Monday, September 14, 2015

Pregnancy, Fitness, and Some Surprises

I promised that I wouldn't turn this into a pregnancy blog, which is why I've barely mentioned this pretty major thing in my life since I announced it mid-July. I'm around 5 1/2 months now, and there are a few surprising things on my mind that I figured it was time to share.

1. I miss things I NEVER thought I would miss. No, I'm not talking about Guinness and feta cheese (I knew I would miss those things - no surprise there). I actually miss counting calories. Weird, right? I also miss taking on fitness challenges, like running longer distances or trying new group ex formats. There's something about the challenge of trying to eat your best, increase your capacity for exercise and maintain your health (weight, cardio ability, muscle tone, etc.) that I had really gotten into over the last few years. I'm definitely still trying to eat healthy and I'm working out, too, but it's not the same.. especially as you watch the number on the scale go up! All worth it, of course.

My sweaty bump after class one day!
2. Speaking of working out, my idea of a milestone has really changed. I know many women continue distance running while pregnant, and I have nothing against the idea. It just wasn't for me. So the other day when I ran 1 1/2 miles on a humid August morning, I celebrated like I had just crossed the finish line at the Boston marathon. When I recently  choreographed a new song for my Zumba class, I was so proud of myself - taking time to dedicate to creating, remembering and practicing the song felt like an accomplishment. The achievement bar has been lowered for my pregnancy self, and that's ok!

3. I struggled through my decision about when to stop teaching classes. At first, I thought I would be one of those people who would teach until the very end, going into labor only after leading my last cooldown at the end of a sweaty class at 40 weeks pregnant. Um, no.

While I love teaching and I think I'm still doing pretty well when I teach, there are just some practical reasons to call it quits earlier. My biggest reasons aren't really about me or my physical state, either. First, I have modified a few moves for myself and even though I both demonstrate the full move AND tell my class that I'll be modifying the move after I show it to them, I still feel like some of them do exactly what I do.... which means they're not getting as good of a workout as they otherwise would. Drives me nuts. Secondly, I don't have the energy to choreograph as many new songs as I should, and I worry about the class getting stale.

So, I've decided to turn things over to subs a little earlier in my pregnancy than I would have thought 6 months ago - probably somewhere around 28-30 weeks along. I may not earn the bad*ss instructor badge of pregnancy honor, but my class will be well taken care of and I will be able to relax a bit more (and workout on my own terms!).

What fitness surprises did you find when pregnant or going through another life change?

6 comments:

  1. I understand the cutting back while pregnant, it's hard to sit back and watch though! I wasn't a runner when I was pregnant with my little man but I couldn't imagine sitting on the sidelines now. Great job on the 1.5 miles!

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    1. It's really strange to lower your standards for yourself, but I don't want to overextend and then have regrets. Thanks for the support!

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  2. I've not had a child yet, but I see the things some women do while pregnant (like one of my yoga teachers going up into handstand at 6 months) and I think, "how?!?!" I've seen a wide range of capabilities and decisions that vary between women and between pregnancies. Way to be in touch with what YOU need!

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    1. Wow, that's pretty crazy! It's a fine line between pushing yourself (the way anybody does when they want to be fit) and not over-testing your boundaries. Thanks for your comment!!

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  3. I taught up to two weeks before my baby was born. Like you I modified and felt bad that some would do what I did. What helped me was identifying the front row people who really knew the routine and would have them join me and tell the class to follow that person for higher intensity and me for lower. It worked pretty well.

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