

Your boobs are getting huge!

Not a question.  But yes, they are beginning to get out of hand.  But what can you do, that’s not something that’s going to change, right?

How are you feeling?  Have you been sick?

I have not been sick.  I have been ridiculously, hopelessly exhausted.  I have never experienced exhaustion like this in my life.  I rely solely on naps and drinking lots of water.  My doc says it will pass in the next few weeks or so, so I am really looking forward to more of a surge in energy.  I have been feeling less deathly the past few days, so I am hoping this means that maybe it’s coming.  But I have been in bed well before midnight every single night except a drag show I was at last week.

What about teaching your classes?  Will you have to cut back?

I don’t know.  As of right now, I am teaching all my regular classes except for my Friday Barre, and I feel great teaching.  In Body Pump, I have gone a lot lighter on my squat and my back weight, but overall, I’ve been doing the same.  I have cut back on my running, due to nothing other than the fact that I am exhausted, but I’m still running.  I’m not sure if that will change, especially toward the end of the pregnancy.  But, as of right now, I just don’t know.

All of that said (I feel like I just dropped a damned bomb on you), how was your weekend?  Do you have any burning questions for the pregnant workout lady?