diet and exercise while pregs

so how has pregnancy affected my diet and exercise? 

when you're pregnant, you are expected to eat healthy and be careful. don't eat anything under cooked. be aware of nitrates in food. you can't have soft/unpasteurized cheese. that fish has mercury in it! lox, meringue, hollandaise are a no! sprouts? no, you can't have those either. forget that runny egg that makes everything so luscious. don't bend over. no jumping, mmkay? hand me that ten pound bag of groceries, you shouldn't be lifting heavy things. like...forreal?

diet and exercise has always been at the forefront of my adult life. but really, literally and figuratively, diet takes the cake. i would say that approximately 50% of my day is consumed (punny, right?) with thoughts of what's for lunch and dinner, what new restaurants or bakeries have popped up recently, what's on today's foodgawker.com or SF Eater, etc. i'm so food obsessed that if i've left the house before work early enough and i have ten minutes to spare, i detour towards a bakery...not because i don't already have breakfast packed and ready to eat, but because a chocolate croissant always sounds like a good idea. this is where exercise comes in. while exercise obviously has it's heart health, stress release, strength maintaining, osteoporosis supressing and energy generating benefits, i mostly attribute exercise with counteracting all of the eating i do. 

diet

as i've stated in previous posts, i am not a crazy cautious mom. i don't think that eating salami is going to kill my unborn child or a meal of medium rare wagyu is something to panic over. if people are that concerned about the listed food items you "shouldn't" eat while pregnant, they should absolutely tack on all of the processed foods that have cancer causing treatments and ingredients in them as well. but because it's recommended and there's an ass ton of judgment out there, i've significantly cut down on eating things on the 'do not eat' list. have i had some soft cheeses, salami sandwiches and caesar salads? you bet your ass i have. but i'm not going out for sushi and i'm eating burgers sans fried egg with runny yolk, so there's my sacrifice.

i have a real love/hate relationship with food. for me, it's hard finding a solid 'everything in moderation' healthy type standing with food. i've always been an all or nothing type person with it. either i'm eating anything i want for months at a time or i'm on a regimented low carb, calorie counting diet. it's not the best way to go about it but real talk...that's just how it's been. that being said, people always speculated that the moment i got pregnant i'd completely let go of any healthy eating sensibilities and turn into Jabba the Hutt overnight. to be honest, i've definitely been eating mostly whatever i want whenever i want but i haven't been crazy overeating. a friend of mine called dibs on taking me to a buffet to watch me devour inconceivable amounts of food but really, i've been eating quantities as a normal person would. i try not to overdo eating muffins and bagels for breakfast but i've also consistently eaten more carbs over the last few months than i have in years. so far i'm not a gigantic blob, so i think i'm doing okay. and i still enjoy eating fruits and veggies so this kid is getting some kind of nutrients.

exercise

when i got pregnant i wanted to ensure that i was able to stay active and live a fairly healthy lifestyle. i've been working out all of my adult life and wanted to maintain strength, flexibility and capability through my pregnancy. they say that staying fit throughout your pregnancy makes the birthing process and recovery easier so why wouldn't i want to contribute to that? my OB told me that as far as exercise goes, i should be doing a lot of walking and isolated strength training moves while avoiding ab exercises. buuuuut even isolated strength training moves involve tightening your abs and core soooo...?? not to sound like a broken record, but i just naturally can't be an overly cautious mom. only i know my body and what i can handle. i've always been very aware of my myself and can tell when a maneuver doesn't feel right or i've even slightly tweaked a muscle. i know when i'm straining or whether or not i'm pushing myself too hard. i've read that if your body is used to a certain way of training, it's okay to continue to do so in pregnancy. i mean, Selena Williams won the Australia Open while pregnant and i think she's doing just fine. so in my pregnancy, i've decided to go about my normal workout routines, only modifying when i feel i need to. 

i've been working out at The Fitness Tech with Gary and Eric for the past year and a half now doing circuit training type workouts. before starting at TFT i did a similar type workout with a different company for three years, so my body is pretty used to working out this way. lately TFT has focused on a MWF strength training and TTh cardio and soft tissue training circuit. i average four days of working out with them and fit in some cardio once or twice a week. typically i do TFT on monday, tuesday, wednesday and friday. on mondays i jog or walk three miles or so and when the weather is decent, i walk during my lunch breaks at work. Gary and Eric have been great about asking me if i need any modifications or checking in to make sure i'm doing okay but so far i haven't done that much modifying. i've decreased my weights some and as of a couple weeks ago i've stopped doing anything that folds me in half like v-ups or ball crunches but i still do ab exercises as far as core stuff or planks go. as for running, i've gone from a 9:30-10:30 minute mile to an 11-11:30 minute mile. with the added 14 lbs i've packed on, i definitely avoid pull ups, but let's be real...i was never doing a real pull up anyway. 

below is an example of what i do on a weekly basis. this is last week's workout:

no modifications except for  lowered weights

goblet squats at 44 lbs (used to do 60 lbs)

hip hinges at 60 lbs (used to do 80 lbs)

floor press at 20 lbs (used to do 25 lbs)

dumbell curls at 20 lbs

dumbell lateral raise at 8lbs

+ jog 3 miles at Crystal Springs Reservoir

no modifications

deadlifts at 100 lbs (used to do 145 lbs)

instead of pull ups i do pull downs with a band

1 arm press at 17.5 lbs

hammer curls at 17.5 lbs

instead of ball crunches i do core presses with a band

sled drag at 200 lbs (not sure what i could pull before but it was definitely more than 200 lbs)

kettle bell curls at 30 lbs

kettle bell upright rows at 35 lbs (used to do 44 lbs)

bent over rows at 17.5 lbs

instead of 90/45 crunches i do chops with a band

with pregnancy your ligaments begin to loosen and stretch and your center of gravity shifts. i'm sure at some point my exercise will end up being just a whole lot of walking but for now i'll just keep doing what i'm doing. i'm hoping this prepares me for an easier birth and post birth bounce back.