sloth

I've been feeling really unhealthy lately. I've been eating kind of badly. Not so much during the day at work, but when I get home. I have no time to grocery shop, therefore we have no food, therefore we order in. No matter how often you order in, it feels like a treat for some reason. Maybe that's left over from childhood, when 98% of my meals were at the kitchen table with my family. I need to feel better. I am thinking about doing a 3 day juice cleanse to get started, but I need to check to make sure it's ok with breastfeeding. I'm sure it is...oh, and it's really crazily expensive. But as a friend who is also considering the same cleanse said, "maybe the high cost incentivises" you to do it! Still, I have better things to spend my money on, like groceries! Haha.

I am going to take some steps to feel better. I'm going to grocery shop more. When I shop, I'm also going to buy ingredients to make at least 2 meals at home. That doesn't count easy things like spaghetti. These would be a few more detailed meals with say 5 ingredients or so. Maybe something I can put in the freezer. Oh, and salads. Johnny and I used to eat salads all the time and we stopped. Honestly I think we stopped because I don't like washing lettuce. I also don't like the chemical taste from cut up salad in a bag. I think I will buy romaine leaves and then just wash and cut enough for 2 days worth of salads. Another thing I will do is walk a little further for my lunch. I go about a block, 2 at the most. I'm going to go further. It's good exercise mainly, but it's good to clear your head and get fresh air. Angus is SO mobile and before I know it he's going to be running into traffic, so I need to get in shape and feel good so I cam keep up with him!

busy bad blogger

Sorry that I've been a bad blogger lately. I guess I've been a bit busy! For example, last night I decided to torture myself a bit and go shopping for some key items. I really needed a new pair of maternity jeans, and a new maternity bra. So...I went to H&M, The Gap and Macy's. I got a little something at each place and didn't get home until 9:30 or so, and then went out for dinner with my hubby, which put me WAY past my bedtime! I can still manage to do this, but it's getting tougher. My feet get sore (but they're not swollen yet) and my body aches a bit and I get cranky. I definitely cherish my sleep and my rest, and as time passes I need to sit back a little more and chillax haha. I used to walk all over the place endlessly, but I tire easily and can't go as far as I used to. Hey - I'm 31 weeks - what are you gonna do!

CHARLEY HORSE!!!!!

I think I've had a pretty normal/typical pregnancy, but there's only a few things that seem to happen to a large number of pregnant people that I have fallen prey to. For example, early on I had a few skin tags in my armpits, which really sucked for shaving purposes. They have since gone away. I've also been really zitty. I normally have good skin, so this extra oil production was a bummer, but I have controlled it with toner and it seems to have mostly gone away. BY far though, the worst thing is the charley horses I seem to get at LEAST once a week. Usually while sleeping, or half-sleeping, I guess I move my leg the wrong way - and not always with a stretch. It's like a fire alarm in our home. I yell "CHARLEY HORSE" and bless him, my husband grabs for whichever leg I give him and he helps me work it out. Well, he does most of it and I just grab by toes and pull down for the stretch. He is the best and I wonder what the neighbors thing when they hear me yell once a week...well, I bet I know what they think - but they are wrong. Anyway - my brother said "you're dehydrated" and surely that would be the case if I wasn't pregnant, but this is a typical pregnancy thing and the worst one for me so far! I need to do more stretching of the calf muscles, because it's just WAY too jarring to wake up like this, and I need my beauty sleep!

prenatal yoga & exercise

My series of four prenatal yoga classes are over, and honestly - - I'm kind of sad! I quite enjoyed them. I would have signed up for the next round, but I would have had to miss the first 2 classes, and it would be a waste of $. I met a nice lady who is due a week before me, who goes to a class on Saturday mornings in my neighborhood here, so I might try to go to that, but it's at 9am - and that's EARLY!!! But I think it would be good for me to find some drop in classes to go to. I think the stretching was good for me. I was sweating the last class - she worked us HARD! I am a big fan of structured exercise. I am never good at doing videos or things at home, and much prefer a group environment. My belly is growing FAST and I am in turn, moving a lot slower, so I need to keep motivated in order not to just lay on the couch.

sleep & yoga

I have been SOOO SOO SOO SO tired since about Saturday. It's really bumming me out, and I'm not sure yet if it's because I'm pregnant or if it's because I'm coming down with something. Traditionally I do get sick in October, and historically it's started with mega-sleepiness for days beforehand. So....I'm actually hoping it's a cold, because it would really suck to be THIS tired for the rest of my pregnancy. I've been trying to go to bed earlier, and in fact on Sunday I slept until noon, but today I felt ok until about 5pm when I started feeling groggy. I'm going to up my fruit and see if that might help, but I really hope this is just some sort of passing "phase", but only time will tell!

Despite my exhaustion, I forced myself to go to the first of four prenatal yoga classes that I signed up for (and pre-paid for) on Tuesday night. It was a good class and I enjoyed it, and even suffered from some muscle soreness in my legs yesterday! There were about 20 people in the class, and they ranged from 9 weeks to 26 weeks pregnant, with more of them in the middle - like 15-18 weeks pregnant. I felt good in it, and I think my experience with many of the poses from Bikram yoga helped me out, but I learned to focus from Bikram and not worry too much about when people around me were doing, plus I was in the front row and there no mirrors - so I guess I could have been the worst in the class, but who knows - and who cares! It's better than sitting on the couch and watching TV, which is EXACTLY what I would have been doing!

weight......wait!

It's kinda weird when suddenly you are told that you can't be on a diet anymore, and since I was on one (weight watchers( for like 5 years, it was like woo hoo! PARTY TIME! But now that I have creeped up to near my pre-weight watchers weight loss number, I am getting a little freaked. I know I'm pregnant and I am supposed to gain weight, and I think I am actually doing well, but I feel like I've really taken advantage and eaten much too much sugar. I just had a cup of hot chocolate from Jacques Torres, which is literally a cup of thick and delicious melted chocolate. Sadly it's way to close to my office. Anyway - after I finish my oatmeal tomorrow, which I already put some brown sugar on - that's it - no more added sugar or sugary things. I think it's best that way. I am best at cold-turkey. I can't just "reduce my intake" of things that I love....like sugar. I think generally though I've been eating pretty healthily, being conscious about protein thanks to my mom, and trying to eat salads and some balanced meals. I also used to eat a lot of frozen meals, and now I rarely do. SO....Thank GOD my yoga starts tomorrow, because I could really use a dose of the feeling that one gets after doing something good for their body!

24 weeks!!!!!

I am SO happy to be 24 weeks. I hear that at this point, if something weird were to happen (ie: premature labour), that babies born this early have a very good chance of surviving. I really hope that doesn't happen, but it's nice to know that I've entered some sort of safe time zone. In fact, I met a baby that was born 3 months early and he seems perfectly normal and happy and growing well! I am still feeling fine, but if I don't get enough sleep, I feel SO tired and zombie-like. Like last night....I got to bed much later than usual due to dinner with a friend in town, and woke up a bunch in the middle of the night, which is really nothing new, but today I am SO tired. My legs are also really sore from some walking up a few flights of stairs (went to the horse races (won $124.00!) which ended up being a lot of up and down to different viewing levels) I did on Saturday, which was no big deal, but I guess I am really out of shape! I think we're doing our maternity tour tomorrow night, and my prenatal yoga classes start next week!

health and eating

I find that on weekends, I sort of take a holiday from eating 100% healthy. Not everything is thrown out the window, and maybe this weekend was particularly sugary, but if I don't go out, I eat at home, and I don't have any fish here and I haven't been in a salady mood. In fact, I've been just wanting sugar. I made cookies tonight to surprise my husband and maybe to satiate my love for raw cookie dough a bit too. I am POSITIVE that I haven't gotten enough protein this weekend, so I know that tomorrow I am going to get a salad with salmon on top....and later in the week I'll get my salmon teriyaki. I just feel like weekends are lazy time! I also meant to do my prenatal yoga each day, and guess what - I didn't. Ugh. I don't think exercising at home is meant for me. I think I will research a class that I can go to - maybe even pay in advance! ha! I will do that this week. Actually, I know there is a weekend class near my house, so I will aim to try that on Saturday! Maybe if I set this goal now, it will be more likely to become reality. I just keep hearing that giving birth is like running a marathon - the amount of energy it takes and god knows I can't run a marathon now - or ever!

Diet & Exercise

...are 2 things I haven't been paying that much attention to yet. Fact is, prior to this I was on a diet for at least 5 years. I'm serious. I joined weight watchers about 5 years ago and lost 30 pounds. Ever since then I've been trying to lose 15 more, but I kept going up and down. So now, the fact that I can't be on a diet is a little bit of a strange concept for me to grasp, and maybe that's a good thing. I have been off and on that weight watchers diet for years, and it's really on a per-meal basis, or if I'm doing well, a per-week basis. WW at least teaches me about portion control and what healthy foods are. That being said, my point. Since I found out I am pregnant, I haven't been binging per se, but I haven't exactly been always thinking about what my healthiest choice is. I'm getting better about it, but I wish that I was making some better choices. I think I will be ok, as I am not doing any of the things I'm not supposed to do, and fried food is NOT part of my life, nor are many other crappy things. I think this magical upcoming doctor's appointment will solidify be a good eye opener for me and help me get on track to make sure I am getting enough fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, dairy etc. I also have been thinking about exercise. Prior to being pregnant, I was doing my best to walk 3 miles every Saturday, which I would like to start doing again - and ideally add another day. I have also been thinking about swimming and how nice that would be. The pools around my house are a little gross though, so we'll see. Anyway - wish me luck on my healthy quest!