Now I in no way ever want to come off seeming like I am the most disciplined person there is and have my ducks in a row at all times. Because these last 12 weeks have been ugly.
Before pregnancy, here were my thoughts:
1. I'm going to show pregnancy who's boss and be the perfect example of health.
2. I will NOT put crap into my body because I will have another human to eat for.
3. Easier workouts? Pshh...How about step them up a notch!
4. Abs until 7th month? Sounds doable.
5. Go into labor with a perfectly fit body and practically no body fat to lose afterwards.
This list will make any mother want to punch me. And it makes me want to punch myself. Here's how it's really gone: (I'm now 13 weeks by the way!)
Pregnancy showed ME who was boss pretty quickly. I got morning sickness at 3 1/2 weeks! WHYYYY??! For about 3 weeks I pushed through the sickness and managed to get in some weak workouts 4-5 days a week. Then the fatigue came. Now when pregnant women would talk about fatigue, I thought they were fatigued from not doing any physical activity and possibly exaggerating a little to justify sitting on the couch with a bag of potato chips. Uh no. This fatigue was like nothing I've ever felt in my life. I'm talking everyday felt like I hadn't slept in 7 days and went through a 7 hour workout the day before. When this hit along with the heartburn, I was done. Each day at work was a marathon of trying not to throw up, downing Tums like candy, and willing myself to get out of my chair for each exam. So when 5:30 rolled around- go workout? HA. Let's try barely crawl to my car to get home to just crawl into bed. I actually impressed myself with how much I could sleep. I was a sleeping BOSS. Many many nights I went to bed at 6/6:30 and wouldn't get up until 5:30 for work the next morning. And I did this for weeks! Here and there I would have an okay day and drag myself to the gym. But the workouts were always borderline a waste of time because I would tire so easily, get lightheaded, or get a wave of nausea that wouldn't pass.
Week 9 came around and I started to feel like I was going to throw up only in waves- not all the time. Yay! Still too tired to workout. Managed like 1 day this week.
Week 10 the fatigue started lifting ever so slightly. 2 workouts.
Each week has been a little better but I have instilled some bad habits throughout this time. Plus, the biggest thing that is still affecting me is the wicked food aversions. I CANNOT eat plain meat, veggies, or pretty much anything healthy that I used to eat. Especially protein bars. It's not that I don't prefer it, I will barf if it touches my lips. So it's been Taco Bell or starve. And Taco Bell does not give you any energy to workout.
So here I am, week 13, shaking my head at my previous assumptions of how my fit pregnancy would play out. I just finished off a Cheesy Gordita Crunch before I sat down to type this. How poetic.
I do feel better though and really am ready to get things back in order to feel better and to feed my little baby healthier foods. I also want to work really hard to build my muscle and endurance back up for the birth and to rebound quickly afterward. Here's to a new week and an extra push to exercise the self-discipline I know I have! I guess the point of this post is to let you all know I'm human. And if you're growing a human, fitness and health is way harder and requires 10 times the effort. And if you're not growing a human, you better rethink your judgments toward couch potato soon-to-be-moms. Because this is HARD! By some miracle I've only gained 5 lbs these first 12 1/2 weeks. Praise the Lord.
Hoping my next post is on how awesome I've been about committing to working out regularly and healthy eating. :)
Angela
