I Must Workout!!~Les Mills Combat

Stretching Before My
Workout

I've been having such a hard time getting the motivation to workout, it's driving me nuts and making me feel completely pathetic. I'm failing miserably at this "I workout" pregnancy thing.

But I shall stand up straight and conquer this fight which feels like I'm walking through 2 feet of mud, such is my willful resistance. My inner self is acting like a 4 year old throwing a tantrum. However, I have started the steps to overcoming my stress levels and sense of overwhelmed-ness with my life right now.



Thanks to my husband's encouragement, I put on my pair of pink combat gloves and hit the living room carpet with a pregnant fierceness. He put in Les Mills Combat workout DVD, a Beach Body workout, and I stepped into it determined to do a modified version for at least 20 minutes (it was a 60 minute workout).

Workout Completed

I am happy to announce I was able to go the whole distance. I took the tortoise motto of slow and steady while I followed the modified workout lady. I worked up a great sweat, without feeling dizzy, light headed, faint or nauseous. It was fabulous! Talk about a confidence boost to know I can still go somewhat like I use to.

This got me thinking: If I spend my pregnancy getting to know the footwork and practice great form for this Combat series, then once I'm healed and ready, I'll up the speed and intensity and really get the most out of it. For me, faster paced workouts are frustrating to keep up with...but being pregnant, I'm forced to take it slow and careful and pay attention to the details so I don't overwork or strain myself.

I ended this workout session with a protein packed scrambled egg sandwich:

* 2 eggs, scrambled and mixed with a little cheddar cheese and milk



Scrambled Egg Sandwich

* 2 oz sliced cheese

* 2 slices of organic whole grain bread

  It is roughly 32 grams of protein. If extra nutrition is needed, rounding it out with a banana is an option I take at times. Delicious and simple.

I ended up a little sore in my arms and upper back, which means I pushed myself enough to get results.

I think the biggest thing to remember is to take baby steps!! And every journey starts with the first step; that push you give yourself to do something, even if it's small. It's still a start. You just might impress yourself....

Fit N Fancy 4 Life,

~~Caroleena  

Shortness of Breath This Early in Pregnancy?

A few weeks ago, I found myself having trouble catching my breath doing the simplest things. At first I thought it was just being pregnant that brought on shortness of breath, but it wasn't like I was 8 months pregnant toting around a big ol' belly! Taking the stairs in my house, even slowly, felt like I had just sprinted for 15 seconds...and I was only 15 weeks along.

So I started googling. I know, that's the last thing "they" tell you to do, but in all seriousness, no one really knows your body like you do. Doctor's usually make educated guesses based on what you tell them and what's in your medical history. You can try to educate yourself and put the pieces together. So far, it's worked really well for me. Knock on wood!

I took Gestational Diabetes into consideration, but the symptoms are scarce and I didn't fall under any of the risk factors, especially since I've never had it.

Since the search results I got back were all over the place, and most just said "see your physician", I grabbed my Heart and Hands book, a midwife's guide to pregnancy, and started reading.

That's when I stumbled across it! There was a paragraph in the Anemia section that said to first check the pregnant woman for a vitamin B12 deficiency if there was shortness of breath, then if that didn't help, it was probably an Iron deficiency. It was like I struck gold! I hadn't been taking my vitamins consistently and I felt tired too. It could be both Anemia and B12, so I checked my VitaNatal Vitamins and found them loaded with B12 and Iron.

I started taking the recommended amount, which seems excessive, but it's 6 pills a day, 2 with each meal. I also started eating foods that helped with Iron absorption (foods high in vitamin C) and iron rich foods.

In 2 days, I started noticing that I wasn't noticing I couldn't breath! Plus my fatigue wasn't as bad. Now a couple weeks later, I'm still dedicated to keeping up on the vitamins and diet, and I feel SO much better. No shortness of breath, unless it's understandable, and I feel energetic.

On a side note, I looked at the prenatal pills my doctor gave me, and the B12 plus Iron is extremely low in 1 serving, and the recommended dosage is 1 pill per day. There's no way you'd get enough from 1 pill, especially since the amount absorbed by the body with a tablet is slim, especially if your diet isn't up to par.

I have learned don't underestimate a good vitamin! And being too tired to take care of myself is lame and a very bad excuse....

Fit N Fancy 4 Life,

~~Caroleena