With this wonderful news, I’ve decided to pick back up with blogging on this site. It’s more for documentary purposes and my mom has requested updates on the baby bump. I’ve also wanted to write about my experience for other moms, who may be in a similar life situation. Once I found out I was prego, I searched all over the web for fitness and nutrition information. I came to a conclusion, there is not a lot of substance to most of what people/organizations recommend for pregnant women.

I’ve also come to realize everyone’s pregnancy is very different and even every pregnancy from the same woman can be different. So, this is just my story. I’ve eaten unweighed/unmeasured Paleo for close to 3 years. I’ve trained pretty hard for the past 3-4 years. During this time, I’ve been on a consistent CrossFit program, Olympic lifting program, or strength development cycles. I’ve competed in a few CF competitions and Olympic Lifting meets (nothing too notable to mention, but I just wanted to give a little info on myself). This is just a little of my recent background.

It is always best to start any fitness program PRIOR to pregnancy. I’ve written a little bit about it here on the BlackBox Blog. I think the main point of my pre-pregnancy blog is: “If you are wanting to become pregnant or if you are even considering that one day you may want to host a fetus, it would be wise to get your shit together TODAY!”.  Once you are pregnant, life is pretty unpredictable. I’ve had it pretty easy compared to most (no sickness), but I was unprepared for the complete exhaustion and slow recovery (from workouts) I experienced in the first trimester.

If I hadn’t had really good eating habits or consistent workouts prior to pregnancy, I do believe life would have been VERY difficult. I believe if you develop good habits now, when life gets tough it’s easier to continue to do the things that are normal (like eating well, sleeping well, and exercising). These things were very easy to do during the first trimester, because they were so engrained in my natural everyday life. This is not the norm, for most women, but they will make that first trimester easier. I’ll explain more in another post. But I really do believe if you eat well, sleep well, and exercise appropriately the all too common symptoms of pregnancy don’t have to be the normal for you!

Okay, enough of my ranting, I really could go on for a long time… So, in this blog, I am in no way saying that my word is greater than a Doctor’s. So, if you are here and you are prego and things that I say also conflict with what your Doc says. My advice would be listen to the Doc. I would also recommend listening to your intuition (this usually doesn’t lie). Get a second or third opinion, do your own research, question the why behind the what…. It’s your body and your baby, so ask questions and make sure your not just doing something, because you’re being told “this is how it’s done”.

10 Weeks

14 weeks

16 weeks

17 Weeks

Workouts:

I still do all of the lifts, although the weight is a lot lighter (maybe at 85/75%). My abdominal muscles don’t seem to want to stabilize as well as they used to. The only movement that I’ve cut out of the equation is box jumps. They just make me a little nervous. I still jump, double unders are actually one of my favorites right now.  I still do handstands/cartwheels, mainly for fun. Also, sit ups (which are recommended to be cut off in the 2nd tri) are still great and feel comfortable (we will touch on a few movements that people say to avoid and a little of the why, a little later).

A good rule of thumb, if it feels weird, funny or uncomfortable, stop it and do something else!

Cravings: Mustard (like on everything, yum!) and Sunflower Seed nut butter on bananas!

Sleep: normal, sleep throughout the night.

Sex: Yes, please… HA! No, just kidding. We find out the sex of the baby on Wednesday (tomorrow!). Pray for the little one to be spread eagle, so we can get a good look!

Websites I love:

www.laybabylay.com

http://chriskresser.com/  (specifically his baby code)

www.onefitmom.com (this is really the only website I’ve found by another pregnant woman who has been consistently active and eating well. It’s very encouraging)

Take a breath, create some space between your thoughts and your mind. Within that space be conscious.

Be present.

This too shall pass…

Photo Credit

Photo Credit

ENJOY!

ENJOY!

I’m glad the internet is so speedy and always at my finger tips, but there is just something special about having a cook book in front of you while you’re cooking. It makes me feel less techy and more earthy.

Everyday Paleo!

I’m pretty sure you know where I stand on supplementations. If not, I really dislike them. It is hard enough to get people to eat real food. The idea that a pill or powder can replace whole food is in my opinion just an example of an apathetic “quick fix” attitude and it’s ridiculous and it makes me want to drop kick something.

I hope you enjoy. Sorry for my soap box. I just like standing on it every once in a while.

The ENS is a part of the Sympathetic Nervous System (remember your fight or flight response), which is also apart of your Autonomic Nervous System (unconscious actions: breathing, heat beats…). This article is touching on the subject of how people can exercise till the sun comes up, but still not lose wt, gain muscle, or have great performance measures. There are a lot of things that play into an imbalance in your Autonomic Nervous System. Food is huge.

“The greatest majority of the ENS neuron population resides within the small intestine as the myenteric plexus and submucosal plexus. This region of the body has intimate contact with all consumed foods, liquids and any of the toxins, chemicals or parasitic organisms that may enter during consumption. It is for this reason the ENS not only communicates to all major control centers, but may produce very powerful influences over mind, mood, circulation, energy levels, capacity for exercise and response to exercise. The enteric nervous system’s role in regulating our overall physiology, and even psychology, should make it clear to you that what you put in your mouth may be even more important than how you choose to exercise. After all, most people only exercise 3-7 hours a week (if that!), yet they generally eat three meals a day. When you consider that each meal influences your physiology for between 55-72 hours under normal conditions and you’re doing this at least three times a day, eating has a much greater capacity to alter your physical, mental and emotional capacity than exercise done only a few times per week! The days of personal trainers feeding their clients packaged and processed impersonations of food will have to come to an end if we are to help people in the new Millennium.” ~p. chek

Moral of this article: eat well and you will look good, feel good and perform good.

1. You need to show up. (I think that’s pretty straight forward. If you have any questions, you can email me on that one)

2. Lift heavy, listen in class, and work hard. (that’s ~3 things, but the main point is once you show up, put in the effort) The more you put into this program the more you will get out of it!

3. Log.

4. Log.

5. Log. Keep track of your progress. If you are not aware of where you are (strength wise), you will not really know if you are progressing.  We are looking for an increase in strength.

The final thing you need to focus on is eating well. You know where we stand in this area, and you know how to do it… So… Keep up the hard work and it will pay off!

Enjoy lifting heavy!

I wake this morning to find that I have been graciously given a helper. This summer as I was considering the whys and whats of the business I have been given one thing I came back to, over and over again, was the company I longed for which any “normal” job may provide. Recently I have had much more direction and support. It has been nice. So with all this sweet transition in effect, I am now able to sit and write.

I was reading through “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell, where he superficially touches on about absolutely every subject you can think of. I’m still trying to figure out what his point was. Anyway, there was one thing that he mentioned that has stuck with me. He talked a little about ad-lib plays and what makes really great ones, great and really terrible ones, terrible. One thing within his dissection was that excellent stories come from people who are open for the ride. When people allow life to happen. When a suggestion is given, it isn’t stopped or shut down, it is explored and expanded on.

I know life is not exactly a play, but I’m learning to explore a little more. I really love that word. Explore. I’m trying to use it as often as possible. I have been telling my clients to explore their glutes by rolling on a pvc pipe. I think the word gives great direction with many things. Anyway, I digress…. Try saying yes to things today. Things that you may normally say no to, say yes and see where you are lead to. Explore the possibilities.

If only we lived this close to so many coconuts…. That would be fantastic!

So this is Robb.

He has a book coming out and you should buy it.

I cannot say enough about how this man has helped change my life and thousands of others. If you purchase anything in the next few weeks, make this one of them.

Here is the link for pre-order