LIVE IN THE NOW!

I'm being asked quite a lot lately if I'm excited to go on maternity leave and if I have started my count down. In all honesty I'm trying not to think about it because I tend to stress and feel anxious about...basically everything. While I do allow myself the occasional daydream about birth, motherhood and being off work for an entire year...I can't think about it too much, because I'll get scared. My future is a giant, glowing, exciting, terrifying question mark right now! My life is going to change in such a drastic way and I'm both excited and scared. So much love and exhaustion coming my way.

This month has been absolutely kick ass. I can't pinpoint a specific reason, it just has been. I'm happy, I'm healthy and I'm growing a little boy that is going to be the light of my life! That being said, my belly is starting to get huge and heavy and my low back is definitely starting to feel the pressure from the weight gain in such a specific area. You know what that means? Time to see the chiropractor and to book a massage. I have 4 or 5 free massages left this year and you better believe I intend on using each and every one of them! December is all about relaxation.

I'm feeling positive and happy lately, which has turned me in to a magnet for good things. The happier I am, the better I feel on every level. The true test of my patience and state of mind is my place of work. When I'm feeling low, work really gets to me. It makes me angry, bitter, stressed and anxious all at once. Right now everything is just rolling off my back and I refuse to stress for even one minute because everything will work out. The universe is on my side! When you don't allow the negative thoughts to get to you, good things become inevitable. Even bad situations aren't so bad because your outlook on life is this absolutely unshakable. 

The one thing that I truly and honestly need to start working on is meditating. Yoga and meditation have always been key in grounding me even at my lowest points. Meditation is so key to clearing my mind, and bringing my spirits up. Prenatal yoga is a funny thing...I find myself going through almost my entire class with my eyes closed, so focused on engaging all of the right parts of my body and mind. The way I move is a bit different right now, accommodating for my growing belly and less-than-strong muscles, and that is ok! It is very meditative for me now because it is not as physically strenuous as I am used to, which is lovely. I do, however, need to work on meditating daily, even just for 5 or 10 minutes. 

An Introduction

How to begin?

My life currently: I'm 24 weeks 4 days pregnant with a baby boy. I've been with the love of my life (and best friend) for just over 3 years now and I'm excited to see what life will bring us this coming year! Currently I'm trying to focus on right now while also preparing for January 9 when our little guy is due to arrive. I'm a planner and an organizer, so I have faith that everything will be in place before he arrives. Granted, one can never really be prepared for a baby but I'm going to do my best!

The first few months of pregnancy were definitely challenging and I completely lost track of my health/fitness goals because I was so sick and exhausted. I started feeling like the old me a few weeks ago, and shortly thereafter I got my eating habits back on track...for the most part. It's been really difficult for me to adjust to how frequently I'm hungry and that tends to lead to snacking on junk food or food lack of much nutritional value. It's taken a couple of months to get my taste buds back to normal, so to speak.

My goal right now is being active and eating healthy for my baby. I want to improve my diet even more and really push myself to go on a walk at 3-4 days a week and get my body back in to a yoga routine. My yoga practice has suffered tremendously since becoming pregnant, and I miss it deeply. It's a tough thing being this motivated when my body is limited in what it is capable of, but it is so worth it. On a more superficial level, I also don't want to gain an excessive amount of weight that will be a huge challenge to take off after the baby is born. I'm perfectly okay with gaining as much as my body feels is necessary to grow a healthy baby while I am also active and eating healthy. My body knows what it needs and I need to honor that!

All this being said, here's my plan of action:

Physical Activity:

• Find any excuse to get up and walk around at work. Some days I need to sit with my feet up, and that is okay.
• Stretch my body throughout the day.
• Walk for 30 minutes 3-4 times per week.
• Attend 1 prenatal yoga class per week.

Nutrition:

• Begin each day with warm water & fresh lemon or a honey lemon tea. Great for digestion & tastes yummy!
• Always eat breakfast! Toast & almond butter followed by a green smoothie seems to work best at keeping my hunger at bay until lunch.
• Create a meal plan for every week. Having a general idea of which meals to cook will both help do groceries and ensure that Chris and I both have healthy dinners and lunch the following day.
• Set aside a few minutes on Sunday to prepare snacks for the work week. (Sliced cucumber, sliced pepper, pickles, strawberries, mixed nuts, etc.)
• Every evening before getting comfortable on the couch, blend up a smoothie! This is double duty because I always do up the dishes along with my Vitamix, which leaves for a tidy kitchen to wake up to; win, win!