---

Struggle of a Fit Mom tip of the week: JUST MOVE!! It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you are moving. Staying active not only helps keep mama strong but it also helps to alleviate aches and pains that come with pregnancy. From my experience, the more sedentary I am, the more aches and pains my body feels.

Need another reason to move? How about improving your mood. Even just 10 minutes of movement a day can help release those feel good endorphins and this pregnancy has me needing all the feel good endorphins I can get!

---

Week 26

Todays Date: 02/08/2017
How many weeks are you: 26
What trimester are you in: Second
How big is the baby: Size of Butternut Squash
Weight Gain: 11-12 pounds
Food Cravings: Cereal, Rice Krispies and Honey Nut Chex
Food Aversions: None
Gender: GIRL!!!
Diet: Eating has definitely been a lot more laid back these last couple weeks. Im HUNGRY! I cannot stay away from the Rice Krispies and Honey Nut Chex.
Breakfast: Small piece of toast with peanut butter right when I wake up.
A few hours later is usually:
Egg whites
Avocado
Rice Krisipes with a little Trivia
1/2 Banana

Lunch:
Chicken breast
Vegetable like spaghetti squash

Dinner:
A protein and a huge salad or other vegetable.
My go to has been butternut squash with coconut oil and salt.

Snacks:
Carrots or Pop Chips and Hummus
Pistachios or almonds
Popcorn (I love the black pepper Skinny Pop popcorn)
Suja Juice
Rice Krispies

Click here to check out the meal prep I did for my husband this week

Weekly splurge: This weekend was a big splurge. Tons of desserts at a birthday party and Super Bowl Snacks for the big game.
On Sunday my husband wanted Donuts and I was craving Starbucks. After my workout, we grabbed some donuts at our favorite donut shop and snuck a few into Starbucks to enjoy with our coffee. Piper and I had a few bites and my husband ate the rest. Piper LOVES donuts just like her daddy.
Exercise: Four days this week. I did my typical upper body, lower body, cardio split.
Cardio is not my favorite but I do like interval training because breaking up the monotony of the session helps it go by faster.

Stair Climber Leg Workout

 

***If you don’t have access to a stair climber, try substituting running or burpees for the sprints!***

Aches and Pains: Experiencing a lot of pain in my pelvis. I have been using Rock Tape to help alleviate some of the pressure in my lower abdomen and pelvis. Adding a belly support band over the Rock Tape helps add even more support during my workouts. I haven’t noticed as much pressure and pain in my lower abdomen and pelvis with doing these two things. 
Have you felt the baby move: Yes!! She was very active after eating all the sweets over the weekend.
Labor signs: None
Maternity clothes: I have worn a pair of maternity jeans a couple times however my gym clothes and yoga pants have been the most comfortable.
Sleep/Dreams: Sleep has been rough lately. I go to bed very tired but cannot seem to stay asleep. So I have resorted to Benadryl a couple times.
Favorite moment of the week: Celebrating birthdays and spending time with good friends on both Saturday and Sunday.
Looking forward to: Valentines day and going to the beach with our family in a couple weeks.

Some hurdles this week

Working out on the weekends always feels like a struggle. I battle feelings of guilt for leaving my family to workout but know that getting some exercise in will make me feel better. I came home from the gym to a grumpy and hungry household and the mom guilt struck HARD. Why do we feel guilty for taking a little time for ourselves as moms? I felt frustrated for feeling as if I couldn’t leave for 45 minutes without everyone being miserable when I got back. (In all fairness, my husband did say that they were trying to wait for me to eat. This was very thoughtful however its not worth everyone being grumpy and hungry!)

In that moment, I had to take a step back and remind myself that its perfectly fine (and healthy) to have a little time to myself. Us moms do not get that often! Happy Mom, happy home, right?  So instead of beating myself up over it, I just rolled with the punches and we moved forward with getting our coffee and donuts.