Playing By My Own Rules

After my first son was born, I didn't work out for over six weeks.  But then, I didn't do much of anything but go to the hospital, doctor and therapist appointments, and try desperately to cope with the sudden shock of having a severely disabled child.

This time around, I remembered that people said you shouldn't exercise until after your six week check-up.  Yet in the hospital, a physiotherapist came around and gave me a sheet of recommended exercises (all Pilates-based).  That and the fact that I felt pretty good overall meant that I decided to workout my way.  So, in the ten days I've been home I've worked out at least a little on 8 days.  Mostly ballet, yoga and pilates, but I've done a few Firm workouts, too :)  

And I feel strong and good (other than a cough I picked up in hospital - typical!)  I did most of the Firm workouts with lighter weights than I would have while pregnant, though yesterday I did Rebekah Sturkie's Total Body Time Crunch with 4, 3 and 2k weights for heavy, light and medium.

Unfortunately, my eating hasn't been so great.  I feel like I shouldn't be eating sweets (well, I never think I should), because my son and I both had antibiotics, and there's a possibility he will get/has a yeast infection.  Adding more sugar to that isn't a good idea, but I just can't seem not to eat chocolate.  Partly it's probably for the energy, partly for the comfort as, though he's a lovely, calm child, it's still tiring and hard work.  Either way, I haven't even been tracking my consumption, just know that I've been having chocolate and biscuits every day, often after both lunch and dinner :(

What's Up Wednesday?

I felt: Nervous - when is this baby going to come? I did moxa on my right side today, as yesterday I did it on the left and the baby moved from left to right. So, hopefully that'll get him back in a better position...

I slept: 7 1/2 in 5 chunks - yeesh!

I worked out:  42 minutes of Walking for Weight Loss, Power Walk, with added 1ks.

I ate:  18g biscuits, 30g chocolate and 21g halva after lunch. 45g chocolate, 37g biscuits and 73g brownie after dinner. Total 224g.

I am grateful for:  My mother, a kind and loving woman.

Better Tuesday

I felt: A fair bit better than Monday - much less tired. Also got quite a bit done: some shopping I'd been putting off (new tumble dryer and some bedding), an angel reading someone requested, seeing a friend I hadn't seen since before Christmas (where does the time go?)

I thought: "Darn, all that reflexology, acupressure and moxa, and I've only managed to get the baby to turn from the 'perfect' position to being head down to the right!" Okay, so it's not like he's breach, but it's still less good than before I tried to get him moving :(

I slept: 8 hours in 5 chunks.

I worked out:  52 minutes of Bootcamp with Alison.

I ate:  20g biscuits and 25g chocolate after lunch, then about 100g brownie after dinner. Total 145g - yay!

I am grateful for:  A reflexology session from a friend.

Moochy Monday

I felt: Tired, and annoyed there's no sign of baby boy coming out. How dare he spoil my well-laid plans ;b

I slept: 7 1/2 hours in 4 chunks. Tried to go back to bed for a nap, but couldn't quiet my mind :(

I worked out:  Nope!

I ate:  50g biscuits after lunch, then 70g brownie, 30g biscuits and 50g chocolate. Total 200g, but at least I'm tracking it again.

I am grateful for:  The promise of acupressure and reflexology.

Super Sunny Sunday

I felt: Better than I have most of the rest of the week.

I thought: About how to change our eating habits to respect my son's allergies. There's no way I want to stop eating nuts altogether, nor gluten. Seeing as he doesn't eat most meals with us, perhaps just avoid those things when we eat with him...

I slept: 8 1/4 hours in 4 chunks - best night's sleep I've had all week.

I worked out:  47 minutes of cardio-sculpting with Alison Davis-McLean's Cardio Overdrive. It's weird, I thought having a workout space with a mirror would be cool - check my form. However, I just thought "Yeesh, fat and flailing!" Maybe I'll work out looking the other way from now on...

I ate:  156g biscuits and 44g chocolate - 200g total. Not awful.

I am grateful for:  My wonderful DH.

Second Moving Week Catch-Up

I felt: Funnily, overall I've felt reasonably calm the last few days. I had a minor meltdown on Friday morning getting my son off to school, but other than that I've felt like I've been coping, despite hardly working out and not sleeping enough.

I slept: Pretty badly, most nights. Part of it is not having a dark room. Another part is that I've been going to bed rather later than normal because there feels like there's so much to do - I hate having boxes everywhere. Plus last night I had some strong contractions, and got excited thinking that I might be going into labour, and worrying about things like the grocery delivery scheduled today (I know, daft!)

I worked out:   21 minutes of Time Crunch Cardio on Thursday. 22 minutes of yoga self-practice on Friday. 40 minutes of cardio sculpting with Total Body Toner and Allie del Rio Pointer on Saturday - yay! Did it with 2ks, 3ks, and 4ks.

I ate:   Badly! I've been suffering with hay fever, as we've been having some nice, warm days. I know that eating less chocolate and biscuits would help with that, but it's one of my "comforts", and this has been a quite challenging week. I'd guess between 200 and 300g every day, sometimes a bit more.

I am grateful for:  Even a little time to workout.

Moving Week Catch-Up

I felt:

Monday: Stressed and excited - first part of the move.
Tuesday:  Ridiculously tired.
Wednesday:  Doing better, rested and worked out, that's a good day - excited and happy with the new house.  Chuffed that I always managed to unpack any boxes in my son's room before he went to bed - I wanted him to have as little disruption as possible.

I slept: 

Sunday night: 8 1/2 hours in 4 chunks - yay! Must have been tired, as the sun has often woken me a good 45mins earlier than it did. And amazingly, I didn't even worry about the move the times I did wake. 

Monday night: About 5 hours - new room, no black-out blinds (grrr - long story).

Tuesday night: 7 1/2 hours - felt much better.

Wednesday night: 6 1/2 hours - worried about giving birth, so I did some tapping on some "affirmations for a natural birth" that I have from one of my hypnobirthing things. It seemed to help, but then I still couldn't sleep, so I got up and unpacked two boxes of clothes/bags/belts etc, and did some purging - yay me!

I worked out:  

Monday: Emily Walsh's Total Body Light (Cardio Fusion Sculpt) - 47 minutes.

Tuesday: Nothing!  Just unpacking all day…

Wednesday:  Alison Davis-McLean's Ultimate Fat Burning Workout - 41 minutes with 2ks and 1/2ks for cardio. 

I ate:  Can't remember accurately by now. Not great any day, and Wednesday was the worst, but even then it wasn't screamingly awful.

I am grateful for:  A beautiful, new home.

Wide-Awake Sunday

I felt: Strange to be saying goodbye to my home.

I slept: 7 1/4 hours in 3 chunks. I would definitely have liked more, but between the sun coming up earlier and thinking about all the things that still need doing before we move, that was what there was.

I worked out:  52 minutes of Alison Davis-McLean's Bootcamp Maximum Calorie Burn. I went light on the weights, given all the comments I've been receiving about not doing too much lifting. So, I used 3k for heavy, 2k for medium, 1.5k for light, and 1k for the cardio/plyo sections. Still worked up a good sweat :)

I ate:  152g biscuits and 25g chocolate - total 177g.

I am grateful for:  A beautiful new home to move to.

Sunny Saturday

I felt: Excited about moving - it comes and goes ;)

I slept: 6 3/4 hours in 4 chunks - the danger of going to bed late, even though it was for a "nice" reason - staying up chatting with a friend.

I worked out:  41 minutes of cardio-sculpting with Alison Davis-McLean's Ultimate Fat Burning Workout. I used 2ks and 1/2ks.

I ate:  18g biscuits mid-morning, about 60g brownie after lunch, then 97g biscuits and 24g chocolate after dinner. I would have eaten more chocolate if it had been in the house :/ Total 199g.

I am grateful for:  A bit of sunlight between the clouds.

Fast Friday

I felt:  A bit stressed, it was a very hectic day trying to get things organised for the move on Monday.

I thought:  About how uncomfortable it can be to show our "private parts" to strangers, even if they are "professionals".  In the end, though, it went well - good to have my obstetrician see me naked before I go into labour, and he was perfectly professional and made it feel pretty easy. 

I slept:  8 hours in 4 chunks.

I worked out:  28 minutes of Cardio Party Express. Didn't have much time as traffic was terrible when I went to my obstetric appointment.

I ate:  30g biscuits, 45g chocolate and 130g cake - total 205g.

I am grateful for:  A good friend who came for dinner - lovely to see her.