Health and Fitness

What’s this about a fit pregnancy?

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When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was determined to have a fit pregnancy. I had worked so hard to be fit and healthy and wasn’t about to let that all fly out the window and turn into a whale. Getting fit in your 30s is a whole new ballgame and it’s freaking hard work!

What I didn’t realise is how intense pregnancy body and hormonal changes really are and as much as you want to fight it, the body is designed to slow down and take it easy during pregnancy.

My focus has shifted from “must do what I can within the preggie limits to not get huge” to “must do what I can for both of us to be as healthy as we can be” from the first to the third trimesters. Growing a human life inside your own body is a concept that cannot actually be described. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time and carries a huge amount of responsibility. I mean, this little life that we have created is dependent entirely on what I put into and do with my body. It’s insane.

What I also didn’t realise is that a fit pregnancy is not only for mom, but is so beneficial to baby too. Here’s why:

  1. A healthy mom = a healthy baby, there’s no doubt about that
  2. During early pregnancy, exercise increases the growth of the placenta, meaning more nutrients for baby!
  3. A fit pregnancy is said to result in “easier” labour and moms are less likely to need to be induced
  4. Babies of fit moms tend to be a healthier weight at birth
  5. Babies of moms who exercised during pregnancy have a more stable heart rate during labour

So moms-to-be: squeeze on those workout shoes while you still can and get moving! It’s hard when you’re feeling sick, tired, heavy and bloated, but all you need to do is move for 30 minutes every day.

I ran up until about 22 weeks and have continued strength workouts throughout my pregnancy, along with regular brisk walking and prenatal yoga. It’s all slowing down dramatically now at 34 weeks, but I’m keeping these balloon feet moving, even if they can’t fit into shoes anymore 🙂

 

Pregnancy yoga for my baby, I mean me, I mean…

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I can’t actually tell if my pregnancy yoga is for me, for my baby or for the bond between me and my baby. Isn’t that an amazing confusion?

I started prenatal yoga at about 9 weeks into my pregnancy and even though I could have continued with my normal yoga (with modifications), I just didn’t feel confident enough that I knew enough about pregnancy to know what’s safe and what’s not. So prenatal yoga it was.

With no belly to show and nausea to spice things up a bit, I entered into the pregnancy yoga world not knowing what to expect. A bunch of pregnant woman just lying around and stretching and arm or a leg here and there? A whole lot of child’s pose? Will we even move?

It was everything I didn’t expect. Having been an ashtanga and vinyasa yogi for years and continuously pushing my body and my mind through yoga flow, this was a strange new world to me. This is a world where you don’t push yourself. You don’t see how deep you can take a pose, you don’t try and stretch that little bit further, you don’t try and take your mind into deeper place. You “just be” and move with yourself and your baby in a way that soothes your soul, your baby and your body.

When we found out that we were pregnant, a friend gave me a card with a quote in and at the time, it didn’t sink in how powerful it really was, until I had actually spent time with my pregnancy, through yoga.

I’m going to end off with this quote and let it sink in for you.

To be pregnant is to be vitally alive, thoroughly woman, and distressingly inhabited. Soul and spirit are stretched – along with the body – making pregnancy a time of transition, growth, and profound beginnings.” – Anne Christian Buchanan

<3

What they didn’t tell me about the second trimester

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If you read my blog post about the first trimester of pregnancy, you might be put off ever wanting to grow a little human in your body. Sorry. It was crappy. But it’s not forever and the uncomfortable bits of it didn’t actually last very long for me and life took a delightful turn just before the 12 week mark for me.

The second trimester has been wonderful for me.

Here’s what they didn’t tell me about the second trimester:

  • The fat roll becomes a noticeable baby bump and you don’t need to keep announcing to the world that you’re pregnant, not fat. I honestly thought that this would happen much sooner in pregnancy, but it’s really only half-way through the second trimester that I was noticeably “pregnant-looking”
  • You can get away with scaring the crap out of people who ask when you’re due or congratulate you on your pregnancy by saying “Oh no, you think I’m pregnant? This is still the after-effects of Christmas”
  • People compliment you because that is what you do for pregnant women. People HAVE TO tell you how great you’re looking and how you’re glowing and all that wonderful stuff. I think it’s written in a secret book somewhere. Even if you’re not, they HAVE TO tell you these things.
  • You feel the baby move around and it’s incredible! Every day is an amazement at what is happening in your body and it all becomes very real.
  • A lot of the first trimester was about feeling fragile and uncertain. This goes away in the second trimester. That baby is stuck in there and becoming a “proper human” more rapidly than you expected. The feeling of certainty and excitement cements itself in.
  • Enter the pregnant appetite! You’re sometimes going to feel ravenous and that is totally understandable, given what your amazing body is up to. I used this as an excuse to pump even more healthy foods into my body than usual (as well as treating myself to indulgences of chocolate and cheese when the need arises, no questions asked). This is not a time for deprivation or ignoring hunger pangs. EAT THOSE GREENS!
  • Get used to strategically positioning yourself near a bathroom at all times. Your baby is literally squashing your bladder so you will need to pee ALL THE TIME.
  • Sore feet. Like, walking on knives kind of sore feet. A great excuse to keep your feet up whenever you can. Prep your partner for foot massages – I haven’t won this game enough but I keep trying.
  • You feel like a normal person again. Like you did before you got pregnant, except more excited, bigger and slower.
  • You can still exercise, making sure it’s preggie-friendly. It’s actually so important to look after your body while it’s going through these drastic changes and while you can still move easily. I’ve been walking a lot, continuing (amazing) pre-natal yoga and doing trimester-specific home strength workouts.
  • Candles. I have nothing to say about these. We’ll just ignore them.

What an amazing experience it is to be growing a little human inside my body and I feel so grateful to have this privilege.

I’m still feeling great as I enter into the third trimester, growing and growing and growing this precious little human life.

Mind=blown.

Scrap ‘New Year’s Resolutions’, try ‘Healthy Life Resolutions’ you can actually stick to

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I’m not much of a fan of New Year’s Resolutions, mainly because it’s a once-off “I’ll go to gym every day this year” or “I’m going to quit smoking” promise that lasts a few weeks before everyone goes back to their same selves for the rest of the year.

Don’t get me wrong – the mere thought of wanting to change one’s self for the better is great, but let’s think more realistically here. Why aren’t we focusing on things that actually change us in the long run and make for a happier, healthier lifestyle in general? Call them HEALTHY LIFE Resolutions, if you will.

Here are my top 8 Healthy Life Resolutions that you can actually stick to:

1. Look after yourself

You’re no good to yourself or anybody else if you’re not in good condition – physically and mentally. It’s not only okay, but incredibly important that you take time to look after yourself.

2. Say goodbye to jealousy

This is a wasted emotion. It has more to do with your own insecurities than anything else. Sort those out.

3. Accept others’ shortcomings

There will always be sharks out there and there will always be morons. Find a way to work around them instead of getting stressed out or frustrated because of them. They’re unlikely to change their ways.

4. Be kind

Always.

5. Stick to your guns

Don’t get taken for a ride. It’s okay to say no sometimes. We don’t always have to bend over backwards for other people and agree with them when we actually don’t.

6. Make healthy decisions

With everything. What food you put into your body, what lifestyle choices you make, what you say in a fight with your partner.

7. Make more time for things that make you happy

This is important.

8. Do more yoga

Or whatever it is that helps you to calm and focus your mind. A strong mind is the cornerstone of a healthy life.

What they didn’t tell me about the first trimester

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Who really knows who “they” are, but I feel that they should have told me a few things about the first few months of pregnancy. We hear very little about the first trimester (other than that there’s a big chance of morning sickness) and I think it’s because people are just trying to forget about it, really. Lol. Joking (not really). Perhaps it’s because it’s more often than not kept as a secret until the big 12 week mark when they’re feeling a thousand times better in any case?

Nonetheless, here’s what ‘they’ didn’t tell me that I wish ‘they’ did.

Your body is no longer controlled by you

Motherhood is really all about self-sacrifice, it seems. There are things going on that I just can’t do anything about. Morning sickness is not actually morning sickness, either. Whoever decided to call it that may have never been pregnant in their lives, ever. This person may have arguably been a man. For me, it was all day sickness. And not the kind that eases if you get it all out, but rather the kind that is a mild, underlying nausea that’s just enough to make you the grumpiest woman alive while trying to make it through each day alive.

Baby Gale don’t eat no kale

Food aversions are a real thing. I LOVE healthy food intensely, but during this time it was all about cheese and bread.  I now understand why expecting moms put on that extra weight whether they like it or not! Our digestive systems slow down to some bizarre snail pace and energy levels drop to what I would imagine would match someone in a coma.

Lying is much harder than you think it is

Especially when I had the patience of a (what has zero patience?) and didn’t have the energy to come up with stories as to why I didn’t want that wine, was exhausted 24/7, can’t ride my horse, didn’t feel like going out for dinner/cooking (2 of my favourite things) and felt sick most of the time. And we have to keep this up for at least 2 months! I wasn’t very good at it at all. I think our pregnancy ‘announcement’ wasn’t much of an announcement at all to most people 😄

You don’t actually feel pregnant

I don’t actually know what I expected, to be honest. I thought maybe I’d all of a sudden feel this intense maternal power or feel something happening in my belly (other than bloating and gas). That is not real life, ladies, sorry. There’s not much to “show” for everything that you’re going through yet, which makes it even more difficult. We decided to have an ultrasound at around 7 weeks just to be sure that the foetus was in the right place, had a heartbeat and was actually real! I’d highly suggest this. You can actually see the heartbeat at this stage and it helps to feel that this is all actually real!

 

You will feel human again soon

I woke up one day at around 12 weeks and felt like an actual human being again. I had so much energy that I baked cupcakes at 7am for breakfast. Thank the holy pope. Now my poor husband doesn’t get to lie around and sleep while I’m “woman-down”, he has to galavant around Cape Town with me again and try all my weird and wonderful healthy cooking experiments! Hallelujah.

Side note: Enjoy your tight-fitting clothes for now, the bump is coming SOON. Fast and furious.

Recipe: 3 Ingredient healthy white sauce

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I am not joking, no. There is such a thing as healthy white sauce for pastas, veggie bakes, cheese sauce etc. Not only is it healthy, but only uses 3 easy ingredients and is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, low carb. It’s basically black magic!

I used mine in a vegetarian alfredo pasta dish and it’s one of my favourite health hacks of all time.

  • Add the cooked cauliflower, coconut milk and vegetable stock to a blender.
  • Blend until smooth and creamy.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste.

I used mine for a vegetarian alfredo sauce with Fry’s vegetarian sausage, fried onion, garlic and mushrooms. Another health hack of mine is to use shirataki noodles instead of pasta and the result is a really low carb version of a potentially fatty and unhealthy meal! It made enough sauce for 4 good portions.

You’re welcome.

Click here for more clever health hacks.

Recipe: Mushroom Quinoa Risotto

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I just love finding healthy versions of classic (usually pretty unhealthy) meals and who wouldn’t want a healthy mushroom risotto? This is my own recipe that I threw together last night and it’s a winner! It is so easy, it’s ridiculous…

Ingredients

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

A little olive oil for frying

1 large punnet of mixed, chopped mushrooms

1,5 cups quinoa

About 4 cups of vegetable stock

1/2 green chilli

Handful of baby spinach

  1. Fry 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil
  2. Add a large punnet of mixed mushrooms and some mixed herbs of your choice. Cook it all up and set aside for later.
  3. Cook about 1.5 cups of quinoa as per package instructions, but use vegetable stock instead of water
  4. Add the mushroom mixture to the quinoa
  5. Add some chopped fresh green chilli
  6. Throw in a handful of baby spinach leaves to wilt
  7. Serve with grated Parmesan (or nutritional yeast for a vegan version)

Serves about 6

Click here for more clever health hacks.

Recipe: Salted Brownie “Cheesecake” Bites

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This is a recipe from Nutriholist, which I adapted according to the ingredients I had! These salted brownie “cheesecake” bites are so decadently creamy and sweet, you’d never guess that there is no cream or sugar involved!

Vegan Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients

For the crust:

  • 1 cup almonds
  • 5 dates, pitted
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt

For the filling:

  • 1 ½ cup cashews
  • ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 Tbsp. honey
  • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
  • ½ tsp. vanilla essence
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • Pinch of sea salt
  1. To make the crust: Combine all crust ingredients in a food processor and process until a sticky mixture forms.
  2. Grease a muffin tray however you see fit (not really necessary if it’s a non-stick tray). Transfer the crust mixture to the trays and press down into an even layer. Place in the freezer or fridge while you prepare the filling.
  3. To make the filling: Add all filling ingredients except for cocoa powder and salt to the food processor and process until smooth and creamy.
  4. Remove muffin tray from the fridge or freezer and pour half of the “cheesecake” filling on top of each base.
  5. Add cocoa powder to the food processor and process some more to combine. Dollop the chocolate mixture on top.
  6. Transfer the tray to the freezer and let it chill for 1-2 hours.

Recipe: Chia Breakfast Bowl

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I’m having a current obsession with chia seeds! Chia seeds are considered a superfood and fantastic for breakfast as they provide protein, fibre, antioxidants, Omega-3s without being high in carbs.

This is such an easy chia breakfast bowl and my own recipe. I’m obsessed with the texture of it and how filling it is while still feeling really light.

Chia Pudding Breakfast

Ingredients

1/4 cup chia seeds

1 cup almond milk

1 banana

2 tablespoons vanilla/plain yoghurt

Handful of sunflower and flax seeds (or any seeds you’d like)

Drizzle of honey 🌟

Method

Soak the chia seeds overnight in the almond milk

Give it a stir in the morning and pour into your breakfast bowl

Slice the banana on top, with a handful of seeds and a drizzle of honey 🌟

Variation: Add some frozen/fresh strawberries when in season!

Chia Breakfast Bowl with Strawberries

Hint: You can make any interesting breakfast combo with chia seeds. Just always make sure to soak them for at least a few hours in liquid of ratio 1:4.

Fit, not fat. My story of self-love, discipline, perseverance and health.

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Four months ago, I saw one of those “fitness progress shots” appear on my Instagram timeline of someone who recently had a baby and went on a “body transformation” journey. It appeared at a time when I was feeling big and lumpy and sick of not fitting into those pants… you know? I’ve always been quite active and healthy, but have never really been focused on it and never really followed a training programme or eating plan. What struck me about this particular post was that it was someone that I knew and I all of a sudden realised that I COULD actually regain control of my body, with a bit of dedication. If she could do it whilst being a new mom, I’m sure I could do it too!

My journey is a story of self-love, dedication and perseverance. I haven’t just changed my body, but shown myself that I am capable of so much more than I think I am and (thanks to my fiancĂŠ) that it’s okay to be kind to myself too.

Here’s what I did.

What was I putting in?

I looked into some eating options and decided to start by getting my eating right. I put a lot of effort into researching portion sizes and healthy recipes. I started with the 21 Day Fix concept because I liked how it very simply laid out portion control and proper meal planning for each day. I prepared a plan for each day where I allocated my daily portions to meals and snacks and came up with interesting ways to put together all the required starches, proteins, veg, oils and dairy. This was the most difficult thing for me as I was used to snacking on things (mainly cheese as it’s the easiest thing to grab and eat from the fridge) as I got peckish and not really taking note of it all. When I added it all up, I realised that I was eating generally healthy meals, but constantly snacking the throughout the day without realising how much crap I was consuming as a result! Having to measure and plan my food really helped me to gain control of what I was putting into my body and raised awareness for healthy portion sizes and healthy “clean-eating” foods. I also don’t eat meat or chicken and this makes it even more difficult to find healthy balanced fitness meals!

That being said, I also quickly realised that I wasn’t eating enough on the 21 Day Fix plan and ditched it (being hungry is not an option for me), but continued to plan my food in advance in the format of breakfast, lunch and dinner with two snacks in between – now portion controlled and clean-eating focused. Magic!

What was I doing with it?

I spent 2 weeks getting my eating right and then needed to move on to a proper exercise plan. I started following all the latest fitness and health nutters online and was quite taken by the results shown by the Bikini Body Guide programme. If you follow Kayla Itsines on Instagram, there’s basically no way you can just hang around being sulky with your own body without trying it out. If they can do it, then so can I!

I was completely shocked by the level of difficulty of the programme, thinking that I was generally quite active and fit (ish) and started with the 4 week pre-training guide first, then committed myself to the full 12 weeks of hard work ahead.

Not one single workout was easy. I did not feel on top of any one day that I trekked off to the gym to push myself, but I did it. Some days were more half-hearted than others, but I did it. In the freezing cold, dark and rainy mornings of Cape Town winter, I did it. With only myself as a motivator, ignoring the stares at the gym when I’m doing some weird burpees mixed with push-ups and jumps all over the place (a lot of the time nearly falling on my face), I did it.

I moaned, beat myself up about not getting my meal planning right all the time, drinking too much wine sometimes and gorging on cheese sometimes, but I kept at it. When I started to see the fat fall off and actual muscles start showing, I nearly DIED with excitement.

Discipline is the name of the game here and finding a way to fit exercise and food prep into your daily routine is key.

How did it turn out?

I toyed with the idea of posting my progress pictures for a few reasons:

  1. I was embarrassed about my ‘Before’ picture. When I took it, I was shocked at what I really looked like. The thing is that I really felt like I looked, but refused to believe it.
  2. I’m not one to parade my bikini-clad body all over the internet and it takes some serious guts to put it out there for all to see!
  3. I’m scared that you look at it and don’t see the massive difference that I actually feel. I’m no fitness model and have just stuck to my path as best I can, but am so incredibly proud of what I was able to achieve.

But you know what? My journey started with seeing someone else’s hesitant progress picture post and I was motivated to make a change for me, for the better. If my little story can motivate just one person to move towards a healthier lifestyle, then it’s worth it.

 

PopcornCandi BBG

There are so many paths in life that we can take and we all get to make our own choices. Choose a path and follow it!Â