6 Weeks and Thoughts on Exercise

Made it to 6 weeks! I'm 6w1d today, and continue to allow myself to be more excited as each day passes. Aside from the one horrible day of sickness, I've been lucky to only get occasional nausea and a little dizziness otherwise. I've figured out that when I'm overtired or don't drink enough water, it hits me harder. I'm continuing to take B6, although most days I only remember to take it once a day.

Today, I thought I'd write a little about my workouts in pregnancy so far. I've been trying to keep up with my regular schedule, but it's been almost impossible. I'm exhausted by about lunchtime, and I'm not sleeping well--so even though I go to bed between 8 and 9 most nights, when I wake up at 6:30 I'm not as rested as I used to be after that much sleep. I'm now trying for 3 runs a week, one yoga class, and two days of lifting. So far, that's been working for me.

Yoga: Is my best friend in the exercise world right now. I'm finding that I'm all sorts of sore from what I used to consider "easy" workouts. I went to a great Hatha class last weekend (not vigorous--just 90 minutes of glorified stretching), and it fit the bill. Stretched all the right places. I'm going to try and keep going to that class in addition to my vinyasa/flow class if I'm able to work out the scheduling.

Running: My pace has slowed considerably (I wasn't "fast" to begin with, but I had been getting much faster--about 20% over my previous bests in the weeks leading up to my BFP). I'm back to my old pace, and have found that by increasing my walk to run ratios (I used to be a 10:1 run:walk girl, now I'm finding that 4:1 seems easier on my body). If my body is still not feeling so great as my runs are getting longer, I've already started to prepare mentally for a mostly walking marathon in January. I'm being very cautious, and definitely listening to my body all the time.

Lifting: My lifting is going well. I'm following the New Rules of Lifting for Women, and am still in the first stage (this week was 2 sets of 12 for each exercise). This week, I didn't increase my large-muscle weights (squats, dead lifts, etc.), but was able to increase my upper body weights (I can now lift 110lbs. in the seated row!) I don't feel as though my balance center has changed yet, and I'm noticing that ab work (it's done on the ball--jackknifes and ball crunches) has been a little more taxing. I will probably attempt to increase my weights again next week, but only slightly until I see how it feels. I do have to AW myself--I've been squatting and dead lifting with the Olympic bar this week. I never thought I'd get there!

So the lesson I'm continuing to follow is to listen to my body. It's what's growing our little Magnolia Baby, and I will listen!

Love and baby dust to each of you!

-Magnolia Bud