Here are a few of my favorite workouts for this uncooperative pregnant bod of mine. These are the exercises that I notice the most pain and stiffness relief from.
1. Squat with overhead press (arms/legs/butt)
2. Plie with lateral raise (arms/legs/butt)
3. Opposite arm/leg reach (back/abs)
4. Plank (core)
5. Tricep dips (arms)
6. Lateral leg rotations (legs/butt)
7. Dead lifts (legs/butt)
8. Exercise ball leg lifts (legs/butt)
9. Wall sits with exercise ball (legs/butt)
10. Hip raise (core/legs/butt)
11. Cat and Cow(core/back)
12. Exercise ball stretch (pelvic floor muscles)
13. Yoga (everything)
Links to my favorite pregnancy specific workouts:
http://www.fitpregnancy.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-health/40-weeks
http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Stretches-Do-Bed-3773451
http://www.fitpregnancy.com/exercise/prenatal-workouts/30-minute-total-body-workout/slide/3
http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Prenatal-Yoga-Sequence-Tight-Hips-Hamstrings-8065748#photo-8065748
http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/10-Minute-Prenatal-Yoga-Strength-Series-24289940
You should only use these workouts if your body is used to working out. Do NOT start working out during a pregnancy, and follow your doctor's instructions.
12.31.2012
Chocolate Cream Pie
(not my pie, but this one looks way fancier)
Ingredients
- Prepare pudding according to package directions. Cover pudding with wax paper and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites are the most delicious and easy snack on the face of the earth. At least, they are at the current moment for a certain person I know who is 7 months pregnant....
Ingredients:
■1 cup creamy peanut butter
■2 tablespoons softened butter
■1/2 cup powdered sugar
■3/4 cup brown sugar
■Pretzels
■1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat peanut butter and butter until combined. Scrape down bowl, add sugars and beat until combined. You should be able to roll the mixture into balls without sticking to your hands. If needed, add more powdered sugar until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll.
Roll the mixture into small balls, about 1 teaspoon of mixture for each ball, and place on prepared baking sheet. Sandwich the balls between two pretzels and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat. Dip each pretzel bite halfway into the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator until chocolate is set.
30 Weeks
30 Weeks!
Craving: Nothing... loss of appetite
Feeling: HUGE
Found out I'm incredibly anemic and have since started iron pills - it's already helping improve my energy Yay!
Baby's moving around like a little alien in there.
Missing: Margaritas
I also have symphysis pubis dysfunction. Pelvis. hurts. lots.
Can't believe we're so close to meeting our little man!
Merry Christmas!
Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!
The kids all had the best Christmas EVER (their words). They have two sets of amazing grandparents who made sure this would be a great Christmas for them, even with everything that has happened this year.
This is my favorite picture from Christmas morning. It was the very first picture of the day.
Mornings
Mornings are a crazy time for most people. And with four kids going to three different schools with entirely different schedules, it can get insane. I snapped this picture a little while ago....
This is what four kids worth of getting ready for the morning looks like. It makes it much less stressful, but also makes me smile how cute everything is.
Mom Guilt
You know you've felt it. Maybe a little too often?
I struggle from time to time, as all mothers do, with what I call Mom Guilt. We compare ourselves to other moms, our friends, our own mothers, and feel inadequate. We didn't do a craft/project/take an awesome adventure/give them the healthiest possible food/ remember that one time you yelled?!
It's overwhelming.
Oh that Mom over there? She looks amazing every single day. Her hair looks awesome, her clothes are so cute, and baby weight, what baby weight?! She eats all organic. Not to mention her kid behaves like an angel every time you meet up for playgroup. Her life is perfect.
What you don't know....
She's struggling with an abusive husband and an eating disorder. She's miserable. And envious of YOU.
All moms struggle in one way or another, it is a fact of life. Stop being so harsh on yourself.
Also, avoid the Mommy Wars at all costs.
Step foot into any online forum and you will see WWIII. Moms get to duke it out over their parenting choices with the anonymity of the internet. Circumcision, breast feeding, bottle feeding, baby wearing, attachment parenting, potty training, natural birth, epidural, c-section, the list goes on and on. Half of it I didn't even know was controversial until I joined an online forum called CafeMom. I went there for support during the pregnancy of my third child and part of me wishes I hadn't.
Avoid it.
Here's an idea: do your research. Make your own informed decision without listening to someone from the internet telling you that you fail as a mother because you didn't breast feed or cloth diaper.
I read an amazing article that a friend told me about. READ IT. It will remind you of how good of a mom you really are.
Article: Why You're Never Failing As A Mother
An amazing friend of mine likes to say "The beautiful thing about parenting is every one parents differently."
I struggle from time to time, as all mothers do, with what I call Mom Guilt. We compare ourselves to other moms, our friends, our own mothers, and feel inadequate. We didn't do a craft/project/take an awesome adventure/give them the healthiest possible food/ remember that one time you yelled?!
It's overwhelming.
Oh that Mom over there? She looks amazing every single day. Her hair looks awesome, her clothes are so cute, and baby weight, what baby weight?! She eats all organic. Not to mention her kid behaves like an angel every time you meet up for playgroup. Her life is perfect.
What you don't know....
She's struggling with an abusive husband and an eating disorder. She's miserable. And envious of YOU.
All moms struggle in one way or another, it is a fact of life. Stop being so harsh on yourself.
Also, avoid the Mommy Wars at all costs.
Step foot into any online forum and you will see WWIII. Moms get to duke it out over their parenting choices with the anonymity of the internet. Circumcision, breast feeding, bottle feeding, baby wearing, attachment parenting, potty training, natural birth, epidural, c-section, the list goes on and on. Half of it I didn't even know was controversial until I joined an online forum called CafeMom. I went there for support during the pregnancy of my third child and part of me wishes I hadn't.
Avoid it.
Here's an idea: do your research. Make your own informed decision without listening to someone from the internet telling you that you fail as a mother because you didn't breast feed or cloth diaper.
I read an amazing article that a friend told me about. READ IT. It will remind you of how good of a mom you really are.
Article: Why You're Never Failing As A Mother
An amazing friend of mine likes to say "The beautiful thing about parenting is every one parents differently."