Here I sit this evening listening to the ultra relaxing yoga station on pandora, sipping my plum and blueberry smoothie with a little too much lemon this time around and just enough peach yogurt to make it sweet. Once I'm done with this post I'm going to make a spinach strawberry salad with poppy seed dressing and maybe even add some flax seed oil into the mix. I'll take a prenatal vitamin before or the liquid vitamin if my stomach isn't feeling settled before bed. In the morning I'll wake up take 2 gummie vitamins, liquid omega 3's, a gelatin capsule (hair, skin and nails), make my self one shot of coffee, grad a bag of frosted mini wheats and head out the door. Loren's been taking a probiotic and I do too, when I remember.
Wow - this is pretty over the top when it's all written out like that, but we have never been so good with moderations. That being said...
This past weekend marked our 3rd week without alcohol and I am loving it! We've also greatly reduced our caffeine intake. I am down to a shot of coffee a day, where as I used to drink three shots in the morning and often had a cup in the afternoon. I really thought giving up our drugs of choice would be much more of struggle than it has been - especially the coffee part. My fear of giving up coffee only came second to my fear of child birth (not kidding). I'm not going to lie and say I haven't been super tired at times, but all the vitamins have really helped to balance things out. My ultimate goal will be to eliminate coffee from my diet completely. And by diet, I mean diet...I find myself eating a lot more without the appetite reducing effect of coffee. So, even though we've cut out alcohol, are eating healthier and have been going to the gym more I'm not losing weight (sad face). I suppose now is not really the time to be trying to lose weight. According to Dr. Oz (another pregnancy book i'm reading, as I've gotten into the habit of picking through the pregnancy books at the thrift store and buying anything that looks like it was published relatively recently), I am right on the line of normal weight and underweight. That makes me happy, but having a desk job for the past two years has really softened me up.
Setting Health Goals:
My goal is to gain some muscle and toughen up. I used to play sports year round, indoor soccer being my favorite because "I get to slam people up against the wall" (<-- my 16 year old self talking), but, as Loren can attest, I have become quite the baby when it comes to pain and pushing myself. We've been going to yoga a few times a week and typically take at least one epic walk a weekend up and down the hilly streets of Seattle (11-16 miles).
It's funny how everything becomes so much clearer when put into writing - yoga and walking doesn't really sound like it will toughen me up either, but I think it will, at least as a start. This is kind of silly, but at the beginning of each yoga class the instructor asks us to dedicate or practice, this is something we can come back to when class gets tough or our minds start to wander. At the beginning of each class I think "I'm going to give it my all and push myself through the muscle cramps to practice that kind of mental strength for labor". This kind of things has been proven to work for me.
Physical AND Mental Strength:
Loren and I hiked the Kalalau Trail the week before our wedding two years ago. Before going he effectively scared me to death saying things like, "This is the hardest thing you will ever do", "You're going to want to die," and on and on with equally as scary warnings. Yes, the hike turned out to be challenging, however I'm pretty proud of how I prevailed. This was first over night hike I had ever done in my life and all those threats turned out to be a little over the top - I totally survived and, for the most part, with ease (I suppose this is where I should mention Loren was carrying all our camping gear, while I was only responsible for water...). What got me through was a) a major adrenaline rush and b) the mental strength I had built in the sculpt and tone classes I had been taking --> again a little silly, and very unexpected. I had been taking the class on and off on Saturdays and it kicked my ass every time, which is completely embarrassing considering I was one of the youngest people in class by at least 20 years. Anyways...the whole time I was on the trail I kept thinking "this isn't harder than sculpt and tone, this isn't harder than sculpt and tone"...it was only longer. As much as I dreaded hiking the trail and didn't enjoy sleeping in a tent after a long hike with dirty feet, I will begrudgingly admit that it was beautiful and I'd highly recommend it. Maybe making it through that endeavor might have actually helped bring me to a place where I am open to the idea of a home birth. I'm hoping we will do some more hiking this summer.
On the topic of walking/hiking: Loren down loaded this awesome pedometer app. You can set goals based on your BMI, link it to music, it tracks where you've walked with GPS on a map and tells you how many calories you've burned.
Anyways...the moral of the story here is:
Taking vitamins, cutting out coffee, alcohol and other things that are bad for you is a great idea and much easier than one would expect. Feel good results are quicker than expected as well.
(I bet you've never heard that before. I sure have never listened that before)
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