November Pregnancy/TTC Check-in

Hi Roz!

Happy Monday. Enjoying a play day over here with all my extra time due to recovery week. Made some holiday goodies for neighbors and then I have a routine OB appointment later this morning. Thankfully the sun is shining and the snow melted almost entirely over the weekend. Hooray!

I also feel like AB is one of Cathe's hardest. Interesting how the lower impact stuff can aggravate your back. I seem to recall reading a thread in Open Discussion where someone commented that low impact workouts bothers her knees MORE than high impact workouts, that things like forward lunges and whatnot caused more pain than plyo jacks. Go figure. But, as usual, you are listening to your body and that's what matters most.

Oh, so you are a yoga expert! I bow down to you. :) I can't imagine being that good at it. Ever. Where did you gain your skills, if I may ask?

Michelle Dozois totally roped me into pre-ordering her newest DVDs as well. Not sure when I will get to do them, but she practically forced me to order them by putting such appealing video clips on her website. ;)

My non-pregnant self uses protein powder. My favorite is Plant Fusion Vanilla Bean. I use it 4 or 5 times a week. Not been craving it during pregnancy, though, so it's been sitting on my shelf feeling sad. :)

Getting started on your Thanksgiving prep? I did most of my food shopping and probably will start prep work tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Lisa
 
Hi Lisa,

Holiday-goodies-making sounds like a great active recovery activity! I’ve actually been plotting to do some baking for neighbors, and may get a start on that today, DD permitting. (She’s getting over a cold, so is still very clingy.) I’ll likely wait to begin my Thanksgiving meal prep until guests arrive (tomorrow morning), since everything takes 12 times longer with a little one tugging at my pant leg, wanting to be picked up.

Holy moly, I still have DOMs in my glutes from Afterburn. And this after a month of wailing on my lower body twice weekly with a zillion heavy BB squats/plies/various tortures! I will have to revisit that one soon!

Today I did Cathe Live Strong Upper Body + Core. Wow – this is an outstanding workout. And it has a similar appeal to PUB. So if I were a betting gal, I’d wager you’ll love it. For each body part, she does three rounds of supersets with 2-4 exercises per superset. She only uses 5s, 8s, 10s, 12s, and 15s, but doubles up on some exercises (e.g., I think she has a 12 and a 15 in one hand for one-arm rows). I did notice that she doesn’t always say what weight she’s using (though she usually does), but her dumbbells are colored so you can figure it out visually for the most part. And there’s some really nice non-traditional core work at the end.

Oh, I have been eyeing that Plant Protein in Vanilla Bean for a while at Whole Foods – now I’ll have to try it! Not sure why I haven’t yet… Oh yeah, I think because I wasn’t sure all the enzymes and add-ins were safe for breastfeeding. I imagine they’re fine, but maybe I’ll wait to be safe…

I’ve practiced yoga at many studios, and also just at home. Funny, I used to have to practice every day to feel like I got the ‘crunchiness’ out of my body, but now I hardly practice anymore. Maybe I’ll do some more this week.

OK, off to face the day! Not sure when I’ll have time to check in this week (or time to workout!), but I’ll definitely be popping in…

Happy Early Thanksgiving!
Roz
 
Roz,

Busy busy busy today with playtime and Thanksgiving prep. Got some extra sleep last night. Hooray!

Isn't it amazing how you can feel like you've really developed strength in a certain body part, but then feel extremely sore in that same body part simply by switching up the workout? I think that's why GG gets me every time. I don't do it that often, maybe once a month or so, but oh many does it give me butt DOMS like nothing else! :)

I've never seen the Plant Fusion brand protein powder at Whole Foods. I buy it off of Amazon. I've had other nasty plant proteins from Whole Foods, so just make sure it's the correct brand! Of course you are free to buy whatever you like but don't blame me if you don't like it, ha! And as a sidenote it is definitely a decision between you and your doc, but mine was fine with me consuming the protein powder while nursing.

You're really making me itch for Christmas to come so I can start up with Cathe Live. I guess I don't really know why we're waiting until Christmas since it's not a surprise. We should just throw that formality out the window!

Hope your DD gets over that cold! How is your back?

I'll see ya when I see ya this week. Enjoy and cheers!

Lisa
 
Checking in to say I actually did something today... segment one from Stretch Max! Still having fun over here and hope you are too!

Have a great day.

Lisa
 
Awesome!
I did Butts & Guts this morning. I guess I was inspired by 'Afterbun'. Ouch!
I love holidays but they do stress me out... felt like I needed a good long workout this morning to blow off some steam.
OK, back to it...
Keep having fun!
Roz
 
Hi Lisa,
Happy Thanksgiving!
I did Cathe Live Hard Strikes Low-Impact Boxing this morning. Another winner (esp for pregnancy)!
Yes, it's SO early to be done already, but I get stressed at the holidays, especially while hosting visitors, so I often can't sleep well.
I thought some fist-pumping boxing might be cathartic (Cathe-artic?). It was!
But now to face the stresses (and the joys)...
Have a great one,
Roz
 
Hey Roz,

Way to go on B&G yesterday and then Cathe Live Boxing today! Do you feel sore after B&G? I'm so excited to start exploring the Cathe Live library!

Sorry you had a hard time sleeping. I hope you get in a nap later today. Will you be doing any Black Friday (or even Black Thursday, sheesh) shopping? I'm all about online shopping. I just don't like battling the crowds and there's nothing I want THAT much. :)

Hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones today, that your meal lives up to your expectations, and that you find time to relax as well. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Lisa
 
Hi Lisa,

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!
We really had a great time here. I was very happy with how the meal turned out, and the whole event ended up being more joyful and less stressful than I’d anticipated. (And I got a nap in, too!)

How’s your active recovery week going? Smart to time it with the Thanksgiving holiday – I imagine you’re so busy, you don’t miss the workouts much! I’m excited for your to try the Live workouts, too. At first I sort of pooh-poohed them (they come with the On Demand subscription), thinking, why would I do a Live workout when I have access to Cathe’s whole DVD library? Now I’m fully addicted to the Live workouts! They’re so fun.
I did another Live today: Step HiiT. It’s a bit of a misnomer… it’s actually a half hour of HiiT, about 25 mins total upper body (mostly endurance, with a lot of pulses, low ends, eccentrics, work with tubing, etc.) plus a brief but intense core segment. I was pleasantly surprised by the sort of one-stop-shopping workout. It’s one of her first, and she’s clearly flying by the seat of her capris (more than she does now in the Live workouts), but it’s a fun and solid workout.

Actually, I was surprised to find I wasn’t too sore from B&G. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly felt it, but no crazy DOMS. I actually felt it most in my quads, believe it or not. I did it because I’ve been wanting to try B&G Live, but I hadn’t done the original B&G for a while so… woman of principle that I am – always reading the book before seeing the movie – I needed a refresher session on B&G. ;) Maybe I’ll try B&G Live tomorrow.

I'm not a big shopper -- and like you, there's NOTHING I want enough to make me brave those awful crowds. Must say I'm tempted by the Collage Video Black Friday sales. Those Amy Bento Ross Advanced Step Challenges are calling me. Any faves from her or KCM that are really different from anything Cathe has? I just feel like I have so much to work through with On Demand, Live, and RWH coming -- next week?! :eek:

OK, back to damage control from guests’ visit. We got the house in pretty good shape for the guests, so hopefully it will end up cleaner than before they arrived…

Happy holiday weekend to you and your family! Hope you’re enjoying your rest and recovery.
Roz
 
Hi Lisa,

Quick check-in for me. This morning I did B&G Live. I enjoyed it, though it’s definitely less intense (and shorter) than B&G. It’s about 40 mins of warm-up + standing legs w/ 10s and 15s followed by a great 10 min functional/non-traditional/weighted core segment and a stretch. (No floorwork. She uses firewalkers for ~2 standing exercises, I think.) Definitely a goodie for when you want to work your legs and be able to walk the next day. No outright cardio but my heart rate got a nice boost.

Hope your continued Thanksgiving celebration and recovery week are great!

Happy weekend,
Roz
 
Hi Lisa,
Hope you're enjoying your rest!
Yesterday afternoon I doubled up and did Kickbox/Barre Live after morning B&G. Which means today has become my rest day. (Though my new BodyFit 360 DVDs arrived yesterday afternoon so I had to try the athletic stretch from Athletic Conditioning this morning. It's everything I want in a 20-minute stretch segment, like Michelle read my mind. Sorry, STS Extended Stretch, but I never loved you...)
Stoked to the two new BodyFit workouts! Not sure when -- this is a busy week so I may have a couple extra rest days in there. I also may try doing evening workouts to see if they get me a bit more sleep.
Best wishes to you and your family,
Roz
 
Hi Roz,

Sorry I've been MIA the past couple days. My DH totally rehauled our computer so I could not access the Internet until today.

I'm not surprised that B&G DVD is tougher than B&G Live. Seems like, as you noted, the Live classes are gentler than the videos as a general rule of thumb. Not that they are easy, just that there are limitations due to the nature of having to provide equipment to an aerobics studio full of people and being limited to 60 mins. I've been coveting Cathe Live since she announced it because, having been to a couple of Road Trips, I just think the fun factor of Cathe in a live group exercise environment...which really seems to be her element...is unbeatable. Oh why can't Christmas come sooner? :)

I'm so glad to hear your Thanksgiving was memorable and calm. Any holiday where you are acting as hostess AND actually get to nap is definitely a winning day. Ours was nice as well, and DDs 3rd bday was yesterday. So fun! Presents, playtime with cousins, a little time on the town, some homemade strawberry cake. A day to remember.

My Michelle Dozois workouts also came! I previewed them and it confirmed that I won't be doing them until postpartum, but they do look wonderful. I'm glad to have them as part of my collection. I'm also wanting to pick up some DVDs from totalfitness, likely a few Tracie Long workouts (perhaps the Reboot series?). If you opt for Amy Bento, may I suggest Advanced Step Challenge 2 or 3? Those are my favorites. And in terms of KCM, my recommendations would depend on what you are looking for. Most of her weight workouts are endurance, with the exception being a more recent workout Lift 2 Be Fit / Muscle Up. That DVD is a favorite, and you would LOVE the core workout. It is tabata style and quite creative, if you ask me. Kelly's cardio is typically "lighter" than Cathe's, but I still find it enjoying, challenging, and it doesn't leave me feeling beat up. TLC (Train Like a Contender) is a particular favorite. If I were you I'd probably start with a weight workout, but I'm biased because that's how I started. Just don't get Home Gym Intervals. She mixes weight work with cardio bursts on whatever random home gym equipment you have (treadmill, elliptical, bike). I just never found that one appealing, but that is the exception to my "I adore KCM" rule.

The recovery week has been great! I feel recharged, but simultaneously more pregnant. I just need this nausea to go away! I will resume my workouts this week. No particular plan yet but I will keep you posted!

Happy Sunday and enjoy your rest today. Talk soon.

Lisa
 
Hi Lisa,
Happy 3rd to your daughter (and congrats on 3 years of motherhood to you)! That's amazing -- sounds like you had a wonderful celebration.
I'm so sorry to hear your nausea is sticking around -- fingers crossed it gets the memo and takes a hike soon!

Oh how fun that you've been on a couple road trips! Where were they?

Thanks for your input on the KCM and Amy Bento DVDs! I will definitely note it for the future. For the moment, I think I'm going to exercise a little restraint (no pun intended), as I'm sort of in 'declutter-and-don't-buy-unnecessary-stuff' mode. From putting DD's too-small clothes in boxes in the basement to eating up the homemade frozen soups that have taken over my freezer! With RWH coming and these new BodyFit DVDs, plus Live and SO many Cathe On Demand stuff I've never tried, I'm not hurting for new workouts. I will at some point definitely get Advanced Step Challenge 2 or 3 -- and TLC looks great, too!

Still did a morning workout today. Started with the first half of the BodyFit Dance Conditioning (cardio portion), then Cathe Live Upper Body Sculpting minus the core segment and stretch (she said it would be lower-back intensive, and my low back has been bugging me again so I skipped that), then back to the rest of BF Dance Conditioning (strength/core/stretch). Let me just say that I LOVE the BodyFit workouts so far. I feel like I've been looking for these workouts for so long... they are really up my alley. Not instead of weights/Cathe cardio, but as a much-needed addition. You're right, though, they're not pregnancy workouts!
Upper Body Sculpting is a great UB endurance workout. Lots of partials and pulses. Another winner!

Hope your increasingly-pregnant self enjoys/enjoyed the rest of your rest!
Roz
 
Hey there, Roz.

Nice combo of workouts today. It's always kinda fun to combine "a little bit of this DVD" and "a little bit of that DVD" to make your own unique workout (even easier to do with On Demand, I'm sure). Sorry to hear your low back is bugging you again. Nagging aches/pains/injuries are the worst.

I hear ya on the workout DVD self-restraint. I still think I'm going to get a couple Tracie Long DVDs...I'm weak, what can I say?...but only 2 at most. And that's assuming I remember to actually buy them before the sale ends today! ;) I am also in decluttering mode, trying to get ready for a new baby and all the baby stuff that goes along with it (fortunately with child #2 that means getting stuff out of storage for the most part, with the exception of clothes...not sure if baby is boy or girl yet!). Trying to clear out my freezer as well. The amount of leftovers and frozen veggies and frozen meats that stockpile in the freezer are amazing. How and when did I buy all this stuff? LOL! At least eating homemade soup sounds yummy, especially this time of year. In fact, we should have soup for dinner since it snowed today.

Rest week was awesome. Came back refreshed and ready to go. I was itching for a leg workout so I chose Meso 1 Disc 9 legs, for no particular reason other than that one has a lot of exercises that I enjoy. Playing it safe with the weight loads but still felt awesome and a good burn. I ended with your "favorite" STS Extended Stretch. :p And I realized why I actually like that stretch...it's because when I do it, I have (typically) just completed an STS workout and so I associate it with that wonderful "I did it!" feeling.

Have a fantastic Monday with your sweet girl!

Lisa
 
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