Fitness Workouts while Pregnant: Who knows your body better than you?

Today, at the gym, I talked to a girl about working out while pregnant. She said that when she was pregnant, she became borderline diabetic and her doctor had recommended that she stopped working out after the first trimester. She followed his advice and went through her pregnancy gaining excess weight and having difficulty during her delivery because she had lost her endurance and strength since cutting back on exercise. She said that she was generally fit pre-pregnancy and really wanted to continue her workouts at the gym throughout, but followed her doctor's recommendation and merely walked for exercise throughout pregnancy. She is thinking about having another child and she would like to approach fitness and pregnancy differently this time around!

Wow! Ok, I am not a doctor, but I was saddened to hear that she'd received this recommendation from hers! Doctors are great (my dad is one), but sometimes I think we need to listen respectfully to what they offer in certain situations and then listen to your body, do your own research and then make a decision on what is right for you. Everything that I have read about exercising while pregnant does start with consulting your doctor, which is important, especially if you had health issues prior to becoming pregnant. But my motto in life is balance and moderation. If you can find a good balance between maintaining a good fitness level through pregnancy while also monitoring your body to ensure you are doing all that you can to protect and grow the little one inside you, then why not?

Here are a few ways that I modify my fitness workouts while I am pregnant to ensure that I am still remaining active and maintaining my strength and cardiovascular capacity, so that 1. I can keep growing a strong and healthy Little Tuna, but also 2. so that I can be strong throughout my labor and delivery!!

First Trimester - The first trimester is when I did cut back on my exercise level and frequency, however I did not stop!

• Strength training 2-3 times per week - I am a fitness instructor so this was actually less than I had been, but even if you're not an instructor, 2-3 weeks is great and you can modify your intensity as needed; I already decreased the weight amount I lifted in this trimester
• Running 2-3 times a week - I had just started training for the Army Ten Miler when I learned I was pregnant and had not been running consistently in over a year, so I only ran very easily during the first two months and walked whenever I felt winded or pulling in my belly - read more on that here
• Yoga a few times a month (I could have increased this, but I was really tired, so sleep was more important to me)

The only race I'd done in the year prior to pregnancy,
while I was recovering from plantar fasciitis.

Considerations:

• In the first trimester, you're dealing with increased fatigue and probably some form of morning sickness. I was just nauseous all day and really the only times I felt well were while working out or the 30-45 minutes after I had eaten (So I ate small snacks very frequently). But definitely work with your fatigue and don't overexert yourself any time during your pregnancy.
• Your body is already making tremendous changes during this trimester, so always listen to your body! For example, my chest was growing fast and hurt, so running did not always feel awesome, hence the slow pace and walking.
• As for yoga, this is the one trimester when you can still do most of the poses, so, if you are new to yoga and want to incorporate it into your prenatal program, this is when to start it up, learn the poses and then you can build strength, flexibility, and consistency. In the following trimesters, you can then edit poses as needed.

Yoga with my two faves, during the first trimester!
Knight really has Side-Lying Savasana down.

These are a few ideas on how to continue on (or even begin) your fitness journey during pregnancy. Tomorrow, I'll cover the second trimester (which I'm currently enjoying!). 

Just remember, YOU KNOW YOUR BODY BEST!

How have you modified your fitness workouts during a pregnancy? Are you newly pregnant and looking for ideas on where to start? If so, let me know!

Need more water!?

Have you been trying to add more water intake to your daily routine? Have you been trying to cut out or limit some other kind of liquid??? Maybe soda or coffee? And we all know how important water is to our body as we are made up of about 60-70% of water.  The recommended daily intake of water is about 8 cups or 64 oz. When we sweat more, we probably need to replenish the body with more as well. A great rule of thumb is to drink when you're thirsty...however, some of us (trust me, I'm included) grab for the Diet Coke when we're thirsty instead of water. Add that caffeine (which acts as a diuretic, not allowing your body to absorb the water) and then you're sending your hydration level in the opposite direction. (UGH!!)

So, here are some ways that I have used to:
 1. cut down on soda and 2. increase my water intake:

1. Flavored water. The most frequent reason I hear that we don't drink enough water is that the taste (or lack of) is boring or unappealing. There are lots of ways to flavor your water, such as no-sugar drink mixes like Crystal Light or Nuun no calorie electrolyte drink tabs. Crystal Light is easy and everywhere, but just remember that it's usually sweetened with Aspartame, so if you don't like that, then nix it. However, I discovered Nuun when prepping for my first Ironman in 2009 and I have been a loyal fan ever since. They come in all sorts of flavors and not only provide taste, but also add electrolytes, so they are especially awesome when you're in the midst of a heavy sweat session like BodyCombat or Spinning! Nuun is readily available these days. I've seen it in Sports Authority and even some grocery stores! Awesome.

1a. Homemade Flavored Water. This was a staple in my fridge this summer and my husband was always begging for it. Cucumber, mint and lemon water. It's so easy and it adds great flavor, plus the added benefits of cucumber (more water plus Vit B), Mint (facilitates digestion), Lemon (antibacterial and immune boosting). I also slowly let some of the cuke slices fall into my glass and I eat them up to get the added fiber benefit. :) Recipe at the end of post.

2. Green Tea /Low cal energy mix. I also will make green tea in a large pitcher and add lemon as well (and possibly a little stevia if I expect Matt to drink some as well). The benefits of green tea are tremendous (fighting cancer and heart disease, weight loss, etc.). An alternative to this is a great energy drink called FRS. This provides antioxidants (just like green tea does) and also claims to "promote thermogenesis to increase metabolic rate and help the body burn excess carb[s] and fat"* Before I was pregnant, I used to trade this out for my coffee before my early morning gym class.  MiOEnergy is another one that I've tried a few times to add no-cal flavor and energy to my water. It was good, but again something I've just stopped taking since becoming pregnant.

3. Whole fruit juices. There are a plethora of whole fruit juices on the market these days for those of us too lazy to juice at home (even though we have an awesome LaLanne Juicer...yes, I'm talking to myself!). My current favorites are Naked Juice (more on that in another post) and V8 V-Fusion. Both of which also help you get some of your freggie nutrient intake in as well! Score! V8 V-Fusion is a mix of sparkling water and fruit juices. This is what I grab when I feel like I want a soda and it does the trick. I also make my own version using the amazing Sodastream. I whip up a bottle of carbonated water in the Sodastream and leave it unflavored. I keep that in the fridge and when ready, I pour half a LARGE glass of POM juice over ice and fill it to the top with the carbonated water. Love it! Again, makes me think I'm getting a soda, while bumping up my water AND freggies intake! Yay!

4. FREGGIES! What? Yes, whole fruits and vegetables. A lot of fruits and veggies are packed with water. By eating them daily, again you're upping both your hydration level AND your freggies intake, but this time, by also getting the added benefit of the FIBER and NUTRIENTS. Yippee! Here are just some of the great freggies that can work in this category:
- Cucumbers
- Watermelon
- Lettuce
- Blueberries and Raspberries
- Oranges and Pineapple
- Peaches and Plums
- Celery
- Tomato
- Zucchini

So, there are a lot of ways to stay properly hydrated every day! I love BALANCE, so a happy mix of water, flavored water, juices, and freggies would be a great way to keep your body properly hydrated and to keep that heart pumping nicely! (and in the essence of balance, then your occassional Diet Coke wouldn't have such a negative impact!)

What means do you use to increase or track your water intake? Have you cut out soda from your diet? If so, how have you been successful?

*Description from the FRS Package

Cucumber Mint Lemon Water Recipe

Cucumber Slices

Lemon Slices

Fresh Mint Sprigs

Fresh Lemon Juice (I sometimes use the large bottle I get at Costco) (optional)

Liquid Stevia or sweetener of choice (optional)

Fill a large pitcher with tap or filtered water. Add cucumber, lemon, and mint to a pitcher and set in the fridge to steep. If you need a little sweetness, you can add a few drops of stevia in as well, but I usually only do this if I'm also adding the lemon juice to make something closer to lemonade. Either way, you'll love the freshness of this water! Keep it in the fridge and pour it over ice!

Two ways to put up the fight against cancer in your body this week

If you joined us yesterday, you know we're talking about ways to put up a good fight against cancer. Now, that might not be on the forefront of your mind, especially if there hasn't been a history of cancer in your family - And That's Great! But we can all take these small steps to living a more healthy lifestyle and, hey, if we fend off cancer in the meantime, then why the heck are we not doing them???!

Note: I'm not going to get all sciency on you, so if you want the research and background click here.

We talk a lot about BALANCE here (and even when we're not on here - we try to live and, yes talk about, BALANCE). In everything we do, we try to find a good BALANCE between what is good for us and what we can maintain in our lifestyle. So, here are two things that you should be able to incorporate in your (busy?) life to promote both a healthy and cancer-free lifestyle:

Eat your Veggies and Herbs!

1. Eat more veggies! Yep! You knew that was coming right? Haha! There's no mystery here; veggies can stimulate the immune system and rid our bodies of carcinogens. What are some effective anticancer veggies? Cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, GARLIC (yes, GI JOE**, you read that right!), onions, and leeks! And if you pair these veggies with delicious herbs like thyme, rosemary, oregano, mint, or basil, you simply compound the goodness!


2. Here comes another shocker: EXERCISE! (did you see that one coming too?) Regular exercise helps to eliminate carcinogens from our bodies and strengthens our immune system at the same time! Does anyone NOT want those two side effects?

Exercise Regularly

Okay, so we're probably not telling you anything you didn't already know. But it's good to be reminded why we do the things we do (ie. get up at 5am to run 3 miles before work and take the time to steam up a nice pot of broccoli to go with our...hamburger...I mean salmon! 


But that brings me back to my point on BALANCE! I would never tell you to cut that greasy hamburger completely out of your life (well, because I will honestly never cut it out of mine). But, I would recommend that you think about how often you have that hamburger and fries (oh, did I not mention the fries before?) and offset it with some veggies to fight off the ill-effects that burger and fries caused (Take a gander at Too Much of a good thing for notes on why you want to offset that burger and fries).

Today, try to think about balance in everything that you do and see if it changes your perspective. Let us know!

~ Samara

**Note 2: I've decided to refer to ME (my better half) as GI JOE from now on. He likes that name for Words with Friends (and it gets him a LOT of lady opponents) and I figured it's all in all a better nickname. :)