My stress levels sky rocketed, mostly due to my blended family life. I'm a stepmother to 2 girls and my husband's EX isn't very nice. It took me nearly 5 years after we got married for me to get my groove back, focus on the things I can control and get healthy again. We've been together 8 years and married for 6. My hubby and I seem to work in tandem. If I'm motivated so is he. If I get lazy, so does he. I feel this enormous responsibility to stay on track. Not only for my husband, but the kids as well.
When I got to the point where I felt I was in firm control of my mind, body and spirit. I was in great shape and we decided to go ahead and expand our family. I kept a very consistent work-out schedule and did the best I could to continue to eat healthy. I'm not what they call a "clean" eater. I do my best to eat healthy foods and balance my diet with some cheat meals. I usually go about 1-2 of those on the weekends. No full cheat days or fast food like McDonald's though. Subway is my best friend when I need something quick and easy. The kids love that place, thank goodness!
I am pregnant with baby boy #2 and was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition at 24 weeks gestation. My cardiologist suggested that I completely stop exercising until I can have the ablation done after I give birth. I had a massive emotional meltdown when I was told that weight lifting was a serious no-no. I took the following week off of working out, but I went mad crazy. I decided to form my own, private compromise with the diagnosis. Since I've been apparently living with this condition since birth and haven't dropped dead yet, what's the harm in working out, but on a much smaller scale? So that's exactly what I've done.
I continued 4-5 days of cardio and strength training as usual, then dropped to 3 days around 32 weeks gestation. Now I'm on 2-3 days of strength training and much less cardio because I cramp up. I dropped the amount of weight I'm lifting and increased my reps. I'm doing a simple, modified version of my old routine. I listen to my body. If it says STOP, I do. Not every day is the same though in terms of my energy levels.
Now at 38 weeks gestation, I've gained 29 pounds and am probably about done now. The first time around I gained 60 pounds and didn't eat right AT ALL. Exercise? No way! I was 29 yrs old then and now I'm 36. Times have changed. I have changed and I'm so glad I stuck with it. Being pregnant has its own set of challenges, but sticking with an exercise routine while pregnant is so much harder. With less than 2 weeks left until I welcome my new son into this world I still have the desire and energy to keep going. I'm hoping to bounce back quicker and will post my progress.
