New Year. New You?

We are more than a week into 2011. Time does fly by! How are your resolutions holding up? Perhaps you promised yourself that you would finally quit smoking, stop eating fast food, begin an exercise routine, get your whole family to adopt a healthier lifestyle, or fit into those old jeans. So how's it going?
The most important part in setting a resolution, or a goal of any kind, is that you inform the people that you are around the most and are the most important to you. Also, write it down! When someone else knows what your goal is you are more likely to adhere to the changes that are necessary in reaching your goal. Without someone to remind you, encourage you, or compliment your good work you are likely to stray from the resolution path.
If you set a resolution that is drastically different from your current lifestyle (or let's be honest even a normal lifestyle post-holiday can prove to be a challenge) you might be feeling a serious urge to bend the rules or even break them completely and throw in the towel. Let this be know: the first two weeks in any sort of diet, fitness, sleeping, lifestyle change will be the hardest! The feelings of a semi-withdrawal from your old lifestyle begins to set in and you feel deprived and trapped. Also, there will be a lag in energy and the overall feeling of wellness that is expected to follow a healthy diet and fitness. The increase of energy, the increased metabolism, elation, and confidence will take at least 2 weeks. Your body has a learning curve! It's not used to change and it may be reacting in a way that makes you feel like being lazy or quit, but don't throw all your hard work away!
If the urge to quit is becoming more and more of an option then perhaps you should consider hiring a trainer or joining a class where you will be held accountable. Remember why you set this resolution in the first place. And now envision yourself completing the resolution/goal. Now that's something to look forward to!

Why All The Pregnancy Talk??

My first two blogs were about the importance of fitness during pregnancy. I chose these to be my first two because I am pregnant! Due in April and almost 24 weeks along.

I have looked through all different kinds of pregnancy websites to find first hand experiences women have had with exercise and pregnancy, but there simply is a lack of information. Fit Pregnancy, the magazine and website, has articles on what you can do to stay fit during your nine months and beyond, but I found that they were too easy and not on track with my needs.

My physical life has not changed all that much since I have become pregnant. Before becoming pregnant I would go trail running with my husband and our dog, go to the gym and do weight lifting and cardio, do yoga, go road biking, go road running, go hiking, jump rope, etc. Now I am doing similar activities, but in a controlled environment, with people who can keep an eye on my form so that I do not injure myself.

Working out with your partner or friend during pregnancy is a great way to stay fit and feel safe doing so. My husband and I workout together and I feel much more at ease knowing that if I feel lightheaded, faint, exhausted, or just plain crummy he is my advocate for safety.

We do a fitness program together called CrossFit and I find that this is the best thing for me to do both during and after my pregnancy. It is a really great and challenging workout, but I would not advise every pregnant lady to join. If you are not conditioned to high intensity, high impact, high weighted lifts than going to a gym and taking some classes would be just a good!

Another great path to consider is hiring a personal trainer that specializes in training pregnant women. Not only with this person be right on track with your need from month to month, but could also have great advice to staying healthy and feeling great up to the birth and the weeks following.

The important thing to remember is that after your third month of pregnancy, and I experienced this for sure, your ligaments become loser and your center of gravity shifts. This means that when you are doing any type of weight lifting you are more prone to injure yourself if you are not spotted or monitored.

The lower back is a main concern when it comes to injury due the decrease in abdominal support. You might not have ever thought that you had great abs before your became pregnant, but that lower back pain that is nagging away at you can and most likely is due to the spreading of your abdominal wall. You abs control so much of your balance, strength and posture, that without them your body begins to wreak havoc on itself.

From here on out I will be blogging about my own pregnancy concerns when it comes to fitness and exercise. Anything from keeping your abs and core strong, to preventing injury. Also, I will be touching on the tools to facilitate a good delivery.

Fitness During Pregnancy: The upside of working out

The benefits of having a healthy lifestyle are numerous, and continuing to be healthy through pregnancy should be at the top of every mother-to-be's list. Just think that everything you eat, drink, take, and do will directly affect your unborn child's future and well being.

If you have ever worked out there is a feeling of calm, clarity, and elation that follows a good workout. This is caused by a chemical hormone called endorphins. These little guys give your body a natural high when you experience things that are pleasing to you. Endorphins are also present during sex and after your orgasm. When you are expecting not only you will feel the effects of these endorphins, but so will your child. A happy mommy makes a happy baby!

Studies have shown that working out throughout your pregnancy increases brain activity in the fetus. This could possibly lead to a high IQ. In addition to heightened brain function, babies are shown to have a decreased chance in childhood obesity, which is a growing problem in our country. To have a healthy lifestyle from the very beginning is the best gift a mother can give to her child!

One more kudo to fitness during pregnancy is how it facilitates labor and delivery. You wouldn't run a marathon if you had not been training and the same should hold true to giving birth. Working out throughout your pregnancy is vital to maintaining strength and endurance that is needed during delivery. With stamina and power on your side your birth should be quicker and easier. Not to mention bouncing back to your pre-pregnancy weight will be even easier when you have been active all this time!

Good luck!

Staying Fit During Pregnancy: Never start anything "new'

Working out during pregnancy seems to be a controversial issue for a lot of people, and perhaps with good reason. This first thing to consider about physical activity and pregnancy is that you should never start something new. Now, this is a broad term and it is used often when discussing fitness and pregnancy, but let me try to explain what "new" is referring to...

1.) If you were not physically active before your pregnancy do not take up a workout regimen that will push you past your comfort zone. It is all about maintaing during pregnancy, not gaining. Walking would be an ideal and unthreatening new activity to take up not just for the next nine months, but for life.

2.) If you walked, ran, or cycled pre-pregnancy now is the time to continue similar activities in a controlled and safe environment. For instance spin classes are a good alternative to street or mountain biking. Running or walking can be done safely on a paved pathway where cars, potholes, curbs, and stray dogs are not a threat. Make sure to stop trail running at your 3rd month when your center of gravity shifts and the hormone relaxin causes your ligaments to loosen. In addition to these types of workouts that your body is used to, incorporate light weight lifting for strength training. In this case weight training may be new to you, but since you lifestyle before pregnancy was aimed towards cardiovascular health (which is great for endurance during labor and child birth) weight training would not be too far off from your previous activity. Just remember to go light on the weights and high on the reps.

3.) If you were doing high impact, high intensity exercises before your pregnancy consider maintaining this lifestyle, but take it down a notch. Make sure to keep your heart rate below 160 and to hydrate more often than you would before. It will be tempting to continue to push yourself like you did pre-pregnancy (especially if you feel great) but everything in moderation. That hormone relaxin can cause injuries that would have not been a problem before.

4.) If you were working out regularly before your pregnancy do not stop all activity. Your mother or mother-in-law might give you the stink eye when you tell her you are planning on working out throughout your pregnancy and if you stop your health will decline and your muscles will atrophy. Not to mention your endurance will be shot. So do yourself and your baby a favor and get those endorphins pumping! You will both be thankful when he or she arrives.