#5 plus Boot Camp

Just in case someone here hasn’t figured it out by now, yes- we are expecting baby #5 in November. Most of you know me outside of this blog so this shouldn’t be news to you, but there it is anyway.

In addition to that, I recently signed up for a fitness Boot Camp. Most might think my timing is odd. Get pregnant then start an intense exercise routine? Well, not really. It was a very strategic move on my part actually. The 1st trimester this time around was actually quite difficult for me. It knocked me off my feet for the most part and I felt pretty bad a lot of the time. I knew that once I got through that first trimester I had to commit to something that would whip me back into shape. Boot camp started right as I was hitting 13 weeks. PERFECT timing!

I knew that at this point in my life I would be unable to force myself to exercise consistently without slapping down the $$ and having a trainer yell at me if I don’t do it. So I really needed this to push me and it has been working beautifully. I absolutely love it! Okay okay, I gripe a LOT when I have to get up at 4:30am to get there on time, but after it is over I feel fantastic! I’m not in love with the early wake-up, but I’m really enjoying the positive results of a regular intense exercise program.

At the start of boot camp the two trainers leading us had us make 4 additional commitments.
1) No sugar.
2) Keep a food journal for accountability.
3) No eating after 6:30pm
4) Drink 3 Litres of water a day

I am trying to do these things and for the most part, I have. We get one day off each week and I admit that I have enjoyed those free days. ;) But it is really nice to have the accountability to re-establish healthy habits.

The boot camp meets 3 days a week at 5am and lasts an hour and a half. So far we’ve never done the same things twice so the trainers always keep us guessing! It’s never boring and they always push us to our maximum abilities. I’m pretty much always sore! (In a good way!)

So far it has been really good and after this week I’ll be half-way through the 6 weeks already! I’m feeling so much stronger and even (slightly) more energetic. haha! I know it has also had positive effects on my overall health (blood pressure and resting pulse etc) which are very important to me, especially during pregnancy. As always I’m very focused on having as healthy a pregnancy as possible so that was a very motivating factor in forcing myself to do this. Now I’m just hoping these trainers will offer another 6 week boot camp after the current one is over!

This was also really good timing to get me back off sugar. I had been off for maybe half-a-year when the first trimester nausea hit me hard and I quickly was reliant on sugary foods to get through that. I was so sad to see all my hard work at eating healthfully slip away from me, but I also felt helpless as I was quite sick unless I ate something and the only things I seemed able to stomach were sugar and carbs. Blech! I’m so glad that is over. I’m easing back into a healthier lifestyle and just hoping I can stick with it as well as I did pre-pregnancy.

I know I rarely update here anymore so you may not hear from me again for a while, but until I think of a better use for this blog- this is about as good as it gets. (I’m sure I’ll update again once the baby comes. ;)