Pain in the butt...literally!

So I haven't posted in a while. Mostly because I need to get. it. together. and stop taking naps..lol. I need to workout, then I do a great one, and then I get tired and my back is unbelievably sore! So much so that I could barely walk a few weeks ago. I had some crazy butt pain (sciatica that was located smack dab in the center of my butt cheek, no joke) and lower back aching.  I have been seeing my chiropractor (shout-out to Dr. Showers!) and that has been nothing but amazing. With all the heavy squats and deadlifts I do I guess I (as many do) neglected the minor muscles in my hips and lower back. So I'm strengthening those all over again with some simple band exercises and icing regularly.

This is the eggplant...I love this color

But to relieve the pain on a daily basis.... I found something that has worked wonders. I'm on my feet all day, almost everyday. I'm up at 6am in the studio with clients, Monday, Wednesday and Friday I'm in the studio for almost 6 or 7 hours, depending on the day. If I'm not in the studio I'm trying to entertain my 3 year old by playing on the floor and walking around the park or our yard. And then I want/need to get my own workouts in...so yeah, long days on my feet.

This belly is growing (I'm into my 3rd trimester now) and wow, my body has changed. Every pregnancy is different and this one has given me more pain than the last. I have such lumbar lordosis it is painful (a curvature in my lower back). My abs and glutes were pretty strong to begin with so this is just a change from my pregnancy. (The stretching of my abs is a whole different story...wow has that been uncomfortable. But bearable since my doc says it means I was pretty tight to start :) )

As my Chiropractor put it "it doesn't matter if you were working out before or not, pregnancy will get you". There are Many things that working out before/during and after pregnancy can help, but not this! So what did I find? BaoBei Maternity support bands. After the first day of wearing it in the studio, I also did a normal leg/glute workout in the gym with weights...I was walking the next day! I was not even in as much pain as I was the week before when I wasn't even working out.

This one is turquoise, my fav!

I have worn it every day since I bought it and won't take it off. I have to say, that for me they may not be for running since I'm super low and it seems pretty heavy (I can even lift my belly! couldn't do that last time) but it works for my lifting, cycling and walking around the studio.
...check them out here

note *I bought one, they did not pay me to do this nor did they ask for a blog post..I just feel so much better with it I thought I'd share it with everyone :)

Half way there! Fit pregnancy update:

So this blog is about healthy lifestyle, and I said it wouldn't be all about pregnancy and so far so good...because I've been so tired I haven't really done much! lol.

Here's an update though. Just for the sake that I'm half way done and there are many pregnant moms out there who are curious about how it works, how to stay healthy and fit.

How I feel:  Extremely tired! My morning sickness went away about week 14 or 15, so it stuck around a pretty long time, but the exhaustion hasn't left. I'm just learning to deal with it now. I started out this pregnancy coming off a month of random stomach sickness that we were right in the middle of diagnosing (probably low stomach acid or a gallbladder issue...ruled out some other stuff already). So the sickness was pretty intense in the beginning and I think it was compounded by the other GI issues I was already having. Those are under control since I'm eating smaller meals and much more consciously of what I eat.

Workouts:  They are back. I literally took 3 months of very limited activity because all I could do was lay around trying not to throw up (but wishing I was to see if that would make me feel better).  Because I was already a bit sick prior to the morning sickness (see previous comments about GI issues) my workouts were already not as intense or frequent. I still got in 5 days a week but I limited them a bit.
     I tried running early on in the pregnancy, that was NOT comfortable! For some reason everything felt crammed in there and running caused my bladder to bounce (or that's what it felt like at least). So I limited that to just what felt good...and you all know I'm not a runner, I just do it to challenge myself randomly, so this was not disappointing in any way for me :)
       The weird thing is that lifting weights made me nauseous. How ironic is that? It was just frustrating. So I lifted till I felt sick and then I rode the spin bike for a while. Now that is gone and I'm back to regular lifting, and that is a good thing for my mood!

Weight gain: Who cares :)  No, really, I have gained weight. A lot from my personal perspective. But this happened last time too...it's mostly swelling, yay. About a pound a week is what I'm at (i'm 21 weeks and have gained 15-17 pounds). My dr. is cool with it, I'm not worried. I don't even like to look at the scale, the only reason why I know is because she told me how many pounds I've gained at my last appointment, which I sighed about but have moved on. I just know that personally it is not important for me to focus on the number on the scale because it's about growing a healthy baby and being healthy myself. I workout as I can, I eat healthy but don't count and don't focus on calories too much. I had weight to gain when I started and that has certainly been accomplished. I know that by leading a healthy life and pregnancy everything will be good to go when I'm done and able to get back to working out post-pregnancy.

How it compares: Well last time I worked out just like I do now. I didn't watch what I ate, I ate everything in sight (which was still healthy choices since I don't really eat that poorly to begin with) and I still gained the same amount and grew about the same pace. Here's a pic:

Cravings: I'm not really craving anything weird, mostly just meat for the protein. I think I could eat a burger every day! But I do feel that I want to indulge in things a bit more with the excuse that "I'm pregnant, so it is ok" just like everyone else. But I don't really indulge because I know that I only need 300 extra calories a day and that is just one simple snack. But I do want french toast All. The. Time. and I haven't even had good FT in years since I'm gluten free and it was always too dense.
Well, here is a great breakfast or snack or dinner recipe for flourless pancakes that end up tasting like the inside of french toast...delish!:
1 super ripe banana
2 whole eggs
cinnamon to taste

mash banana, mix in scrambled eggs, sprinkle cinnamon, spray oil on pan and cook like pancakes (keep the pan pretty oiled). Only put about 1/4 cup of batter in or they won't cook all the way through. Enjoy! they should be sweet enough with the banana that your don't need syrup, but you could add honey if you really need anything.