Well, I don’t know about you, but this week kind of flew by. I can’t believe it’s already Thursday afternoon and time for another weekly update post. The weekend was spent exploring our city, while N spent his first nights away from me with his grandparents. I was stressed and worried about him, but also liked not having to be “on” the whole time. We ate at some really wonderful restaurants – I posted a few pictures of some of the deliciousness on my Instagram page. It was wonderful. We walked…a LOT. My legs were sooooooo tired! I forget how pregnancy makes things ache more! We capped the weekend off with a Mother’s Day brunch at our house, for which my parents joined us with N. I picked up a spinach quiche from Whole Foods, made some strawberry rhubarb breakfast bars, and a fresh salad with a quick citrus vinaigrette. It was all great and a fun, relaxing way to enjoy the day.
This week’s dinners:
Saturday – dinner at a farm-to-table steak house, Urban Farmer. It was wonderful. Husband did the 3 steak sampler (corn-fed, grass-fed, aged), which I sampled along with a gorgeous fresh salad that was ridiculously good. This was after a nice cheese plate of three different great cheeses, paired with house-made crackers, raw local honey, almonds, and dried fruit. So good.
Sunday – leftovers…hubby had some left-over steak and salad…I had a salad and something…I can’t remember what, exactly. I just pieced some things together!
Monday – Sweet potato shepherd’s pie – grassfed beef, peas, carrots, onion, sweet potato mash on top. It was a big hit. N devoured it. I made myself an individual healthy berry cobbler (recipe coming soon) after N went to bed.
Tuesday – Salmon on the grill with zucchini fritters (recipe for fritters is on the recipe page! We LOVE them and they are a steady dinner staple throughout the summer)
Wednesday – I was tired. I’ve had major headaches most days this week and not been sleeping well…so…we took advantage of Whole Foods 2 for $22 pizza deal and I picked up pizza for dinner. They’re huge, made with very fresh ingredients, not over sauced or cheesed, and easily provide great left-overs. I also made some brownies for a pre-bed snack for me and had one.
Thursday – left-over chicken liver pate with crackers, salad, cheese, and fruit
Friday – Grilled chicken wings with mixed grilled veggies (pepper, onion, mushrooms, and pineapple)
Today, specifically, I ventured back into smoothies for breakfast. Once the weather warms, those are often my go-to. I made one with whole, grassfed milk, cocoa powder, hemp seeds, ground flaxseed, romaine lettuce, some avocado, and a bit of maple syrup. Very good and very filling. I offered N the choice of yogurt or eggs for breakfast, as I do most mornings – he indicated he wanted both, so both it was! I had a midwife appointment after that – baby girl seems to be doing just fine. Broke out the maternity jeans yesterday. I suppose at 6 months pregnant that’s pretty appropriate! After my appointment, I went to Whole Foods and got a salad for lunch with a little carrot cake bar for after and worked on my perinatal fitness certification, answering momma nutrition questions, and networking.
Workouts… despite the headaches, I’ve kept my workouts up. My ab stuff is much different because of my pregnancy. I suffered some abdominal separation in my first pregnancy (as many women do), and have worked hard to rehab it and try to prevent it this time around. Anyway, that means my core work is much more specific and isometric, focusing on building stability and engaging my deep core muscles and doing proper, diaphragmatic breathing. One workout was a plank plyo challenge, alternating between a plank exercise and a plyometric exercise. Other workouts have been a mix of HIIT and tabata. Today, I did a strength-oriented HIIT workout from Athlean XX for women. It was only 15 minutes in length, so I added a 10 minute ab/leg finisher to it, also from Athlean XX:
3 rounds, 50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest:
1) Windmill Squats (I used 5 lbs in each hand)
2) Bench Jumpovers w/a Burpee
3) Flutter Kicks (I did a variety of plank/superman variations)
4) Stagger Pushups w/a Lateral Raise (I used 8 lbs in each hand)
5) Forward/Back/Spiderman Kickthrough
Then…
5 rounds, 50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest:
1) Weighted Box Jumps (I used my 12 lbs weight vest)
2) Abdominal exercise (plank variations, jack knives on ball, etc)
Those weighted box jumps are killer and obviously not what I recommend for most pregnant women unless you’re very well conditioned and used to such movements.
Hoping to perhaps even do some workout video clips for Instagram this weekend… we’ll see! Hope you’re having a great week, staying active, and eating well.
Saturday – dinner at a farm-to-table steak house, Urban Farmer. It was wonderful. Husband did the 3 steak sampler (corn-fed, grass-fed, aged), which I sampled along with a gorgeous fresh salad that was ridiculously good. This was after a nice cheese plate of three different great cheeses, paired with house-made crackers, raw local honey, almonds, and dried fruit. So good.
Sunday – leftovers…hubby had some left-over steak and salad…I had a salad and something…I can’t remember what, exactly. I just pieced some things together!
Monday – Sweet potato shepherd’s pie – grassfed beef, peas, carrots, onion, sweet potato mash on top. It was a big hit. N devoured it. I made myself an individual healthy berry cobbler (recipe coming soon) after N went to bed.
Tuesday – Salmon on the grill with zucchini fritters (recipe for fritters is on the recipe page! We LOVE them and they are a steady dinner staple throughout the summer)
Wednesday – I was tired. I’ve had major headaches most days this week and not been sleeping well…so…we took advantage of Whole Foods 2 for $22 pizza deal and I picked up pizza for dinner. They’re huge, made with very fresh ingredients, not over sauced or cheesed, and easily provide great left-overs. I also made some brownies for a pre-bed snack for me and had one.
Thursday – left-over chicken liver pate with crackers, salad, cheese, and fruit
Friday – Grilled chicken wings with mixed grilled veggies (pepper, onion, mushrooms, and pineapple)
Today, specifically, I ventured back into smoothies for breakfast. Once the weather warms, those are often my go-to. I made one with whole, grassfed milk, cocoa powder, hemp seeds, ground flaxseed, romaine lettuce, some avocado, and a bit of maple syrup. Very good and very filling. I offered N the choice of yogurt or eggs for breakfast, as I do most mornings – he indicated he wanted both, so both it was! I had a midwife appointment after that – baby girl seems to be doing just fine. Broke out the maternity jeans yesterday. I suppose at 6 months pregnant that’s pretty appropriate! After my appointment, I went to Whole Foods and got a salad for lunch with a little carrot cake bar for after and worked on my perinatal fitness certification, answering momma nutrition questions, and networking.
Workouts… despite the headaches, I’ve kept my workouts up. My ab stuff is much different because of my pregnancy. I suffered some abdominal separation in my first pregnancy (as many women do), and have worked hard to rehab it and try to prevent it this time around. Anyway, that means my core work is much more specific and isometric, focusing on building stability and engaging my deep core muscles and doing proper, diaphragmatic breathing. One workout was a plank plyo challenge, alternating between a plank exercise and a plyometric exercise. Other workouts have been a mix of HIIT and tabata. Today, I did a strength-oriented HIIT workout from Athlean XX for women. It was only 15 minutes in length, so I added a 10 minute ab/leg finisher to it, also from Athlean XX:
3 rounds, 50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest:
1) Windmill Squats (I used 5 lbs in each hand)
2) Bench Jumpovers w/a Burpee
3) Flutter Kicks (I did a variety of plank/superman variations)
4) Stagger Pushups w/a Lateral Raise (I used 8 lbs in each hand)
5) Forward/Back/Spiderman Kickthrough
Then…
5 rounds, 50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest:
1) Weighted Box Jumps (I used my 12 lbs weight vest)
2) Abdominal exercise (plank variations, jack knives on ball, etc)
Those weighted box jumps are killer and obviously not what I recommend for most pregnant women unless you’re very well conditioned and used to such movements.
Hoping to perhaps even do some workout video clips for Instagram this weekend… we’ll see! Hope you’re having a great week, staying active, and eating well.