I’m PREGNANT.

We are so happy to be expecting our second baby July 13, 2016.

Over the last 2 months I have struggled to keep this secret 1. because I wanted to tell you so bad and  I felt the need to wait until our 12 week ultrasound and 2. I’ve felt so sick that I thought maybe if I vented all my miserable symptoms they might just go away.

But I held off on telling you because I wanted to wait to make sure everything was okay first. I may have given away some hints to you in my WIAW posts on some random foods I have been loving these past few weeks like chicken cutlets, meatballs, actually all the protein, eggs, cheese, chocolate chip cookies, potatoes, cereal. Maybe if I said those were daily staples it would’ve given it away or you would just think I was weird.

The day I found out I was pregnant I was beyond THRILLED, I was super excited and I was feeling good. Fast forward 5 days and my days were filled with nausea, fatigue and pure laziness! I went through this before with Ava but I prayed it wouldn’t happen again.

I had big ideas of posting something a little more creative then this, but it ended up being just what I wanted. A genuine picture of Ava being excited to be a big sister by touching the baby in my belly and her giving me a hug because she’s so lovable! She’s going to be an amazing big sister.

To answer some questions you may be having I did a little question and answer session for you

Pregnancy Q & A:

How did you find out you were pregnant?

I found out I was pregnant on a Thursday morning. I had taken a pregnancy test 2 days before and it was negative but I had a very good feeling so I decided to try again. To my surprise it was POSITIVE. I ran to tell Marc and we couldn’t believe it

What were your first symptoms?

My first symptom was nausea then came fatigue and the nausea hasn’t stopped.

How did your family react?

I told my mom and dad separately because my dad was still at work and I couldn’t wait any longer to tell someone. I wrote down on a piece of paper saying “I’m going to be a big sister!” I had Ava hand it to my mom and she immediately got excited and said yes!! A couple hours later I drove to my parents house with Ava, and she handed the paper to my dad. It took him a second to process it, he looked at me and said you’re pregnant??!?!! I said yes and he was excitedddddd. So were my two brothers

Friends?

I told my friends about 9 weeks into my pregnancy. I figured they would start being skeptical when I went MIA or if they hung out with me and I didn’t have a glass of wine. I told them while we were walking on the Avenue around the holidays. They were super excited for us.

Due Date?

JULY 13, 2016

Will you find out the gender?

YES I can’t wait. We found out with Ava and I am counting down the days to find out this one

How many ultrasounds have you had? 

We have been fortunate to have 3 ultrasounds so far. The first one was super early and the Doctor couldn’t see much so we had to come back a few weeks later. Our most recent ultrasound was great we got to see the heartbeat and see our little baby moving around.

What are your symptoms?

Nausea, migraines, headaches, fatigue, I’ve had occasional mood swings and I blame it on feeling so yucky. If I were feeling good I would not complain!!! The nausea has taken the cake. I feel better when I eat and drink something every 2 hours. If I miss that window the day seems to fall apart and I find myself on the couch and unable to function.

What week are you?

I’m 12 1/2 weeks so I’m praying that this first trimester sickness ends soon!

I will be posting some pregnancy updates for you so that you can see how I’m doing with everything!

Have you ever been pregnant before? if so have you experienced morning sickness?

How was your holiday weekend?

Sometimes I pop in a 21 day fix or Insanity DVD and other times I just create myself a challenging workout!

I decided to share with you a workout that I plan to put myself through today. I chose a 20 minute workout because I assume with both Marc & Ava around my time will be limited and plus 20 minute workouts are over in a jiffy!! What’s not to love?

Before completing the below bodyweight circuit make sure to warm up. I chose a 5 minute bodyweight warm-up of jumping jacks, jogging in place, skaters, butt kicks, and light stretching.

If you are looking to get in a quick workout try this QUICK N’ SWEATY NEW YEARS EVE WORKOUT:

Complete each exercise for 1 minute. Repeat circuit 2x for a 20 minute workout. If you have more time complete another round

**Please consult your doctor or physician before beginning a new workout program**

When I tell myself I am going to do something I usually stick to it… so I quickly wrote down my workout plan. I find if I put it on paper I HAVE TO DO IT!

Sunday was the perfect day to workout at home because the weather was horrible, freezing rain and black ice!! From start to finish the workout took me 30 minutes and I was dripping sweat.

I started the workout with a 6 minute Warm-up alternating between Jogging, Jumping jacks, Butt Kicks, & Jump Rope (1 min 30 seconds each)

CARDIO MAX BODYWEIGHT CIRCUIT

AGILITY LADDER- HEISMAN DRILL

BURPEES

PUSHUPS

X-JUMPS

AGILITY LADDER HOPSCOTCH

SQUAT HOPS (AGILITY LADDER)

Each exercise is 1 minute, try to complete as many repetitions in 1 minute as possible. Rest 30-45 seconds in between each exercise.

Complete circuit 2x

Here are a few videos of the some of the exercises: 

Burpees (This is a video of me doing the Burpee minus the pushup) IMG_2285

X-Jumps (During this exercise you perform a full squat with your feet close together and then Jump out into an X) IMG_2290

Pushups (Ava jumped on Marc’s back so I had to snap some pictures)

Agility Ladder Heisman

This workout took me about 20 minutes to complete. I took a little more rest after some of the more intense exercises like X-JUMPS. I was completely winded at one point so my rest was 45 seconds. At the end of the workout I did some light stretching to cool-down, I felt great!

***Consult your Doctor before beginning a new workout program***

Ava’s naps are pretty consistent except if her teeth are bothering her or she’s sick. Then I never know how long she will sleep! Tuesday at around 4:15pm Ava fell asleep. I wrote up a QUICK workout that I knew I could squeeze in even if she didn’t sleep long. This workout is definitely great for busy moms or people looking to fit in some exercise with a tight schedule.

I first performed a 5 minute warm up, alternating between jogging in place, jumping jacks, and butt kicks.

I then set a timer for 10 minutes and completed this workout:

I was working hard and fast during this workout, my heart rate was high and I was dripping sweat…. I completed 7 rounds which put me at 70 PUSHUPS, 105 SQUATS, 140 SIT-UPS, and 175 JUMPING JACKS! Not bad for a quick bodyweight workout. Plus Ava was still asleep when I completed it, WIN!!

I was feeling ambitious after and completed 25 minutes of a Kickbox Cardio Burn workout on TV. I’m slightly obsessed with it. If you have Verizon Fios check it out, Sensei Guillermo is pretty intense.

I was fortunate that Ava woke up JUST AS I FINISHED:)

Have you ever had to end a workout because you were interrupted by a baby, an important phone call, etc? 

Do you like working out at home?

The weather sure felt like fall and I was so happy to teach an outdoor Boot Camp class on Saturday morning. When we first arrived it was SO COLD and we couldn’t wait to warm-up but by the end we had stripped off some of our layers because we were sweating so much! It was such a fun class and a great workout.

I was FULL of energy after class and ready to tackle the day, I swear fresh air does wonders for you!

Here is a quick picture recap of parts of my weekend:

We went to a shoe sample sale in Greenwich. I bought 2 pairs of shoes that would normally be $200 and I got them both for $35…. amazing!

Marc and I got some to-go lunch from Garelick & Herbs. I love this place and we got some delicious healthy eats.

Speaking of food, the weekend literally revolved around eating apparently. I got Chicken in a brown sauce from Thai Basil for dinner. It was so simple but so tasty. We hung out at home and my family stopped over.

Sunday Marc played Golf in the morning. While he was golfing I ran some errands, and took Ava to the park.

We played on the playground & she loved it.

She didn’t like the boots she was wearing and ended up kicking them off.

Our Sunday afternoon was pretty relaxing. I walked Cooper and then Marc and I did some food prep in the kitchen.

We made a Roasted Chicken with Herbs & Olive Oil

Roasted Veggies

And Turkey & Spinach Meatballs for Ava.

These were all so simple to whip up and now we have a stocked fridge for lunches this week!!

HOW WAS YOUR WEEKEND, DID YOU DO ANYTHING SPECIAL?

DO YOU FOOD PREP ON SUNDAY?

I did an elliptical interval and the whole time I was thinking about jumping rope and other ways I should’ve been doing my cardio. I rarely ever hop on a machine so I stuck with it, but now I realize why I usually choose other forms of cardiovascular exercise!

Trainer Tip Tuesday #5: Chose workouts that you enjoy doing!!

If you aren’t enjoying your workouts you most likely won’t stick with them. When I am not teaching classes, I enjoy doing bodyweight circuits, kettlebell circuits, agility ladder work, Insanity or T-25 workouts.

I also love practicing Push-ups.

My Tricep Pushup is finally bacK!

It took me a long time to build up my Tricep Pushup strength since my shoulder injury, but now I can complete multiple sets!

Here are 5 tips for finding an exercise you enjoy:

1. Choose an exercise activity that works for your health. Make sure you are cleared for exercise by your doctor and they approve of the activities you want to participate in.
2. Join a class. Classes keep you motivated and they usually have the same class times each week which makes it easier to have it set in your schedule. Classes also have great music and a set workout plan.
3. Choose exercise that works with your schedule. Does your class fit in with your work schedule? If you don’t have time to get to the gym, find a workout that you can do at home with minimal equipment, or get outside and go for a run before work if you like being outside.
4. Choose exercise that trains all aspects of physical fitness. I am a huge fan of boot camp class because we work on balance, cardio, & strength. Some classes only focus on strength training or only cardio so you will need to find other days to fit in the exercises you aren’t training.
5. Workout with a friend. Having a friend or family member to work out with holds you accountable and will help to keep you motivated to stay on track!

Do you have any tips for finding exercise that you enjoy? 

What is your favorite type of exercise? How about your least favorite!?

Today is a rest day for me. I got in some fabulous workouts this week, but my body is telling me to lay off the squats, pushups, and anything involving weights!

I wanted to share with you my favorite new exercise of the week!! We practiced Plank Punches this week in Boot Camp and I loved it. I am a huge fan of planks because they help to build a strong core. Having a strong core is the foundation for everything you do with fitness!

PLANK PUNCHES!

For this variation of the Plank you start in a Pushup Position on your hands and toes.

(Little miss Ava snuck in this picture! She can’t sit still)

Keep your body straight as a board. Lift up one arm and punch directly in front of you.

Return to your plank position and switch sides.

You can add this exercise into any workout! Try starting with 3 sets of 30 seconds! Remember to keep your core tight and your hips pointing towards the floor, so we get the most out of this exercise!

I am super happy to have no plans on my schedule this weekend. We are going with the “go with the flow” attitude and see what the weekend brings!!

Have you learned any new exercises? If so, please share! 

Are you a Planker?

Do you have any fun plans this weekend?

We had a small area to work with from all the rain the night before but it worked out perfect.

Here is a sample from our workout:

TABATA 20 seconds on & 10 seconds rest (3 rounds of each exercise)

BURPEE

TOE TOUCH CRUNCH

PUSH UP

QUICK FEET (using the stairs)

I love Tabata’s and there are so many different variations that you can create! They get your heart pumping in a short amount of time. So we were definitely huffing and puffing at the end of them.

Ava had her own fun on the swing with Grandpa while we worked out.

Saturday afternoon flew by as we got ready for the wedding we had Saturday night at the beautiful Black Rock Yacht Club. It was such a perfect day for a wedding on the water, it was beautiful!

We had a lovely time catching up with friends and enjoying the weather outside during cocktail hour.

After getting to bed around 12:30 it was so hard to get going when Miss Ava decided to wake up at 5am.. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t happy! When I finally woke up I was okay… but I was dragging at some points during the day. After breakfast we took a nice long walk with Cooper and I attended another Barre class at Pure Barre in the afternoon. Man my butt was on fire, and when I left the class my legs were yelling at me as I slowly stepped down each of the stairs in my house haha.

Well now it is Monday and we are back to work, I’m sure it will be an early night for me especially having taught 2 classes already this morning! I hope you all had a great weekend.

On Sunday I did the first disc of the T-25 workout. Shaun T really knows how to kick butt… but he also has an easier version of the workout and one of his instructors demonstrates the modified exercises so I followed her. It still had my heart rate up and 25 minutes was plenty for a first full body workout!! I have done most of the exercises before and it’s similar to my style of boot camp training so I was all for it.. I can’t wait to try his next workout!

Last night at boot camp, I was much more involved in the exercises and was able to do more. I still have to ease back into the jumping exercises and core work but I already feel like I made progress by participating in more of the boot camp workout. The workout was based on cardio & strength using body weight and man did it feel great to sweat! I know it’s gross but wiping sweat off my face felt nice.. I haven’t done that in a couple months!

When I got home my inner thighs and glutes were FIRED up! A mini-stretch session is a must today! I can feel how tight my quads are today and I know they will thank me if I get them warmed up and give them a good stretch.

I prefer to do a light warm-up before stretching, that way I get some blood flow to my muscles!

My to do list for stretching today: Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, IT Band, & Calves

I will take some pictures of the stretches I do so you can try them yourself at home.

Do you stretch? Do yoga? How do you keep your muscles loose?