Week 18

In my sophomore year of college, I decided to fulfill a goal of mine and participate in a triathlon.  I signed up for a class that helped students train for one.  It was the most active I have ever been in my entire life.  I swam on Mondays and Wednesdays, went to a cycling class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and ran on Fridays.  On top of this I was also a part of my collegiate dance team where we met for at least 90 minutes every day, and I was also signed up for recreational dance classes.  I was doing something exercise related Monday-Friday on average of at least 5 hours a day.   It was the most fit I have ever been, it was also the hungriest I have ever been…… until now.  I remember back then that it got to the point that I was GAINING weight because I was eating so much to sustain all of the activity I was doing.  I wasn't participating in those activities to lose weight, but I sure as heck wasn't going to allow myself to gain as a result of all of my activity.  So I had to be careful, because if I didn't eat enough I got the worst headache and became so incredibly tired during my workouts.  It became a matter of eating more of the RIGHT stuff instead of simply just eating more.  Once I did this, I lost some weight and was able to maintain it.  When I ate certain things, and how often was a big factor in this success.  I had to have multiple snacks, and I had to have a mixture of complex carbs in the mornings along with proteins and some fats. 

The reason I bring this up is because all of a sudden, I have become that hungry again. 

Like ALL THE TIME.  Which, in growing a human is completely understandable, but holy cow.  So I have had 2 days where it seemed like a completely hopeless cycle of constantly eating,  remember a few posts ago how I said that I quit loving my usual pastry and carbs and started loving weird things like lemons and kale?  Well that went away and now I love all the things.   Like doughnuts and funnel cakes are what I want most, and it’s pretty bad.  So yesterday I had a bad day, and I caved to whatever my body wanted, and I was still starving by the end of the day!  So last night I went back to my memories of when I was the hungriest, and thought back to how I use to do things when I was trying to support all of that activity.  Today I had oatmeal (old fashioned kind that can’t be cooked in the microwave, that stuff fills you up) and an egg for breakfast with some milk (instead of the piece of toast and cheese I had yesterday).  For lunch I had rice, broccoli &beef along with a little indulgence in my husband’s sweet and sour chicken.  For snacks I’ve had popcorn and a plum, and I also had a cookie(  seriously if I mentioned the treats I had yesterday, they make a cookie seem like it’s not that bad), dinner I had pork chops, eggplant & apples and a dinner roll.  I’m not starving, I’m not exhausted, and I’m not trying to think of what I desperately want next.  I also was much more active today, I went to a cycling class today which yesterday the only thing I did was run a little bit with my dance kids.  I have been trying really hard to eat healthy, but I think it’s time to up the ante because my body is so demanding of all the things!  I of course will allow myself some treats, but I think it’s time to buckle down and be careful because I want to feed my baby nutrient rich food and I want to give myself the strength to do the things I need to do.

Getting away from my fitness pulpit can I just say, pregnancy cravings are the coolest thing ever.  I use to like kale, and I liked the occasional lemon in my water, and doughnuts were a thing, but holy moly those things have become heaven these past few weeks.  Nothing has been more satisfying than biting into a lime or lemon covered in salt (I know, it sounds gross!), or downing a whole salad bowl full of Tuscan kale salad, or getting a doughnut on national doughnut day.   It rocks. 

Here’s a bit of an over share, while talking about fitness, I guess I will mention what a weird sensation it is to be on a cycling bike in a cycling class with a belly now.  It was really hard to exercise in my first trimester, it felt like I had eaten a whole bag of Cheetos and drank nothing but mountain dew and that’s what I had to work with, I was out of breathe and so tired!  Now I have the energy to work out in my second trimester, but if I do anything with the slightest amount of bouncing, I’m off to the bathroom.  It’s kind of funny & kind of not.  I feel really bad for my dog, we use to go running together outside, our favorite place to run is a long stretch in the middle of some fields in Bellevue, we tried that a few days ago, and I was trying so hard not to wet my pants on the way to the car.  So now we go on walks, poor guy, we’ll just get bigger together.  I have to run at the gym now where I can take frequent bathroom breaks.  I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to keep going to cycling class either, I had stop and go to the bathroom in the middle of class today and even after that I swore I was going to have an accident, in my head I kept praying “Dear Lord, please don’t let me go potty all over this bike!”  Supposedly the whole, having to go all the time disappears in your second trimester for a little while, the only improvement I’ve had from the first trimester is I don’t wake up at 3 am and at 7 am and I’m able to get through the night.  So that’s a thing.  My doctor gave me a brace for running for when I get bigger, I thought wearing it might help but it made things worse. I could start swimming again, but our gym’s pool has the strangest hours, it’s never open when I can go.  I have still been lifting with Sean, I have had to take the weight down and do more reps now.  I’m so determined to keep exercise a part of my life, it’s just getting harder, which is understandable.  It makes me feel good, and always makes me feel better if I’m having a bad day.  The struggle is real, I envy and admire women who are able to keep it up throughout the whole nine months.  We will see if we make it, no matter what I’m determined to keep on walking and lifting at least.