15 Week Bumpdate and Slowing Down!

Hey guys! It's been about a month, sorry for the lack of posting. I promise I'm still around. I always forget how hard it is to blog during the holidays, and this year, we had a ton going on.  No wedding this time (thank goodness, that was a lot last year), but with our baby news, we had a lot of family to visit with in the past few weeks.  Holiday parties too. Celebrating a one year anniversary.  Both of us had crazy work schedules. We're packing to move into our new house in the next two weeks. Christmas was great and were both fortunate to finally spend a holiday in the same town for the first time in about 4 years.  

SO things have developed in the past few weeks.....

That's me at 13 weeks.  I told Jarrett to take this picture because there were a lot of requests from my out of town friends to see the bump.  It's definitely there.  I also worked a whole exhausting day and wolfed down some dinner before this, so a food baby is sitting on top of the real baby.  I also was super duper tired but trying to look perky. Don't judge me, that pregnancy fatigue is no joke. 

Today I'm at 15 weeks.  No new picture to post, but I'll try to put that up soon.  I'm blogging from Starbucks and feel kind of like a tool asking a random stranger to take a belly photo this morning :)  I'm pretty sure that I'll be all belly throughout this pregnancy.  I haven't gained any weight yet, which is odd to look down and see your waistline look totally different than it did a few weeks ago.  

Physically, I feel awesome.  Right around Thanksgiving, I started to feel a huge surge of energy, which is encouraging. Everyone told me that the second trimester would be the best 3 months of my life, so I'm definitely taking advantage of that right now.  I will not lie, I have avoided the gym for quite awhile.  Smelling sweat and being around a ton of people makes me anxious, so I'm doing more home workouts, walking and running.  I have lost some muscle tone after not doing anything for the entire month of November besides walk Boone.  There were just days where I would be so tired after work that it was all I could do to cook a pizza and take the dog out for a quick walk without wanting to immediately take a nap.  I napped in my car a few times.  I just learned to rest when I needed to.  So glad to have some energy back though.  I have enjoyed getting back outdoors and doing some workouts.  My husband has enjoyed me becoming his DD for the next 6-7 months.

Mentally and emotionally, I have my good days and bad days.  There was a Christmas commercial or 6 that I cried at. There were people that felt super opinionated about what I should and shouldn't be doing while pregnant, which has spontaneously made me want to throat punch them at times.  The hormone surges were really tough and made me feel less like my perky self.  Growing a human is no joke.  

Eating clean in general is just hard to do.  It's a lot of prep each week and it involves having the desire and taste for whole, natural foods.  I have craved pizza, pasta, cereal, and cheese for 12 weeks.  Major carb load. It feels like the night before a half marathon....just every day of my life for 3 months. Things like chick peas, broccoli, and spinach that I loved so much lost a ton of appeal.  But now that I'm feeling better, I'm enjoying fresh fruit and veggies again and back to some small meal prep.  I do feel like I need to eat immediately most days though, and have had some emergency situations to where I felt like I would panic if my soup and sandwich didn't materialize in front of me in less than 10 minutes.  I had a pregnant friend get super snippy one time at a waiter who didn't bring out her Mexican cheese dip quick enough.  I always thought that was hilarious until I pretty much came to a quick understanding of what she was going through recently.  MUST EAT NOW.

All in all, I'm hitting the sweet spot.  I feel healthy and more like myself.  One thing that I am learning to adjust to is telling myself to slow down.  And that it's OK to slow down.  You guys all know that before there was a baby on the way, I was working like a crazy nut and doing things after work like power lifting, pushing 150 pound sleds, and trying to squat my body weight.  I've cut back hours at work to 40 hours a week.  The industry in which I work is demanding and this time of the year is by far the craziest, but I had to scale it back in order to stay sane.  It's hard, because I'm usually an overachiever, but I have something more important going on right now that needs my attention.  I'm learning that it's fine to say no to certain things.  I'm typically a people pleaser and always feel the need to make everyone happy, but I'm quickly learning that is not longer my mojo while carrying a baby.  I have to focus on me and my little family right now.  I have to make decisions that I feel like are good for me, but that may not please everyone around me.  And you know what? It's OKKKKKKKKKKK.  It's OK to go on a run if I feel up to it.  It's OK to let my laundry go a few days.  Its OK if I feel like laying in my bed on Sunday on a gorgeous day and binge watching Netflix 80's movies. 

Hoping that all of you had a wonderful holiday with your friends and family.  Here's to an amazing 2015 full of love, laughter, and of course fitness :)

The reason for no blog posts...Bump Date #1-11 Weeks

Hi.......................it's been awhile...............

I promise there is a good reason for the blog hiatus! A very small, teeny, exciting one. 

That's right! Baby Davis is officially making it's way into the world Father's Day 2015. We are beyond pumped and have been sitting on our news for a solid 8 weeks, so we decided to officially make things social-media official this Thanksgiving.  What better time to share, because we are truly thankful for this wonderful blessing in our lives.  That and I truly COULD NOT hold it in any longer. Our families and close friends and a few co-workers have known, but we kept things quiet in Facebook land.  My mom took our announcement pictures Thanksgiving Day, which seemed like the best time to share.  Even Boone managed to cooperate....sort of!

He's not quite sure what that stocking means yet...

A lot of people have asked for the details on how we found out and shared the news.  I'll start at the beginning (well not the exact beginning, you guys all know how this works).  We started trying in August after our vacation in Florida.  In September, I thought I might have been knocked up, but was not. The first week in October, I felt slightly off.  I couldn't put my finger on it.  I was killing it in the gym and eating super clean, but I was feeling a little more winded and just more tired, but just kind of ignored any pregnancy type symptoms and kept going.  Because I was pumped at my strength progress over the past few weeks, who knew there was something else going on.

October 9th, I randomly invited a friend over for wine.  Weirdly enough, right after I did that, I decided to pee on a stick, because that totally makes sense to do that.  I mean, that's completely logical, right?

I forgot about the test sitting on the counter, came back in about 10 minutes later, and had to do a double take, because there was a very faint line down the middle.  I was shocked, hot, excited, and about to faint all at once.  I even ran outside in the sunlight to look at it again, and sure enough, it was there.  I felt like I was totally imagining it, so off went a text to Jarrett to see if he saw it, and to my best friend, who is a nurse.  Jarrett's response was "Woaaaaaaaaaaaaah!".  Which resulted in about 100 text messages/questions on what we do next. My best friend replied "Yep, you are definitely preggers".  Let's just say there was no wine drinking for me that night. 

Amazing how a few short moments can change your life.  There was a butter bean in there. 

Because my lovely sister has a 6th sense, she called right after I took my test.  The best part was she had been in a minor fender bender that day (OK that was not awesome), but I let her talk about her stressful day for a solid 10-15 minutes.  And then I decided to break the news.  I told her I had some news that would brighten her day and told her I had just taken the test.  She was BEYOND excited.   I'm talking screaming into the phone, forgetting her accident, jumping all around-excited.  This is her first niece/nephew, so she's super pumped.

This all went down on a Thursday, and we had already made plans to visit my parents that weekend before knowing we were pregnant.  And it was tough to decide on if we should share that early, because I was literally like 4 weeks pregnant, according to Google.  Anything could happen in that first trimester and I was a little nervous about that.  But we decided to share anyway with them, because I'm a big blabbermouth and it is hard to keep my mouth shut over such big news like that. 

We stopped halfway through our road trip that Friday to buy them T-shirts for their announcement.  Jarrett attended the University of South Carolina, so we bought T Shirts from the USC book store that said Grandpa Cock and Grandma Hen (mascot is a Gamecock, kinda like a rooster).  We put them in bags and headed up the road.  We walked in the door and chit chatted for about 15 minutes.  Then I let them know we had some gifts for them.  They opened up their shirts.  My mom figured everything out first, MEANWHILE, my dad is not paying attention to the shirt and goes "Oh another Carolina shirt! Thanks!".  HELLO! I had to tell him to read the front.  About 30 seconds of re-reading, he got it, and they were over the moon.  They are first time grandparents, and let's just say that the rest of the weekend was pretty much a big celebration. 

When we got back home, we broke the news to Jarrett's parents next.  We went to their house one evening and had no idea how to make our announcement, because we didn't do T Shirts or have a cute idea.  Mainly because I was very tied and lazy at that point.  We had a hard time coming up with something.  As we walked in, our sweet almost 2 year old nephew came running towards us and we knew he would be our announcement.  We found a piece of paper and wrote "I'm going to have a cousin!" on it and kept it in our chairs until dinner.  We gave it to him and said "Brody, show everyone your note!".  Well, he didn't know what that meant, but we held it up anyway and the Davis's were super pumped to find out another grandbaby was joining the family.  And it was fun to have our nephew as part of the fun.

Anyway, it's been 8 weeks since all of that and a lot has happened.  We had our first appointment.  It went extremely well.  Seeing the baby and hearing the heartbeat was probably one of the best days of my life.  Hearing what sounded like galloping horses was the best sound in the world.  Strong heart rate of 167.  He or she is an athlete, like mama :) We also purchased a house to support our growing nest and are closing in December.  It truly came out of the blue and we got a great deal and it just felt right.  We are moving to a great neighborhood of older homes that is near a good school district, and close to all parts of Charleston.  It's a little scary to do all of this close to the holidays, but life is scary, so we're just going with it.  Boone was in desperate need of a yard, and we got one with this house, so this worked out great. 

Pregnancy has been pretty uneventful so far.  I haven't gotten sick, which has been great.  I have felt nauseous at times, and it was a CHORE to go through the grocery store most days. I feel like a vampire with the super sonic sense of smell. I had to make Jarrett get groceries up until this past week.  I have good days and bad days.  The draining exhaustion was the first sign that my body was changing.  I mean, I did not even realize how tired I would be. 

If I were to tell you guys I was eating clean this entire time, that would be a complete lie.  I've avoided veggies altogether for 8 weeks, but have craved fruit, so that was a fair trade.  I wanted pizza and breadsticks A LOT.  I've craved cereal.  I consumed a lot of pretzels and soda crackers to not feel nauseous or dizzy most days. I carb loaded :) My protein intake has probably gone down, because eating any type of meat made me want to gag.  Even in week 11 when I'm feeling better, I can't do a lot of meat just yet.  So I'm trying to stick to some protein shakes and drinks to supplement that. It's tough to be in a competitor mindset and work out hardcore all the time and watch what you eat, and then your body takes on a completely different mission.  It 's like being in an alien's body, there is no controlling what's going on with you.  I've cried in front of my boss twice now and given him a complex :) Hormones...

And I'll be completely honest you guys, because I'm always honest on here, that part was tough for me.  To avoid the gym because I was tired all the time made me feel like a weak person.  There were times where I would drive up and sit in the parking lot and the thought of lifting weights made me ill.  I felt so out of touch with myself.  I would go home, pour some cereal, and lay on the couch until bed time in the first 8 weeks.  It was super tough.  I mainly stuck to walking the dog a lot and doing squats and lunges when I felt like it.  I've felt the muscle tone weaken in the past few weeks, and that has been hard, because I was performing a lot of CrossFit type workouts up until I found out I was pregnant.  My doctor encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing before with modified weights and a little less plyo.  Working out does make me feel better, but feeling so stinking tired made it hard to do anything.  That was a tough thing for me to accept.  

Side note, on all of this being a tough transition. I have to give major props to my hubs, as J has been completely supportive of my mood swings, my down days, and gassiness.  Well, maybe not that last part, but he's been a trooper.  He knows the days I feel awful and there's either dinner/takeout waiting on me, or clothes folded.  As we come close to celebrating 1 year of marriage soon, I cannot be more thankful for this amazing man that does everything for his family.  I am truly blessed to have him as a partner.  He will make a wonderful daddy.  He's rooting for a boy so bad!

Once I did accept that my body was changing, I understood it was for a good reason.  I'm building a home for the next few months for a wonderful little being that needs my nutrition.  At 11 weeks, I have finally started to feel better.   I rest when I feel like I need to rest.  If a 3 hour nap is in the cards, I take it.  If a jog with Boone feels good, I do that.  I'm planning to re-introduce some weight lifting this week, mainly light lower body, but working on toning my arms and shoulders.  Those were coming along SO nicely a few weeks back, but now I feel like I have bat wings again.  I've done  a ton of reading on the benefits of strength training for easier deliveries and increased blood supply to the baby, so that's my goal over the next few weeks as I hopefully feel better.  Maybe some pilates thrown in for additional low impact strengthening.  I do feel like eating some healthier meals finally, so I'm excited to get back to meal prepping.  With the house stuff happening as fast as it is, it will be tough to do these next 2 weeks, but I'm happy to eat things that make me feel good again.

That's the latest! Last week of the 1st trimester is right around the corner, along with another doctor's appointment, so more news to come soon.  The purpose of Chubby Spin Instructor doesn't change, so keep an eye out for a surge in some new workout and healthy eating posts this week!

Much love to you all that have been supportive! Glad to be back in the world of writing now!

What I'm Eating

I've gotten a lot of requests from my friends and some family members to post about what I'm eating.  It's no secret that I started to clean up my diet last year as I prepared for our wedding, but as time went by, I got lazy.  I wasn't meal prepping as much during the first part of the year.  I did better over the summer, but slacked again recently. I think the most common phrase we use in the fitness world is "Failing to plan is planning to fail." It's so true. If you forget your wonderful handmade lunch, chances are you'll be eating leftover work lunches or processed snacks, drinking a DDP (that's diet Dr. Pepper for the layfolk), and then feeling crabby and gross by 3 PM. 

Sound familiar?

I don't subscribe to any type of label on how I eat. It's mostly low carbohyrdate, but I do love some Italian food and will treat myself to pasta every once in awhile.  But it's not Atkins.  I've found that cutting out food groups altogether makes me drop weight quickly, but then I also want to kill everyone around me.  Like Adam Levine did.....I would NOT mind being all covered in blood next to him....just sayin'.....

WOW, that escalated quickly!!!!!

Anywho, I don't do the South Beach Diet.  Or the famous Jen Anniston The Zone diet. It's not really a diet of any kind.  It's not Paleo, although I do love looking up some Pinterest paleo recipes.  Plus I've found that if I post something like "Look at these paleo pancakes I made!!!!", then some of my crossfitters will judge me because I may have used like a smidgen of non-all natural, bought right from the WalMart-honey. Don't judge me!

People have also asked if I cleanse from time to time.  YES.  I absolutely do.  I do it safely though. I still eat.  Non of the cayenne-pepper lemon juice deal, but I know some people that do that, so I won't be all Judgey-Wudgey-was-a-Bear on that. I have used Advocare a few times.  It made me feel wonderful and so clear-headed after 10 days.  LOVE it!

Let's just put it this way.  I eat a lot of food, but I also eat mostly whole foods.  I would definitely lean towards this is more clean eating than anything else. Meaning grown in the ground, or it might have walked on land or flown in the air or swam in the sea at one point.  I love fresh fruits and veggies.  If I could grow it in a garden, I'm probably eating it.  I've started looking at food as fuel, not comfort or a way to ease stress.  That's what hardcore, butt-busting workouts are for.  Seriously, if you are angry, and want to throat punch all of the things, why not funnel that into a positive force and go run? Or throw heavy things? There have literally been times to where I've been fretting and stressing over something, and I will go all beast mode because sweating and hard work makes me feel better.  I have cried in the gym and covered it up like I was sweating to death.  It's a release and it just works for me rather than a bag of cheetos.  Plus if you cry on your cheetos, you will have perma-orange fingers.  Nobody wants that!

Here is a sampling of what my meals have looked like in the past month.  

Protein shakes.  I'm plain old vanilla, but love to throw fruit in there and some flax seeds.  If you're in a fall mood, blend with some pumpkin puree and cinnamon.  Like fall exploded right up in your mouth.  

Lean protein and good carbs.  Chicken strips, sweet potato and broccoli.  And hot sauce. Can't leave that out.

Zoodles! For real, I love the Vegetti (say it in front of your friends and watch them laugh at how dirty your kitchen tool sounds), and it does make great "noodles" if you don't want pasta.  I saute with whatever is in my fridge.  Usually some grilled chicken, there's some turkey meatballs in there, and sundried tomatoes.  YUM.  Very filling.

For snacks, I try to stick to fruit and nuts.  Pretzels too, I feel like straight up chips are too greasy and too salty at times.  Boiled peanuts (hey it's football season, that's a staple right now). Protein balls are awesome too.  They are usually made with some type of nut butter, cinnamon, vanilla protein powder, and maybe some chocolate chips.  If you want a recipe, Pinterest is the place to go, there are THOUSANDS of balls out there......#twss :)

That's just a glimpse into what I've been preparing the last few weeks.  I posted about how I was working out like a beast but not feeling my best and it definitely pointed to my food intake.  I can tell you that this week, I've kept myself honest with all of my own meals (minus a work catered lunch on Wednesday), and I feel great.  I've also started going to the gym at 5 AM.  And then I go home after work and have still had the energy to do things like redecorate a bathroom.

They say you are what you eat.  I believe it.  Abs are indeed made in the kitchen.  I am seeing results and noticing the effects of it up front.  I feel 100% better than I have in a few weeks.  Also, for you ladies out there, I feel like eating this way balances me out on the hormone side.  Which we all know can be like trying to figure out a calculus equation.  Food does effect you no matter what you think.

One of my trainers, who happened to be my spin director for years, gave me a document one time that "graded" food.  It really helped me learn how to shop, read labels, and learn what to avoid.  I'm sharing it with you guys today hoping that you'll rethink some of the choices you make.  I shared this with a good friend who was a bagel and cream cheese girl for breakfast everyday for years.  She took this as Bible truth and slimmed up and now runs marathons.  It was so cool to watch her transform.

Hope you guys enjoy this! Happy Friday and here's to a great weekend!

The condition of your body today is the sum total of all the food choices you made in the past. The condition of your body in the future will be the sum total of all the food choices you make today and here on out. Choose low grade food and you will get low grade results and performance. Choose low grade food and get a low grade body. Choose high grade foods and you’ll get a leaner, stronger, more muscular machine with more energy.

When choosing what you eat at each and every opportunity, ask yourself this question:  Did this food come out of the ground or off a tree or plant this way? If it grew from the ground, walked, flew or swam, it’s natural.

Grade A Foods- Fibrous carbs

Spinach, Broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, tomatoes, asparagus, onions, cucumbers, colored peppers all other fibrous green veggies or salad vegetables,

Grade A- Starchy carbs

Yams, sweet potatoes, barley, oatmeal(old fashioned unsweetened), beans(all types, black eyed peas , slow cooked brown rice, red and white potatoes, carrots

Grade A Simple Carbs

All fresh fruit(not canned or sweetened)

Grade A Proteins

Chicken breast, extra lean ground turkey, all fish, shellfish, egg whites, non fat cottage cheese, top round steak (leanest cuts possible)

Grade A fats

Flaxseed oil, fish oil, fatty fish

Grade B Carbohydrates

A “B’ grade is a good grade. Not the best but it’s good nonetheless. There are many good B foods to choose from, 100% whole grain unsweetened cereals, pastas, breads, pitas, whole grain unsweetened muffins, quick oatmeal, quick brown rice.

Grade B Proteins

Flank steak, extra lean sirloin, extra lean ground beef, nonfat or 1% fat sour cream, cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt, whole eggs

Grade C – average, not poor, not failing, but not good either

Grits, cream of rice, cream of wheat, white rice, pasta from enriched flour, bagels, cheerios, sweetened/flavored oatmeal, enriched wheat bread

Grade C Proteins

Turkey thighs, lunch meats, low fat cheeses, cottage cheese, yogurt, low fat ham, pork or ground turkey

D Grade Foods- foods that are high in refined sugars or made from bleached flour. Highly processed.

Sweetened box cereals, pretzels, crackers, bleached/enriched bread- Wonder bread, muffins and baked goods made from white flour, sugar and/or hydrogenated oil.

Grade D Proteins

Full fat cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream and half and half

Grade F foods- The ones that you should almost never eat. Hydrogenated tropical oils (palm, coconut, palm kernel oil. Hydrogenated vegetable oils, anything deep fried, margarine, very high calorie cuts of pork or red meat. Candy, sweets, chocolate, cookies pies, croissants cakes, doughnuts, Cinnabons, and soda! Potato chips, fast food burgers, full fat milk. Processed full fat meats, bologna, salami, bacon, beef jerky, sausage, lunchmeats, hot dogs. 

Everything you eat, either helps or hurts. Make sure that your body is changing for the better and getting the best possible fuel by choosing the highest grade of food.

T

Battling Negativity

Good evening late nighters!  Short and sweet post tonight, but full of some good motivation.

So I'm sitting here working on my spin class I'm teaching in the morning at 5:45 AM and had some time to reflect on the day.  (Yes, you read that right, AM not PM, did you know that 5 comes twice a day????)  I can't wind down for whatever reason.  So I thought I would write a brief post.  It was a good day, but honestly y'all, everything in my path tried to derail me.  

The reason you guys haven't seen me around in a bit on the blog is because I've been fighting some of those demons I talked about in my post called Learning to Cope.  You can read about that here.  I work in one of the most stressful environments, and our busy season, typically coupled with the time change, usually takes me down hardcore.  Last year, I breezed through because....well, I had a wedding to look forward to in December (really hard to believe we've almost been married a year, eek!).   I guess in thinking about that, I will every single year come December 15th :)  But overall, once things start ramping up, the hours get long and the stress can reach points that are hard to deal with.  I've been doing this for almost 5 years now, so you'd think it would be old hat by now.  It is still a struggle, but I get through it.

When I wrote about how I was feeling as a woman, wife, and just a person in general, I look back at my anxiety and think WOW, I was crippled.  Not only that, I was crippled by a poor body image.  I was hiding in my clothes and not feeling super confident about me.  I was still finding comfort in food and letting myself not be disciplined. 

Over the past few weeks, I've been keeping up more with an online accountability group I joined last year.  I joined it because I think that like blogging, being honest to the public (aka Facebook) helps you stay in check with your calls.  I joined ANOTHER group the other night with some of the same folks, and it involves staying healthy for fall.  Definitely a challenge because we all know that pumpkin spiced EVERYTHING is available like free candy and I don't know, something about the fall makes me want to consume a bottle of red wine from my couch a few times a week....in my sweatpants.

So back to today and how everything tried to derail me (and this is where my awesome group comes into the picture).  I arrived at work a little later than I like and got a crappy parking space.  Harumph.  I could NOT get coffee until about 10:00 AM, all because one million people were at the coffee machine all morning.  Hence why I like going in early.  My laptop is a dinosaur and shuts down without warning at least 4 times a day now.  Just in general, people felt snippy and not super chipper.  My office lunch was less than stellar.  I know I know, the troubles of a growing company, woe is me, stop whining, Rebecca, right?  

RIGHT! Because every few hours, I would check Facebook, and people were posting pictures of their healthy breakfasts and daily motivations.  Like "OMG I ran 2 miles today in the cooler air, YAY FALL!" Or "I had protein shakes twice today and loved both of them".  All of the positive vibes kept me really motivated to push through the crazy workload I have going on and just keep going.  

I also left at 5:00, did not turn my laptop back on, and bought myself a new comforter from The Target.  Something about new things make you feel refreshed sometimes.  I also randomly went to a Scentsy party the other night and knew one other person, and it was totally last minute.  Stuff like that would usually set me on a roller coaster of brain battling myself, but I felt like going, and I went and had a blast.  See? I feel like I'm making SOME progress with this anxiety thing.

Maybe it's my new cookie scented candle or my new group with all of their amazing energy, but fall has me totally motivated to have a new attitude this year.  There were things today that I wish could have happened.  I was waiting on a phone call that just did not come through.  I tried to complete a task that has taken me awhile, and I still have road blocks.  I didn't make it to the gym like I wanted.  But all of that is ok.  To know that I'm not bothered by those things makes me realize that the changes, though small, are happening.  And I'm proud of that. 

Ok time to sleep now! I have some really cool workout moves that are coming your way tomorrow after I teach so prepare yourself for some awesome training routines I've been following!

Good night!